The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Episode 3611: Victims of the Shut Down; Mamdani's Final Push; Accountability for ICE

October 27, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of The Majority Report with Sam Seder dives deep into the ongoing, historic federal government shutdown, now entering its fifth week, and explores its devastating impact on American workers and families. Highlights include the Trump administration's handling of SNAP and social program funding, the fallout from Trump's foreign economic maneuvers (notably in Argentina), the challenges facing health insurance enrollment, and a lively recap of the massive “New York is Not for Sale” rally featuring emerging progressive leaders like Zoran Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders. The episode concludes with a discussion on innovative attempts at state-level accountability for ICE as agents' actions increasingly attract public outrage.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. The Fifth Week of Government Shutdown & Its Consequences

[03:00 – 35:00]

• Shutdown Impacts:

  • Federal workers miss first paychecks, leading to food assistance lines in Maryland (30:00).
  • Broader consequences:
    • SNAP benefits threatened for 42 million Americans.
    • Head Start funding cut for nearly 1 million children; WIC facing massive shortfalls (30:07).
    • Air travel facing severe delays as air traffic control staff dwindle.

• Why Any Deal Seems Pointless:

  • Trump continues to cut or reallocate federal funds without congressional approval.
  • Sam: “What’s the point of making a deal if Trump can just, willy-nilly, decide not to follow it?” (03:45)
  • Senate Democrats could nuke the filibuster to pass a budget but refuse, trying to assign blame.

• Misuse and Withholding of Contingency Funds:

  • The Trump administration claims it cannot access multi-year SNAP reserves, contradicting their own OMB General Counsel advice.
  • Sam: “Congress has already set aside funds… Now the Trump administration has decided to withhold them.” (26:33)

• Trump’s Questionable Priorities:

  • Simultaneously pushing a $40B bailout for Argentina to benefit his billionaire backers, notably hedge fund managers with Argentine debt.
  • Emma: “Instead of helping 42 million people who rely on SNAP benefits don’t go hungry, this administration is prioritizing bailing out a foreign government … that has ties to Trump’s billionaire friends.” (29:37)

• Health Care Crisis Looming:

  • ACA (Affordable Care Act) subsidies set to expire, causing up to 30% premium increases. The amount needed to extend the subsidies ($24B) is “very equivalent to the money that Trump just sent, willy-nilly, to Argentina.”
  • “It’s a question of priorities. And we know this administration is prioritizing the billionaire class, looting the federal government…” (32:18)

2. Soybean Farmers and Trump’s China Trade Flop

[08:40 – 15:00]

• Disastrous Soybean Tariffs: U.S. soybean exports to China have dropped from $3B to mere millions due to failed Trump tariffs, devastating farmers who were core supporters.

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant’s Out-of-Touch Comments (mocked by Sam and Emma):

  • Bessant, a $500m hedge funder and farmland landlord, claims, “I have felt [soybean farmers’] pain too…” (13:03)

• Hosts’ Sarcastic Take:

  • Sam: “He is a farmer. He’s a landlord of farmers.”
  • Emma: “So he feels their pain.” (13:57)
  • Sam: “By providing a podcast… that qualifies me to go operate on somebody at a hospital.” (14:13)

3. New York is Not for Sale Rally: Progressive Momentum

[35:29 – 52:00]

• Massive Progressive Gathering:

  • 14,000 attendees at Forest Hills Stadium for a rally led by Zoran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Kathy Hochul.
  • Emma: “The energy was amazing… Forest Hill Stadium might be the best stadium.” (06:56)

• Mamdani’s Emotional Speech:

  • Pays tribute to Bernie Sanders:
    • “I stand before you tonight only because the senator dared to stand alone for so long. I speak the language of democratic socialism only because he spoke it first.” (38:00)
  • Speaks movingly against Islamophobia, drawing from his family’s experience post-9/11.

