A possible end to the cursed shutdown may be looming, though it is still uncertain as we write if the Democrats in the Senate can extract any help on health care costs before letting the GOP’s “continuing resolution” return the airways, government payments and other things we didn’t think we would miss to a state of Normal. With Trump, and the cowed collection of legislators with the majority in both houses, the only sure outcome is falsehood. How many federal workers will actually return to work? What is “Normal" and who makes the call? It should be the voters, if we can keep our wits about us. We have a great, timely update on all this from People's Action down below. Stay tuned. It’s News You Can Use

HERE IN MARYLAND

Summaries by Maryland Reporter

Shutdown Shutting Down? The U.S. Senate on Sunday advanced compromise legislation that will reopen the government for three months in exchange for a vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits. Eight moderate Democrats voted with Republicans to advance the bill. (Associated Press)

As Trump Admin Tells States to Reverse Snap Aid, Moore Says No: The Trump administration has instructed states that they must "immediately undo any steps" that were taken to provide full SNAP benefits to low-income Americans, saying states were "unauthorized." The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a late-night Saturday memo, also threatened to impose financial penalties on states that did not comply with the government's new orders. The Associated Press/CBS-TV News. >>Maryland appears unlikely to change its plan to spend $62 million to help state residents who depend on food stamps. During a television appearance Sunday, Gov. Wes Moore said his state would not wait to find out whether SNAP funds will be available to residents trying to buy food. Baltimore Sun. >> Moore said that there has been "intentional chaos" from the Trump administration, which contends that it cannot fund SNAP benefits amid the shutdown. "They got money for everything but when it's to supporting the people, that's now when they are crying, well, we are broke and that's not what the law requires us to do," Moore said. Face the Nation.

Moore Announces More Aid For Fed Workers, Low-Income Folks: On day 38 of the federal government shutdown — the longest ever recorded — Gov. Wes Moore announced another round of state assistance for federal workers and low-income Marylanders. WYPR-FM.

AG Brown Compiles ‘Voluminous’ Record of Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Policies: In less than 10 months, the Maryland AG’s office has either led or joined in more than 100 Trump-related legal actions. Since Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, In less than 10 months, Brown’s office has filed or joined other Democrat-led states, in 43 lawsuits against administration actions and has filed or joined in about 70 legal briefs in support of lawsuits by others challenging administration policies — including one on Friday, when Maryland joined 25 states challenging an administration plan to cut food assistance during the government shutdown. Maryland Matters

BWI, Reagan National And Dulles Facing FAA Flight Cuts: Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport will see a 10% cut in flights as part of federal plans to slash airline capacity due to the government shutdown. So will Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International. Baltimore Banner.  >> The 40 airports set to see a 10% reduction in flights during the government shutdown nearly matched the list of the nation’s busiest airports, according to a preliminary list, potentially leading to thousands of flight cancellations across the country. Maryland Matters. >> BWI Marshall Airport is among 40 major U.S. hubs that will see flight capacity reduced by 10%, a move that could disrupt travel plans as the busy holiday season begins.  Baltimore Sun. 

Maryland Sues Trump Administration For ‘Illegal’ Action To Keep FBI In D.C.: The state of Maryland and Prince George’s County sued the Trump administration Thursday over its plans to keep the FBI headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C., a move that they said would “unlawfully sabotage a multiyear collaborative effort” to relocate the facility to Greenbelt. Maryland Matters. >>The state of Maryland on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to keep the FBI’s headquarters in D.C. instead of relocating the agency to Prince George’s County under plans that were approved by the Biden administration. WaPo

Mid-Decade Redistricting Poses More Risk Than Reward, Ferguson Warns: Redrawing Maryland’s congressional districts mid-decade could imperil, rather than aid, Democrats’ chances of retaking the U.S. House next year, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) warned this week. Maryland Matters.  >>After announcing earlier this week that he was creating an advisory commission to recommend new congressional district lines in advance of next November’s mid-term election, Gov. Wes Moore (D) pressed his case Wednesday, declaring, “I think people want to make sure that we have fair maps, and … I’m committed to making sure in Maryland that we will see this process through.” Bethesda Today.  >>Maryland General Assembly Democrats’ objective was clear following the 2020 census: to redraw U.S. House district maps so the party could more easily defeat conservative Rep. Andy Harris, the only Republican in the state’s congressional delegation. The effort flopped.  Baltimore Sun.

Pressure Mounts on Ferguson to Allow Redistricting: Dozens of people gathered on the first floor of the Maryland State House on Friday to call for Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional districts to counter partisan redistricting in GOP-led states — and specifically to rally against Ferguson’s opposition to redistricting. Maryland Matters.

