The Onion Premiered Oct 9, 2025 Unlike anything you’ve already seen about Jeffrey Epstein, this documentary uncovers the truth behind one of America’s most notorious perverts. This is Jeffrey Epstein: Bad Pedophile.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at an event on November 12, 2015 in Orlando, Florida.

 (Photo by Tom Benitez/Pool/Getty Images)

“He should have died in The Hague,” said one journalist.

Common Dreams Staff

Nov 04, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)

Dick Cheney, a chief architect of the US invasion of Iraq and broader “war on terror” that has killed millions of people since its inception, has died at 84, his family announced in a statement Tuesday.

Cheney was best known for his central role in the administration of former President George W. Bush, under whom Cheney served as vice president.

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An unapologetic advocate of preemptive war and torture in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Cheney was widely regarded as a war criminal who should have faced international prosecution.

“He should have died in The Hague,” journalist Mehdi Hasan wrote in response to the news of Cheney’s death.

Cheney’s family said he died “due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.”

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Common Dreams Staff

This article was written by Common Dreams staff.

Houston resident Eric Dunham approaches to receive a free lunch bag from business owner Nhan Ngo (L) and volunteers Rashida Mize (R) and Jennifer Unger at Petit Beignets and Tapioca Restaurant in Houston, Texas, on November 1, 2025. 

(Photo by Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images)

“If Trump had any shred of humanity in him, he would do whatever was necessary to prevent hunger and suffering in the country he claims to love,” said one critic.

Brett Wilkins

Nov 04, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)

In apparent open defiance of two federal court rulings, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration will not fund a key federal nutritional aid program until after the Republican government shutdown ends, leaving millions of families even more vulnerable to hunger at a time of crisis-level food insecurity.

In a post on his TruthSocial network, Trump took aim at both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the administration of former President Joe Biden.

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Despite Court Rulings, Trump Refuses to Pay Out Food Stamp Benefits to Tens of Millions

‘Not Good Enough’: Trump to Pay Partial November SNAP Benefits After Court Rulings

“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!” the president wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

“Trump’s message to 42 million Americans: Eat dirt.”

Responding to the president’s post, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote on social media, “After a judge ordered Donald Trump to make SNAP payments, the wannabe king declared he will defy a court order and won’t help people afford groceries.”

“Trump’s message to 42 million Americans: Eat dirt,” she added.

https://embed.bsky.app/embed/did:plc:5bl2qrmv4oubrlyg7eavvjm2/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4syj7zkrc2r?id=734472729388556&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.commondreams.org%252Fnews%252Ftrump-defies-courts-on-snap&colorMode=system

Seemingly contradicting Trump’s claim, the White House said later Tuesday that the administration is complying with one of the court orders.

Data from the nonpartisan US Government Accountability Office have shown that approximately 70% or more of working-age, non-disabled adults receiving Medicaid and SNAP benefits work full-time—defined as 35 hours or more per week.

On Friday, federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled against the US Department of Agriculture’s refusal to pay at least part of the $8 billion in SNAP benefits—also known as food stamps—to rightful beneficiaries in November via a contingency fund established by Congress.

The administration responded to the rulings by saying it would only fund around 50% of the total monthly benefits, while warning of likely payment delays.

Plaintiffs in the Rhode Island case—represented by Democracy Forward and the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island—subsequently filed an emergency request seeking a court order compelling Trump and his administration to comply with Friday’s order.

“The Trump-Vance administration continues to play politics with people’s lives through failing to ensure SNAP payments are expeditiously available,” Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement Tuesday. “This is immoral and unlawful.”

“The political posturing should stop now,” Perryman added. “The administration needs to fully fund SNAP benefits so people can eat, today. We should not need to go to court to force the administration to provide food all people are entitled to in this country, but here we are—back in court to demand that the administration acts consistent with the judge’s order.”

Alejandra Gomez, executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), said ahead of a planned Tuesday press conference: “It took two court orders and mounting public pressure for the Trump administration to fund SNAP assistance partially, which is not good enough. Arizona families in need deserve better.”

“December SNAP benefits are not guaranteed, and every day that Congress fails to act, children will go hungry, food banks run dry, and working families will pay the price,” she added. “It is time to end the shutdown, fund healthcare and SNAP.”

Now in its 35th day, the ongoing federal government shutdown is tied for the longest in US history. Vulnerable people—already reeling from record cuts to social programs to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and corporations under the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by Trump in July—are feeling even more pain, at a time when more than 47 million Americans, including 1 in 5 children, are living in food insecure households.

“I did not receive any benefits at all… And they said there is no promise of even getting any type of benefits for November,” Danielle Rodriguez, a single mother in Pennsylvania who lost $400 in monthly SNAP aid, told MSNBC‘s Ana Cabrera Monday.

“’Mommy, do you want my piggybank money to help with groceries?’”

“Unfortunately, I’ve had to reach out to my utility companies and stuff like that to go on payments to use some of my bill money to buy groceries for me and my kids,” she continued.

“It’s very stressful being a single mom of two kids. I have a 9-year-old, and she is offering her piggybank money,” Rodriguez added. “And she’s like, ‘Mommy, do you want my piggybank money to help with groceries?’ And it’s sad to hear my child say that to me because I’m mom—I’m supposed to do everything. I’m supposed to be their protector.”

Mitch Jones, managing director of policy and litigation at Food & Water Watch, said in a statement: “At a time when rampant corporate consolidation has driven grocery prices sky-high, Trump continues to choose cruelty over the rule of law. He must abide by recent court orders and immediately release SNAP aid to the millions of low-income American families suddenly hanging on the precipice of an unconscionable hunger crisis.”

“If Trump had any shred of humanity in him, he would do whatever was necessary to prevent hunger and suffering in the country he claims to love,” Jones added.

Update: This piece has been updated with the White House’s statement of compliance with one of the court orders.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Brett Wilkins

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

Library event celebrates groundbreaking 1950 Mattachine Society, which helped shape modern queer identity.

By Joshua Rotter

November 4, 2025 (48hills.prg)

On Veterans Day 1950, a handful of gay men hiked up a hillside in Los Angeles, in a neighborhood then called Eden Dale. Meeting in secret was risky. Being discovered could mean arrest, entrapment, a lost job, or a beating.

Yet these men—led by the visionary activist Harry Hay—came together with a radical idea: what if queer people could see themselves as a community with rights, dignity, and solidarity?

From that quiet circle grew The Mattachine Society, a groundbreaking group that helped launch the modern gay rights movement in the US. The spark they lit would ripple into generations of activism, law, culture, and community.

