The shutdown wasn’t just about food stamps and healthcare subsidies. Eight Senate Democrats just bet America’s future on a discharge petition that could detonate Trump’s presidency before his second-term agenda clears the starting gate.
5️⃣ SUPREME COURT SIGNALS TRUMP’S TARIFF GRIFT IS TOAST
The Supreme Court rejected Kim Davis’s attempt to overturn same-sex marriage Monday without comment, but the real story is what’s coming next. Sources say SCOTUS is preparing to gut Trump’s emergency tariff authority under IEEPA, which would collapse the legal foundation of his entire tariff program and potentially trigger hundreds of billions in refunds to importers—not the “$2,000 checks” Trump desperately promised Americans on Truth Social. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent immediately walked it back to “many forms” including tax deductions, which translates to: you’re getting nothing. Trump’s tariff con was always a revenue grab disguised as trade policy, and the Court is about to call his bluff. If SCOTUS rules he lacks authority to impose emergency tariffs without Congress, those mythical dividend checks evaporate along with his leverage over the shutdown negotiations.
4️⃣ KEYSTONE KASH TORCHES THE UK INTELLIGENCE ALLIANCE
FBI Director Kash Patel spent his May trip to London destroying decades of Five Eyes trust with a performance that included demanding flight diversions against security protocol, showing up to classified meetings in a trucker cap and hoodie, and breaking a direct promise to MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum about protecting a critical liaison position. British officials needed that FBI specialist to monitor China’s new embassy near the Tower of London. Patel agreed to fund it, then let the position get cut anyway, shipping the agent home and leaving UK counterparts stunned. He also gifted illegal 3D-printed pistols to New Zealand officials that had to be destroyed, and brought his 27-year-old country singer girlfriend to dinner with King Charles at Windsor Castle. Meanwhile, back home, the FBI Agents Association condemned Patel’s “erratic and arbitrary retribution” after he fired, rehired, and refired agents in what they called a campaign against anyone who investigated January 6.
3️⃣ SEVENTY THOUSAND FANS UNITED IN BOOING TRUMP
Trump’s NFL appearance Sunday turned into a masterclass in public humiliation as Commanders and Lions fans—bitter division rivals—found common ground in sustained, deafening boos from his jumbotron appearance through his fumbled military oath reading. Close-up footage captured his right hand caked in orange makeup covering significant bruising, the foundation melting under stadium lights as Trump stood frozen, unable to process the crowd’s hostility. His football commentary was so incoherent observers joked that AI bots refused to transcribe it. This wasn’t an isolated incident—Trump gets booed at UFC events, World Series games, college football—but the physical deterioration visible in his makeup-covered, bruised hand combined with the slurred speech and inability to read simple oaths raises questions his team can’t answer.
2️⃣ DEMOCRATS SURRENDER AS SNAP CHAOS DEEPENS
Eight Senate Democrats voted 60-40 Sunday to advance a shutdown deal after surrendering their six-week demand for ACA subsidy extensions, settling for Majority Leader John Thune’s word he’ll hold a vote by mid-December. But 42 million Americans remain trapped in SNAP benefit chaos as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson paused a federal judge’s order for full November payments, then USDA ordered states to “undo” benefits already distributed. Wisconsin, Kansas, Pennsylvania rushed payments Friday before Saturday’s reversal. A Rhode Island judge accused the administration of “withholding benefits for political reasons” and acting “arbitrarily and capriciously”—marking the first time SNAP lapsed during a shutdown in the program’s 61-year history. Senators Durbin, King, Hassan, Shaheen, Cortez Masto, Rosen, Fetterman and Kaine crossed the aisle, infuriating House Democrats. Rep. Ro Khanna called for Schumer’s replacement over the capitulation.
1️⃣ THE EPSTEIN FILES: “THERE ARE VIDEOS” AS GRIJALVA BECOMES THE MISSING SIGNATURE
FBI sources confirm Trump’s Epstein involvement is “much more perverse than anyone realizes,” with thousands of documents, grand jury transcripts, photos and videos showing Trump with underage girls in situations GOP insiders say “can’t be explained away.” Over a thousand FBI employees were pulled into a 48-hour review of 300+ gigabytes with explicit orders to flag every Trump mention—some veteran agents reportedly crying over graphic images. The timing is explosive: Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva gets sworn in this week after Speaker Mike Johnson delayed her ceremony during the shutdown. She’s the missing signature on a discharge petition that forces a full House vote to release the files. Sources describe images of Trump, Epstein and young girls with photos showing Trump “laughing, squirming, pointing at stains on his pants.” Marjorie Taylor Greene and 100+ Republicans are reportedly considering “running for the exits” as GOP whispers warn “it’s worse than anyone imagined.” The FBI review became a cover-up with redactions turning into erasures while Trump fixers scrubbed his name. If even half becomes public, Trump’s legislative agenda—SNAP cuts, Medicaid gutting—vaporizes in scandal before it leaves committee. Democrats bet the shutdown as leverage: Grijalva gets sworn in, signs the petition, and the vault unlocks.
The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Advertising inquiries email next@narativ.org. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.
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