Christian Meesters
boosted
Found this in my cartoon archive, made during the previous shutdown of the US government in 2019.
Lisa Melton
boosted
#Trump admin to fire worker for TV interview about #SNAP
The employee warned that the #shutdown could have negative impacts on the millions of Americans who rely on the #FederalGovernment to put #food on the table.
#censorship #authoritarianism #dictatorship #law #labor #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/13/usda-worker-snap-benefits-interview/
…The threat of Mei’s dismissal has sparked concerns & outrage among other USDA workers & members of the Federal Unionists Network, who argue that the move is part of a concerted effort by the #Trump admin to chill #speech among federal employees.
At the time Mei spoke to MSNBC, the information she shared was publicly available through a variety of news articles & guidance from anti-hunger advocates, think tanks & organizations.
#USDA itself, in a memo dated Sept30, explained that #SNAP funding would lapse because of the #shutdown & that the #OMB would use contingency reserves to pay for benefits past Oct. That memo, however, was scrubbed from the agency’s website later in Oct, once the #Trump admin began arguing against tapping contingency funds to pay for benefits.
In the MSNBC interview, host Chris Jansing also explained that Mei was speaking as herself & a #union leader, not a USDA employee.
#law #labor #FreeSpeech
In the 4-min interview, Mei said she & her co-workers are “anxious because we’re hearing about the risk potentials & office closures that are looming over #USDA as this #shutdown kind of drags on.” She also explained that funding for key #FoodAssistance programs, including #SNAP — which feeds ~42M Americans monthly — would probably be available in October, but that “things might get a little dicey if this drags on into November.”
[gee such a fireable offense!]
The next day, #USDA informed Mei that the process to remove her from her position had begun. In correspondence reviewed by WaPo, an official in the USDA human resources dept told Mei that she will be let go 30 days after the #shutdown ends. The agency accused Mei of discussing USDA programs & funding “without prior approval.”
#Trump #law #labor #SNAP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech
The employee, Ellen Mei, a program specialist at the #Food & #Nutrition Service who is furloughed, was interviewed on MSNBC on Oct 2, during the early days of the #shutdown, to talk about how the impasse in Washington would impact her team, as well as the work they do. Mei is also president of the National Treasury Employees #Union’s Chapter 255, which represents employees at #USDA’s Food & Nutrition Service in the Northeast.
#Trump #law #labor #SNAP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech
In the 4-min interview, Mei said she & her co-workers are “anxious because we’re hearing about the risk potentials & office closures that are looming over #USDA as this #shutdown kind of drags on.” She also explained that funding for key #FoodAssistance programs, including #SNAP — which feeds ~42M Americans monthly — would probably be available in October, but that “things might get a little dicey if this drags on into November.”
[gee such a fireable offense!]
#Trump admin to fire worker for TV interview about #SNAP
The employee warned that the #shutdown could have negative impacts on the millions of Americans who rely on the #FederalGovernment to put #food on the table.
#censorship #authoritarianism #dictatorship #law #labor #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/13/usda-worker-snap-benefits-interview/
The employee, Ellen Mei, a program specialist at the #Food & #Nutrition Service who is furloughed, was interviewed on MSNBC on Oct 2, during the early days of the #shutdown, to talk about how the impasse in Washington would impact her team, as well as the work they do. Mei is also president of the National Treasury Employees #Union’s Chapter 255, which represents employees at #USDA’s Food & Nutrition Service in the Northeast.
#Trump #law #labor #SNAP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech
#Trump admin to fire worker for TV interview about #SNAP
The employee warned that the #shutdown could have negative impacts on the millions of Americans who rely on the #FederalGovernment to put #food on the table.
#censorship #authoritarianism #dictatorship #law #labor #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/13/usda-worker-snap-benefits-interview/
hypebot
and 1 other
boosted
#House passes bill to reopen government after longest #shutdown ever
The legislation now goes to #Trump to sign into #law.
The bill INCLUDES the provision allowing Senators who were investigated by the #DOJ for their alleged involvement in Trump’s effort to overturn the #2020election to sue the #US #government for $500,000.
It DOES NOT INCLUDE the #healthcare subsidies for the #ACA, nor a reversal of the GOP #Medicaid cuts Democrats wanted.
#SeditiousConspiracy #Jan6
https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-reopen-update-house-returns-5771f2befb15f4ab45e327369f2e98d9?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-11-12-Breaking+News
Lisa Melton
boosted
Well, there ya go, Rep #AdelitaGrijalva #Democrat of #Arizona has been sworn in.
She will be the 218th signature needed to force the #EpsteinFiles release vote, as long as no #Republicans defect.
#Trump #Epstein #criminal #law #rape #SexualAssault #SexTrafficking #felon47 #CoverUp
#House #Congress #Shutdown
https://apnews.com/article/adelita-grijalva-arizona-house-epstein-files-johnson-da75c9f0e362291f3d0edb1da99e019d
“The Senators may not like being treated like the rest of America, but these phone-record subpoenas & non-disclosure orders are routine in grand jury investigations at the state & federal level. No one has an absolute right to be notified that their call records have been subpoenaed, much less the right to a million bucks if it happens. This provision would not give any Americans other than US Senators these rights,” #JamieRaskin said.
