August 16, 2026

Government Shutdown

Blurb:

The Federal aviation Administration (FAA) will reduce flight capacity by 10 percent at 40 major airports across the country starting Friday due to critical shortages among air traffic controllers and other flight support staff, thousands of whom have been forced to work without pay for a month due to the Democrat-led government shutdown.

The restrictions will go into effect Friday morning, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced during a press conference on Wednesday. The airports affected will be announced Thursday, officials said.

According to a report from ABC News citing sources familiar with the matter, reductions will start at four percent as early as Friday and work up to 10 percent over the course of the weekend. The flights impacted by these reductions are scheduled during the hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Blurb:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has become a problem. She’s shooting inside the ship, blaming GOP leadership for the Democrat-induced Schumer shutdown, and opted to go on The View. She’s doing everything she can to break from the MAGA wing of the GOP, or is she? What the hell is happening? Well, Tara Palmeri had an interesting post on her Substack, where she alleges that President Trump’s political team nuked Greene’s plans to run for Senate in Georgia. Yet, the first reported slight was when Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) was asked to deliver the GOP response to Biden’s State of the Union address (via The Red Letter):

When Greene flirted with a statewide run in Georgia, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s political team quietly told her she wouldn’t beat Senator Jon Ossoff. That hit hard. Some people point to that moment in May as the catalyst for what we see now. It’s not just rejection of Speaker Mike Johnson. It’s a series of perceived slights from the broader MAGA machine, and she’s not hiding her bitterness even while insisting, “I support President Trump.”

Her recent Washington Post interview makes her grievance plain. “Whereas President Trump has a very strong, dominant style — he’s not weak at all — a lot of the men here in the House are weak,” Greene told the Post. “There’s a lot of weak Republican men and they’re more afraid of strong Republican women. So they always try to marginalize the strong Republican women that actually want to do something and actually want to achieve.”

Blurb:

The once-promising marriage between Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and the Republican Party appears to be headed for a nasty divorce.

Greene — who rose to prominence as one of the loudest and staunchest supporters of President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement — has been headed down this path for a while now.

The outspoken Greene has been excoriating her own Republican Party over the last month, particularly raging about the ongoing government shutdown and the battle over healthcare premiums.

(In a clear break from her party line, Greene doesn’t seem too interested in blaming Democrats for the shutdown.)

WARNING: The following post contains vulgar language that may offend some readers. 

Blurb:

Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has mysteriously changed his tune on eliminating the Senate filibuster shortly after President Donald Trump called on Republicans to end the procedure.

On Wednesday, the anti-Trump Democrat declined to say whether he supports eliminating the filibuster, despite previously being a vocal supporter of such efforts.

Raskin previously endorsed calls to end the filibuster during the Biden administration.

The congressman was asked by CNN’s Dana Bash about President Trump’s recent comments urging Republicans to end the filibuster.

He was also asked about the GOP’s losses in several races on Tuesday and the ongoing government shutdown.

“One of the things that he has been talking about for the last couple of days more intensely is getting rid of the filibuster,” Bash asked.

Blurb:

The Trump administration agreed earlier this week to release $4.65 billion of its $5 billion contingency fund to keep SNAP payments flowing. However, the administration made no promises that full SNAP payments would be allocated, and President Trump said the other day that no more payments would be made until Democrats ended the Schumer Shutdown.

The media are, of course, trying to blame the SNAP shortages on President Trump and Republicans. They’ve done their job and voted more than a dozen times to reopen the government. Democrats, on the other hand, have made it very clear they plan to use Americans’ suffering as leverage.

It would perhaps be easier for the media to garner sympathy if they chose stories about people who are more sympathetic. The other day, they spoke to a woman who had been on SNAP for three decades, which proved SNAP critics correct.

Blurb:

House Speaker Mike Johnson says that he’s ‘hoping and praying’ that there are enough Democrats in the Senate willing to break ranks and ‘do the right thing’.

But apparently there’s an actual plan in place, and it’s gaining steam.

Reports are now indicating that a group of rogue Democrats are willing to work behind Chuck Schumer’s back to help Republicans end the government shutdown…

Here’s a clip of Speaker Johnson confirming that change of approach:

Speaker Johnson was apparently referring to a very specific group of Democrats in the US Senate.

Blurb:

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has a real problem. People are realizing that the extended government shutdown is his own deliberate, cynical strategy.

The Democrats and the propaganda media desperately want Americans to blame President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans for the shutdown. But the facts are simply in their way. The House Republicans did their job on Sept. 19.

They passed a clean budget resolution to keep the government open without increasing spending. There were no new policy issues. There were no so-called poison pills to cost Democratic votes. There was no clever maneuvering. It was a simple, clean resolution – specifically designed to avoid drama and fund the federal government while the Congress and the President negotiate next year’s funding.

