Government Shutdown Set To Break Record: Is There Any Hope In Sight?

Written By Guest User

Plus: Tucker Carlson's Controversial Interview With Holocaust-Denying Neo Nazi and NASA Condemns Kim Kardashian

Boo! Before we get to today’s headlines, here’s a glimpse of what’s ahead for all of us this Hallo-weekend in our weekly ‘Cheers to the Freakin’ Weekend’ section. 🎃👻

What We’re Watching:

What We’re Reading:

What We’re Eating:

Have a great weekend! And don’t forget to set your clocks back by an hour on Sunday. Wondering why Daylight Saving Time even exists, especially when President Trump said he was going to end it? We were thinking the same thing:

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🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Shutdown’s Make-Or-Break Moment: SNAP Funding, Healthcare Enrollment, & Upcoming Elections

Millions of Americans are set to feel the biggest impacts yet from Washington’s month-long government shutdown starting this weekend. In states across the U.S.:

  • Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative, which helps about 41 million people — is set to lapse on Saturday

  • Open enrollment also begins this weekend for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), when about 22 million Americans could see their premiums skyrocket as pandemic-era subsidies expire. That’s the issue at the center of the shutdown standoff.

Democrats are refusing to reopen the government without extending those ACA subsidies. Republicans continue to insist the government must reopen first, then negotiate.

With two of the most fundamental needs — food and health care — on the line for millions of Americans, the stakes could not be higher, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are feeling the pressure from their constituents. But, right now there’s no end in sight, and the shutdown is quickly steamrolling toward becoming the longest in U.S. history.

Via: Washington Post

THE SNAP DEBATE
Saturday will mark the first time in SNAP’s history that benefits aren’t issued. On average, SNAP recipients receive $187 per month — roughly $6 a day — to buy groceries. The program costs around $8 billion per month, serving about 1 in 8 Americans.

The Trump administration has said the congressionally-approved contingency funding for SNAP benefits is meant to be used in emergencies, like natural disasters, and not during a shutdown. The contingency funds amount to around $5 billion — which would not cover the full benefits for the entire month of November.

  • The Courts: Democrats sued the government, arguing the White House has a legal and moral duty to provide whatever money they have available. Two federal judges ruled Friday that the program must be funded using at least the contingency funds – and asked for an update on progress from the administration by Monday.

    • It’s not clear how long it would take to refill recipient’s debit cards; many could go weeks without money for food. “It is hard for me to understand how this is not an emergency,” District Court Judge Indira Talwani said during Thursday’s hearing in Boston.

  • GOP Debate: “We [have] got to find some way to get help to 40 million people. This Saturday is going to be bad,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who introduced the Keep SNAP Funded Act to keep benefits flowing.

    • Hawley’s bill already has 14 Republican co-sponsors. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) poured cold water on the measure Thursday, saying, “I think the vote needs to be on opening the government.”

Meanwhile, food banks across the country are bracing for a surge in demand just before Thanksgiving — on top of already record need.

PREMIUMS SET TO SPIKE
Saturday also marks the start of ACA open enrollment, and millions could see annual premium costs double if pandemic-era subsidies expire.

  • Roughly 22 million of the 24 million ACA enrollees receive enhanced tax credits. Without them, premiums could jump from $888 this year to $1,904 in 2026, according to KFF.

  • About 4 million people are expected to lose coverage entirely if the subsidies aren’t extended, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. If extended, it will cost the government about $35 billion per year.

Democrats are launching a blitz of town halls, ad campaigns, and canvassing events, hammering Republicans over potential premium spikes. It comes as several closely watched races will unfold next Tuesday, such as the governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey. The results could signal to Dems whether their messaging is working or not.

“It’s going to be a punch in the face on November 1st when they see what they’re going to have to pay for their health care next year. And it’s unaffordable,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) told Mo News Thursday.

THE POLITICS OF IT
Don’t expect a deal this weekend. The Senate has adjourned until Monday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has kept the chamber out of session for more than 40 days — the longest unscheduled recess in modern history outside of summer or campaign season.

  • President Trump’s latest idea to end the stalemate is what he called the “NUCLEAR OPTION”: ending the Senate filibuster 60-vote majority rule, and allowing them to vote to reopen government with just a simple majority. Thune and other Senate GOP leadership have previously rejected the idea, given the precedent that could set.

A new ABC/Washington Post poll finds Democrats still hold the upper hand politically: 45% of Americans blame Trump and congressional Republicans for the shutdown, compared to 33% who blame Democrats. Among independents, the margin is even wider — 2-to-1 blaming the GOP.

