Today in one sentence: Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration for stopping food stamp payments during the government shutdown; Marjorie Taylor Greene confronted Speaker Mike Johnson on a private House Republican call, demanding to know “what the Republican plan for healthcare is”; a federal judge indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from firing federal workers amid the shutdown; Trump threatened to send “more than the National Guard” into U.S. cities; the U.S. military killed 14 people and left one survivor in strikes on four more boats in the eastern Pacific; Trump formally appealed his 2024 criminal conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal his effort to influence the 2016 presidential election; and House Republicans declared all executive actions signed by Biden’s autopen “void” unless proven to have his direct approval.

1/ Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration for stopping food stamp payments during the government shutdown, now in its 28th day. The states asked a federal court to force the Agriculture Department to use roughly $6 billion in contingency funds to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program running after Nov. 1, when benefits for 42 million people are set to lapse. The USDA claimed those funds were “not legally available” during a shutdown and blamed Senate Democrats for refusing to pass a stopgap spending bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, called separate legislation to restore food stamp funding “a waste of our time,” saying Democrats should instead vote to reopen the government. (New York Times / NBC News / CBS News / Bloomberg / Politico / CNBC / NPR / The Hill / CNN / Washington Post)

2/ Marjorie Taylor Greene confronted Speaker Mike Johnson on a private House Republican call, saying she had “no respect for the House not being in session” and demanding to know “what the Republican plan for healthcare is” as Affordable Care Act subsidies near expiration. Johnson replied that it was not helpful to attack Republicans, blamed Democrats for the shutdown, and warned that the pain was about to reach “10,” referring to millions of Americans who could lose food assistance. He said he had “ideas and pages of policy ideas” but offered no proposal. The House has not voted since September 19. Afterward, Greene posted that Johnson “refused to give one policy proposal to our GOP conference,” adding, “Apparently I have to go into a SCIF to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!” (CNN / NBC News / Axios / The Hill / HuffPost)

3/ A federal judge indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from firing federal workers amid the shutdown, granting a preliminary injunction and saying unions were likely to prove the layoffs unlawful. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston’s order blocked dozens of agencies from issuing or acting on “reductions in force” notices tied to the Oct. 1 lapse in funding, but it didn’t cover notices sent before the shutdown. About 4,100 employees have received notices since Oct. 10, and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said the total could exceed 10,000. “Human lives are being dramatically affected by the activities we’re discussing,” Illston said, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Velchik argued that “The American people selected someone known above all else for his eloquence in communicating to employees that you’re fired.” (Politico / NPR / Reuters / Associated Press / Axios / CNBC)

4/ Trump threatened to send “more than the National Guard” into U.S. cities, citing crime and immigration as justification for deployments that state leaders say overstep federal authority and aren’t needed. “We’re not going to have people killed in our cities,” Trump said. “And whether people like that or not, that’s what we’re doing.” Since August, Trump has deployed National Guard troops to Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, Memphis and Washington, D.C., which have led to court challenges from Democratic-led states. (Axios / New York Times / The Hill)

5/ The U.S. military killed 14 people and left one survivor in strikes on four more boats in the eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. The operation in international waters was the deadliest so far in Trump’s campaign against alleged drug traffickers, bringing the total killed to 57 since September. Hegseth said the boats were “known by our intelligence apparatus” and operated by “Designated Terrorist Organizations.” The Pentagon, however, has provided no evidence those claims. (NBC News / The Guardian / CNN / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times)

6/ Trump formally appealed his 2024 criminal conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal his effort to influence the 2016 presidential election, filing a 96-page brief that claims the trial was “fatally marred.” Trump’s lawyers argued that the jury improperly considered evidence protected by the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, that federal election law preempted the state law used to elevate the charges, and that Justice Juan Merchan should have recused himself over small political donations. “This case should never have seen the inside of a courtroom, let alone resulted in a conviction,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. (Politico / ABC News / NBC News / New York Times / Axios)

7/ House Republicans declared all executive actions signed by Biden’s autopen “void” unless proven to have his direct approval. The Republican-led Oversight Committee accused aides of concealing Biden’s mental decline and claimed some may have acted without his consent. They urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate, who said her team was already “reviewing the Biden administration’s reported use of autopen for pardons” and would work with the committee “to deliver accountability for the American people.” The panel also asked the D.C. Board of Medicine to review Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who invoked the Fifth Amendment during an Oversight Committee deposition, something a physician might take when asked to discuss a patient’s private medical information. Democrats, meanwhile, dismissed the findings as a “sham investigation,” saying testimony showed Biden authorized every decision. Biden called the claims “ridiculous and false,” insisting, “I made the decisions during my presidency.” (New York Times / Axios / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / ABC News / Associated Press / CNN / Politico)

⏭️ Notably Next: Your government has been shut down for 28 days; the 2026 midterms are in 371 days.

Five years ago today: Day 1378: "Bad position."
Six years ago today: Day 1012: "Eliminate any doubt."