Trump administration to fund just half of food stamp benefits | First Thing
Department of Agriculture using contingency funds to keep benefits going amid government shutdown. Plus, economists warn $70tn in inherited wealth over next decade will widen inequality
Good morning.
The Trump administration said it would provide only partial relief to recipients of food stamps on Monday, amid mounting uncertainty among the nearly 42 million people on the supplemental nutrition assistance program (Snap).
The Department of Agriculture said it would use contingency funds to keep benefits going, but for just 50% of the usual funds. Money for the program officially ran out on Saturday as a result of the government shutdown, which is now in its 35th day and showing no sign of ending as congressional Republicans continue their standoff with the Democrats.
How did we get here? As a result of the shutdown, Donald Trump has threatened to cut off the food benefits for the first time in the program’s more than 60-year history. A federal judge last week prevented the Department of Agriculture from suspending Snap altogether.
What impact will it have? There have already been long lines at food banks across the nation. Chris Stein spoke to people affected, with many saying they would have to scrimp on food to get by. “I’m dumbfounded by the cruelty,” one said.
Polls open across the nation as Trump threatens to cut funds if Mamdani wins New York City mayoral election
The candidates for New York City mayor spent a frantic final day campaigning across the city yesterday, as voters head to the polls today in New York, as well as for governor races in New Jersey and Virginia and a redistricting ballot initiative in California.
Last night Donald Trump issued a threat to New Yorkers: stop Zohran Mamdani or pay. “If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home,” he said, falsely labelling Mamdani, who argues for democratic socialism and has campaigned on affordability.
Can Trump even do that? The president does not directly determine how much money any city receives from the federal government; appropriation is the constitutional function of Congress. But control over how money is spent – or withheld in acts of impoundment, which are forbidden under federal law – has become a point of legal contention.
What do New York polls say? A recent survey from AtlasIntel showed Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, on 44%, the independent Andrew Cuomo on 39% and the Republican Curtis Sliwa on 16%.
At least 36,000 Sudanese have fled since fall of El Fasher to RSF, says UN agency
More than 36,000 people fled Sudan’s Kordofan region between 26 and 31 October amid a surge in fighting, the UN’s migration agency has said, after the capture of the city of El Fasher in neighbouring Darfur by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after more than a year under siege.
The people, most on foot, headed to Tawila, a town west of El Fasher that is sheltering more than 652,000 displaced people, the UN said.
What do we know about war crimes allegations? Prosecutors at the international criminal court said on Monday they were collecting evidence of alleged mass killings, rapes and other crimes in El Fasher. Witnesses have reported RSF fighters going house to house killing civilians and committing sexual assaults. According to the World Health Organization, gunmen killed at least 460 people at a hospital and abducted doctors and nurses.
In other news …
The trial started yesterday of a man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent in DC in August, which turned Sean Charles Dunn into a symbol of resistance against Donald Trump’s law-enforcement surge.
Two men have been charged with terrorism-related crimes in the Detroit area. The men had scouted LGBTQ+ bars in Ferndale, according to a 72-page criminal complaint unsealed in federal court.
A 6.3-magnitude earthquake in northern Afghanistan killed at least 20 people and injured about 320, the Taliban health ministry said on Monday.
Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the Israeli military’s top legal officer, has been arrested and detained after she admitted to leaking footage that seemed to show soldiers abusing a Palestinian detainee.
Stat of the day: More than $70tn of inherited wealth over next decade will widen inequality, economists warn
More than $70tn of inherited wealth will pass down the generations around the world over the next decade, widening inequality and highlighting the need for intervention by the G20 group of leading nations, a group of economists and campaigners have said. The Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said the report found inequality growing in more than eight in 10 countries.
Don’t miss this: The forgotten republic of Transnistria – photo essay
The photographer Didier Bizet has spent time documenting life in the self-proclaimed autonomous republic of Transnistria, which is not recognized by the international community. Its status raises complex questions about the identity of its inhabitants – Ukrainians, Russians, Moldovans and Bulgarians – in a land searching for direction and lacking a clearly defined national identity.
Climate check: Only 3% of international climate aid going to transitioning communities
Less than 3% of international aid to reduce carbon emissions is supporting a “just transition” for workers and communities away from polluting industries, according to a report from the non-profit ActionAid. It warns that the world’s response to the climate crisis risks deepening inequality rather than addressing it.
Last Thing: ‘I’m so excited’ – Jesse Eisenberg is donating a kidney to a stranger
Jesse Eisenberg, the 42-year-old actor and director, has said he is donating a kidney to a stranger next month. “I got bitten by the blood donation bug,” he said. More than 100,000 people are on the transplant list in the US, and about 12 people a day die because of organ shortage. “It’s essentially risk-free and so needed,” Eisenberg said.
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