Government-Shutdown

First Circuit Court Unanimously Rules Trump Administration Must Pay Full SNAP Benefits, Citing 'Immense Harm' to 40 Million Recipients

| Importance: 9/10

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit unanimously ruled that the Trump administration must be forced to pay full SNAP food benefits for November, declining to block U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s order requiring the administration to use available federal …

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Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration Violated First Amendment by Forcing Partisan Auto-Reply Messages on Federal Employees

| Importance: 8/10

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by commandeering Education Department employees’ email accounts to send partisan messages blaming Democrats for the government shutdown. The automated responses stated that the House passed …

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Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Full SNAP Payments to 42 Million Americans

| Importance: 9/10

The Supreme Court on Friday evening, November 7, 2025, temporarily blocked a federal court order requiring the Trump administration to provide full SNAP benefits to approximately 42 million Americans for November during the ongoing government shutdown. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the …

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Supreme Court Issues Emergency Stay Allowing Trump Administration to Withhold $4 Billion in SNAP Food Benefits

| Importance: 9/10

The Supreme Court issued an administrative stay at least temporarily allowing the Trump administration to withhold approximately $4 billion in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) payments affecting 42 million Americans, blocking a federal district court order that had required full …

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FAA Announces 10% Air Traffic Reduction at 40 Airports Due to Shutdown

| Importance: 8/10

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on November 6, 2025, that the Federal Aviation Administration would implement a 10% reduction in U.S. air traffic across 40 airports in the coming days due to severe air traffic controller shortages caused by the ongoing government shutdown. The …

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Government Shutdown Becomes Longest in U.S. History at Day 36

| Importance: 9/10

The Trump administration’s government shutdown reached its 36th day on November 5, 2025, officially surpassing the previous record of 35 days set during the December 2018-January 2019 shutdown under Trump’s first term. Over 1 million federal employees continued working without paychecks, …

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FAA Reduces Air Traffic by 10% at Major Airports as Unpaid Controllers Face Staffing Crisis During 40-Day Shutdown

| Importance: 9/10

The Federal Aviation Administration announced it would reduce air traffic by up to 10% at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports as the government shutdown—then in its 40th day—created a staffing crisis among air traffic controllers working without pay. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford reported …

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Trump Administration Announces Partial SNAP Benefits After Court Orders

| Importance: 9/10

On November 3, 2025, the Trump administration announced it would provide only partial SNAP (food stamp) benefits for November 2025 using emergency funds, after initially threatening to completely cut off benefits for 42 million Americans on November 1 during the government shutdown. The partial …

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DHS Uses Multi-Year Reconciliation Funding to Pay 70,000 Immigration Enforcement Officers During Shutdown While 700,000 Federal Workers Go Unpaid

| Importance: 8/10

During the fourth week of the October 2025 government shutdown affecting over 700,000 federal employees, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced that approximately 70,000 Department of Homeland Security law enforcement officers—including ICE deportation officers, CBP border patrol agents, Secret Service …

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NIST Suspends All Facial Recognition Testing During Government Shutdown

| Importance: 7/10

On October 7, 2025, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced suspension of all biometric testing, ranking, and research activities—including the world-renowned Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT), Face Analysis Technology Evaluation (FATE), and IREX evaluations—due to the …

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