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Federal judge rules Trump administration must fund SNAP benefits

admin - Latest News - October 31, 2025
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There is fear and confusion among the 42 million people who rely on SNAP benefits for food assistance. The Trump administration said funding had run out for SNAP benefits because of the government shutdown, but a federal judge has now ruled that the administration must use contingency funds to pay for the program. NBC News’ Liz Kreutz reports.



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October 9, 2025
Oct. 9, 2025, 5:00 AM EDTBy Evan BushIt was a quiet summer for bird flu: Egg prices fell a bit, fewer sick poultry flocks were culled on farms, and officials took a breath. “It was lovely,” said Shauna Voss, the assistant director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health. But it didn’t last. Bird flu is spreading again, now that wild water fowl — geese, ducks and cranes — have begun their seasonal migrations. As the birds travel, they mingle at lakes and ponds and share viruses.In poultry, bird flu cases are spiking earlier than expected. More than 4 million poultry birds have been culled in the last month, in states including Minnesota and Iowa, after members of their flock tested positive for the virus, called H5N1. The trend corresponds to a spike in infections detected among wild birds in northern states. Some state officials are bracing for a challenging autumn, which is when cases have typically spiked in past years. “Last week, we had our first confirmed positive,” Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said. The case was on a turkey farm in Calhoun County. “The question for us then is how extensive will it be and what kind of fall will we have.” It’s too early to say what effect the outbreaks will have on egg prices, he added.“The only honest answer to that is we will have to see. I wish I could give you more than that,” Naig said.!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}(); This is the fourth fall in which bird flu infections have risen, a sign the virus is becoming endemic in wild birds and could be a continual threat to poultry. “It’s not going away. It seems pretty embedded,” Voss said. The more the virus circulates, there is a risk that it will unlock a way to readily infect humans. If that becomes a problem, some experts fear that the Trump administration’s cuts to mRNA research could hamper scientists’ ability to rapidly develop a new vaccine. For now, though, the health risk to people remains low. As fall progresses, officials, wildlife experts and virologists are in a watch-and-wait mode.“It’s an interesting time,” said Declan Schroeder, an associate professor of virology at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “Everyone is waiting with bated breath to see what’s going to happen.” Avian influenza was first detected in a U.S. commercial flock in February 2022, after circulating in wild birds before then. The virus is almost always deadly for poultry birds, and as of this summer, more than 175 million birds had been culled or killed. Two years ago, researchers were surprised to discover that bird flu had spread to dairy cows and was found in raw, unpasteurized milk, prompting a slew of changes to farm practices and milk testing. At least 70 people — mostly farmworkers with close contact to birds or cows — have been infected. One person died. !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}(); Wild birds tend to spread the disease to poultry farms in a few ways, scientists think: through direct contact, by contaminating feed or when workers bring contaminated materials into barns. That’s why migration season can be such a catalyst.“If you got one sick bird that moves over an area, infects some others, the math suggests it’s going to spread really fast,” said Michael Ward, a professor of natural resources and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois, who studies migration. Ward added that habitat limitations are pushing birds to congregate and share space, which makes viral spread more likely. In Illinois, wetland habitat has shrunk as the state deals with drought. “It’s a perfect combination for disease to pop up,” Ward said.In response to an inquiry about the rise in bird flu detections and how the federal government plans to deal with it, the U.S. Department of Agriculture pointed to a five-prong strategy it released in February, which included $100 million for research into new biosecurity measures and vaccine development for poultry. Countries like France are already vaccinating poultry birds, but the USDA said it continues to evaluate whether the U.S. should do so. The agency has not approved such a vaccine, and rolling one out would affect U.S. exports. “We really do believe that an effective vaccine strategy would be very helpful for the egg and turkey producers, but we understand that has to be carefully done to ensure there’s not an impact to other markets,” Naig, in Iowa, said. “USDA has put some focus on this and now we’re awaiting what that vaccine strategy could look like.” Scientists have long been concerned that the bird flu virus might eventually develop the ability to spread effectively between people. Even given the low risk to humans at the moment, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies infectious diseases, advised people to take basic steps to prevent infection with H5N1 as well as the seasonal flu.“Get your flu shot. Don’t drink raw milk, don’t eat unpasteurized cheese, particularly when cases are circulating. Don’t let your cats feed outside when it’s migratory bird season,” Chin-Hong said.A scenario in which a person gets infected with both H5N1 and seasonal flu at the same time could be problematic because it would enable the bird flu virus to more easily rearrange its genetic code to suit humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped holding coordination calls on H5N1 with health providers this spring — a change Chin-Hong laments. He hopes the agency will resume the calls, and he disagrees with the Trump administration’s termination of mRNA vaccine research funding. The biotech company Moderna was developing a bird flu vaccine that used the mRNA platform, but the Department of Health and Human Services canceled its grant.The CDC did not respond to a request for comment.Evan BushEvan Bush is a science reporter for NBC News.