It’s hard to imagine Harvey Milk, the White Night Riots, the Castro, or the rainbow flags flying on Market Street without that first ignition.

Now, 75 years later, San Francisco is marking the anniversary with They Lit the Fuse!, a one-night program at the Main Library’s Koret Auditorium on November 13. The evening dives into the Mattachine story with images, rare archival materials, and even a John Wayne film clip—because, as the organizers point out, sometimes history is stranger than fiction.

The lineup is made up of queer history all-stars: Devlyn Camp, creator of the podcast “Queer Serial”; Will Roscoe, editor of Radically Gay; Jim Van Buskirk, founding program manager of SFPL’s James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center; and Joey Cain, longtime curator and researcher. [In the late ‘90s, Van Buskirk and Cain worked to preserve the Harry Hay papers at the Hormel Center.]

All together, they’ll unpack how a hillside meeting in LA helped set the stage for what would later unfold in San Francisco.

Cain doesn’t mince words about what Mattachine ignited. “The exhilaration of freedom,” he says. “Freedom to live authentically and not on the false terms of religion, government, or society.” 

That defiance was explosive in the days of McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare, when homosexuals were branded as threats and purged from public life. “Mattachine grew out of the possibilities of the New Deal and Socialist thought in the ’40s,” says Cain. “And let’s face it, we’re experiencing a new McCarthyism now.”

One of the group’s significant innovations was seeing queerness not as a shameful secret but as the basis of community. “They envisioned us as a unique community with constitutional rights,” Cain adds. “Before that, gays and lesbians didn’t necessarily see themselves as a minority with shared experiences.” 

Their pledge was simple: no one crosses the “maelstrom of deviation” alone. Van Buskirk hears that as a reminder for 2025. “With today’s renewed homophobia and transphobia, Mattachine’s message of community, knowing no one is alone, is unfortunately a timely and vital message,” he says.

The Mattachine story might have started in LA, but San Francisco quickly became its second home. Van Buskirk points out that five years later, in 1955, four lesbian couples here—including Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon—founded the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization in North America. 

Their magazine, The Ladder, went nationwide, and by 1960, they were hosting the first national lesbian convention here. Meanwhile, after leadership battles tore through Mattachine in LA, Hal Call moved the organization north to San Francisco.

Call may not have the name recognition of Hay or Martin and Lyon. Still, Van Buskirk calls him essential for appearing on Berkeley’s KPFA radio in 1958 and in The Rejected, the first documentary about gay men on American television. He would also open Adonis, the first gay bookshop in the US, and later the first gay adult theater.

“Call is one of many important, if controversial, figures in our early history,” Van Buskirk says. 

In a city that would later give the world Folsom Street Fair and the Castro Theatre marquee, it makes sense that even the movement’s messy chapters are still rooted in San Francisco.

Keeping those stories alive has been a lifelong project for Van Buskirk. He points to one photo in particular—the only known image of a Mattachine meeting, snapped secretly by John Gruber. 

“It remains iconic,” he says. “I’ll also quote from his unpublished manuscript so that people can hear his motivations in his own words. The Harry Hay Papers are another essential source.” 

For Van Buskirk, archives aren’t just dusty files; they’re lifelines. “[Spanish philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist] George Santayana said, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,’” he reads. “Preserving papers not just of famous people like Hay but also of a ‘regular Joe’ like Gruber lets us understand context from original documents.”

But even the best archives have gaps. The early record still underrepresents women, people of color, and other marginalized voices. Van Buskirk credits the women who succeeded him at the Hormel Center for pushing to fill those lacunae. In a city that has always prided itself on intersectionality, that work is far from done.

So what does progress look like, three-quarters of a century later? Cain sees a world transformed but unfinished. 

“The cultural, social, and legal acceptance of LGBTQ people, the existence of identifiable communities, is a world we live in, at least in the US,” he says. “But the oppression, imprisonment, and murder of our people in many parts of the world is unfinished business.” 

His words point to the paradox of progress: for every rainbow flag on Market Street, there are countless stories of queer lives still threatened.

Younger activists tend to encounter this history through podcasts, films, and social media, rather than leafing through old newsletters or court transcripts. That’s why Camp’s “Queer Serial” podcast has been so influential, layering archival audio with storytelling to make the past feel urgent. Van Buskirk says that’s the point. 

“Engaging each generation via their preferred formats is essential,” he says. “I remember asking in 2008 why there needed to be a Harvey Milk biopic when there was already a powerful documentary. My partner said, ‘People don’t watch documentaries.’”

The recent film Fairyland, based on Alysia Abbott’s memoir about growing up with her gay father, poet Steve Abbott, shows how San Francisco’s queer history continues to ripple. 

“Hopefully, some viewers will want to read her memoir, Steve’s poetry, and explore his archives,” says Van Buskirk. 

For him, it’s all part of the same lineage: Mattachine in the ’50s, Daughters of Bilitis in the ’60s, Milk in the ’70s, ACT UP in the ’80s, marriage equality in the 2000s, and Fairyland in the 2020s. The through-line is memory, courage, and the refusal to disappear.

As They Lit the Fuse! unfolds in the Koret Auditorium, just blocks from the Tenderloin where Compton’s Cafeteria riot took place, and not far from the Castro rainbow crosswalks, the resonance will be impossible to miss. 

“I hope attendees leave impressed by the courage of these pioneers, who paved the way for my generation—I came out in the early ’70s—and for everyone since,” says Van Buskirk.

The pledge the Mattachine founders wrote in 1950—that no one should cross the darkness alone—remains urgent in a time of anti-trans laws, book bans, and rising hate crimes.

Seventy-five years after a secret hillside meeting, San Francisco will honor that spark not as nostalgia but as fuel for the battles ahead. In this city, history comes out from behind glass—it marches down Market Street every June, it dances in leather at Folsom, it’s whispered in the stacks of the Hormel Center, and shouted from drag stages in the Tenderloin. 

They Lit the Fuse! isn’t just about what happened on a hillside in Los Angeles. It’s about what continues to happen here—in the city that took that spark, fanned it into a flame, and still refuses to let it go out.

THEY LIT THE FUSE! November 13. Koret Auditorium, SF. More info here.

Joshua Rotter

Joshua Rotter is a contributing writer for 48 Hills. He’s also written for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, SF Examiner, SF Chronicle, and CNET.

