November 1, 2025

Christmas Tours At The White House, President Trump Meets With China's President Xi, Lawsuits On SNAP And Conditions At ICE Facilities, 12th Amendment, And More

By S.E. Gunn, PhD - All News Pipeline

On October 31, 2025, the White House published a statement from the Office of the First Lady White House Public Tours to Reopen in December 2025 announcing that December 2, 2025, the White House will reopen for visitors to experience the history and beauty of the White House. All December tours will feature seasonal decorations in each room curated by the First Lady. The White House will begin taking tour reservations from Congressional offices on November 3, 2025. December dates will be released 30 days prior to the potential tour date. Availability for January 2026 tour dates will be announced in December.

The Visit The White House page explains that individuals need to go their your Congress member (Senate or House) at 202-224-3121 (TTY: 202-225-1904). If you are unsure who your Congress member is, you can access the Congress search page. There is a 24 hour information line at 202-456-7041 which will provide operating hours and timely updates.

The tour includes public rooms on the State Floor: Blue Room, Red Room, Green Room, State Dining Room, Cross Hall, and Entrance Hall. Secret Service Officers are stationed along the tour route and are available to answer questions about each room’s history, art, furnishings, current uses, and beyond.

It is recommended that you make your request 7 to 90 days in advance of your target tour date. Tours are not available on Sundays or Mondays. Tour times are typically available 7:30am to 11:30am Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and 7:30am to 1:30pm on Friday and Saturday (excluding holidays). These dates/times are subject to change without notice, even if you have tour confirmation.

The Visit the White House FAQ page covers the topics: Know Before You Go, Getting Here, Acceptable Forms of Identification, Security, Accessibility, and Restrooms. They require US Citizens have a valid REAL ID, Military ID, or passport to enter the White House. Foreign Nationals need a valid passport, alien registration card, permanent resident card, or US State Department-issued diplomatic ID card.  Digital IDs are not accepted. There is also a White House Experience App available to enhance your experience. If needed, you can request a wheelchair based on availability.

President Trump met with China's President Xi during his Asia trip. So far, the White House has not released details of the outcome of the meeting. 

It is now day 32 of the Schumer Shutdown and the last vote on HR5371 to end the shutdown was held on October 28, 2025:

Oct 28 yea = 54 nay = 45
Oct 22 yea = 54 nay = 46
Oct 20 yea = 50 nay = 44
Oct 16 yea = 51 nay = 45
Oct 15 yea = 51 nay = 44
Oct 14 yea = 49 nay = 45
Oct 09 yea = 54 nay = 45
Oct 08 yea = 54 nay = 45
Oct 06 yea = 52 nay = 42
Oct 03 yea = 54 nay = 44
Oct 01 yea = 55 nay = 45
Sep 30 yea = 55 nay = 45
Sep 19 yea = 44 nay = 48

Apparently the Senate took no votes on anything today. So the government remains shut down, people continue to work without pay, and now the SNAP program has run out of funding.

It takes 60 votes to pass funding legislation, but there are 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and 2 Independents in the Senate. 

In order to make 60 votes, a combination of 7 Democrats/Independents are necessary, more if any Republicans vote "nay" or abstain from voting. 

In the most recent vote of October 28, 

51 Republicans, 2 Democrats, and 1 Independents voted to reopen the government;
1 Republican, 43 Democrats, and 1 Independent voted to keep the government shutdown; 
1 Republican abstained from voting.

So, all it will take is 6 Senators to vote to open the government on the same "clean CR" they have voted "yea" on 12 times during Autopen's term and in March 2025 during President Trump's term. Now, all of a sudden, they can no longer approve a "clean CR" to keep government open while working on appropriations, which just so happens to be one of their primary jobs according to the US Constitution Article I Section 9: No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law. 

Congress needs to do its job. Pass the "clean CR" and then get back to work on the actual FY2026 budget!