Further, this was a normal move. Simple, clean continuing resolutions have been used by Democratic-and Republican-led Congresses and presidents for many years.

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) reminded Americans on the “Alex Marlow” show that due to the ongoing shutdown she put at the feet of Democrats, American troops would not be paid were it not for Donald Trump.

She said, “My daughter is an active-duty servicemember, her husband is also an active-duty servicemember. So, there’s a two-member family that would not be receiving pay if President Donald Trump hadn’t cobbled together the pennies to pay our servicemembers.”

Blurb:

On Thursday’s “Alex Marlow Show,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) talked about the government shutdown.

Blurb:

SNAP food benefits for around 42 million Americans could resume as early as Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday morning, after two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to use emergency funds during the government shutdown. The action follows rulings on Friday by federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island directing the administration to draw on emergency resources to continue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme payments. Judge Jack McConnell of Rhode Island also instructed that the funds be provided “as soon as possible,” CNBC reported. Boston Judge Indira Talwani gave the administration until Monday to inform her whether it will authorise at least reduced SNAP benefits for November. The aid was originally set to be cut off on November 1.

Blurb:

A federal judge extended an order barring President Donald Trump‘s federalization and deployment of the National Guard to Portland, as she prepares to issue a final ruling later this week.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut has continuously sided with Oregon officials over the Trump administration about whether the president lawfully ordered the deployment of the National Guard in September, further extending her order blocking the deployment of any troops to Portland through Friday.

Immergut held a three-day trial last week featuring testimony related to Trump’s claims that protests over federal immigration operations grew so unruly he needed to call in the National Guard to protect federal assets and officials. The federal judge said that while she is still reviewing the evidence and testimony from the trial, based on her early reading of the evidence, the administration’s claims of violence in the immediate weeks before the deployment were unfounded.

Blurb:

Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) has declared that his fellow Democrats should “own the shutdown” as the government closure enters its second month.

Fetterman argues that the Democrats must acknowledge that the party bears responsibility for the ongoing stalemate that has left millions of Americans without federal food assistance.

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper, Fetterman was asked about the lapse of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on November 1.

The lapse cut off benefits for roughly 42 million Americans, including two million Pennsylvanians.

Tapper framed the issue as a political standoff between the White House and the Trump administration, asking Fetterman who he believed was to blame.

Blurb:

Since when has it been the job of the U.S. taxpayer to fund the grocery bills of immigrants? Because one Iraqi refugee said he would not be able to stay in this country without government support. And to call that a personal problem would be an understatement.

According to KVOA:

The uncertainty has left refugees like Bakr Rajab from Iraq worried. Rajab, who arrived in Pima County last December with his wife and two children, expressed his concerns.’

Blurb:

Democrats are deliberately holding the nation hostage—inflicting pain for ordinary Americans in hopes voters blame Republicans on Election Day. It’s not governance, it’s a political hostage game.

Who, in their right mind, would vote for them?

Blurb:

Tensions are boiling online as SNAP beneficiaries vent frustration on social media over the Democrats’ ongoing government shutdown, warning they could lose grocery benefits starting November 1.

Some are even threatening to loot stores if payments don’t arrive on time.

“It is the taxpayer’s responsibility to take care of my kids,” one emotional mother declared in a viral video.

It is the taxpayer’s job to pay for my kids to eat and for my kids to be taken care of.”

The woman also complained that none of her TikTok followers had sent her money and vowed to block anyone who watched her content without sending cash.

Blurb:

As usual, I don’t make the news — I just report it.

And everything I just typed in that headline is 100% accurate.

Another black woman has just melted down, going on a vile rant and issuing a threat to President Trump over her EBT food stamps.

Sick stuff!

Also, how hilarious is it that she’s complaining about not getting her food stamps, meanwhile she’s chewing on some food the whole time she’s  shooting this video!

NASTY!

Chew and swallow your food before you record a video!

Also, can I make a few other suggestions?

If you’re so hard up for money, may I suggest shifting the money you spend on hair dye and fake eye-lashes into the FOOD budget?

Just an idea.

We can also shut down the jewelry budget and take off and sell that disgusting nose ring, and put that money into the food budget.

I think I could have your problem fixed real quick!

Oh, and here’s another idea….instead of sitting at home on your ass posting these videos to TikTok all day long, how about you get a JOB and use the salary from that job for the food budget?

Hey, I’m pretty good at this!  Turns out this is not hard at all!

But instead of doing any of those things, this woman chose to record a video issuing a threat to President Trump.