Commission: End Charging Youth As Adults Automatically For Some Crimes: A Maryland commission is recommending that the state do away with its practice of automatically charging youth as adults for certain crimes, saying it doesn’t improve public safety and can harm the youth. Maryland Matters.

MD National Guard Creating Crowd And Riot Control Action Force: The Maryland National Guard is set to establish a crowd control reaction force by April, following an order from a top military commander requiring every state, territory and the District of Columbia create a “quick reaction force” that provides crowd and riot control as well as use riot batons and shields.  Baltimore Sun.

THE REGION AND THE OTHER 49

NEIGHBOR STATES saw big Democratic victories last Tuesday: Democrat Mikie Sherrill succeeds a Democratic governor in New Jersey; Dem Abigail Spanberger will replace a Republican governor in Virginia, where Democratic legislators also widened their narrow margin in both houses. Pennsylvania handily voted to retain three incumbent Democratic state Supreme Court judges. More in Megan E's weekly dispatch below.

SHUTDOWN: State workers in charge of processing SNAP benefits are struggling to implement federal changes to the program under President Trump’s reconciliation bill, at the same time the shutdown has delayed this month’s payments. The law requires states to keep error rates below 6%, or else partially fund SNAP benefits themselves. Only eight states had error rates below the threshold in FY 2024. (Pluribus News)

MORE: The Trump administration ordered states to “immediately undo” steps taken to provide November SNAP benefits in a Saturday night memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The memo ordered states to provide 65% of the maximum benefit allotments and called efforts to send full benefits “unauthorized.” (MassLive) A federal appeals court ruled Sunday night that the administration had to fully fund SNAP benefits. (NBC News)

GAMBLING: Bipartisan legislation to legalize online sports betting advanced to the Wisconsin Senate floor for a vote. The measure would require gambling to be managed by the state’s federally recognized Native American tribes, which already offer in-person betting. (Wisconsin Examiner) via Pluribus

ALMANAC ADIEU The Farmers’ Almanac will cease publication after its 2026 edition, citing growing financial costs. The publication was first printed in 1818, using a secret formula based on sunspots, planetary positions and lunar cycles to generate long-range weather forecasts. (Associated Press) via Pluribus

ELECTRICITY DEMAND (and data centers): New Kansas businesses with demanding electricity requirements, such as data centers, will be subject to additional costs and restrictions after the Kansas Corporation Commission approved a large-load tariff, the Kansas Reflector reports. The regulator’s order requires a minimum contract term of 12 years for businesses using more than 75 megawatts of peak load energy per month. Stateline Daily

Speaking of the power drain, Bloomberg reports this morning  (11/10) that “in Nvidia’s hometown of Santa Clara, two massive data centers sit dark as the city’s utility tries to boost capacity. It’s a snapshot of a broader bottleneck: tech’s appetite for electricity is outpacing an aging grid. The power crunch echoes across the nation: Amazon has complained that a Berkshire Hathaway utility in Oregon can’t keep up with its own data center plans. AI’s energy thirst is also hitting the average consumer. Power near data hubs now costs up to 267% more than five years ago.

Kentucky: A number of advocacy groups are urging Gov. Andy Beshear to halt utility disconnections in the state during the federal government shutdown.

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

Trump Recession Looming? A new report examining worker layoffs in the United States this year finds that the numbers through October closely resemble those seen during recessions in the past. The report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a private firm that tracks workplace hirings and firings across the country, found that there were 153,074 layoffs reported last month alone, a 183 percent increase from September. October 2025 also saw the highest number of layoffs for that month in particular over the past 22 years. Scheer Post via Portside

Waste, Fraud and Abuse starts with corporate collaboration and corruption: Trump and his congressional allies claim cuts of $1 trillion to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act  are needed remedies for waste, fraud, and abuse. Yet, they turn a blind eye to the trillions of dollars that private insurers drain from the public Medicare and Medicaid programs. Indeed, one of the administration’s first health financing actions—augmenting payments to Medicare’s private-insurance subcontractors—will add $25 billion to that waste in the coming year alone. If the administration were serious about curbing waste and inefficiency, it would start by reducing the diversion of public funds to these corporate intermediaries. Health Affairs

Trump’s assault on voting intensifies as midterms loom: ‘a wholesale attack on free and fair elections’ -- A year out from the 2026 midterms, with Republicans feeling the blows from a string of losses in this week’s elections, Donald Trump and his allies are mounting a multipronged attack on almost every aspect of voting in the United States and raising what experts say are troubling questions about the future of one of the world’s oldest democracies. The Guardian (UK)

The COP30 climate summit in Brazil, kicking off Monday, will be defined largely by the absence of the US, a space that will be partially filled by China, analysts said. Washington isn’t sending any high-level officials to the gathering in the Amazon rainforest, but President Donald Trump will still loom over the event as nations grapple with the White House’s heightened animosity toward clean energy and climate action, Semafor AND the NYT reports that Trump minions (including the alleged diplomat Marco Rubio) are playing rough even in their absence: Trump Officials Accused of Bullying Tactics to Kill a Climate Measure: Nations were poised to approve the first fee on pollution from ships. That’s when the Trump administration began the threats.

