Catherine Rampell on The End of The Shutdown episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 16, 2025 · 48 MIN

Catherine Rampell on The End of The Shutdown

from The Al Franken Podcast · host The Al Franken Podcast

After 43 days, the longest government shutdown in American history has finally ended. We're joined by Catherine Rampell from The Bulwark and MSNBC to talk about how it finally came to a close and why a lot of Democrats are mad at their party. Catherine details how the Trump administration used the shutdown as an excuse to inflict as much pain as possible on SNAP recipients. Not only did the administration go to court to stop SNAP payments, they also punished any stores that might have tried to help them with discounts. As always, the cruelty is the point.Trump’s promise to fix the economy was one of the biggest reasons he was re-elected, but prices are higher on nearly everything around the country. Trump's approach is to lie about affordability while Americans struggle with economic anxiety. All the while, he's flopping around on his tariff policies, creating more and more chaos and confusion. Plus, the average age of first time homebuyers is now 40 years old and the Trump administration has floated the idea of a 50-year mortgage plan. Catherine explains why that could be disastrous for would-be homeowners.READ Catherine in The Bulwark: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-the-supreme-court-could-save-christmas-trump-tariffsWATCH Catherine on MSNBC's The Weekend Primetime: https://www.msnbc.com/weekend-primetimeGet 10% off your first order from Graza Olive Oil. Use the code FRANKEN at checkout: https://partners.graza.co/FRANKENCheck out our newest sponsor Ghostbed and get 25% off of your purchase. Use the code FRANKEN at checkout: www.ghostbed.com/Franken 

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Nov 16, 2025

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Catherine Rampell on The End of The Shutdown

0:00 48:26

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of The Al Franken Podcast?

This episode is 48 minutes long.

When was this The Al Franken Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on November 16, 2025.

Can I download this The Al Franken Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!