A surprise move by the Trump administration could result in hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers losing their food assistance benefits as soon as November — disrupting one of the country’s oldest safety net programs months earlier than expected.

In July, President Donald Trump signed his “Big, Beautiful Bill” into law, enacting over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps). Drastic changes to SNAP were expected to roll out starting next year, including expanded work requirements projected to cause hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to lose eligibility.

In theory, the process that determines your energy bills plays out in public, through innumerable documents and comments posted online and hearings that are open to all.

In practice, watchdogs say, the key decisions are made behind closed doors, in confidential settlement proceedings where utilities set the agenda and bring legal firepower that is impossible for most other participants to match.

That secretive settlement process was a flashpoint at a state Senate hearing Tuesday on spiraling energy bills. Over the course of the day, senators questioned state and city officials, advocates, and utility representatives about the state’s energy policies and reforms that could rein in price hikes.