By Adrienne Fong

Am not posting on a regular basis

 RESOURCES:

STAY UPDATED WITH BAY RESISTANCE and get plugged to actions you can support, text “Resist” to 888-850-0928

GI HOTLINE (877) 477-4497

  – Share this number to people who know active duty service members

See list of Calendar of Events on Palestine from AROC: https://www.araborganizing.org/events/ 

  If your post is about Palestine you can also list your action on the AROC calendar

There are events listed on Indybay that might be of interest to you(many listings in the South, North & East Bays and beyond the bay area)

Please post your actions on Indybay: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/?page_id=12

Bay Area Progressive Action Calendar

ATW Bay Area / NorCal — Action Together West

ARTICLES

A. UN warns of ceasefire violations after overnight Israeli attacks in Gaza – November 4, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVnsheDfBE8

B. S.F. supervisor blasts move to store towed RVs at Dogpatch pier November 4, 2025

S.F. supervisor blasts move to store towed RVs at Dogpatch pier

  See Event # 2

C. Top ICE Official Says Protesters Can Be Arrested for Simply Criticizing Mass Deportation Campaign: Court Filing – November 4, 2025

Top ICE Official Says Protesters Can Be Arrested for Simply Criticizing Mass Deportation Campaign: Court Filing | Common Dreams

D. Zohran Mamdani makes history to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor – November 4, 2025

 Zohran Mamdani makes history to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor | Middle East Eye

E. AI-powered drones used in Gaza now surveil US cities: Report –November 3, 2025

AI-powered drones used in Gaza now surveil US cities: Report

F. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE SCOTT WIENER CONFRONTED ON PALESTINE  – November 1, 2025

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQgGTjbiLmK/

G. U.S. Navy found elevated plutonium in Bayview. S.F. says it was kept in the dark. – October 30, 2025

U.S. Navy found elevated plutonium in Bayview. S.F. says it was kept in the dark.

H. Trump orders US nuclear weapons testing to resume for the first time in 33 years – October 30, 2025

Trump orders US nuclear weapons testing to resume for the first time in 33 years | NationofChange 

  See Petition # 3

4 PETITONS

1. An SF Supervisor Wants To Make SF’s Surveillance Transparency Law Unenforceable

  SIGN: Tell SF Supervisors Not to Gut Surveillance Ordinance   

2. Governors must stand up to Trump and demand SNAP funding for November

  SIGN: Take Action!

3. No Nuclear Testing

    SIGN: No Nuclear Testing – RootsAction

4. Corruption has consequences. Tell Big Tech to admit their mistake and demand refunds now

Corruption has consequences. Tell Big Tech to admit their mistake and demand refunds now.  

PETITIONS of Scheduled November Executions (Click on the name to sign)

November 13, 2025 at 10:00 am CT:
Tremane Wood in Oklahoma

November 13, 2025 at 6:00 pm ET:
Bryan Jennings in Florida

November 14, 2025 at 6:00 pm ET:
Stephen Bryant in South Carolina

November 20, 2025 at 6:00 pm ET
Richard Randolph in Florida

EVENTS / ACTIONS

Wednesday, November 5 – Monday, November 10

Wednesday, November 5

1. Wednesday, 8:00am -4:00pm, ICE Out Of San Francisco Courts

100 Montgomery St.
SF
(Nr. Montgomery BART)

EVERY Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday

Join your neighbors in resisting ICE abductions happening at immigration court hearings!

We meet every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday outside of one of the SF immigration court buildings to:

• deter ICE from taking people
• accompany people to their court proceedings (if/as requested)
• walk people to their transportation home (if/as requested), to reduce their chances of being abducted in transit
• encourage oncoming traffic to honk in support 🙂
• share art, literature, and snacks

Court is in session from 8am – 4pm. Including cleanup & last call for accompaniment home, we’re generally outside from 8am to 4:30pm / 4:45pm.

Info: ICE out of San Francisco courts! : Indybay   

2. Wednesday, 11:00am, No Tows Without Homes Press Conference 

16^th & Harrison – (At parklet on southwest corner)
San Francsco

This Wednesday, November 5th at 11 AM, the Coalition on Homelessness is holding a press conference. We’re calling on the city to halt the towing and displacement of San Franciscans living in their RVs.

The city’s RV parking ban went into effect on November 1st, and threatens the survival of RV households. The Large Vehicle Refuge Permit Program was supposed to protect RV residents, but the reality has been a bureaucratic nightmare:

·       As of  October 28th, only half of the over 500 RV residents have received permit stickers

·       Nearly 100 residents were told they “don’t exist” in the city’s database and forced into a difficult appeals process as requirements keep changing

·       The city worker has to place the sticker on the RV, there is no office to get a permit.

·       RV households face an impossible choice: accept any shelter offer even if it doesn’t meet their needs, or lose their permit and face towing

·       Anyone without a sticker is subject to tow.  They will not let people even apply for a permit after Saturday even if they qualify for one.  

The City does not have enough housing and shelter beds to offer the over 1,400 people living in their vehicles in San Francisco – not to mention the 4,000 on the street.

Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/DQfXCSuksTg/?img_index=1  

Thursday, November 6

3. Thursday, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, Close Guantánamo & Dismantle the Inhumane Deportation Machine NOW!

22^nd & Bartlett St. (corner)
Near the Mission’s Farmers Market
SF

Come join us in community and with human rights defenders around the world!
The monthly Close Guantánamo GLOBAL Vigils mostly happen on the 1st Wednesday of the month, every month in London, NYC, Washington DC, Mexico City, Brussels, Detroit, Portland and other cities and towns around the world.

In November, San Francisco vigilers are meeting on THURSDAY at the Mission Farmer’s Market as we continue the call to end the ongoing human rights abuses at Guantánamo and to:

STOP all the cruel, inhumane, unlawful detentions and deportations NOW!
Shut down “Alligator Alcatraz” NOW!
No new ICE Detention Center in shuttered Federal Dublin Prison!
Close the ICE Detention Center in California City NOW!

Info: Close Guantánamo & Dismantle the Inhumane Deportation Machine NOW! : Indybay

Friday, November 7

4. Friday, 8:00am – 4:00pm, ICE out of San Francisco courts!

100 Montgomery St
SF

Join your neighbors in resisting ICE abductions happening at immigration court hearings!

We meet every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday outside of one of the SF immigration court buildings to:

• deter ICE from taking people
• accompany people to their court proceedings (if/as requested)
• walk people to their transportation home (if/as requested), to reduce their chances of being abducted in transit
• encourage oncoming traffic to honk in support 🙂
• share art, literature, and snacks

Court is in session from 8am – 4pm. Including cleanup & last call for accompaniment home, we’re generally outside from 8am to 4:30pm / 4:45pm.

Serious violence against protestors has occurred, but most days thus far have passed without incident.

Everyone is welcome and every one is vital, even if you can only participate for a small while.

