Politics

As the Minnesota Legislature gavels in for 2026 and lawmakers prepare to honor slain Rep. Hortman, Sen. John Hoffman made an emotional return to the Capitol — walking up the steps to a standing ovation and escorted by the same state troopers who guarded him — after months of hospitalization and recovery from the June 14, 2025 attack in which he and his wife were shot multiple times. Hoffman called the incident an "attempted assassination," praised Mercy Hospital staff, first responders and colleagues, credited his daughter Yvette with calling 911 after a gun was pointed at her, and urged politics to "fade" so lawmakers can "rise above the noise" and show that democracy is stronger than fear.

FOX 9 reports that Minneapolis resident Daye Gottsche and a friend inadvertently became central to a downtown confrontation when far‑right influencer Jake Lang — recently pardoned by President Trump for allegedly assaulting officers on Jan. 6 — jumped, bleeding, into their car at a red light as counterprotesters chased and struck him. Gottsche says protesters surrounded the vehicle, opened the rear doors, kicked Lang and damaged the taillight before some in the crowd ultimately cleared a path so they could drive away; she confronted Lang, who offered little beyond praising Trump and calling himself “a bad boy,” and the women dropped him a couple blocks away, where he got into another vehicle. Gottsche told FOX 9 she opposes Lang’s politics but believes the street attack was wrong and played into a narrative the federal government could use to justify invoking the Insurrection Act in Minnesota. The piece folds this incident into a larger backdrop: Trump has publicly threatened to deploy the military here if state leaders don’t “crack down” on anti‑ICE protests, and the Pentagon has put cold‑weather troops on prepare‑to‑deploy orders for Minnesota. The story underscores how out‑of‑town extremists and local counterprotesters are colliding on Minneapolis streets, dragging ordinary residents into volatile, politically charged confrontations just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After the federal shutdown prompted USDA to pause SNAP disbursements and initially push a roughly 65% partial‑payment plan, a coalition of states sued and district judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts ordered USDA to use contingency and other funds to provide full November benefits. The 1st Circuit upheld the lower‑court order requiring full funding (after a brief Supreme Court stay), leaving some states that already issued full payments in limbo as the Supreme Court prepares to decide whether the administration may enforce the 65% cap.