What Happened Today - 27 Oct 2025

What Happened Today – 27 Oct 2025 
Shutdown Update
ICE Update
Wish we had some money…but we gave lots of it away…
Trump’s open court cases
Trump’s cases against Comey and James…falling to pieces
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Shutdown Update
The government shutdown is in its 27th day, holding steady as the second longest in American history, and you can feel the frustration everywhere. Trump is a world away, literally—he’s on the last leg of a flashy Asia tour, making stops in Malaysia, then Japan (where he landed some shiny trade and rare earth deals), and next up is South Korea for a big summit with Xi Jinping. The whole thing is a mix of photo ops and “historic” handshake moments, but let’s be real, back home it’s chaos: Congress is boxed into opposing corners, mostly deadlocked over health care subsidies and Medicaid cuts woven into Trump’s own “Big Beautiful Bill.” There’s zero expectation of a deal happening before Trump gets back on October 30, so DC is just marinating in political gridlock.

Out in the real world, the damage is stacking up. Over 750,000 federal employees are either furloughed or working without pay for weeks now—about $400 million a day not hitting family bank accounts. You can really hear the pain: from workers lining up at World Central Kitchen food distribution sites, to TSA agents and air traffic controllers calling in sick or quitting, it’s messier than ever. Today alone saw more than 2,700 flights delayed as the FAA scrambles to patch the holes, and air travel could just grind to a halt if controller shortages get any worse.

But the darkest clouds are over the nation’s poorest families. Both SNAP (food stamps) and WIC are running out of cash in just a few days. 40+ million people depend on SNAP monthly, and unless Congress finds money fast, those benefits stop getting loaded next week. WIC, which helps low-income women and kids under five, got a one-time bailout from Trump’s tariff funds to limp through October. If the shutdown rolls into November, millions could lose food support or get partial benefits state-by-state. Food banks are already overcrowded, but they can’t fill a gap this big. Some states have stretched their funding through the end of October, but November is the wall.

And the sickest twist? Reports are circulating that to keep paying the troops, Trump’s taking a massive private donation from right-wing billionaire Timothy Mellon—totally against federal law, but “desperate times…” Meanwhile, congressional leaders are lobbing blame bombs at each other every news cycle, but neither side is budging while Trump’s on the road. $130 million is nowhere near enough to cover all U.S. military paychecks during the shutdown. The U.S. military has around 1.3 million active-duty members, and the Pentagon’s monthly payroll runs into several billion dollars. At best, that Mellon donation only works out to about $100 per service member, which doesn’t even hit one paycheck, let alone cover ongoing salaries. Military payroll for just one pay period is typically in the $6-7 billion range

The shutdown is getting uglier by the day. Trump is halfway around the world collecting honors, doing photo ops, and trying to squeeze out a China trade deal, leaving Congress and the country to stew in the mess he left behind. Every extra day means more pain for working families, more chaos at the airports, and a food aid cliff that’s about to hit millions of kids and elderly unless something gives—fast.
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ICE Update
The situation in Chicago last weekend was wild: ICE agents out in force during a neighborhood Halloween parade, basically jumped a guy working on a nearby house for being undocumented, then lobbed tear gas as local families and kids tried to celebrate. Neighbors and protesters confronted the agents, and things got so heated federal officers reportedly tackled people, detained a 70-year-old neighbor, and even dragged an elderly bystander walking her dog before someone intervened. According to witnesses, at least two of the detained were U.S. citizens, and a local law firm is already prepping lawsuits for unlawful arrest and excessive force. The whole mess set off protests around the city, making it clear that the administration’s crackdown is sweeping up a lot more than “bad hombres”—non-criminals, bystanders, and citizens too.

And get this: a federal judge just ruled that ICE agents illegally detained a Chicago man whose daughter is fighting cancer. That ruling will add fuel to the ongoing outrage and pressure for accountability.