November 27, 2025
Nov. 26, 2025, 7:48 PM EST / Updated Nov. 26, 2025, 11:38 PM ESTBy Marlene Lenthang and Tom WinterTwo National Guard members were shot in broad daylight in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon, just one day before Thanksgiving, in what officials described as a “targeted” attack.The guard members are in critical condition, authorities said. They were shot in the head, according to a U.S. official and a senior official directly briefed on the investigation. The suspect was also shot and taken to a hospital. He has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, four senior law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation said.Follow live updatesNational Guard members have been based in Washington since August following President Donald Trump’s highly contested directive to curb crime in the nation’s capital. The shootingThe shooting happened at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday near the Farragut Square Metro Station in the area of 17th and High streets NW, just a few minutes’ walk from the White House.At the time, National Guard members were on “high visibility patrols,” said Jeff Carroll, executive assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.The two National Guard members were “ambushed” by a person who “came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard members,” Carroll said at a news conference. Law enforcement officials at the scene of the shooting in downtown Washington on Wednesday.Drew Angerer / AFP – Getty ImagesThe suspect was shot “during the interaction,” Carroll said, though it’s not clear who shot him, and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Other National Guard members were in the area and intervened by holding the suspect down after he had been shot until he was taken into custody. Officials said there no other suspects. Carroll said both guard members are being treated at a local hospital. Flight tracking data showed a medical helicopter landed on the National Mall, then flew to MedStar Washington Hospital Center following the shooting. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the shooting “targeted,” saying the suspect who was taken into custody “appeared to target these guardsmen.”What we know about the victimsThe two National Guard members were from the West Virginia National Guard. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey initially posted on X that both died from their injuries, but he later backtracked and clarified that his office has received “conflicting reports” about their conditions. Police: No motive identified in D.C. shooting; National Guardsmen in ‘critical condition’01:25Around 2,100 National Guard troops were serving in Washington as of Wednesday morning, including 181 West Virginia National Guard members, the joint task force operating in the city said.What we know about the suspectLakanwal, the man law enforcement sources said has been identified as the suspect, is 29, the four senior law enforcement sources told NBC News.He has been initially identified as an Afghan national who used a handgun, according to two senior U.S. law enforcement officials.Lakanwal, who grew up in Khost province, was living in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children, a relative of Lakanwal’s said.The relative said Lakanwal’s said he arrived in the U.S. in September 2021 after having served in the Afghan army for 10 years alongside U.S. Special Forces troops. A source familiar with the case and a separate law enforcement source told NBC News that the alleged shooter was granted asylum this year.What is the status of the investigation?FBI Director Kash Patel called the attack “a horrendous act of violence.”He promised at a news conference Wednesday that the perpetrator “will be brought to justice” and said the matter will be treated as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. The FBI will initially investigate the shooting as possible act of terrorism, two senior U.S. law enforcement officials said.President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the shooter was “severely wounded” and will “pay a very steep price.”Marlene LenthangMarlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.Tom WinterTom Winter is NBC’s National Law Enforcement and Intelligence Correspondent. Kelly O’Donnell, Ted Oberg, NBC Washington, Mosheh Gains, Gordon Lubold, Gary Grumbach , Laura Strickler, Courtney Kube and Rich Schapiro contributed.
October 2, 2025
Oct. 2, 2025, 12:48 PM EDTBy Shannon PettypieceJenna Norton drove out of the parking lot of the National Institutes of Health office in Maryland on Wednesday morning with a lump in her throat, leaving behind her research on kidney disease patients and not knowing when she’d see her colleagues or a paycheck again.“I feel really sad,” said Norton, who is among the roughly 750,000 federal employees furloughed this week as part of a government shutdown. “It was weird walking out the door and saying goodbye to everyone and not knowing when I’ll see them again.” We’d like to hear from you about how you’re experiencing the government shutdown, whether you’re a federal employee who can’t work right now or someone who is feeling the effects of shuttered services in your everyday life. Please contact us at tips@nbcuni.com or reach out to us here.Those furloughed employees won’t be paid until Congress passes legislation to fund the government, with neither side showing signs of budging as the shutdown entered its second day. While most of the furloughed employees won’t be allowed to work during the shutdown, others who are deemed essential — such as members of the military and airport security screeners — will have to continue working without pay. Federal workers typically receive back pay once the government reopens, but that requires congressional approval.On top of the uncertainty around when workers will see a paycheck again, the Trump administration has threatened to use the shutdown as a pretext to carry out more mass firings. “They’re really scared,” said Lauren Leib, a land law examiner at the Bureau of Land Management in New Mexico and president of the National Treasury Employees Union Local 340. “We’ve got people who are the primary income earners with very young children, and they’re going to be going without a paycheck and they don’t know what this is going to mean for them going forward.” That’s left federal workers, already drained and demoralized by months of layoffs and funding cuts, scrambling to figure out how to cope with the possibility of weeks without pay and a new round of layoffs, according to nearly two dozen federal workers who reached out to NBC News to share how the shutdown was impacting them.One State Department employee in his 20s said he was planning to deliver food for DoorDash and drive for Uber to pay his bills. The wife of a Department of Homeland Security worker in Ohio said she had to borrow $600 from a colleague to cover her co-pay on a set of leg braces she needed to pick up this week for her disabled child. “We run the risk, if this goes on longer than a week or two, of not being able to pay our mortgage and the possibility of losing our house,” she said, adding that her bank rejected her request for a deferment on her $1,700 a month mortgage. She said her oldest daughter has already asked if the shutdown will mean they will lose their home and have to move in with relatives and change schools. “Everybody thinks that federal workers get paid this really good money. But what my husband does, people who are in the military, who work for TSA, they struggle just like everybody else,” she said. “They are going to work without being paid, they’re wondering, without this paycheck, how am I going to pay this bill, where’s my next meal going to come from?”Like nearly all federal employees whom NBC News spoke with, she asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation by the Trump administration, which has publicly fired federal workers it has deemed as being against its agenda.“I was never afraid to speak my mind before, I never felt afraid to talk. Now, people are afraid,” an Arizona TSA worker said, explaining her concerns over speaking publicly about how the shutdown is impacting her. The TSA worker, who will have to continue working without pay during the shutdown, said she has enough in savings to get by for two to three weeks because she’d borrowed some extra money over the summer while refinancing her home in anticipation of a shutdown. But if the shutdown goes beyond a few weeks, she’s worried about being able to even afford the $88 a week at the gas pump she needs to get to work. “I’m working as a civil servant for the citizens of America to make their traveling safe,” she said. “Do you want me worrying about your safety or do you want me worrying about how am I going to feed my kid? How am I going to be able to afford her medication? How are we going to survive? Am I going to lose my house?”Still, the TSA employee and several others with whom NBC News spoke said they were in support of the shutdown despite the near-term hardship, if it meant pushing back against cuts the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress have been making to health insurance programs and other federal services. “This is not something that any federal worker wants, but at the same time, enough is enough,” said M.T. Snyder, who works for the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency that ensures employers follow laws protecting workers’ rights to organize. “We really need to stand up for our services that we provide and the agencies that enforce laws because, since Trump has been in office, his main goal has been destroying these agencies.”The Trump administration has said the federal workforce would shrink by around 300,000 workers this year to a total of 2.1 million people as a result of voluntary resignations and firings led by the Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative started in the early days of the Trump administration by billionaire Elon Musk. At the NIH, Norton said she feels like the government has already been slowly shutting down since the Trump administration began sweeping funding cuts and new barriers were put in place limiting medical research, including the work she does trying to develop real-world interventions to reduce health disparities among kidney disease patients. Despite the cutbacks she will have to make without her paycheck, she said she is glad to see Democrats in Congress doing something to stand up to the attacks by the Trump administration on federal workers and the services they provide. Democratic leaders in Congress have said they want to see an extension of Obamacare subsidies that expire at the end of the year included in a bill to keep the government open, something Republicans have refused to agree to. People who get health insurance through Obamacare will begin getting notices in the coming days warning that their premiums will soon go up unless Congress extends the funds.“I am thinking about the suffering that always happens in a shutdown, the harm that happens when people don’t get the services that they need, and as a federal worker, I won’t be paid during the shutdown,” Norton said. “But I’m also looking at this bigger picture and continuing the status quo just seems so much worse. So I think somebody in Congress needs to do something to rein in the lawlessness and this just seems to be one of the few opportunities they have for doing that.”Shannon PettypieceShannon Pettypiece is senior policy reporter for NBC News.
November 12, 2025
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