• AOC’s Rallying Cry:

  • [40:26 – 42:03]
  • AOC: “Our future is not determined by a despot in a house built by enslaved people. Our future will be determined… in a city built by unionists and immigrants…” (40:36)

• Contrast with Establishment Democrats:

  • Sam muses on what a Jeffries-Schumer-Cuomo rally turnout would look like (“only the sky boxes would be filled”) compared to the progressive throngs for Mamdani.
  • Emma: “Liberals within the Democratic Party will try to create all of these distinctions for their own professional ambitions. The solidarity of democratic socialism is immensely important in combating Trump and fascism.” (39:10)

• Kathy Hochul’s Odd Reception:

  • Crowd chants "Tax the Rich" during Hochul’s speech (47:52).
  • She later claims she thought the crowd was chanting "Let's Go Bills" (laughter), drawing mockery:
    • Sam: “Just having her there… signals, ‘He’s within the mainstream of the Democratic Party.’ But… the real value is having her look at 15,000 people. Possibly the biggest crowd she’s ever been in front of.” (51:34)

4. Holding ICE Accountable: State and Local Strategies

[58:12 – 69:00]

• New Developments:

  • Both California and Illinois are organizing to prosecute ICE agents for illegal actions, like tampering with license plates to avoid identification (58:27).
  • Illinois’ Attorney General asks the public to photograph and report ICE vehicles with missing or obscured plates.

• Legal Hurdles:

  • States face major obstacles in prosecuting federal agents. Federal officials are generally immune if acting under the “necessary and proper” execution of duties, but not outside them.

• Community Response to ICE in Chicago:

  • Clips of neighbors confronting ICE as they deploy tear gas in residential neighborhoods:
    • Resident: “Guys in their PJs… scaring our children to death… Never thought this would happen in my neighborhood.” (65:04)
    • Chicagoan: “You’re nowhere near Canada. How much are they paying you? Get the out of here! Take your mask off, coward.” (65:27)

• Chicago as a Model of Resistance:

  • Sam: “The amount of respect I have now for the people of Chicago… they have been a model for the rest of the country.” (67:48)
  • ICE action in Chicago legally justified by 100-mile federal “border zone” due to Great Lakes geography.

5. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Federal Dysfunction:

  • Sam: “Any deal the Democrats make is useless because Trump has already established that he will do whatever he wants and none of the Republicans in Congress are going to do anything about it.” (23:00)

• On Progressive Energy:

  • Emma: “People know that if he [Mamdani] wants to do his free bus program… he needs Kathy Hochul’s buy-in. He’s putting pressure on her through people power.” (51:05)

• On ICE Overreach:

  • Sam (on tear gas in Chicago): “I mean, it looks like one of these ‘day after’ movies or like there’s some…apocalyptic plague that has spread around. These guys are so…it’s ridiculous.” (66:12)

• On Hochul’s Tone-Deafness:

  • Sam: “She has the energy of a steakhouse server who has to tell you we don’t have that rub today.” (54:04)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Topic | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------|------------------| | Shutdown Overview and SNAP Crisis | 03:00 – 35:00 | | Soybean Tariffs & Farmer Bailouts | 08:40 – 15:00 | | “New York is Not for Sale” Rally | 35:29 – 52:00 | | AOC’s Rally Speech | 40:26 – 42:03 | | Kathy Hochul & “Tax the Rich” Chant | 47:33 – 52:00 | | ICE State Accountability and Public Response | 58:12 – 69:00 | | Chicago Community Confronts ICE | 65:04 – 68:17 |

Tone & Style

• Irreverent, sarcastic, and deeply engaged.
• Sam and Emma deploy both biting humor (especially toward out-of-touch officials) and earnest advocacy—for labor, economic justice, and solidarity.
• The show seamlessly blends “insider” strategic analysis with intimate human stories, especially visible in the rally and shutdown segments.

Conclusion

This episode offers one of the most comprehensive—and emotionally charged—overviews in the current Majority Report run. Not only does it detail the material consequences of a historic government shutdown, but it also highlights the burgeoning progressive movement’s grassroots momentum and the increasing demand for direct accountability from both federal and state power centers. For progressive listeners, both the threat and the hope in American politics have rarely been clearer or more energized.