Category: Shutdown
When Public Service Really Matters
Government shutdowns carry with them many risks, both political and physical. One major risk comes from the air travel industry…
Fetterman Falls
“Fetterman Falls,” editorial cartoon by Tom Stiglich for The American Spectator on Nov. 14, 2025.
Washington’s priorities are backward — and veterans know it
When Washington shuts down, it doesn’t just stall politics — it shakes the lives of America’s veterans. At the outset of the government shutdown last month, a veteran named James called VetComm in tears. His question was simple but heartbreaking: “Will I still get paid next week? Because I can’t afford groceries if I don’t.”
James served his country with honor. Yet he worried about feeding his family because Democrats in Washington insist on prioritizing illegal immigrants over the very men and women who defended this nation.
Enough is enough. Stop putting illegal immigrants ahead of the heroes who built and defended this country.
I’ve dedicated my life to fighting for veterans like James — those who bled for this country, only to watch so-called representatives in Washington bend over backward for people who entered it illegally. With this latest government shutdown, Democrats have again slammed the door on veterans while rolling out the red carpet for illegal aliens.
A manufactured crisis
For over a month, Democrats held the entire nation hostage, demanding a $1.5 trillion, poison-pill-stuffed funding bill that includes “free health care” for illegal aliens while programs for veterans teeter on the brink. It’s not just reckless — it’s cruel. These are the same priorities that helped drive a 19% spike in veteran homelessness while illegal migrants got luxury hotel rooms on the taxpayer’s dime.
As the shutdown ends, the facts are clear. The House passed a clean continuing resolution to keep the lights on, maintain VA funding, and avoid chaos. But Senate Democrats — led by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York — rejected it, choosing to plunge the country into an unnecessary shutdown to appease their left-wing base.
The Democrats’ alternative was loaded with giveaways: subsidies for illegal immigrants’ doctor visits, hospital stays, and “health care rights,” while hundreds of thousands of veterans remain stuck on VA wait lists — some dying before they’re seen.
Staggering hypocrisy
Schumer once said avoiding a shutdown “is very good news for the country, for our veterans … all of whom would have felt the sting.” More recently, he warned that “a shutdown would mean chaos and pain and needless heartache for the American people.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declared, “It is not normal to shut down the government when we don’t get what we want.” Jeffries said shutdowns are “about the harm.”
Those very same politicians ended up leading one — weaponizing activist wish lists and pet projects against the GOP and the nation.
RELATED: Disabled vets denied dignity as VA claim backlog becomes unbearable
Johnrob via iStock/Getty Images
This pattern of betrayal isn’t new. Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the VA was caught reimbursing health care for illegal immigrants and their families, draining resources from veterans. I’ve seen it firsthand in San Diego — hotels packed with migrants while homeless veterans sleep on sidewalks, dodging needles and despair.
Over 10 million illegal crossings have occurred under the Biden administration’s watch. The result: big money for migrants, broken promises for veterans. The audacity to continue putting invaders ahead of patriots is shocking — and unforgivable.
The real human cost
Everyone knows a shutdown hurts troops, veterans, and families. Yet Democrats embraced it anyway, in service to radical ideology over national duty. Americans overwhelmingly oppose this madness.
Enough is enough. Stop putting illegal immigrants ahead of the heroes who built and defended this country. It’s time to restore sanity and start prioritizing America again.
At VetComm, we see the toll every day. The sleepless nights. The panic over missed paychecks. The spiraling PTSD and anxiety triggered by uncertainty. Veterans have already given everything; they shouldn’t have to fight their own government for stability and dignity.
Our mission is simple: Stand in the gap for those who stood for us. We help veterans understand their rights, claim the benefits they earned, and remember that their service still matters. A shutdown tests that mission — but it also steels our resolve.
Because while Washington bickers, we will keep fighting for every veteran, every day, not just Veterans Day.
Out to Lunch? Sen. Tim Kaine Says He Was So Distracted by Virginia Elections That He Couldn’t Pay Attention to Shutdown Negotiations.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D.) told a reporter he wasn’t giving his full attention to shutdown negotiations before Sunday because he was so focused on the elections in his home state of Virginia.
The post Out to Lunch? Sen. Tim Kaine Says He Was So Distracted by Virginia Elections That He Couldn’t Pay Attention to Shutdown Negotiations. appeared first on .
Trump uses tariff revenue to protect poor mothers and kids hurt by Democrats’ shutdown
Using the revenue of some of the tariffs that liberal critics have fought vigorously, President Donald Trump has helped vulnerable American mothers and, in the process, neutralized some of Democrats’ supposed “leverage” in what is nearly the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) recently admitted that while the Democrat-induced government shutdown has been painful for families across the country, it is somehow necessary because “it is one of the few leverage times [Democrats] have.”
In their quest for leverage, Democrats have jeopardized critical food assistance and health care for the nearly seven million poor American pregnant mothers, breastfeeding mothers, infants, and at-risk children who rely on the special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children program known as WIC.
‘American families deserve certainty from their government.’
The WIC program, which received roughly $7 billion in fiscal year 2024, is federally funded through the annual appropriations process. The National WIC Association warned last month that unless additional funding was injected into the program, millions of families would lose their benefits as of Nov. 1.
“NWA is calling on the White House to make additional emergency funds available to avoid a short-term crisis for the millions of American families who count on WIC while Congress negotiates full-year funding for FY 2026,” Georgia Machell, president of the NWA, said in an Oct. 21 statement.
