Hungry Americans, Golden Ballrooms: Money for Me, but not for Thee

As of tonight, 42 million Americans stand to lose access to food. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP — is about to run dry, not because the money is gone, but because Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson refuse to release it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is currently sitting on $6 billion in reserves that Congress specifically appropriated to prevent exactly this kind of catastrophe during a government shutdown. Those funds could keep millions of children, seniors, veterans, and working families from going hungry — today. But the administration has made a deliberate choice to hold that money hostage, using hunger as leverage in its political games. Meanwhile, the same government that “can’t afford” to feed Americans has miraculously found $20 billion to prop up Trump ally Javier Milei in Argentina. The Treasury can wire billions overseas to reward a foreign autocrat, but it cannot release funds already allocated to feed American families. And while this cruelty unfolds, the president is demanding $230 million from U.S. taxpayers to build a gold-plated ballroom at the White House — after bulldozing the East Wing — so he can host luxury parties that will “dwarf the existing structure.” During his Asia trip, Trump was literally crowned in gold by South Korean hosts and served gold-topped desserts. All the while, 42 million Americans at home face empty plates. It is “money for me, but not for thee” made policy. Speaker Johnson’s excuses ring hollow. He refuses to call the House back into regular session, refuses to negotiate an end to the shutdown, and openly admits that releasing SNAP’s emergency funds would “reduce pressure on Democrats.” In other words, he is using hunger as a bargaining chip. The American people see through it. According to a Washington Post–ABC poll, voters now blame Trump and congressional Republicans for the shutdown by a margin of 45 to 33. Trump’s approval rating has sunk to 41 percent, with a –14 net disapproval, and recent polling shows Americans now trust Democrats more than Republicans to manage the economy. This is not fiscal discipline. It is cruelty wrapped in corruption. The same administration that can fund palaces abroad and ballrooms at home is starving its own citizens to win a negotiation. Congress must act: • Compel the USDA to immediately release SNAP’s emergency reserves. • End the shutdown and restore funding for food and healthcare programs. • Investigate the misuse of federal funds for personal and political gain. Feed your people. End this cruelty. Restore decency and accountability to our government.