A Year Ago, Trump Bet You’d Forget This. Did You? Joyce Vance Oct 31 I woke up to this reminder that I had left myself on my calendar exactly a year ago. And I had absolutely no idea what it was when I saw it. So I checked. It turned out to be two similar posts that I’d made on both Twitter and Bluesky last year. Here’s the post from Bluesky: “A lot is happening right now” might be the most understated sentence ever written. It reminds me that the first Trump administration, though shocking, proceeded at a slower pace. Usually, there was just one major scandal a day, not 12. We’ve now reached such a point of overwhelm that it’s hard to keep track of everything, and so much disappears from memory. So I’m glad I made that note to myself to revisit events from October 31, 2025. We were in the middle of a government shutdown. Congress had failed to pass a spending bill for the new fiscal year. When the old one ended on September 30, 2025, funding ran out, and the government largely shut down except for essential work. It became the longest government shutdown in history, continuing for 43 days until November 12. Russell Vought, the current head of OMB and one of the principal architects of Project 2025, wrote the official letter declaring the government was in shutdown. In what had become a hallmark of the second Trump administration, Vought’s letter bypassed the polite fiction that this Trump was leading a government by, for, and of the people. “President Trump supports passage of H.R. 5371, but it is now clear that Democrats will prevent passage of this clean CR prior to 11:59 pm tonight and force a government shutdown,” he wrote. “As such, affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown. It is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture.” As had become increasingly clear during Trump’s first year back in office, it was all about politics, not government. The post I flagged for myself was about something that happened during the shutdown. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, is a federal program that helps low-income individuals and families buy groceries. During the shutdown, the Department of Agriculture decided to freeze those payments. It claimed the government could not fund them because of the shutdown and announced that the payments would be frozen starting on November 1. That meant the money people relied on to feed themselves and their families would simply stop. Before the shutdown, the Department of Agriculture had a plan in place to continue funding SNAP. A $5 billion contingency fund was available to use in this situation. Suddenly, it reversed course. And it also terminated waivers that permitted older adults, veterans, and others to get benefits even if they weren’t able to work. SNAP helps keep food on the table for 1 in 8 Americans. To receive benefits, a family of four’s income must fall under the federal poverty line. In 2024, SNAP helped 41 million people; nearly two-thirds were families with children. Few government services are more essential during a shutdown than one that holds hunger at bay for America’s elderly, children, and others who struggle to afford food. But that wasn’t the case for the new Trump administration. Senator Amy Klobuchar put it like this: “The administration is choosing not to feed Americans in need, despite knowing that it is legally required to do so.” The Trump administration argued that the shutdown meant that it lacked the legal authority to continue paying benefits and, in any event, had no funding. But Senator Klobuchar was correct. Shutdown or no, the administration was required to pay SNAP benefits. So Democratic governors and attorneys general headed into court to keep Americans from starving. The government lost, spectacularly, with judges in two separate cases ruling against the administration. Trump posted on social media: “If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding.” But he still wanted to show that he was the boss, that he wouldn’t be complying with what the courts ordered the government to do: “Even if we get immediate guidance,” he said, “it [the payments] will unfortunately be delayed while States get the money out.” The courts’ orders were clear: use $5 billion in emergency contingency funds to keep SNAP running. Ultimately, the administration agreed to partial funding, but when one judge ordered full funding restored, it appealed. The case reached the Supreme Court but became moot when the shutdown ended. The reality here was that the administration could have spared these families the agony of thinking their children were about to go hungry. The funds were there, and it even had a plan to use them to keep SNAP going during the shutdown, as it had in past ones. But the Trump administration was willing to sacrifice people for political leverage. The judge in Rhode Island had put it plainly, holding that suspending SNAP funding was arbitrary and likely to cause irreparable harm. He entered an injunction, referring to the "terror" felt by Americans who were on the verge of going hungry for as long as the shutdown continued. There was enormous outrage at the time. States prepared to step up. Communities flooded local food banks with support. The food banks knew they would be stretched thin to meet the need but were prepared to try nonetheless. The administration wasn’t concerned. There was no humanity to it, just a willingness to take advantage of the moment for political purposes despite the human cost. You may have forgotten about this. So much happens every day. A year ago, the Trump administration gambled that we would forget before the midterm elections, and that they could get away with it. So here we are, remembering. This administration, which adopts the pretense that Trump is god-like, was willing to let Americans starve to try and outmaneuver Democrats on budget issues. And Republicans in the Senate and the House went along with it. Decide for yourself whether those people should continue to serve as our elected representatives. And make sure you share this reminder with others as Americans continue to vote. If you appreciate having a place to keep track of what’s happening, including the things this administration hopes we’ll forget, consider becoming a paid subscriber to Civil Discourse. Your support makes it possible for me to keep doing this work. And there is going to be plenty more to do. We’re in this together, Joyce