Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference at the Office of the Attorney General in Sacramento on Oct. 28, 2025. Photo by Tayfun Cokun/Anadolu via Getty Images
From CalMatters Capitol reporter Jeanne Kuang:
California is one of 23 states suing President Donald Trump’s administration trying to force it to use emergency money to cover food benefits for millions of poor families during the federal government shutdown, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday.
More than five million Californians rely on the program each month, known in California as CalFresh, nationally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and colloquially as food stamps.
The federally-funded benefits amount to about $1 billion delivered to Californians’ electronic benefits cards each month to spend on groceries; the program lowers the state’s poverty rate by 3 percent, state Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Johnson said Tuesday. The average family receiving CalFresh gets $330 a month.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicated it wouldn’t send the money for November as the federal government remained shut down, an about-face from prior department plans — and prior government shutdowns. Congress hasn’t passed a bill funding the federal government, as Democrats and Republicans remain in a stalemate over whether to extend health care premiums subsidies that Trump wants to cut.
State officials are warning of spiking hunger and demand at food banks when recipients have their monthly benefits withheld next week for the first time in the program’s 60-year history. Last week, Newsom fast-tracked $80 million in previously-approved state funds toward food banks and called up the National Guard to help deliver aid. On Tuesday, he slammed the administration for withholding benefits as Americans head into the holidays.
Newsom and Bonta argue it’s unlawful not to pay the benefits when the USDA has $5 to $6 billion in contingency funding that Congress has already allowed for emergency use on the program. The department spends about $8 billion monthly providing food aid nationwide.
A department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. A banner on its website blamed Democrats for the shutdown, falsely stating they were using it to push health care for undocumented immigrants.
Mental health journalism: Two of the ten 2025-26 Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism were awarded to CalMatters journalists, Marisa Kendall and Joe Garcia.
Focus on Inland Empire: Each Wednesday, CalMatters Inland Empire reporter Aidan McGloin surveys the big stories from that part of California. Read his newsletter and sign up here to receive it.
Other Stories You Should Know
Young men need help, and CA is trying to provide it
Jodeah Wilson, 22, on his laptop at his off-campus apartment near Sacramento State on Oct. 17, 2025. Photo by Felix Uribe for CalMatters/Catchlight
Troubling statistics concerning young men’s mental health and well being have prompted a state effort to lead a series of initiatives aimed at helping them, writes CalMatters’ Adam Echelman.
Of the roughly 4.6 million Californians ages 16 to 24, nearly 500,000 of them, or more than 10%, are considered disconnected — meaning they do not go to work or attend school. The majority of these disconnected teens and young adults are men.
Men are also four times more likely than women to die by suicide; have higher rates of cardiovascular diseases and cancer; and are more likely to use drugs and to overdose.
State officials and agencies are trying to address the issue. In a July executive order, Newsom detailed the “alarming rise in suicides and disconnection among California’s young men and boys” and called for a series of education, health and career state initiatives to assist men. The governor later unveiled in September a $5 million grant program to create more mentorship opportunities for young men.
The mental health team at California Health and Human Services helped set up nearly 250 billboards across major cities promoting the 9-8-8 suicide and crisis number, which featured the faces of young men. Funding from Proposition 1 — a state mental health bond that voters passed last year — is also being used to increase the number of male therapists.
Lawmakers try to resuscitate hospital
A licensed vocational nurse (right) works with student vocational nurse in the medical surgical unit at Glenn Medical Center in Willows on June 13, 2025. Photo by Chris Kaufman for CalMatters
A pair of recently introduced congressional bills may help a shuttered hospital in a California rural town, but the road to reopening its doors remains unclear and difficult, reports CalMatters’ Ana B. Ibarra.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff and Republican U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa of Richvale are pushing two bills that would restore Glenn Medical Center’s “critical access” status, something it had for more than 20 years before having it revoked in April by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Critical access hospitals can receive more federal money.
The revoked status left Glenn Medical Center with a budget gap it could not fill. It ceased operations on Sept. 30, leaving Glenn County without its only hospital and 150 health workers without a job.
But besides restoring its critical access status, the hospital would also need a lot of cash to reopen immediately — particularly because it takes months before a hospital receives reimbursement from insurers, and the facility needs money to bring back and pay doctors, nurses and other workers.
A spokesperson for American Advanced Management, the for-profit company that owns Glenn Medical Center, estimated it would cost tens of millions of dollars to bring back the medical center.
And lastly: CA rolls back tax hike on weed
Workers harvest a fresh crop of marijuana at the Loving Kindness Farms in Los Angeles on May 8, 2020. Photo by Richard Vogel, AP Photo
California Voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: As Newsom edges closer to full-fledged presidential candidacy, he faces escalating scrutiny from naysayers — but oftentimes he can be his own worst enemy.
CalMatters contributor George B. Sánchez-Tello: The abrupt closure of a Spanish-language television news station eliminated one of the main sources of reliable information in California’s central coast — and could have ripple effects on voting and civic engagement.
Other things worth your time:
Newsom tells Prop 50. supporters to ‘stop donating’ after war chest swells // The Guardian
CA Attorney General warns Trump will try to undermine Prop. 50 election // The Sacramento Bee
CA Republicans retreat as anti-Prop. 50 campaign collapses // Politico
Trump team takes aim at state laws, including CA’s, shielding consumers’ credit scores from medical debt // KFF Health News
The West’s new gold rush is the data center boom // Grist
CA rethinks how to identify 4-year-olds who need extra help learning English // EdSource
Major CA home insurance company requests new rate increase // San Francisco Chronicle
Lawsuit seeks to block expansion of CA’s largest ICE detention facility // The Fresno Bee
.wp-block-group__inner-container > :not(h2){margin: 16px 40px !important;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group .wp-block-group__inner-container{display: flex;gap: 12px;align-items: center;}.cm-cta.long-ask figure{max-width: 40px;flex-shrink: 0;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group p{font-size: 18px;font-weight: 700;line-height: 120%;letter-spacing: -0.36px;width: 100%;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group .wp-block-buttons{flex-shrink: 0;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-button__link{padding-left: 40px;padding-right: 40px;}@container long-ask (min-width: 601px){.cm-cta.long-ask *{font-size: 16px;}}@container long-ask (max-width: 600px){.cm-cta.long-ask h2,.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group p{text-align: center;}.cm-cta.long-ask h2{background: linear-gradient(90deg,#FFE094 0%,#FFB500 100%);padding: 12px 20px;font-size: 20px;letter-spacing: -0.4px;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group .wp-block-group__inner-container{flex-direction: column;}.cm-cta.long-ask > .wp-block-group__inner-container > :not(h2){margin: 16px 20px !important;}}]]>
Nonpartisan, independent California news for all
We’re CalMatters, your nonprofit and nonpartisan news guide.
Our journalists are here to empower you and our mission continues to be essential.
We are independent and nonpartisan. Our trustworthy journalism is free from partisan politics, free from corporate influence and actually free for all Californians.
We are focused on California issues. From the environment to homelessness, economy and more, we publish the unfettered truth to keep you informed.
We hold people in power accountable. We probe and reveal the actions and inactions of powerful people and institutions, and the consequences that follow.
But we can’t keep doing this without support from readers like you.
Please give what you can today. Every gift helps.
Lynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California’s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday. She produces and curates WhatMatters, CalMatters’ flagship daily newsletter…
More by Lynn La