“WIC is a lifeline for nearly 7 million pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and young children. Even short-term disruption to WIC’s healthy food benefits, lactation support, nutrition education, screenings, and referrals can have long-term negative impacts on families,” added Machell.
On Friday, the Trump administration tapped a fund of unused Section 232 tariff revenue in order to make $450 million available for the WIC program, reported Reuters.
RELATED: Here are the 4 Republicans who betrayed Trump AGAIN, joining Democrats to undermine the MAGA agenda
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Federal funding records reportedly show that the money was transferred to the WIC program on Friday from the tariff revenue fund, which was made available to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for commodity disaster assistance. The USDA drew $300 million from the same fund last month to keep the WIC program liquid.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated last month, “The Trump White House will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry because of the Democrats’ political games.”
Machell noted in the wake of the White House’s rescue of the program that “this additional funding is a welcome relief, but it is a stopgap, not a solution,” stressing the need for an end to the shutdown.
“American families deserve certainty from their government, not the constant anxiety of short-term fixes, especially when their children’s health is at stake,” said Machell.
While the administration swooped in to bolster the WIC program, it did not similarly drain its pool of tariff revenues to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, having indicated that it lacks the authority to use emergency funds for SNAP.
Not only did the transfer temporarily deprive Democrats of the ability to use American pain as political leverage, it served as yet another point in favor of Trump’s tariffs.
House Democrats prophesied in April that Trump’s tariff policy would lead to economic collapse. Even though such calamity has yet to manifest, Senate Democrats passed resolutions last week to eliminate some of the president’s global and country-specific tariffs, namely those imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
According to an Oct. 31 report from the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank focused on tax policy, “Trump’s imposed tariffs will raise $2.4 trillion in revenue over the next decade on a conventional basis” and had raised $174 billion in revenue between January and September of this year.
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‘Operation MRE’: Meals, reform, enforcement
As the government shutdown drags on, media pundits warn about a looming “food insecurity crisis.” That’s liberal shorthand for hunger — and if government numbers are correct, some 42 million Americans are supposedly about to go hungry.
Wait a second. That means 1 in 7 Americans relies on food stamps — or, as Washington now calls it, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
If a family of illegal aliens shows up, feed them an MRE, then put them on a bus to the nearest deportation flight.
Try this simple test: Look around and count the next seven people you see. Does anyone resemble a refugee from a third-world famine? If so, check his green card. If not, hand him one of Kristi Noem’s “get home free” cards and move along.
Among those 42 million, a fair question arises: How many are genuinely hungry — and how many haven’t missed a free government meal in years, maybe decades?
Here’s a modest proposal. The government shutdown could serve an unexpected purpose — sorting the truly needy from the habitual scammers.
Once the electronic benefit transfer cards run dry, the president should declare a national emergency and order the military to help distribute food directly to Americans in need. Set up relief stations at National Guard armories and military bases in every state.
At each station, ask for a valid government-issued ID and the now-worthless EBT card. Record both, take a quick photo, and hand each applicant a copy of the U.S. dietary guidelines. Then provide meals ready to eat — MREs — from existing military stores. Ask recipients to return the next day for actual groceries, in quantities matching the recommended dietary plan.
RELATED: The food pyramid big lie: How flawed science fed America a toxic diet
Photo by Joe Raedle / Contributor via Getty Images
That’s how you end food insecurity overnight — while also eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse.” It’s a win-win!
While they’re there, run basic checks for outstanding warrants, duplicate or fake IDs, and phony EBT cards. In this way, every needy American gets fed, and every scammer gets flagged.
If a family of illegal aliens shows up, feed them an MRE, then put them on a bus to the nearest deportation flight.
If the system works, maybe it’s time to replace the SNAP credit-card model entirely. Instead of government-issued plastic that funds junk food and fraud, Americans in need would receive actual food — efficiently and fairly.
The result? Less waste, lower costs, and fewer excuses for corruption disguised as compassion.
And if this plan exposes just how dependent Democrats have become on managing poverty rather than solving it, so much the better. Once it’s clear that the Bad Orange Man can feed Americans and deport freeloaders in a single stroke, watch how fast Chuck Schumer and company rush to vote for that continuing resolution.
Dems Take Away Free Food From the Snapanese at Great Political Risk
The Snapanese, a normally reliable Democratic constituency that depends on what the vernacular refers to as food stamps, may ‘Pearl…
‘National Disgrace’: Largest Federal Workers’ Union Rips Into Democrats, Demands Government Reopening
With the government shutdown nearing the one-month mark, the nation’s largest union representing federal workers, a close Democratic ally, is demanding that Democratic senators join Republicans in passing a House-approved resolution to reopen the government.
The post ‘National Disgrace’: Largest Federal Workers’ Union Rips Into Democrats, Demands Government Reopening appeared first on .
‘National Disgrace’: Largest Federal Workers’ Union Rips Into Democrats, Demands Government Reopening
With the government shutdown nearing the one-month mark, the nation’s largest union representing federal workers, a close Democratic ally, is demanding that Democratic senators join Republicans in passing a House-approved resolution to reopen the government.
The post ‘National Disgrace’: Largest Federal Workers’ Union Rips Into Democrats, Demands Government Reopening appeared first on .