Info: ICE out of San Francisco courts! : Indybay

5. Friday, 10:30am – 12:30am, Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG)

Israeli Consulate
456 Montgomery St.
SF 

Come and join Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG) and autonomous activists in letting the israeli consulate know that they are NOT welcome in SF Bay Area

Bring noisemakers, drums, banners, whistles, horns and flags to make a proper ruckus! 

No business as usual for mass murderers.

Let’s keep showing up for a Free Palestine!

Info from Toby Blome

Saturday, November 8

6. Saturday, 10:00am – 6:00pm, MECA & Joining Hands’ 22nd Palestinian Holiday Crafts Bazaar

Ciel Space
935 Carleton St.
Berkeley

Support Palestinian artisans and keep ancient crafts alive! Purchase unique holiday gifts that support Palestinian children and families.

Olive oil, ceramics, embroidery, jewelry, olive wood, cookbooks, keffiyehs, soap, stunning scarves & shawls, Palestinian Dead Sea products, children’s toys and books, kitchenware, t-shirts, and much more.

Plus delicious Arabic food and coffee! Lunch tickets available for 2 seating times (11:30am and 1:00pm)

Info: MECA & Joining Hands’ 22nd Palestinian Holiday Crafts Bazaar : Indybay

7. Saturday, 12Noon – 2:00pm, Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday)

Corner of
Van Ness & O’Farrell Sts
SF

We do not consent to Trump and his billionaire allies taking a chainsaw to our government and our economy for their benefit! San Francisco is a sanctuary city and We the People need to defend the values that make it so. Let’s stand united and oppose the endless assaults on our communities, our civil rights, the rule of law, and our democracy.

Keep democracy alive every Saturday by showing up, taking a stand, and sticking together for the long haul. Standing together is better than standing alone. Let’s get together and call out the Trump/MAGA regime as a community. 

What you can do:
• If you’ve got signs, flags, cardboard cutouts, or any protest visuals you want to make, bring ’em! We also have spare signs to lend.
• If you have whistles, drums, cowbells, or other noisemakers, bring ’em!
• Musicians are welcome and encouraged. Sing the song of democracy!

Host: Indivisible SF

Info: Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday) : Indybay

8. Saturday, 12Noon – 3:00pm, Showing of the film “No Other Land” and discussion

First Unitarian Universalist Society
1187 Franklin St
SF

Tickets: Screening of “No Other Land” with discussion – Sat, Nov 8, 2025 at 12:00 PM PST | Kinema

   If you are able, please donate $15 at the door to cover costs. We also invite you to donate to Save Masafer Yatta.

This film, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2024, shows the daily reality of apartheid and ethnic cleansing for residents of Masafer Yatta (a region in the southern West Bank) and the need for a joint future of shared safety. The film portrays stories of Palestinian daily life and the experience of Israeli Jews who reject the status quo that are often erased in U.S. conversations about Israel/Palestine, Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham said in his Academy Award acceptance speech, Following the 1.5 hour film, activists familiar with the West Bank will invite viewers to discuss the film, how the situation in the West Bank can be solved, and what people of all faiths in the U.S. can do to help achieve this. 

Hosts: Unitarian Universalist Society of SF & San Francisco Quarker Meeting

Info: Showing of the film “No Other Land” and discussion : Indybay 

9. Saturday, 5:30pm – 7:00pm, A Community Conversation: How Fascism Is Controlling Us and the World

Black & Brown Social Club
474 Valencia St.
SF

Light vegetarian meal shared

Fascism is already here and its web is rapidly increasing in the United States of North America and globally.

Join us for a community conversation on Palestine, Immigration and the move towards fascism.

ALL are invited to come together to break down the barriers, educate one another and resist what is happening.

Info: A Community Conversation: How Fascism Is Controlling Us and the World : Indybay  

Sunday, November 9

10. Sunday, 12:30pm – 3:00pm, Premiere:  Crushing Wheelchairs

Roxie Theatre
3117 16^th St
SF

Tickets: https://roxie.com/film/crushing-wheelchairs/

Houseless People Create a movie about Homelessness…

While the US government signs an executive order to literally disappear houseless comeUnities from cities across the Nation and California towns implement more violent sweeps and sweeps orders against houseless residents  – A powerful new movie is created by houseless/formerly houseless artists, cultural workers, poets and survivors that tells the stories of the people being disappeared.

Crushing Wheelchairs, with an original screenplay written by houseless poet and povertyskola tiny gray-garcia, adapted from her award winning  play of the same name focuses on the violence of homelessness, city and state sponsored sweeps, and poLice terror. The movie includes an all houseless/formerly houseless cast whose motto is: “We aren’t acting, we are living.” It was shot primarily in houseless communities (encampments) and on the streets in Oakland and San Francisco. 

SEE THE TRAILER OF THE MOVIE HERE

The story of Crushing Wheelchairs is written in a prayer, a dream, and a scream felt and barely survived by me, tiny gray-garcia aka povertyskola, my houseless, disabled mama, and all of my fellow poverty/disability skolaz & ancestors portrayed/lived in this movie/story. This is the art of our lives, our almost survival, and our death at the hands of laws that say our bodies and lives are criminal and that we are trash.

The lead characters in this powerful movie feature tiny and her mother, who struggled with homelessness throughout her childhood and later were arrested for sleeping on the streets of Oakland; Aunti Frances Moore, a formerly houseless Black Panther in Oakland; Stephanie Grant, who was pregnant and homeless when she witnessed the murder of Luis Gongora Pat by poLice in 2016, for being houseless and indigenous in a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco Mission neighborhood. The ancestors of homelessness we also focus on include Steven Taylor, murdered by poLice in Walmart while houseless for having a mental health crisis; Papa Bear, a houseless veteran of three tours in Vietnam, who died on the streets of San Francisco after receiving 280 citations for being houseless on the street, iris Canada , a 100 year Black Elder evicted to homelessness from her longtime home in the Fillmore due to gentrification, Shannon Marie Bigley, Cornelius Taylor and James Edward Oakley, all run over by bulldozers in sweeps of their tents in California and Atlanta, Anjileen “Green Eyes” Swan, who died after being violently swept in Los Angeles and Luis Temaj, burned alive while asleep in his sleeping bag  and so many more.  

More info about the film: Houseless People Create a movie about Homelessness….