Now, about deaths in ICE custody—2025 is already the deadliest year to be held by ICE in decades. Since Trump came back into power in January, there have been at least 20-22 deaths in ICE detention, with overcrowding as the system swelled past 60,000 detainees by August. The last nine months almost matched the total deaths in Biden’s entire four years, where 26 people died in ICE custody (with higher numbers right at the end of his term). By comparison: under Biden, the numbers were low for the first three years, then shot up in his final year. Trump’s current numbers are already breaking records and raising alarms about medical neglect, abuse, and preventable tragedies inside cramped detention centers.

ICE’s ramped-up tactics are not just fueling community outrage—the detentions, unlawful arrests, and the surge in deaths show a system under serious strain, failing hard on basic rights and safety. And right now, all signs point to things getting worse, not better.
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Wish we had some money…but we gave lots of it away…
Congress right now is pure chaos—some senators are hustling to cobble together last-ditch bills to stop-gap military pay or keep food aid flowing, but everything’s getting shot down along party lines. The House and Senate have each floated bills: one to pay only the military and “essential” workers, another to cover all federal workers, but neither got enough votes. Meanwhile, families on SNAP are staring down the barrel of missing their November benefits, and nothing’s getting out of committee. Even military families are on edge since the funds that barely covered the last round of paychecks have run out, and there’s no fix in sight. Programs that actually keep people afloat are on the chopping block, and Congress is just playing the blame game while the clock runs out.

Now, add insult to injury—Trump’s administration is taking this shutdown as an excuse to bulldoze through perfectly good, already-approved federal funding. They’ve started canceling projects like infrastructure repairs, community health grants, and education funding, all under the banner of “belt-tightening.” The White House is now threatening to claw back even more funds across dozens of agencies, with the logic that it’ll help speed negotiations (spoiler: it isn’t).

And let’s talk about cash flow. Wouldn’t it be nice to have $20 billion—or even $40 billion—on hand to solve the SNAP mess or pay our troops on time? Too bad that’s the exact amount the U.S. has promised (and just started sending) over to Argentina in the name of bailing out their collapsing currency. Right now, the U.S. has lined up an initial $20B swap for Argentina, with another $20B on deck—money that could solve a world of problems right here at home.

Farmers, especially those growing soybeans or raising cattle, are caught in the absolute worst spot. Trump’s trade wars and tariff ping-pong with China (and Brazil) have left U.S. growers with stockpiles they can’t sell—China slapped huge tariffs on U.S. soybeans, imports collapsed, and now American farmers have lost billions in what used to be their biggest overseas market. Trump’s base in the farm belt is feeling the pain as commodity prices tank and Brazil/Argentina step in to fill the global gap. So now, just as American farmers are fighting to keep the lights on, Washington is writing record checks to…you guessed it, Argentine farmers and banks.

If the government actually had $20-$40B handy, there could be relief for SNAP, military pay, and stabilization for the folks getting wrecked by these trade wars. But instead, someone else gets the golden parachute, and Americans are left fighting over scraps in the world’s richest country.
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Trump’s open court cases
Right now, Trump is facing a legal thicket the likes of which this country has never really seen for a sitting president. 