If you thought the tax breaks in the Big Ugly Bill must be enough for the billionaire class, guess again: How the Trump Administration Is Giving Even More Tax Breaks to the Wealthy: The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service are issuing rules that provide hundreds of billions of dollars in tax relief to big companies and the ultrarich. NYT

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Here's the weekly rundown on Congress and other DC doings from People's Action federal affairs director Megan E. People's Action is the national affiliate of Progressive Maryland.

Hello People's Action!

 Congratulations to all who worked for progressive and Democratic victories in last week’s elections! Mayor-elect Mamdani was a particular highlight in a race where a multi-racial working class coalition took on big money in big name corporate backed candidate Andrew Cuomo. 

Pennsylvania Stands Up and Pennsylvania United worked to successfully defend three incumbent state Supreme Court justices against pro-corporate candidates who received an onslaught of money from billionaire and authoritarian regime supporter Jeffrey Yass. 

Unfortunately, People’s Action- and Take Action Minnesota-endorsed candidate Omar Fateh did not take out incumbent Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey in a close race. 

Newsweek has a full list of Democratic victories last week and results are still being analyzed for takeaways that are useful for next year’s midterm elections. 

The end to the longest federal government shutdown in history is nearing, and Democrats have received no guarantee of an extension to the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits. Last night, eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus broke with the party and voted with Republicans on a procedural vote to end the filibuster and move forward a continuing resolution (bill that extends current funding) that goes to January 30th and a package of 3 full-year appropriations bills. They are the bills that fund the military and veterans administration, the legislative branch (Congress and their staff).

This package also includes language reversing the mass firing of federal workers during the shutdown and barring future layoffs through Jan. 30. 

Senator Thune has also promised a floor vote in December to extend the ACA tax credits. Even if it passes -- which is unlikely -- there is no promise of a vote in the House. 

The members of the Democratic caucus who voted for the bill are King (I-ME), Cortez-Masto & Rosen (D-NV), Shaheen & Hassan (D-NH), Kaine (D-VA), Fetterman (D-PA) and Durbin (D-IL), the Democratic Whip. Schumer voted against the bill. My read is that Schumer wanted to appear to still be holding strong while Durbin, who is retiring, took one for the team. On the one hand, Democrats were winning the narrative on the shutdown and Trump was starting to feel some pressure on the ACA tax credits. On the other, government workers, SNAP beneficiaries and others were really starting to feel the pain of the shutdown and it needs to end at some point. It appeared unlikely that Republicans would cave as they are willing to inflict much more pain on the American people than Republicans are. 

The package is still not past the finish line. It’s likely to pass the Senate by Wednesday or sooner if Senators don’t put up procedural hurdles. House leadership is giving members 36 hours notice to get back to DC and vote for the bill. Since most Democrats are expected to vote against the bill, Speaker Johnson is relying on Trump to twist the arm of far right Republicans who don’t like to vote for funding bills. 

The issue of SNAP payments has been pingponging back and forth in the courts as the Trump administration does everything in its power to try to prevent people from receiving their full SNAP benefits. It is abundantly clear that the Trump administration is required by law to use the contingency funds, which it refused to use until two judges ordered the administration to release the funds. The only question now is whether the administration is required to fully fund SNAP or whether that is optional. The administration is hell bent on NOT fully funding SNAP using its resources to appeal court orders and yelling at states who have funded the program. The cruelty is the point.  

More on extending the ACA tax credits from Politico: 

“Reps. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) are releasing a bill Monday that would extend expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits for two years. Unlike legislation from Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) that would enact a clean extension, the bill from Liccardo and Kiley would cap eligibility for the credits at those making six times poverty-level income. For a family of four, that would be $192,900. In a bid to “pay for” the legislation, the bill would target “upcoding” in Medicare Advantage and impose new penalties on brokers who submit false applications to enroll in the ACA.” On the one hand, taking the money from the private insurance companies who are scamming Medicare is good; on the other hand that money should stay in Medicare and be reinvested in lowering costs for beneficiaries.

In solidarity,

Megan