Monday, November 10

11. Monday, 5:00pm, Fascists, Zionists, Out! TPUSA Tour Coming to UC Berkeley

Currently Zellerbach Hall
UC Berkeley
Berkeley

Doors open at 5, event starts 6:30. Signal announcements thread here:
https://signal.group/#CjQKIInx7h73RnVyGFvxoJz_8780izm23Vrd8FnJqUo_1w8REhBGpgxgI3-mwdnDlEVzm6Fl

Multicultural Community Center got closed down, admin handed over names of antizionists to feds, and now TPUSA is ending their tour in Berkeley

A bunch of fliers have have been posted all over UC Berkeley campus, announcing that TPUSA will be coming to Berkeley as part of their campus tour on November 10th at Zellerbach Hall. A link to a Signal announcements chat was also posted: tinyurl.com/tpusaout 

Info: This is The Turning Point, November 10, 2025 6:30PM | Ticket Office @ Zellerbach Hall

Host: some anarchists

Info: Fascists, Zionists, Out! TPUSA Tour Coming to UC Berkeley : Indybay

By Adrienne Fong

Am not posting on a regular basis

 RESOURCES:

STAY UPDATED WITH BAY RESISTANCE and get plugged to actions you can support, text “Resist” to 888-850-0928

GI HOTLINE (877) 477-4497

  – Share this number to people who know active duty service members

See list of Calendar of Events on Palestine from AROC: https://www.araborganizing.org/events/ 

  If your post is about Palestine you can also list your action on the AROC calendar

There are events listed on Indybay that might be of interest to you(many listings in the South, North & East Bays and beyond the bay area)

Please post your actions on Indybay: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/?page_id=12

Bay Area Progressive Action Calendar

ATW Bay Area / NorCal — Action Together West

ARTICLES

A. UN warns of ceasefire violations after overnight Israeli attacks in Gaza – November 4, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVnsheDfBE8

B. S.F. supervisor blasts move to store towed RVs at Dogpatch pier November 4, 2025

S.F. supervisor blasts move to store towed RVs at Dogpatch pier

  See Event # 2

C. Top ICE Official Says Protesters Can Be Arrested for Simply Criticizing Mass Deportation Campaign: Court Filing – November 4, 2025

Top ICE Official Says Protesters Can Be Arrested for Simply Criticizing Mass Deportation Campaign: Court Filing | Common Dreams

D. Zohran Mamdani makes history to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor – November 4, 2025

 Zohran Mamdani makes history to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor | Middle East Eye

E. AI-powered drones used in Gaza now surveil US cities: Report –November 3, 2025

AI-powered drones used in Gaza now surveil US cities: Report

F. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE SCOTT WIENER CONFRONTED ON PALESTINE  – November 1, 2025

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQgGTjbiLmK/

G. U.S. Navy found elevated plutonium in Bayview. S.F. says it was kept in the dark. – October 30, 2025

U.S. Navy found elevated plutonium in Bayview. S.F. says it was kept in the dark.

H. Trump orders US nuclear weapons testing to resume for the first time in 33 years – October 30, 2025

Trump orders US nuclear weapons testing to resume for the first time in 33 years | NationofChange 

  See Petition # 3

4 PETITONS

1. An SF Supervisor Wants To Make SF’s Surveillance Transparency Law Unenforceable

  SIGN: Tell SF Supervisors Not to Gut Surveillance Ordinance   

2. Governors must stand up to Trump and demand SNAP funding for November

  SIGN: Take Action!

3. No Nuclear Testing

    SIGN: No Nuclear Testing – RootsAction

4. Corruption has consequences. Tell Big Tech to admit their mistake and demand refunds now

Corruption has consequences. Tell Big Tech to admit their mistake and demand refunds now.  

PETITIONS of Scheduled November Executions (Click on the name to sign)

November 13, 2025 at 10:00 am CT:
Tremane Wood in Oklahoma

November 13, 2025 at 6:00 pm ET:
Bryan Jennings in Florida

November 14, 2025 at 6:00 pm ET:
Stephen Bryant in South Carolina

November 20, 2025 at 6:00 pm ET
Richard Randolph in Florida

EVENTS / ACTIONS

Wednesday, November 5 – Monday, November 10

Wednesday, November 5

1. Wednesday, 8:00am -4:00pm, ICE Out Of San Francisco Courts

100 Montgomery St.
SF
(Nr. Montgomery BART)

EVERY Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday

Join your neighbors in resisting ICE abductions happening at immigration court hearings!

We meet every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday outside of one of the SF immigration court buildings to:

• deter ICE from taking people
• accompany people to their court proceedings (if/as requested)
• walk people to their transportation home (if/as requested), to reduce their chances of being abducted in transit
• encourage oncoming traffic to honk in support 🙂
• share art, literature, and snacks

Court is in session from 8am – 4pm. Including cleanup & last call for accompaniment home, we’re generally outside from 8am to 4:30pm / 4:45pm.

Info: ICE out of San Francisco courts! : Indybay   

2. Wednesday, 11:00am, No Tows Without Homes Press Conference 

16^th & Harrison – (At parklet on southwest corner)
San Francsco

This Wednesday, November 5th at 11 AM, the Coalition on Homelessness is holding a press conference. We’re calling on the city to halt the towing and displacement of San Franciscans living in their RVs.

The city’s RV parking ban went into effect on November 1st, and threatens the survival of RV households. The Large Vehicle Refuge Permit Program was supposed to protect RV residents, but the reality has been a bureaucratic nightmare:

·       As of  October 28th, only half of the over 500 RV residents have received permit stickers

·       Nearly 100 residents were told they “don’t exist” in the city’s database and forced into a difficult appeals process as requirements keep changing

·       The city worker has to place the sticker on the RV, there is no office to get a permit.

·       RV households face an impossible choice: accept any shelter offer even if it doesn’t meet their needs, or lose their permit and face towing

·       Anyone without a sticker is subject to tow.  They will not let people even apply for a permit after Saturday even if they qualify for one.  

The City does not have enough housing and shelter beds to offer the over 1,400 people living in their vehicles in San Francisco – not to mention the 4,000 on the street.

Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/DQfXCSuksTg/?img_index=1  

Thursday, November 6

3. Thursday, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, Close Guantánamo & Dismantle the Inhumane Deportation Machine NOW!

22^nd & Bartlett St. (corner)
Near the Mission’s Farmers Market
SF

Come join us in community and with human rights defenders around the world!
The monthly Close Guantánamo GLOBAL Vigils mostly happen on the 1st Wednesday of the month, every month in London, NYC, Washington DC, Mexico City, Brussels, Detroit, Portland and other cities and towns around the world.

In November, San Francisco vigilers are meeting on THURSDAY at the Mission Farmer’s Market as we continue the call to end the ongoing human rights abuses at Guantánamo and to:

STOP all the cruel, inhumane, unlawful detentions and deportations NOW!
Shut down “Alligator Alcatraz” NOW!
No new ICE Detention Center in shuttered Federal Dublin Prison!
Close the ICE Detention Center in California City NOW!

