Newsom Rips New Catholic Vance for Denying Food to Poor; The Daily Beast, November 9, 2025

Katie Francis , The Daily Beast; Newsom Rips New Catholic Vance for Denying Food to Poor

"Gavin Newsom called out Catholic convert JD Vance for failing to uphold one of the major tenets of his adopted faith.

The California governor asked how the vice president could “square the circle” of being Catholic while resisting all efforts to restore Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, reminding the Vance that feeding the poor is “fundamental to advancing God’s will.”

Speaking to Jake Tapper on State of the Union Sunday, lifelong Irish Catholic Newsom, 58, lectured on Vance, 41, on the foundational lessons of their shared faith, suggesting that the latter’s religion and actions didn’t quite add up.

“I mean, Old Testament, New Testament,” Newsom said. “What‘s the fundamental thing that connects every—I mean, from John to Matthew to Proverbs? It‘s this notion of hunger, feeding the poor, the sick, the tired, this... it‘s not an option, it‘s central to advancing God‘s will.”"

Trump Administration Demands States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps; The New York Times, November 9, 2025

Tony Romm, The New York Times ; Trump Administration Demands States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps

[Kip Currier: Where are the corporations that can provide at least some of the monies that could contribute to food assistance efforts for people in need, but instead will soon subject us to weeks of obscenely expensive holiday-themed self-congratulatory ads telling us how much they really care about people and all the wonderful charitable things they do for the world?

Where are the American tech billionaires who with a fragment of their wealth could even temporarily fund SNAP benefits for the 40 million Americans who depend upon food aid to survive? At least three of them (Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos) were at the November 8th James Bond-themed 70th birthday party for Kris Jenner hosted by Amazon's Bezos.

The individual and collective silence of American billionaires and companies speaks volumes about their priorities and allegiances.

That the nation with the highest GDP on the planet would subject its food insecure citizens to even one day without food aid is utter madness and indicative of the moral bankruptcy of those who have the most assets and the least to lose by sharing their good fortune with those who are less fortunate.]

[Excerpt]

"The Trump administration told states that they must “immediately undo” any actions to provide full food stamp benefits to low-income families, in a move that added to the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the nation’s largest anti-hunger program during the government shutdown.

The Agriculture Department issued the command late Saturday in a memo, which The New York Times later viewed. That guidance threatened to impose harsh financial penalties on states that did not “comply” quickly with the new federal orders.

The memo surprised, vexed and frustrated many state leaders, and by Sunday, some had begun to explore their legal options to prevent any further disruptions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. But the Trump administration held firm in its refusal to fund food stamps in full, telling a court in a strongly worded filing that states would be “responsible for the consequences” of their actions.

Caught in the middle were the roughly one in eight Americans who depend on monthly federal assistance to purchase groceries — aid that has been imperiled for days in a record-long shutdown. Multiple lawsuits to loosen that money remained unresolved, leaving many families at growing risk of hunger and financial hardship.

Some of the 42 million people enrolled in SNAP began to receive their full benefits on Friday, after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to fully fund the program this month amid the shutdown. New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were among states that raced to release the aid to residents, some of whom had been without nutrition assistance for days."

Supreme Court temporarily blocks full SNAP benefits even as they'd started to go out; Indiana Public Media, NPR, November 7, 2025

Jennifer Ludden , Indiana Public Media, NPR; Supreme Court temporarily blocks full SNAP benefits even as they'd started to go out

"The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily granted the Trump administration's request to block full SNAP food benefits during the government shutdown, even as residents in some states had already begun receiving them.

The Trump administration is appealing a court order to fully restart the country's largest anti-hunger program. The high court decision late Friday gives a lower court time to consider a more lasting pause.

The move may add to confusion, though, since the government said it was sending states money on Friday to fully fund SNAP at the same time it appealed the order to pay for them.

Shortly after U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. issued that decision Thursday afternoon, states started to announce they'd be issuing full SNAP benefits. Some people woke up Friday with the money already on the debit-like EBT cards they use to buy groceries. The number of states kept growing, and included California, Oregon, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Connecticut among others.

The Supreme Court's decision means states must, for now, revert back to the partial payments the Trump administration had earlier instructed them to distribute. While the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected the administration's request for an administrative stay, the appeals court said it would consider the request for the stay and intends to issue a decision as quickly as possible.

Funding for the nation's largest anti-hunger program ran out a week ago, as the federal shutdown entered its second month. States, cities and food banks have been ramping up donations desperately trying to fill the gap. Nearly 42 million people rely on SNAP, most of them extremely low-income families with children, along with seniors, or people with disabilities.

In his order, Judge McConnell admonished the government for deciding earlier in the week to make only partial SNAP payments. He said officials failed to consider the "needless suffering" that would cause millions of people who rely on that aid. He also suggested they had delayed the partial payments for "political reasons.""

'This should never happen in America': RI judge orders SNAP benefits be paid in full; The Providence Journal, November 6, 2025

Katherine GreggKatie Mulvaney, The Providence Journal ; 'This should never happen in America': RI judge orders SNAP benefits be paid in full

"A fiery and fully exasperated federal judge on Nov. 6 ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fully fund food stamp benefits by the next day for more than 40 million low-income Americans, despite the government shutdown now approaching its seventh week. 

“Without SNAP funding for the month of November, sixteen million children will be immediately at risk of going hungry. This should never happen in America,” U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell said in issuing a second temporary restraining order requiring the USDA to tap into its resources to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits."

1.5M people in Ohio rely on SNAP: Map shows which towns will be hardest hit by shutdown; WLWT5, October 31, 2025

Emily Sanderson, WLWT5;  1.5M people in Ohio rely on SNAP: Map shows which towns will be hardest hit by shutdown

"More than 1 million Ohio residents will lose federal food support on Saturday when SNAP benefits expire because of the government shutdown.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps, helps about 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries.

Cincinnati families are facing uncertainty as the SNAP food assistance program has been suspended due to the government shutdown, affecting nearly 100,000 residents in Hamilton County who rely on federal food benefits...

Governor DeWine has indicated that there is no mechanism for Ohio to directly fund SNAP payments, regardless of the source of the money."