So much for reconciliation. This weekend, Donald Trump suggested that he would work with a judge's order on Friday to restore SNAP funding through emergency reserves, although Trump wanted the court to clarify how that would work. By Sunday evening's interview on 60 Minutes, however, Trump had begun hardening his position again:
Norah O'Donnell (33:00): Under your presidency, we're talking about more than a million federal workers who are not getting a paycheck, including our air traffic controllers. You see, there's traffic snarls out at the airports now. This weekend, food aid for more than 42 million Americans is set to expire. What are you doing as president to end the shutdown?
Donald Trump (33:21): All we're doing is we keep voting. I mean, the Republicans are voting almost unanimously to end it, and the Democrats keep voting against ending it. They've never had this; this has happened like 18 times before. The Democrats have always voted for an extension, always saying, "Give us an extension. We'll work it out." They've lost their weight. They've become crazed lunatics, and all they have to do, Norah, is say, "Let's vote." And you can open… The economy could open up during our interview. Maybe it did.
...
Norah O'Donnell (34:51): So your plan…
Donald Trump (34:52): And all they have to do is raise five hands; we don't need all of them.
Norah O'Donnell (34:55): So you're saying your plan is to tell the Democrats to vote to end the shutdown.
Donald Trump (35:00): Correct. Very simple.
Earlier today, Trump explicitly refused to budge on SNAP until Democrats voted to open the government:
Yesterday, however, the USDA and Department of Justice told the court they would comply with the Friday order, albeit with insufficient funds for the month's benefits. It might take a while to create an equitable plan for disbursements, given the limited funds available. The time frame looks pretty similar to an outright refusal:
The $4.65 billion that remains in the contingency fund would cover about half of the benefits for November, according to a declaration from Patrick Penn, the deputy undersecretary for the USDA’s Food Nutrition and Consumer Services.
The DOJ said in another filing it would soon produce a “table” for states to calculate the reduced benefits available for each household, and that it would begin disbursing the funds once that table is produced.
Penn wrote it could take states “anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months” to update their systems to distribute reduced benefits.
“Given the variation among State systems, some of which are decades old, it is unclear how many States will complete the changes in an automated manner with minimal disruption versus manual overrides or computations that could lead to payment errors and significant delays,” Penn wrote.
In other words, the partial distribution might not take place until after the first of the year, thanks to the necessity of creating entirely different tables to calculate benefits. It's not an appeal, but the use of bureaucratic inertia accomplishes the same outcome. Nothing will move until Senate Democrats pass the clean CR.
Will they throw in the towel? There may come a day when the partisanship of Democrats fails, when they forsake their radical allies and break all bonds of TDS, but ... it is not this day, unfortunately:
Senate votes 54-44 on 14th test vote for government funding. Needed 60 yeas
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) November 4, 2025
Dems voting yes: Cortez Masto, Fetterman, & King (I). GOP Senator Paul voted nay
So what now? Tonight, the elections in New Jersey and Virginia will end, at which point Chuck Schumer can breathe a sigh of relief. There will be no reason to keep stirring the pot -- and stiffing the poor -- in order to keep radical organizers on side. Perhaps as early as tomorrow, Senate Democrats will generate enough flips to enable a final floor vote on a clean CR, and all of this will have been for nothing at all. Nothing, that is, except for Schumer to have protected his career from the Democratic Socialists and their minions.
The latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast is now up! Today's show features:
- Donald Trump took a victory lap on 60 Minutes Sunday, and Andrew Malcolm and I break it down.
- Chuck Schumer's midnight confessions come up as well.
- We also discuss new data on foreign money flowing into Democrat politics, and its impact on the party's orientation.
The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is still here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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