Info: Close Guantánamo & Dismantle the Inhumane Deportation Machine NOW! : Indybay

Friday, November 7

4. Friday, 8:00am – 4:00pm, ICE out of San Francisco courts!

100 Montgomery St
SF

Join your neighbors in resisting ICE abductions happening at immigration court hearings!

We meet every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday outside of one of the SF immigration court buildings to:

• deter ICE from taking people
• accompany people to their court proceedings (if/as requested)
• walk people to their transportation home (if/as requested), to reduce their chances of being abducted in transit
• encourage oncoming traffic to honk in support 🙂
• share art, literature, and snacks

Court is in session from 8am – 4pm. Including cleanup & last call for accompaniment home, we’re generally outside from 8am to 4:30pm / 4:45pm.

Serious violence against protestors has occurred, but most days thus far have passed without incident.

Everyone is welcome and every one is vital, even if you can only participate for a small while.

Info: ICE out of San Francisco courts! : Indybay

5. Friday, 10:30am – 12:30am, Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG)

Israeli Consulate
456 Montgomery St.
SF

Come and join Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG) and autonomous activists in letting the israeli consulate know that they are NOT welcome in SF Bay Area

Bring noisemakers, drums, banners, whistles, horns and flags to make a proper ruckus! 

No business as usual for mass murderers.

Let’s keep showing up for a Free Palestine!

Info from Toby Blome

Saturday, November 8

6. Saturday, 10:00am – 6:00pm, MECA & Joining Hands’ 22nd Palestinian Holiday Crafts Bazaar 

Ciel Space,
935 Carleton St.
Berkeley

Support Palestinian artisans and keep ancient crafts alive! Purchase unique holiday gifts that support Palestinian children and families.

Olive oil, ceramics, embroidery, jewelry, olive wood, cookbooks, keffiyehs, soap, stunning scarves & shawls, Palestinian Dead Sea products, children’s toys and books, kitchenware, t-shirts, and much more.

Plus delicious Arabic food and coffee! Lunch tickets available for 2 seating times (11:30am and 1:00pm)

Info: MECA & Joining Hands’ 22nd Palestinian Holiday Crafts Bazaar : Indybay

7. Saturday, 12Noon – 2:00pm, Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday)

Corner of

Van Ness & O’Farrell Sts
SF

We do not consent to Trump and his billionaire allies taking a chainsaw to our government and our economy for their benefit! San Francisco is a sanctuary city and We the People need to defend the values that make it so. Let’s stand united and oppose the endless assaults on our communities, our civil rights, the rule of law, and our democracy.

Keep democracy alive every Saturday by showing up, taking a stand, and sticking together for the long haul. Standing together is better than standing alone. Let’s get together and call out the Trump/MAGA regime as a community. 

What you can do:
• If you’ve got signs, flags, cardboard cutouts, or any protest visuals you want to make, bring ’em! We also have spare signs to lend.
• If you have whistles, drums, cowbells, or other noisemakers, bring ’em!
• Musicians are welcome and encouraged. Sing the song of democracy!

Host: Indivisible SF

Info: Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday) : Indybay

8. Saturday, 12Noon – 3:00pm, Showing of the film “No Other Land” and discussion

First Unitarian Universalist Society
1187 Franklin St
SF

Tickets: Screening of “No Other Land” with discussion – Sat, Nov 8, 2025 at 12:00 PM PST | Kinema

   If you are able, please donate $15 at the door to cover costs. We also invite you to donate to Save Masafer Yatta.

This film, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2024, shows the daily reality of apartheid and ethnic cleansing for residents of Masafer Yatta (a region in the southern West Bank) and the need for a joint future of shared safety. The film portrays stories of Palestinian daily life and the experience of Israeli Jews who reject the status quo that are often erased in U.S. conversations about Israel/Palestine, Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham said in his Academy Award acceptance speech, Following the 1.5 hour film, activists familiar with the West Bank will invite viewers to discuss the film, how the situation in the West Bank can be solved, and what people of all faiths in the U.S. can do to help achieve this. 

Hosts: Unitarian Universalist Society of SF & San Francisco Quarker Meeting

Info: Showing of the film “No Other Land” and discussion : Indybay 

9. Saturday, 5:30pm – 7:00pm, A Community Conversation: How Fascism Is Controlling Us and the World

Black & Brown Social Club
474 Valencia St.
SF

Light vegetarian meal shared

Fascism is already here and its web is rapidly increasing in the United States of North America and globally.

Join us for a community conversation on Palestine, Immigration and the move towards fascism.

ALL are invited to come together to break down the barriers, educate one another and resist what is happening.

Info: A Community Conversation: How Fascism Is Controlling Us and the World : Indybay  

Sunday, November 9

10. Sunday, 12:30pm – 3:00pm, Premiere:  Crushing Wheelchairs

Roxie Theatre
3117 16^th St
SF

Tickets: https://roxie.com/film/crushing-wheelchairs/

Houseless People Create a movie about Homelessness…

While the US government signs an executive order to literally disappear houseless comeUnities from cities across the Nation and California towns implement more violent sweeps and sweeps orders against houseless residents  – A powerful new movie is created by houseless/formerly houseless artists, cultural workers, poets and survivors that tells the stories of the people being disappeared.

Crushing Wheelchairs, with an original screenplay written by houseless poet and povertyskola tiny gray-garcia, adapted from her award winning  play of the same name focuses on the violence of homelessness, city and state sponsored sweeps, and poLice terror. The movie includes an all houseless/formerly houseless cast whose motto is: “We aren’t acting, we are living.” It was shot primarily in houseless communities (encampments) and on the streets in Oakland and San Francisco. 

SEE THE TRAILER OF THE MOVIE HERE

The story of Crushing Wheelchairs is written in a prayer, a dream, and a scream felt and barely survived by me, tiny gray-garcia aka povertyskola, my houseless, disabled mama, and all of my fellow poverty/disability skolaz & ancestors portrayed/lived in this movie/story. This is the art of our lives, our almost survival, and our death at the hands of laws that say our bodies and lives are criminal and that we are trash.

