Yesterday a reporter asked Representative Joe Neguse, a Democrat of Colorado, about the administration’s withholding of reserve funds Congress intended would fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). “If we come to November first, and these contingency funds haven’t been released, if nothing has been accomplished in restoring SNAP benefits, will you call on your Democratic colleagues to reopen the government and deal with these shutdown crises immediately?” Neguse called out the dynamic in which observers refuse to hold President Donald J. Trump and MAGA Republicans to account and instead demand Democrats step in to fix whatever crisis is at hand. “The basis for your question is, and maybe the better way to state it would be, if the Trump administration continues to violate the law, if the Trump administration unlawfully refuses to release funds so that families in Colorado don’t go hungry, if the Trump administration refuses to follow the law, as they have for the better course of the last nine months, violating statute after statute, if in that scenario these actions unfold, then how will Democrats respond?” Neguse answered. “That [in] my view would be a more fair characterization of the question that you’ve posed,” Neguse continued, “because it does feel a little bit like we’re in the Twilight Zone here with an administration that is lawless, violates the law with impunity, is now doing so with respect to the release of funds for families that may go hungry.” Neguse noted that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has kept the House of Representatives from conducting business since mid-September, sending members back to their home districts. “We’re here in Washington,” Neguse told the reporter. “You’re here in Washington. House Republicans are gone. Six weeks and counting. Gone. Literally, gone. Won’t show up in Washington, won’t do town halls back in their respective districts. And somehow the question is posed to the House Democrats as to how we will respond.” Neguse had a solution. He said: “The Trump administration needs to follow the law…. [Y]ou’ve heard all my colleagues repeatedly suggest we would like to negotiate an agreement in good faith with our Republican colleagues. That is why we’re here in our nation’s capital. The question should be posed to Republicans. When will they get serious about working with us in good faith, so that we can reach an agreement?” Neguse noted that he was frustrated “with the fact that Republicans could just simply abandon their post for six weeks, that the Trump administration could just violate the law without consequence. It should offend everyone,” he said. “It certainly offends me.” Johnson announced today that the House would not conduct business again next week. The House has not held a vote since September 19. Also today, two federal judges found that the Trump administration’s suspension of SNAP benefits during the ongoing government shutdown is indeed likely illegal. The administration claims that it cannot use a reserve fund established by Congress for emergencies to distribute benefits scheduled to be cut off on November 1. That claim has drawn lawsuits to try to get food into the hands of the 42 million Americans—one out of eight U.S. residents—who use SNAP, receiving an average of $186 a month. At a hearing in the lawsuit of Democratic attorneys general and governors against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Office of Management and Budget, and their respective leaders Brooke Rollins and Russell Vought, Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts noted: “Congress has put money in an emergency fund, and it is hard for me to understand how this is not an emergency.” She gave the administration until Monday to decide whether to pay SNAP benefits from that fund. In a lawsuit brought by several cities, a major labor union, and a group of Rhode Island nonprofits, U.S. District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island ordered the USDA to use those emergency funds to provide SNAP benefits. McConnell ordered the administration to provide an update by noon on Monday, November 3. “There is no doubt that the six billion dollars in contingency funds are appropriated funds that are without a doubt necessary to carry out the program’s operation,” McConnell said. “The shutdown of the government through funding doesn’t do away with SNAP. It just does away with the funding of it. There could be no greater necessity than the prohibition across the board of funds for the program’s operations.” After returning from a trip to Asia yesterday, Trump left this morning for his thirteenth visit to the Trump Organization’s Florida property Mar-a-Lago. S.V. Date of HuffPost notes this $3.4 million trip brings to $60.7 million the amount taxpayers have spent on the president’s 76 golf outings in his second term. From Air Force One, Trump posted: “I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House. It was renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era. I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!” Accompanying the post were a series of twenty-four photographs of the newly renovated bathroom in white marble veined with black, accented with gleaming gold fixtures. At a time when federal employees are working without pay, furloughed workers are taking out bank loans to pay their bills, healthcare premiums are skyrocketing, and SNAP is at risk, Trump’s celebration of his marble bathroom was so tone deaf it seems likely to make the history books as a symbol of this administration. Trump also posted about his current remodel of the Kennedy Center, where, according to Travis M. Andrews, Jeremy B. Merrill, and Shelly Tan of the Washington Post, ticket sales have plummeted, leaving tens of thousands of seats empty. “I just inspected the construction on The Kennedy Center,” he wrote. “It is really looking good! The exterior columns, which were in serious danger of corrosion if something weren’t done, are completed, and look magnificent in White Enamel— Like a different place! Marble is being done, stages are being renovated, new seats, new chairs, and new fabrics will soon be installed, and magnificent high end carpeting throughout the building. It is happening faster than anticipated, one of my trademarks. My people are doing a really great job! We are bringing this building back to life. It was dead as a doornail, but it will soon be beautiful again!” When he arrived in Florida, a reporter asked Trump about the shutdown and whether he would meet with Democrats despite the fact he has, until now, refused to, and has ordered congressional Republicans not to meet with Democrats either. “I’m always going to meet,” he said. “All they have to do is open up the country. Let them open up the country, and we’ll meet. We’ll meet very quickly. But they have to open up the country. It’s their fault, everything is their fault.” — Notes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/30/snap-funds-government-shutdown/ https://www.npr.org/2025/10/31/nx-s1-5592366/snap-food-benefits-judge-trump-administration-usda-wic https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.290958/gov.uscourts.mad.290958.26.0_1.pdf https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-shutdown-florida-golf_n_69051d7be4b0060501ac44b6 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-2025-federal-workers-loans/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2025/10/31/kennedy-center-sales/ https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/31/weather/noaa-hurricane-hunters-shutdown-unpaid-melissa YouTube: Bluesky: macfarlanenews.bsky.social/post/3m4iycifshk25 macfarlanenews.bsky.social/post/3m4iztwf6pc25 neguse.house.gov/post/3m4hbuafdxk2y joshtpm.bsky.social/post/3m4j76wrkdk2l atrupar.com/post/3m4iyxc2tbk2v thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3m4j3gterpk2s You’re currently a free subscriber to Letters from an American. If you need help receiving Letters, changing your email address, or unsubscribing, please visit our Support FAQ. You can also submit a help request directly. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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Friday, October 31, 2025
October 31, 2025
Five Questions with Jon Favreau
Our guest for Five Questions tonight is Jon Favreau, President Obama’s chief speechwriter from 2005-2013, cofounder of Crooked Media (newly on Substack, find them here), cohost, along with fellow Obama aides Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor, of the popular Pod Save America, and coauthor of the 2024 book Democracy or Else. That’s a lot! But I wanted Jon to join us tonight, specifically to share his experience as a speechwriter who is adept at helping American voters connect with their better angels to see how we can channel that today. Remember the “Yes We Can” speech and Obama’s inaugural addresses? It’s such a stark contrast to Donald Trump’s communication style, if you can even call it that. Tonight, Jon shares his unique perspective on where we’ve been, where we are today, and what we can do next.
Jon lives in Los Angeles with his wife Emily, their sons Charlie and Teddy, and their dog Leo. “Five Questions” is a feature for paid subscribers, my way of thanking people who support this work and make it possible for me to devote the necessary time and resources to it. But please know that whether you’re a paid subscriber or not, I’m very happy to have you here! I appreciate everyone who reads the newsletter and works to keep themselves and others informed in this pivotal moment. Continue reading this post for free in the Substack app
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