Chuck Schumer blasts Trump admin over SNAP pause and flight chaos amid shutdown: 'It’s a stunt'

WASHINGTON, DC: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Saturday, November 8, tore into the Trump administration for taking the fight over food aid to the Supreme Court and for what he called the White House’s “manufactured” chaos in the nation’s air travel system.

He accused President Donald Trump of using the shutdown to punish ordinary Americans. 

“For this administration to go all the way to the Supreme Court just to get out of having to pay SNAP benefits for hungry kids is pathological levels of vindictiveness,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Chuck Schumer accuses Trump administration of ‘nasty act’

Schumer's comments came a day after the Supreme Court issued a temporary order allowing the Trump administration to withhold roughly $4 billion in SNAP payments that a lower court had mandated for immediate release. 

“The minute the administration wanted to, it could find a fix for SNAP and ensure that people don’t go hungry,” Schumer said.

“But they’re not choosing to act, it’s really a nasty act of hostage taking against the most vulnerable people in our society,” he added.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s order, issued late Friday, put on hold a Rhode Island judge’s ruling requiring full food stamp payments by the end of the week.

Prior to the ruling, the administration had reportedly agreed to use SNAP’s contingency fund to cover partial benefits for November but objected to releasing additional funds from a separate account. 

Nearly 42 million Americans rely on SNAP, and advocates have warned that reduced payments could leave families short of food before the end of the month.

Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision in a post on X, saying, “Our attorneys will not stop fighting, day and night, to defend and advance President Trump’s agenda.”

Chuck Schumer criticizes Trump admin for flight chaos

Schumer also blasted the Trump administration for the wave of flight cancellations and delays spreading across the country, calling it “a stunt” meant to heighten political pressure rather than a genuine safety response. 

“What’s happening at America’s airports right now is not an accident. It’s a stunt,” he said.

“This isn’t about safety. It’s about politics masquerading as safety. When air traffic controllers are working without pay, when the system is strained to its limit, the solution isn’t to cancel flights, it’s to pay the worker and open up the government,” he added.

“All of this suffering, all of this inconvenience, all of this chaos- it’s coming from one place: a president who refuses to govern responsibly,” Schumer said.

More than 1,000 flights were reportedly canceled and nearly 4,000 delayed on Saturday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s mandated 4% cut in flights imposed on Friday due to staffing shortages has compounded the shutdown’s ripple effects across the airline industry.