The lead characters in this powerful movie feature tiny and her mother, who struggled with homelessness throughout her childhood and later were arrested for sleeping on the streets of Oakland; Aunti Frances Moore, a formerly houseless Black Panther in Oakland; Stephanie Grant, who was pregnant and homeless when she witnessed the murder of Luis Gongora Pat by poLice in 2016, for being houseless and indigenous in a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco Mission neighborhood. The ancestors of homelessness we also focus on include Steven Taylor, murdered by poLice in Walmart while houseless for having a mental health crisis; Papa Bear, a houseless veteran of three tours in Vietnam, who died on the streets of San Francisco after receiving 280 citations for being houseless on the street, iris Canada , a 100 year Black Elder evicted to homelessness from her longtime home in the Fillmore due to gentrification, Shannon Marie Bigley, Cornelius Taylor and James Edward Oakley, all run over by bulldozers in sweeps of their tents in California and Atlanta, Anjileen “Green Eyes” Swan, who died after being violently swept in Los Angeles and Luis Temaj, burned alive while asleep in his sleeping bag  and so many more.  

More info about the film: Houseless People Create a movie about Homelessness….

Monday, November 10

11. Monday, 5:00pm, Fascists, Zionists, Out! TPUSA Tour Coming to UC Berkeley

Currently Zellerbach Hall
UC Berkeley
Berkeley

Doors open at 5, event starts 6:30. Signal announcements thread here:
https://signal.group/#CjQKIInx7h73RnVyGFvxoJz_8780izm23Vrd8FnJqUo_1w8REhBGpgxgI3-mwdnDlEVzm6Fl

Multicultural Community Center got closed down, admin handed over names of antizionists to feds, and now TPUSA is ending their tour in Berkeley

A bunch of fliers have have been posted all over UC Berkeley campus, announcing that TPUSA will be coming to Berkeley as part of their campus tour on November 10th at Zellerbach Hall. A link to a Signal announcements chat was also posted: tinyurl.com/tpusaout 

Info: This is The Turning Point, November 10, 2025 6:30PM | Ticket Office @ Zellerbach Hall

Host: some anarchists

Info: Fascists, Zionists, Out! TPUSA Tour Coming to UC Berkeley : Indybay

PBS NewsHour Streamed live 3 hours ago Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show.

Rendezvous with Oblivion: Reports from a Sinking Society

Thomas Frank

From the acclaimed author of Listen, Liberal and What’s the Matter with Kansas, a scathing collection of his incisive commentary on our cruel times–perfect for this political moment

What does a middle-class democracy look like when it comes apart? When, after forty years of economic triumph, America’s winners persuade themselves that they owe nothing to the rest of the country?

With his sharp eye for detail, Thomas Frank takes us on a wide-ranging tour through present-day America, showing us a society in the late stages of disintegration and describing the worlds of both the winners and the losers–the sprawling mansion districts as well as the lives of fast-food workers.

Rendezvous with Oblivion is a collection of interlocking essays examining how inequality has manifested itself in our cities, in our jobs, in the way we travel–and of course in our politics, where in 2016, millions of anxious ordinary people rallied to the presidential campaign of a billionaire who meant them no good.

These accounts of folly and exploitation are here brought together in a single volume unified by Frank’s distinctive voice, sardonic wit, and anti-orthodox perspective. They capture a society where every status signifier is hollow, where the allure of mobility is just another con game, and where rebellion too often yields nothing.

For those who despair of the future of our country and of reason itself, Rendezvous with Oblivion is a booster shot of energy, reality, and moral outrage.

---

About the author

Thomas Frank

43 books711 followersFollow

Thomas Frank is the author of Pity the Billionaire, The Wrecking Crew, and What’s the Matter with Kansas? A former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Harper’s, Frank is the founding editor of The Baffler and writes regularly for Salon. He lives outside Washington, D.C.

The Yimbys are furious that a new report says upzoning won’t produce much new housing. The bigger story is that it will fail to produce affordability

By Tim Redmond

October 31, 2025 (48hills.org)

The most remarkable element of the report by the city economist on the mayor’s Rich Family Zoning Plan is not what most of the news media have reported: That the zoning changes won’t lead to anywhere near the amount of housing the state wants to see.

The far more important conclusion is that, even if the city allows developers to build all they want everywhere they want, it won’t bring housing prices down.

That directly contradicts the central thesis of the Yimby agenda.

We are already hearing from Yimby activists that the city needs to do even more to “limit obstacles” to new market-rate housing:

Jane Natoli, San Francisco organizing director for YIMBY Action, said that while the group supports the Family Zoning Plan, it has tracked the removal of provisions that could have allowed for more housing.

“We’re in this to solve a housing shortage, not a math problem,” Natoli said. 

They’re talking about more cuts in fees, even more upzoning, and all sorts of other ways to give public money and value to for-profit luxury developers so they can get enough return for the international speculative capital investors that they might decide to build a few units.

The Yimby group California Housing Defense fund says the city has to make sure 36,200 new luxury units are built, not just allowed in zoning:

“The City must rezone as promised in its housing element — it must upzone enough to produce (not merely attain capacity for) 36,282 units based on an analytical model that assesses the probability of development for rezoned parcels under current economic conditions,” the group stated. 

More:

YIMBY Action wrote a letter Thursday to state housing officials urging them to “give San Francisco clear guidance on how to fix its housing plan to assure it’s in compliance with state law.” The group said the city should “look at policy changes that would make it significantly easier to build — like fee reductions, single stair reform, and pre-approved plans — or by doing more rezoning.”

That’s beyond silly: The city is already doing single stair reform and fee reductions. But nothing the city does can force private developers to build. Developers aren’t interested in housing, they’re interested in profits; you can eliminate all zoning, all fees, all hearings, and developers still won’t build if they can’t get financing, which depends on factors far beyond the ability of the City and County of San Francisco.

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But far more important: Ted Egan, the city’s economist, says what many other economists and planners have been saying for years now: More market-rate housing—even lots and lots of new market-rate housing—won’t bring down prices to the level that most local workers can afford.

Egan is not a lefty by any measure. If anything, he’s a Yimby. From the report:

When the City relaxes zoning controls, by reducing density restrictions or increasing allowable heights, more development projects will become financially feasible, and the supply of housing in the city will rise. This increased supply will put downward pressure on housing prices in the city. Cheaper housing benefits city residents who move within the city, and also makes San Francisco more affordable for new arrivals.

Classic Yimby stuff.

But here’s the real news: The best-case scenario, which he calls the “high growth” scenario, would lead to reductions in housing costs of 2.5 to 4.2 percent. That means that average apartment would cost $125 a month less than it would if the plan isn’t implemented.

That’s a tiny, tiny amount. It means a $3,000 a month apartment might instead cost $2,875. The median priced condo might be $820,000 instead of $900,000. The impact on affordability is so small that it’s not even worth measuring.

And that’s in the best-case scenario.

Meanwhile, the displacement of local business could cost the city a lot of money:

 Annual business disruption and relocation costs range from $16 to $28 million, in today’s dollars.

That’s far more than the $8 million Sup. Myrna Melgar is proposing for business relocation expenses.