Watch here:

TRANSCRIPT (in case you can’t understand all the ghetto-speak amidst all the food chewing):

Let me tell you something.

Trump got about 2.5 seconds to turn these motherfucking stamps back on or it’s gonna be a jet too motherfucking holiday all up and through Walmart.

And I ain’t fucking playing.

‘Cause let me tell you something.

You got us fucked up — you got us fucked up if you think we not gonna go in these stores and do what the fuck we were already doing.

We were already doing it, but see now we’re telling y’all, okay — we were already telling y’all, but see now we don’t give a fuck; we already didn’t give a fuck.

Blurb:

President Donald Trump says it is time for the Senate to end its 60-vote requirement to pass substantive legislation so that the government shutdown can end.

“BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAVE GONE STONE COLD ‘CRAZY,’ THE CHOICE IS CLEAR — INITIATE THE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION,’ GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER AND, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote Thursday night in a post on Truth Social.

The federal government has largely been shut down since Oct. 1 after Senate Democrats declined to approve a House-passed bill to keep it running through mid-November.

Blurb:

The Washington Post editorial board blasted Senate Democrats on Wednesday for “holding the government hostage” in a month-long shutdown aimed at forcing an extension of costly Obamacare subsidies.

The board is warning that the Democrats’ obstruction could soon leave millions of Americans without food assistance.

“The right answer is to reopen the government with a clean funding bill, ideally for a full year, to get food stamps flowing and federal workers back in the office, and then have a debate about ACA subsidies,” the Post editorial said.

“Democrats openly acknowledge that they refuse to do this because it would mean giving up their leverage.

“If they persist, it could mean families start to go hungry.”

Blurb:

The day before the start of the latest shutdown drama, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared that Republicans were “lying” about the Democrats’ hostage demands to turn the lights back on. No, the left’s spending plan would not pay for health care for illegal immigrants, the New York Democrat said. Doing so would require a change in federal law that bars such a thing, echoed Jeffries’ pals in corporate media.

Blurb:

 

 

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) faced an unlikely foe as he tried to plant the seeds of the Democrats’ narrative about the Schumer shutdown: CNN. Of all people, host Dana Bash blew up Jeffries’s “GOP shut down the government’ line, which knocked the New York liberal off course in comical fashion.

 

Bash rightly noted that Democrats rejected 14 motions to reopen the government:

JEFFRIES: “Donald Trump and Republicans shut the government and refused to reopen it. Donald Trump has spent the last 35 days, more time on the golf course, more time talking to Hamas and more time talking to the Chinese Communist Party than to Democrats on Capitol Hill, who represent half the country.”

Blurb:

Not that anyone should count on congressional Republicans to take a win when it’s presented on a gold-plated platter, but with each passing second, their position on this stupid, Democrat-driven government “shut down” only grows stronger.

Food stamp recipients aren’t getting their supplements, and air traffic controllers aren’t getting paid. Neither are thousands of other government workers. It’s not because President Trump and his Republican allies are causing a holdup. They’ve voted to continue current government funding levels. It’s because Democrats are demanding that middle-aged people (which is to say, working-aged) get to have cheap or free health insurance.

Seriously, that’s what Democrats are fighting for. According to 2023 data cited by the health policy organization KFF, the average age of a “nonelderly” Obamacare enrollee is 40 years old. Even if elderly Americans were included in that stat, it wouldn’t make a difference. Most are eligible for Medicare when they turn 65, and Obamacare was designed to extend health care benefits to individuals younger than that

Blurb:

It’s officially the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, and about a dozen Democrats are itching to find a way out.

But after Democrats’ sweeping victories Tuesday night, their colleagues are waking up this morning and wondering: Are we really going to cave now?

The big wins in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and elsewhere stand to complicate efforts to reopen the government. It’s hard to see most Democrats wanting to temper their momentum immediately after witnessing a massive voter backlash to President Donald Trump and Republicans.

“Tonight’s results are a repudiation of the Trump agenda,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that called it “a good night for Democrats and our fight to lower costs, improve healthcare, and reach a better future for American families.”

Blurb:

The ongoing federal government shutdown has put into question whether the federal government will continue to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in November. SNAP is one of the most important safety net programs in the United States, providing food assistance to 42.7 million people in an average month in 2024, at an annual cost of just over $100 billion. Policymakers often debate specific aspects of SNAP, such as the prudence of work requirements and sugary beverage restrictions, but hardly anyone has called for scrapping the program entirely.

SNAP benefits are currently paid entirely by the federal government, with funds delivered to states which then distribute the aid to families. But due to the ongoing shutdown, the Department of Agriculture has announced that they will not be able to transfer the necessary funds to the states for the month of November until the government reopens. Some have argued that the Department of Agriculture could utilize its stockpile of contingency funds to fund benefits, but the department has stated that they can only supplement already appropriated funds.

Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), I estimate the effect of suspending SNAP benefits in November on the number of people in poverty in the United States. The SIPP provides monthly data on families, their incomes, and participation in government programs. Relative to other frequently used surveys, it suffers from less misreporting of income and benefits. It is also the source for monthly poverty rates published by the Census Bureau.

For the 13th time, the U.S. Senate has failed to reach the 60 votes needed to pass the continuing budget resolution that would re-open the government. The vote was 55-45, with two Democrats breaking ranks and voting for the CR while one Republican voted against the CR. Getting a clear picture of the differences between the two is near impossible, with AI tools doing little more than carrying DNC talking points.

From the White House: FACT: Democrats’ proposal would result in nearly $200 billion spent on healthcare for illegal immigrants and other non-citizens over the next decade — enough to fund the entire Children’s Health Insurance Program.

While the DNC CLAIMS it’s not defending illegal aliens from losing healthcare coverage, Republicans insist they do. The language used by the DNC and its illegal campaign advertisers (with Reuters doing the most offensive work) is intentionally obtuse beyond defiantly declaring the DNC doesn’t want to fund illegal aliens. For now, MIA’s stance is the evidence points to the DNC wanting to fund illegal alien healthcare, or worse, destabilize America for the Progmerican revolution to grow.

Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is breaking ranks, saying to his own party, “As a committed Democrat, I’m dismayed my party is playing chicken with the food security of 42M Americans. I reject a political gamble that exposes a vulnerable constituency to widespread deprivation and chaos.”

This tactic appears, more and more, about causing “widespread… chaos” for the intentional of revolution than anything else. Read why the DNC should be declared a terrorist organization on pg. 2, remembering the American left STILL exists and should NOT be caught up in the judgement to come for the leaders of the Progmerican left.

Blurb:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has pushed back against the media narrative surrounding the current government shutdown, telling ABC News that the American people are hostage to the poll numbers of Democratic leaders.

Host Martha Raddatz asked Bessent on ABC’s “This Week” program whether President Trump should meet with Democrats as federal workers are beginning to suffer under the shutdown.

Bessent responded, reminding Raddatz that Democratic leadership is dug in, telling her, “The American people are hostage to Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries’ poll numbers! 52 Republican senators have voted 11 times to reopen the government.”

Blurb:

U.S. states are warning food aid recipients their benefits may not be distributed beginning Saturday if the federal government shutdown stretches into its fourth week.

Warnings issued on at least two dozen state websites flag the potential for an unprecedented benefit gap in November for Americans who get aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, and the nearly seven million who receive aid from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record.

Blurb:

As the government shut down continued on Wednesday,  with essential government employees working without pay for the 16th straight work day, some Democrat lawmakers were not bashful about explaining their strategy.

“Shutdowns are terrible and of course there will be, you know, families that will suffer,” acknowledged Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the House Minority Whip, during an interview, Wednesday.  “We take that responsibility very seriously but it is one of the few leverage times we have.”

President Trump’s “rapid response” team responded on X: “These people are SICK!”

Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) has also made clear that causing pain and suffering is a large part of the Democrats’ shutdown strategy.

“They [Republicans] have had months to negotiate,” Sanders said in a recent interview. “You reopen the government and we lose our leverage,” he added. “There has to be an agreement right now—That’s what this whole shutdown is about.”

 

Blurb:

President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to cut thousands of employees from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the longest government shutdown in history continues with no end in sight.

The move is in accordance with Trump’s promise to cut federal workers if a government shutdown ensued, Breitbart reported.

The federal government has been shut down since October 1 as the Democrats continue to block Republican deals that would have kept the government open through the end of the year.

Blurb:

That’s a video of Ted Cruz from 2013 warning of what was going to happen to healthcare under ObamaCare. It’s very important to point out that everything conservative said was going to happen to healthcare costs after Democrats rammed through ObamaCare has, in fact, happened.

Would it have been nice if conservatives did something about it at any point in the twelve years since this video? Sure. But that’s not the world we live in, and you have to fight your battles with the Republican Party you have and not necessarily the Republican Party you need.

Where we are now is the Democrat Party, after using the pandemic to blow up healthcare in America worse than they did with ObamaCare, is holding the government hostage unless Republicans vote to renew the “temporary” taxpayer-funded ObamaCare subsidies. To guilt the GOP into doing this, Democrats are rolling out sob stories. Of boomers. Who retired early. And want taxpayers to pay for their health insurance. While those taxpayers can barely afford their own health care. Because Democrats and ObamaCare have caused costs to skyrocket.