-    The big one: Trump was convicted by a Manhattan jury back in May 2024 on all 34 felony counts for falsifying business records in his New York criminal case, which started with those hush money payments covering up scandals during the 2016 election. Sentencing is set for November 26, but Trump has already filed appeals and is arguing immunity as president. He remains the first sitting president convicted of a felony, and the legal wrangling over his sentence is still in process.
-    Federal classified documents case: Trump was charged for hoarding classified docs at Mar-a-Lago, with special counsel Jack Smith leading the prosecution. However, a federal judge tossed the whole case in July, saying the appointment of Smith violated the Constitution. DOJ appealed, and now it’s tangled up in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, with no fast resolution on the horizon.
-    Election interference (DC federal case): Prosecutors charged Trump with conspiracy and obstruction for trying to overturn the 2020 election. This trial was paused by the Supreme Court in February 2024 to hash out Trump’s immunity claims, then remanded for hearings in district court. The trial is still pending, with the Supreme Court having ruled that Trump has immunity only for official acts.
-    Georgia election case (state case): Trump was indicted along with several others for racketeering and conspiracy over attempts to overturn the Georgia 2020 results. The judge removed DA Fani Willis in December 2024 due to conflicts, which has tied up the case in appellate mayhem. No trial date is set, as everyone argues over who gets to prosecute.
-    Civil lawsuits: Trump is juggling dozens of civil suits related to business practices, defamation, and policies from his first administration—over 150 active or recently ruled legal battles on everything from canceled federal funding to constitutional overreach. Recent rulings are temporarily blocking the administration’s moves to seize congressionally-approved funds and fire top federal agency officials. Dozens more are waiting for appeal or Supreme Court review.
-    New twist: Trump is demanding $230 million from the Justice Department as restitution for “wrongful” prosecutions and investigations stretching back years, including the Russia probe and the Mar-a-Lago raid. His camp has filed formal claims, and it’s now up to DOJ officials—who in some cases used to represent Trump—to decide if American taxpayers cut him a check. If granted, it would be a first in U.S. history, and there are already loud calls for recusal and outside oversight because of the massive conflict of interest.

None of these cases are really “closed.” Every single one is entangled in appeals, Supreme Court petitions, and new filings. Some criminal charges have been tossed, others are in limbo, but the mountain of litigation around Trump is only growing—with rulings delayed, trials postponed, and the judiciary becoming a battlefield over the very limits of presidential power. Even with all this, Trump is still in office—and if anything, the legal grind is accelerating, not slowing down.
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Trump’s cases against Comey and James…falling to pieces
Trump’s got these two cases on his “victory lap” list—the federal criminal charges against his longtime enemies, Letitia James and James Comey. He’s crowing about how these will finally vindicate him, but let’s face it: both cases are legal dumpster fires and the prosecutors aren’t exactly doing themselves any favors.

First up, the Letitia James case: Trump’s crew pushed federal charges against the New York AG who nailed him for fraud. Now, James herself is facing charges for mortgage and bank fraud on a Virginia property—charges brought by a U.S. attorney handpicked by Trump after a shuffling of the Justice Department to get someone “on the team.” James pled not guilty and is fighting back hard, with her defense team readying motions to get the case tossed out as selective and vindictive prosecution. The judge set a December 5 hearing, with trial penciled in for late January, but the real mess is this: Trump’s prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, is facing complaints about her own appointment, legal blunders in the indictment, and overreaching. Odds are James will walk, because the moves from Halligan are so obvious it’s almost like the prosecution is handing her an escape hatch.

Then there’s James Comey. Trump and his handpicked U.S. attorney cooked up obstruction and perjury charges against the former FBI director, calling him a liar over congressional testimony. But Comey’s lawyers are well ahead of the curve, slamming the case with motions to dismiss as pure “personal animus”—basically, that Trump is using DOJ for payback and no career prosecutor wanted to do his dirty work. The prosecutor in Comey’s case faces similar challenges to Halligan: shaky appointment, rushed charges before time ran out, and a chronic inability to nail down real facts. Federal judges tend to steer clear of obvious payback prosecutions, and right now even some conservative legal experts are betting the whole case falls apart once the vindictive-prosecution filings land.

Trump might think these cases are wrapped up tight for a big win, but with prosecutors fumbling and the legal setups being as sloppy as they come, there’s a real chance both James and Comey wiggle off the hook, making Trump’s crusade look like more smoke and mirrors than actual justice.
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There’s probably LOTS more news today, but I’m short on time and energy.  Stay informed, correct falsehoods you see--Stay strong, continue to use your voices!

Speak Truth!  Keep speaking TRUTH!  

Go Cause Good Trouble, with Your Elbows Up!

**These are facts that I researched and verified – AI helped put together some sentence structure, but the words and tone are mine. These are my views based upon facts, research and thoughtful consideration using logic. I own the copyright to any images used.  I’m comfortable to stand alone to uphold truth.  Feel free to check me, but do not attack me. I am only causing good trouble.**