“If we believe that citizens should receive notice when the #government subpoenas their phone bill, great! Perhaps this revolutionary new policy—which #CivilLiberties groups would probably support—should be the law. But then the law should protect the civil liberties of all 320 million Americans, as the #EqualProtectionClause of the #Constitution demands, not just the 100 Americans in the #Senate,” #JamieRaskin added.
#law #Trump #Republicans #Jan6 #SeditiousConspiracy #shutdown
“There was no ‘phone tap’ or eavesdropping on the content of their conversations. The call records subpoenaed were the kind of information you see on a phone bill—a list of calls made & received,” #JamieRaskin said, adding that the 8 senators were “pathetically casting themselves as victims.”
Jack Smith sought the phone records of 8 senators as well as 1 member of the House during his investigation into #Jan6, including those known to have spoken to #Trump during the #insurrection.
“The Senators may not like being treated like the rest of America, but these phone-record subpoenas & non-disclosure orders are routine in grand jury investigations at the state & federal level. No one has an absolute right to be notified that their call records have been subpoenaed, much less the right to a million bucks if it happens. This provision would not give any Americans other than US Senators these rights,” #JamieRaskin said.
#House passes bill to reopen government after longest #shutdown ever
The legislation now goes to #Trump to sign into #law.
The bill INCLUDES the provision allowing Senators who were investigated by the #DOJ for their alleged involvement in Trump’s effort to overturn the #2020election to sue the #US #government for $500,000.
It DOES NOT INCLUDE the #healthcare subsidies for the #ACA, nor a reversal of the GOP #Medicaid cuts Democrats wanted.
#SeditiousConspiracy #Jan6
https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-reopen-update-house-returns-5771f2befb15f4ab45e327369f2e98d9?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-11-12-Breaking+News
Well, there ya go, Rep #AdelitaGrijalva #Democrat of #Arizona has been sworn in.
She will be the 218th signature needed to force the #EpsteinFiles release vote, as long as no #Republicans defect.
#Trump #Epstein #criminal #law #rape #SexualAssault #SexTrafficking #felon47 #CoverUp
#House #Congress #Shutdown
https://apnews.com/article/adelita-grijalva-arizona-house-epstein-files-johnson-da75c9f0e362291f3d0edb1da99e019d
"We now have clarity on what Republicans are demanding in exchange for extending the ACA tax credits: new abortion restrictions that go even further than the already-strict Hyde Amendment. That is the price they’re trying to extract."
~ Aaron Parnas
#shutdown #Republicans #healthcare #HealthInsurance #ACA #abortion
/5
https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/breaking-republicans-demand-abortion
"I mean, there's a reason I don't subscribe to the New York Times anymore, and I don't listen to Ezra Klein. I can't—it doesn't work. It doesn't work."
#Democrats #shutdown #Senate #pushover #capitulation #surrender #centrism #NewYorkTimes #EzraKlein
/4
Noting that "centrism is dead in the water," Wajahat Ali asks Jess Craven to make the case for centrism for him. She replies:
"Please, you're asking the wrong person. It drives me crazy. I'll make the case for walking away from anybody who tells you that centrism is the answer."
~ Jess Craven
#Democrats #shutdown #Senate #pushover #capitulation #surrender #centrism #NewYorkTimes #EzraKlein
/3
https://thelefthook.substack.com/p/the-age-of-democratic-centrism-must
"The denouement of the shutdown was 'inside politics' at its worst.
But we are facing a moment that transcends politics."
~ Robert B. Hubbell
#Democrats #shutdown #Senate #pushover #capitulation #surrender
/2
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/moving-past-the-shutdown-fight
"The absurd culture of the Senate has produced a Democratic caucus of wimpy pushovers."
~ Ryan Cooper
#Democrats #shutdown #Senate #pushover #capitulation #surrender
/1
https://zeteo.com/p/centrist-senate-democrats-dream-world-trump-shutdown
… #Democrats on the #House #Oversight Cmte said the emails, which they selected from thousands of pages of documents received by their panel, raised new questions about the relationship between the 2 men. In one of the messages, #Epstein flatly asserted that #Trump “knew about the girls,” many of whom were later found by investigators to have been underage. In another, Epstein pondered how to address questions from the news media about their relationship as Trump was becoming a political figure.
The messages are certain to inflame the debate on Capitol Hill over the #Trump admin’s handling of the #EpsteinFiles, & top ofcls’ decision to backtrack on a promise to fully release them. That issue, which has split #Republicans & alienated some of Trump’s right-wing supporters, had faded to the background as the govt #shutdown dragged on.
But the #House is set to return Wednesday to clear legislation to end the shutdown, & attention is likely to shift back to the #Epstein matter.