Even more pressure: Millions of federal workers are still working without pay. While airports have so far withstood most of the strain, officials warn that unpaid TSA agents and other staff are growing weary, and Americans could soon feel the shutdown’s impact beyond their wallets.

🚨 ONE THING WE’RE WATCHING

Tucker Carlson Sparks Outrage For Friendly Interview Featuring Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes

Tucker Carlson is under fire for hosting a lengthy — and friendly — interview with white nationalist and neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, a notorious Holocaust denier, self-described admirer of Adolf Hitler and Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin, and outspoken supporter of racial segregation.

  • Fuentes has called for a “holy war” against Jews and compared the 6 million killed by the Nazis to cookies being baked in an oven. He wants the U.S. government under authoritarian, “Catholic Taliban rule,” and has been vocal about his disdain for women, Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community, and others.

  • In the two-hour interview, Fuentes focused on the threat he believes Jewish people pose to the U.S. government and society and claimed that women were a “problem” for men by becoming too “bold” while not providing enough “value.”

WHY ARE WE COVERING THIS?
Although Carlson, one of the most powerful voices on the right, expressed some agreement with Fuentes on aspects of U.S. foreign policy toward Israel, he made a point to distance himself from some of Fuentes’s overt antisemitism. “I’m not that interested in ‘the Jews,’ but I am very interested in the foreign policy question,” Carlson remarked.

The president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, Kevin Robert, defended Carlson’s interview, saying open dialogue with white supremacists should not be equated with endorsement. The CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition said he was “appalled, offended and disgusted” by Roberts’ stand. The conversation comes as there has been a rising tide of antisemitism among some right-wing commentators.

  • Critics are calling the interview an act of normalizing Fuentes’ views, forcing an urgent debate about the ethical responsibility of prominent media voices when engaging — and arguably validating — extremists who traffic in intolerance and hate.

On the latest episode of our Premium Ask Mo Anything (#AMA) podcast — which is released Saturdays on the Mo News Premium feed — Mosheh notes, “We typically don’t cover neo-Nazi commentators because like we don’t want to give them oxygen. But, by the fact that Tucker Carlson gave them oxygen, it is leading to a huge debate among some senior folks in the Republican Party.”

On the full AMA podcast, we dive into the history of the Republican party’s confrontation with extremist right-wing voices, and why some are frustrated with the current establishment’s lack of public messaging on this issue.

⏳ THE SPEED READ

🚨NATION

  • FBI foiled a ‘potential terrorist attack’ in Michigan planned for Halloween weekend, Director Kash Patel says (NBC)

  • Ohio passes new congressional map ahead of 2026 election (AXIOS)

  • Emergency lawsuit filed over “deplorable conditions” at Broadview ICE facility (ABC7CHICAGO)

  • Trump stuns with call to resume nuclear tests (FOX)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

  • U.S. military strikes inside Venezuela appear imminent (MO NEWS)

  • Analysts say blood visible from space in Sudan shows evidence of Darfur genocide (ABC)

  • Israel hands over bodies of 30 Palestinians, Gaza hospital officials say (AP) while

    Palestinian militants hand over remains of two more hostages to Red Cross in Gaza (POLITICO)

  • Andrew stripped of ‘prince’ title and will move out of Royal Lodge (BBC)

  • About 700 killed in Tanzania election protests, opposition says (GUARDIAN)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

  • Autism diagnosis rates higher among children born to mothers who had Covid-19 during pregnancy, study suggests, though no causation (WASHINGTON POST)

  • Disney pulls ABC, ESPN and more from YouTube TV as talks break down (AP)

  • Amazon shares soar 11% on strong cloud growth, easing investor fears over AI spending (NY POST)

  • The International Space Station turns 25 this weekend (TIME)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

  • Billie Eilish urges billionaires to give away their money while accepting an award (CNN)

  • ‘Ridiculousness,’ often the Only show on MTV, is ending after 46 seasons (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

  • Julia Fox criticized for bloody Jackie Kennedy costume (TMZ)

  • The long and unexpected afterlife of the Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest (AP)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… NASA chief Sean Duffy called out Kim Kardashian’s recent suggestion that the 1969 U.S. moon landing was staged, dismissing it as fiction.

  • How we got here: In a clip from “The Kardashians,” which aired Thursday on Hulu, Kardashian told actress Sarah Paulson that she has been watching interviews with astronaut Buzz Aldrin and ”[Aldrin] goes, ‘There was no scary moment because it didn’t happen.’”

Aldrin, 95, was the pilot of the lunar module during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission and is the second person to walk on the moon, after Neil Armstrong. Kardashian caught clips on TikTok that have been taken out of context. There is no record of Aldrin denying the moon landing in an interview. Mosheh explains more in the clip above.

Guest User
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