Politics

NY Times - House Republicans on Wednesday released 23,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate after months of delays, which journalists and the political world are now combing through.

In a move that has shocked families across the nation, the Supreme Court has sided with the Trump administration by halting full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments for the foreseeable future. This decision comes as part of a sweeping set of reforms targeting illegal immigration and federal spending. Millions of working-class Americans who rely on SNAP to feed their families now find themselves waiting and worrying, as the administration prioritizes border security and fiscal restraint over expanding government benefits.

NBC News -   Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., swore in Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., whom he had refused to seat when the House was out of town during the shutdown after her Sept. 23 special election victory.  

One of Grijalva’s first moves was to provide the 218th signature on a bipartisan discharge petition that would allow rank-and-file lawmakers to bypass Johnson and force a floor vote to release the Justice Department files from its Epstein investigation. The measure is expected to pass the House in the coming weeks, though it would face long odds in the Republican-led Senate. But it will keep the issue in the conversation when Trump and Johnson would rather shift the focus elsewhere.

Mayra - Trump’s former Chief of Staff John Kelly confirms that Trump called American service members “suckers” and “losers,” refused to visit their graves, and that he didn’t want to be seen with amputee veterans because “it doesn’t look good for me”

Donald Trump has repeated a request to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, for a pardon for Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three separate corruption cases

NY Times -  House Democrats on Wednesday released emails in which Jeffrey Epstein wrote that President Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of Mr. Epstein’s victims, among other messages that suggested that the convicted sex offender believed Mr. Trump knew more about his abuse than he has acknowledged. Mr. Trump has emphatically denied any involvement in or knowledge of Mr. Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. He has said that he and Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019, were once friendly but had a falling out.

John F Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg has said he will run for the US House next year, announcing Tuesday that he was seeking a key New York seat set to be vacated by longtime Democrat Jerry Nadler. 

NPR - Some Democrats have called for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to be ousted from his leadership role, even though he voted against the plan. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dodged questions about Schumer with reporters last night, highlighting divisions within the party.

Time -   Many in the U.S. are already concerned about the growing role of wealth in politics, and the influence it could have on lawmakers. A 2023 Pew study found that over 70% of Americans believed there should be spending limits for political campaigns, while 85% believed that “the cost of political campaigns makes it hard for good people to run for office” and 80% said those who donate to campaigns have too much influence over members of Congress.