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As the U.S. federal government shutdown enters its second month, over 40 million people are now struggling to feed themselves and their families after SNAP food assistance was cut off over the weekend. "We are headed for a major public health and economic crisis," says child hunger expert Mariana Chilton. She adds that by refusing to disburse SNAP benefits, "the Trump administration is breaking the law."
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The former special counsel has told people in his orbit he welcomes the opportunity to present the public case against the president denied to him by adverse court rulings and the 2024 election.
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Omar Fateh, the son of Somali immigrants and a democratic socialist, is a leading candidate in the mayoral race in Minneapolis and seeking to unseat incumbent Jacob Frey. Fateh made history in 2020 by becoming the first Muslim and first Somali American to be elected to Minnesota's state Senate. Fateh has run for mayor on a platform advocating for rent stabilization, raising the minimum wage and reforming how the city handles public safety. "Minneapolis can have a different kind of politics," says Fateh. "Five years after the murder of George Floyd, [Mayor Frey] doesn't have a plan, or doesn't intend to have a plan."
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Republicans have accused some people who worked for Mr. Smith, the former special counsel who investigated President Trump, of hiding behind grand jury secrecy rules.
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"We are under attack by our own federal government," says Democratic Congressmember for Illinois Delia Ramirez about Trump's immigration crackdown in Chicago. "What we're seeing is an agency that has gone rogue, that has been emboldened and that thinks that they're above the law." She urges Americans to report and record ICE activity to strengthen future legal battles, "because what ICE is stating and what we're seeing in the community in the streets is inconsistent." Congressmember Ramirez also comments on the ongoing federal government shutdown, which she calls "a clear embodiment of Donald Trump's leadership: starve and let people die while the billionaires and his cronies enrich themselves," the Republican leadership's continued refusal to swear in new Democratic Congressmember-elect Adelita Grijalva, and the Trump-backed Gaza ceasefire.
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Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election for a House seat in Arizona two weeks ago, has still not been sworn in to Congress. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is blaming the government shutdown for the delay, even though he previously expedited the swearing-in of multiple Republicans who won their special elections before election results were even in. It's more likely, say supporters, that Grijalva is being held up to prevent what she has pledged will be her first act in Congress: adding her name to and thus triggering a vote on California Congressmember Ro Khanna's bill for the public release of files related to the federal investigation of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. "She needs to get sworn in today," says Khanna, adding that every day Grijalva is not seated in the House "is breaking precedent and depriving people of who they voted for." Grijalva says, "This is an incredibly scary precedent to set. If you don't agree with the politics of the speaker, then they can keep you out of your duly elected office."
Khanna and Grijalva also discuss the legacy of Grijalva's late father, the longtime Arizona Congressmember Raúl Grijalva; the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration; right-wing attacks on freedom of the press; and more.
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