In just over a year, Mark Carney has learned to navigate the deeply insular, often ugly game of Ottawa politics as a skilled tactician and ruthless party boss.
He now can do the ugly work of politics precisely because Canadians believe he is above it.
On the world stage, Canada's prime minister is a statesman. In Ottawa, he is a ward boss.
State legislators are hoping to mitigate the effects of H.R. 1, and recently passed new funding to help do so. But it's not clear if that will be enough.
“What I find most frustrating is knowing that this is not the end,” House speaker Ryan Fecteau told me. “This is likely just the beginning.”
Before H.R. 1, they would have been exempt from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program's work requirements for several reasons: They're 55+, they're both veterans and they both were experiencing homelessness.
Now, none of those categories qualify participants for an exemption.
Maine had a plan to feed its hungry by 2030. Then came Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Inside the quiet unraveling of America’s food safety net 👇
The story profiles Jeri and Mario Montes, a couple who found love late in life.
Their joy at finding each other was interrupted by loss, and eventually financial instability, forcing them to live at a truck stop in Maine.
I'm so grateful to all the people who took time out of their busy lives to show me what's happening in Maine. I'm especially grateful to the Montes for their willingness to tell their story.
I've been working on this one for months.
Read it here:
In April, I traveled to Maine to better understand how the state was navigating the effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
State leaders had committed to a 2030 goal of ending hunger.
But H.R.1 has made that "unrealistic," advocates told me.
My story for @politico.com Magazine:
NEW: Judge scraps SNAP junk food rules, dealing a blow to MAHA
@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2026/06...
Maine had a plan to feed its hungry. Then came Trump's “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Really great dive into what the huge Republican cut to food stamps is doing to Maine, a state that has been trying to eradicate hunger, by @marciabrown.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/magazin...
NEW: Judge blocks Trump admin experiments allowing states to limit access to soda & sweetened beverages in SNAP program, formerly Food Stamps. More via @marciabrown.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/06...
Politico
Marcia Brown
Marcia Brown
Marcia Brown
Marcia Brown
Marcia Brown
Marcia Brown
Limits of soda and candy in the nation's largest anti-hunger program have been a cornerstone policy achievement of the Make America Healthy Again movement.
