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** WIC Becomes a Political Football in Shutdown
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During a federal government shutdown, it's standard practice for each political party to blame the other for funding potentially running out for popular programs. One political football this time: WIC, a federal program that provides food aid and other services to nearly 7 million low-income women and young children.

At an Oct. 9 Cabinet meeting, Vice President JD Vance said, "There’s a low-income food program, the WIC program, that my mom actually used when I was a baby. That program is about to be underfunded and it’s about to get cut off because Chuck Schumer won’t open the government,” referring to the Senate Democratic leader.

Meanwhile, the same day, Democratic Reps. Sarah McBride of Delaware and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts took to Facebook to blame Republicans. “Funding for WIC is running out because of the government shutdown. American women and children will lose food assistance as a direct result of Republicans’ partisan policies,” McBride wrote.

As Staff Writer D'Angelo Gore writes, U.S. residents are divided on which political party deserves blame for the government being partially shut down, but politicians on both sides are right that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, will remain in jeopardy the longer the shutdown continues. The shutdown began on Oct. 1.

WIC provides healthy food, breastfeeding support and nutritional services to eligible low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, as well as children under 5 years old who are at nutritional risk. Without more federal financing, state governments would have to decide whether they could use state funds to finance the program, and then get federal reimbursement when the government opens.

But on Oct. 7, the White House proposed tapping unused revenue from tariffs to keep WIC running this month.

WIC historically has been largely unaffected during past shutdowns, but the situation is more challenging this year. It's the beginning of a fiscal year, and Congress hasn't appropriated any funds for fiscal 2026.

See D'Angelo's full story for more: "WIC Becomes a Political Football in Shutdown ([link removed]) ."
HOW WE KNOW
In writing about the federal indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James on mortgage fraud, we relied on the five-page indictment itself, statements by James and her lawyer, and comments from legal experts. We also cited a New York Times story that reported on grand jury testimony by James’ great-niece, who has lived in the Norfolk, Virginia, house at the center of the charges. Our story looked at the facts surrounding the case, the history of animosity between President Donald Trump and James, and what experts say about the weight of the charges. Read more: “Appraising the Federal Indictment of Letitia James ([link removed]) .”
FEATURED FACTS
Columbia University’s Mass Murder Database, curated by Dr. Ragy Girgis, a clinical psychiatrist, shows that only about 4% of mass shooters in the U.S. over the last three decades had a history of ever taking antidepressants, and only 7% had a history of ever taking any kind of psychotropic medication. Girgis provided those figures to us when we asked about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim that certain antidepressant drugs, known as SSRIs, “might be contributing to violence” in school shootings. Read more: “RFK Jr. Misleads About Antidepressants and School Shootings ([link removed]) .”
WORTHY OF NOTE

The U.S. edition of El País, a Spanish-language newspaper, and the broadcast network Univision both republished the Spanish translation of our article ([link removed]) on how the Trump administration’s actions on immigration have mirrored Project 2025. The story was part of a five-part series on the conservative playbook, which was a main issue in the 2024 election.

El País ran ([link removed]) the story on Oct. 10, while Univision posted the rather lengthy piece in two ([link removed]) parts ([link removed]) over that weekend. The story lays out how President Donald Trump has taken many actions that line up with Project 2025 proposals and how in some cases, Trump has gone further or diverged from the document.

We provide Spanish translations ([link removed]) for many of our articles, and we have partnerships with several Spanish-language media outlets that republish our work. Interested in republishing our work? Contact us (mailto:[email protected]) . Former Staff Writer Catalina Jaramillo works part-time on our Spanish translations and partnerships.


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* Q&A on the 2025-2026 COVID-19 Vaccines ([link removed])
Amid confusion over this year’s updated COVID-19 vaccines, we explain what’s different this year and who experts say should get vaccinated.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* Los números finales de Biden ([link removed])
Indicadores estadísticos de los cuatro años de mandato del presidente Biden.

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