The bottom line: Allowing developers to build more luxury housing won’t do what the Yimbys say. It won’t make housing more affordable.

And that’s from the city’s relatively conservative economist.

Sup. Myrna Melgar told the Chron that “I am doing this job because I want to leave a better city for my daughters.” And she has done plenty of work in her five years to make this a better city.

But the mayor’s upzoning plan won’t make the city better for anyone. It will mean more displacement, more evictions, density that will overwhelm the existing infrastructure, including Muni—and housing prices will not come down to the level that most workers can afford.

Let’s say that again: Housing prices under this plan will not come down to the level most workers can afford.

I have listened to the supes argue over amendments to the Lurie bill, and some of them are critical to saving tenants. But nobody is saying the truth:

State Sen. Scott Wiener and his colleagues have forced on us a damaging plan that will harm tenants and small businesses—and that is based on a fundamentally false premise.

Density doesn’t mean affordability. The old neoclassical economic theory of supply and demand that I learned in Econ 101 in 1977 might have made sense in housing markets 50 years ago. But the data is clear that housing markets in an urban area like San Francisco don’t work that way in 2025.

We are letting Wiener and Lurie deeply damage the city—for no return.

Will someone, anyone, at City Hall please step up and tell the truth?

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Tim Redmond

Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.

A volunteer prepares food packages at a distribution event sponsored by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and volunteers at the Apostolic Church of Jesus on October 31, 2025 in Altamonte Springs, Florida.

 (Photo by Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Trump needs to stop weaponizing hunger. They have the authority to fully fund SNAP,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib. “It shouldn’t take a court order to get the president to stop starving families and release the funds.”

Jessica Corbett

Nov 03, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)

On the verge of the longest government shutdown in US history and in the wake of two losses in district courts, President Donald Trump’s administration announced Monday that it would only partially fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for 42 million Americans this month.

In response to lawsuits filed by state attorneys general, municipalities, nonprofits, and labor groups, federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island on Friday ruled against the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) refusal to use a contingency fund for at least some of November’s $8 billion in SNAP benefits, often called food stamps.

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Despite Court Rulings, Trump Refuses to Pay Out Food Stamp Benefits to Tens of Millions

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Judge John McConnell, appointed to the District of Rhode Island by former President Barack Obama, gave the USDA two options: Fully cover the November SNAP benefits with the emergency funding and money pulled from other sources by the end of Monday, or make a partial payment of the total amount of the contingency fund by the end of Wednesday.

In a pair of Monday filings, the Trump administration chose the latter, explaining that there is “a total of $4.65 billion in the contingency fund for November SNAP benefits that will all be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments.”

https://x.com/RepSummerLee/status/1985423219931648326?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1985423219931648326%7Ctwgr%5E344a526d39075f744216535b7b17861bab9b2a08%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fnovember-snap-benefits

While the development means millions of low-income families will at least get some benefits this month, a hunger crisis still looms. As one of the filings notes, “This means that no funds will remain for new SNAP applicants certified in November disaster assistance, or as a cushion against the potential catastrophic consequences of shutting down SNAP entirely.”

In a Monday statement, Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is representing the municipalities, nonprofits, and labor groups that sued in Rhode Island, welcomed that McConnell’s order “means SNAP beneficiaries—including children and seniors—whose money ran out at the end of last month should be receiving funds for essential nutrition.” However, she also called out the Trump administration for “still trying to deprive people of their full benefits,” which “will not only prevent people from getting the full sustenance they need but also delay payments going out altogether.”

“We are reviewing the administration’s submission to the court and considering all legal options to secure payment of full funds,” she pledged. “It shouldn’t take a court order to force our president to provide essential nutrition that Congress has made clear needs to be provided. But since that is what it takes, we will continue to use the courts to protect the rights of people. For now, we are pleased to have forced the administration to release money it had been withholding from 42 million people in America who rely on their benefits. Rest assured, we will continue to fight so that people have the full benefits they are entitled to under SNAP.”

Democratic Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell—who co-led the case in her state with over two dozen other AGs—noted Monday that “never in the history of the SNAP program—including during government shutdowns—has SNAP funding ever been suspended or only partially funded.”

“While some funding is better than no funding, the federal government has made it clear that they are only willing to do the bare minimum to help our residents, and only after they were required to do so by our lawsuit and the courts,” she said. “The Trump administration has the means to fund this program in full, and their decision not to will leave millions of Americans hungry and waiting even longer for relief as government takes the additional steps needed to partially fund this program.”

https://x.com/Ilhan/status/1985428285468356803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1985428285468356803%7Ctwgr%5E344a526d39075f744216535b7b17861bab9b2a08%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fnovember-snap-benefits

Democrats in Congress—who have refused to vote for the GOP majorities’ funding legislation to end the shutdown unless they reverse devastating cuts to Medicaid and extend expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits—also criticized the USDA’s plan.

“USDA has the authority to fully fund SNAP and needs to do so immediately. Anything else is unacceptable,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on social media. “Trump’s ‘decision’ to follow the court order and only send partial SNAP benefits to 42 million hungry Americans as Thanksgiving approaches is cruel and callous. Trump should focus less on his ballroom and his bathroom and more on the American people.”

Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) similarly said: “The letter of the law is as plain as day. Trump should have paid SNAP benefits all along. Just now paying the bare minimum to partially fund SNAP is not enough, and it is not acceptable. Trump should immediately work to fully fund benefits under the law.”

Both Senate Democrats from Massachusetts, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, also took aim at the president on Monday. Markey said: “Two federal courts confirm what we already knew: Trump must use contingency funds to fund SNAP this month. But millions will still see their benefits delayed because Trump tried to hold SNAP hostage. No more games. Use all available resources to ensure no one goes hungry.”

https://x.com/SenWarren/status/1985411428246044917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1985411428246044917%7Ctwgr%5E344a526d39075f744216535b7b17861bab9b2a08%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fnovember-snap-benefits

While it’s the Senate where Republicans need some Democratic votes to send a government spending bill to Trump’s desk, House Democrats also blasted the administration’s decision to only partially fund SNAP benefits in November.

“This is a very temporary Band-Aid,” stressed Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), adding that “42 million hardworking Americans are trying to figure out how they will keep food on the table. Partial is not good enough. End this Republican shutdown now so we can fully fund SNAP.”

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) declared: “Trump needs to stop weaponizing hunger. They have the authority to fully fund SNAP for 42 million Americans—including 1.4 million Michiganders. Anything less is unacceptable. It shouldn’t take a court order to get the president to stop starving families and release the funds.”

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Jessica Corbett

Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

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