President Trump's Presidential Actions published in the Federal Register (FR) to date:

• 210 Executive Orders
• 103 Proclamations
• 82 Presidential Orders, Memoranda, Determinations, Permits, and Notices

On November 1, 2025, the FR published Proclamation 10987 Regulatory Relief for Certain Stationary Sources to Promote American Mineral Security signed on October 24, 2025 and discussed in my October 27, 2025 ANP Article.

LAWFARE lawsuit tracker to date:

• 233 active cases
• 19 suits filed by the Trump Administration
• 17 SCOTUS stays or motions to vacate of lower court orders
• 1 SCOTUS affirmation of lower court order
• 7 suits where judges ruled for the federal government
• 8 suits where judges ruled against the federal government

A new lawsuit, Moreno Gonzalez v. Noem docket # 1:25-cv-13323, was filed in District Court ND Illinois on October 30, 2025 about immigration detention conditions claiming that illegal aliens were unable to contact attorneys, had unclean sleeping areas, and insufficient toilets & showers. The lawsuit seeks the following relief:

1. Declare that the suit is maintainable as a class action pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a), (b)(1), and (b)(2);
2. Enter judgment for Plaintiffs and the putative class and against Defendants;
3. Declare that Defendants’ policy and practice of denying Plaintiffs and the putative class the right to retain, consult, and communicate confidentially with counsel violates the First Amendment;
4. Declare that Defendants’ policy and practice of denying Plaintiffs and the putative class access to counsel violates the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause;
5. Declare that the conditions of confinement imposed by Defendants at Broadview violates the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause;
6. With respect to Counts One and Two, preliminarily and permanently order Defendants to:

a. Ensure, with respect to the living conditions at Broadview, that

i. the hold rooms at Broadview contain no more than one detainee for each 50 square feet of space, not including the area within 8 feet of any toilet;
ii. each detainee held overnight is provided a clean bedding mat and bedding for sleeping;
iii. the hold rooms be cleaned thoroughly on an ongoing basis and be furnished with adequate supplies of soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and menstrual products;
iv. hold rooms have access to sufficient toilets for class members and that class members be able to use toilets outside the view of other detainees, Defendants’ officers, or staff;
v. hold rooms have access to sufficient showers for class members and that class members be permitted regular showers outside the view of staff or detainees of a different gender;
vi. class members be provided with clean clothing and a private area to change clothing;
vii. class members be provided full meals at least three times per day that meet U.S. Recommended Daily Allowances and accommodate class members’ religious or dietary restrictions;
viii. class members be provided as much bottled potable water as they need; ix. class members have access to prescribed medications and medical and mental health care, including emergency and non-emergency medical and mental health care;

b. Ensure, with respect to counsel access at Broadview, that

i. class members have the means, capability, and access to make outgoing confidential, unmonitored, unrecorded, free, and temporally unrestricted calls to legal representatives and prospective legal representatives, including allowing for connection to outside interpretation services during the call, within 3 hours of being detained at Broadview, or sooner if transfer is expected within 3 hours of arrival, and at least once during each subsequent 12-hour period while they are detained;
ii. class members have the means, capability, and access to schedule a call promptly with legal representatives or prospective legal representatives; iii. class members have access to sufficient telephones to accommodate class members’ legal calls;
iv. legal representatives are able to schedule confidential legal calls with detainees at Broadview within 3 hours of a request made during business hours;
v. confidential legal visitation is permitted seven days per week, eight hours per day on business days and four hours per day on weekends and holidays;
vi. Defendants accurately update the location of detainees held at Broadview in Defendant ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System within 3 hours of their arrival at the facility;

7. Order Defendants to provide written Notice of Rights to detainees, including their rights with respect to living conditions and access to counsel;
8. Order Defendants to provide the Notice of Rights and all other ICE or DHS communications (including any forms, agreements, stipulations, or other documents relating to a class members’ immigration status, proceedings, or removal) to class members in a language they understand, and to provide interpretation or assistance to detainees with limited English proficiency or who are illiterate;
9. With respect to Count Three:

a. Declare that Defendants’ policy and practice of coercing, threatening, and otherwise pressuring Plaintiffs and class members to sign immigration documents and/or to waive rights violates the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, the Accardi doctrine, and 8 C.F.R. § 287.8(c)(2)(vii);
b. Declare that Defendants’ policy and practice of procuring signatures from Plaintiff Moreno Gonzalez and class members on immigration documents in a language that they do not understand, without translation, violates the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause;
c. Vacate, set aside, and hold unlawful Defendants’ policy and practice of using coercion and threats to procure detainees’ signatures on immigration documents and/or to waive rights;
d. Vacate, set aside, and hold unlawful Defendants’ policy and practice of procuring detainees’ signatures on untranslated documents;
e. Enjoin Defendants from using any form of threat, coercion, abuse, or other pressure to obtain Plaintiffs’ signatures on any form or to obtain their agreement to be removed or taken out of the country or to forego any rights, procedures, or benefits under the INA or the Constitution; f. Enjoin Defendants from procuring Plaintiff Moreno Gonzalez’s signature on an untranslated document written in a language he does not read and understand;

10. Enjoin Defendants from retaliating in any form against Plaintiffs, any class member, or any declarants or witnesses in this matter in their immigration proceedings or in any other capacity for asserting rights or otherwise participating in this proceeding;
11. Enjoin Defendants from transferring Plaintiffs outside the judicial district during the pendency of these proceedings;
12. Award counsel for Plaintiffs and the putative class reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs in this action under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412, and on any other basis justified under law; and
13. Grant such other relief as the Court deems just and proper.

In the lawsuit Rhode Island State Council of Churches v. Rollins docket # 1:25-cv-00569, filed in District Court D Rhode Island on October 30, 2025 about the suspension of SNAP benefits due to the Senate's inability to reopen the Federal government thereby making SNAP unfunded like all the other Senate budget appropriations. 

The lawsuit seeks the following relief:

A. Declare unlawful, vacate, and set aside the suspension of SNAP benefits and the early termination of the ABAWD waivers;
B. Preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants, their agents, and all persons acting in concert or participation with Defendants from enforcing, implementing, giving effect to, maintaining, or reinstating under a different name the directives in the October 10 or October 24 memos;
C. Preliminarily and permanently enjoin and compel Defendants to release the withheld funding for SNAP benefits insofar as funds are available under the contingency funds from the FY 2024 and FY 2025 appropriations or under USDA’s authority under 7 U.S.C. § 2257;
D. Preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants, their agents, and all persons acting in concert or participation with Defendants from terminating any ABAWD waiver before the waiver’s expiration date on the ground that the waiver was approved due to lack of sufficient jobs in the relevant geographic area;
E. Stay the directives to suspend SNAP benefits pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 705 while funds are available under the contingency funds from the FY 2024 and FY 2025 appropriations or under USDA’s authority under 7 U.S.C. § 2257;
F. Stay the early termination of the ABAWD waivers pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 705 and issue all other necessary and appropriate process to preserve status or rights pending conclusion of the review proceedings;
G. Award Plaintiffs reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees; and
H. Grant any other relief that the Court deems fit and proper.

A TRO was granted on October 31, 2025 via an oral ruling (no judge identified) which was transcribed as:

the Court orders the USDA to distribute contingency funds; report to the Court by 12:00 PM on Monday, November 3, 2025, regarding the status of the distribution; and to honor the existing waivers.

In the US Constitution, Article III, Sections 1 through 3, discussed in my October 9, 2025 ANP Article the powers of the judicial branch are enumerated. Nowhere in the judicial duties does it state that the judiciary can instruct the a government agency/department to use one set of appropriations (in this case contingency funds) to fund another set of appropriations (in this case SNAP). Funding ability is exclusively reserved to Congress via Article II of the US Constitution.

The Bill of Rights, with the first 10 amendments, was passed by Congress September 25, 1789 and ratified December 15, 1791. It has been amended another 17 times to include additional specific rights. Today's Amendment is #12 covering Presidential elections.

On June 15, 1804, the Twelfth Amendment was ratified:

The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;

–the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;

–The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. 

But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.

[And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.–]

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

12th Amendment Puzzle:

11th Amendment Solution: