President Donald Trump awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously to Charlie Kirk on Tuesday.
Kirk was an activist who inspired a generation of young conservatives and helped push the nation’s politics further to the right; he was killed last month during an event at a university in Utah. His politics were often divisive, and Trump has cited Kirk as a major reason he was reelected, calling Kirk a “great American hero” while speaking at his funeral in September.
The government shutdown also entered its 14th day Tuesday, with the Senate returning from its holiday break, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson refusing to call lawmakers back to Washington and Trump’s budget director vowing to keep firing federal workers.
Democrats have focused on trying to keep Affordable Care Act subsidies from expiring for millions of Americans who purchase insurance on “Obamacare” exchanges. Without this federal support, costs are expected to soar across the health care economy. Johnson said he “won’t negotiate” unless Democrats first agree to reopen the government, losing their leverage for any deal.
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What could the long-term impact be of the US military’s strikes on boats in the Caribbean?
James Story, former U.S. ambassador for the Venezuela Affairs Unit from 2018 to 2023, served under Trump’s first term and under President Joe Biden.
He told The Associated Press that ongoing American strikes on boats in the Caribbean may ultimately hinder counternarcotics efforts. By ruffling the feathers of longtime American allies in the region like Colombia, Story said, the strikes likely “hurt our ability to gather intelligence” from allies to crack down on drug trafficking organizations.
“If they believe that the intelligence they provide us will result in what some could describe as an extrajudicial killing, and nobody here is sympathetic to the plight of drug traffickers ... that puts us in a pretty bad spot,” Story said. ”It puts us in contravention with international law and it undermines our ability to work in the hemisphere.”
Meta removes ICE-tracking Facebook page in Chicago at the request of the Department of Justice
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that “following outreach” from the DOJ, Facebook removed a “large group page” that was being used to track the presence of immigration agents.
Meta said in a statement that the group “was removed for violating our policies against coordinated harm.”
Earlier this month, Apple and Google blocked downloads of apps that flag sightings of U.S. immigration agents, just hours after the Trump administration demanded that one particularly popular app be taken down.
Bondi has said such tracking puts ICE officers at risk. But app users and developers say it’s their First Amendment right to capture what ICE is doing in their neighborhoods — and maintain that most users turn to these platforms in an effort to protect their own safety.
While a Facebook group for ICE sightings in Chicago does appear to have been taken down, as of Tuesday evening, dozens of other groups remained visible on Facebook.
LA County declares state of emergency to aid residents hit by immigration raids
The state of emergency gives Los Angeles County officials power to provide assistance for residents they say have suffered financially from ongoing federal immigration raids.
The declaration allows LA County Board of Supervisors to provide rent relief for tenants who have fallen behind as a result of the crackdown on immigrants. A local state of emergency can also funnel state money for legal aid and other services.
The move comes after the Trump administration ramped up immigration raids in LA County over the summer.
Florida judge temporarily blocks transfer of downtown Miami land for Trump’s presidential library
The move came after a Miami activist alleged that officials at a local college violated Florida’s open government law when they gifted the sizable plot of real estate to the state, which then voted to transfer it to the foundation for the planned presidential library.
The nearly 3-acre (1.2-hectare) property is valued at more than $67 million, according to a 2025 assessment by the Miami-Dade County property appraiser. One of the last undeveloped lots on an iconic stretch of palm tree-lined Biscayne Boulevard, one real estate expert wagered that the parcel could sell for hundreds of millions of dollars more.
Marvin Dunn, an activist and chronicler of local Black history, filed a lawsuit this month in a Miami-Dade County court against the Board of Trustees for Miami Dade College, a state-run school that owned the property. He alleges that the board violated Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law by not providing sufficient notice for its special meeting on Sept. 23, when it voted to give up the land, and he’s seeking to block the land transfer.
Hegseth letter last month says up to 1,000 Guard members to be in Memphis through September 2026
In Memphis, Tennessee, it remains unclear how many National Guard troops are or will be in the city, where some armed Guard soldiers were spotted late last week beginning their patrol at the Bass Pro Shops located at the iconic Pyramid. A slew of officers from other federal agencies have already been sent to Memphis through a Trump-created task force aimed at crime.
According to a Sept. 23 letter from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Gov. Bill Lee, the Department of Defense is prepared to authorize and fund up to 1,000 Guard personnel in Memphis through September 2026. The Associated Press obtained the letter through a public records request. The Daily Memphian previously reported on it.
Lee, a Republican, had said he didn’t expect many more than 150 Guard members in Memphis, but he has been loath to repeat the number, instead lately saying there is no estimate.
U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces S. Serralta said Tuesday that between 1,500 and 2,000 federal law enforcement agents who are part of the task force are in Memphis daily.
State Department adviser charged with illegally retaining classified records
Ashley Tellis is accused by the Justice Department of printing out classified documents and storing more than 1,000 pages of highly sensitive government records in filing cabinets and trash bags at home.
Tellis was charged with the unlawful retention of national defense information after FBI agent searched his home over the weekend.
He was ordered detained Tuesday pending a detention hearing next week. One of his lawyers said they “look forward to the hearing, where we’ll be able to present evidence.”
An FBI affidavit alleges Tellis over the last month printed classified documents on topics including U.S. military aircraft capabilities. Surveillance video shows him on several occasions exiting the State Department and a Defense Department facility with a briefcase in which he was believed to have stashed the printed-out papers, according to court documents.
▶ Read more about the charges against Tellis
US revokes 6 visas over Charlie Kirk-related speech
The Trump administration has revoked the visas of six foreigners deemed by U.S. officials to have made derisive comments or made light of the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The State Department says it had determined they should lose their visas after reviewing their social media posts and online clips about Kirk.
The announcement came as Trump was posthumously awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The administration and its supporters have targeted people for their comments about Kirk, leading to firings or other discipline of journalists, teachers and others, and raising free speech concerns.
The six people who had their visas revoked were from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay and South Africa. They were not identified.
Erika Kirk says she intends to see her husband’s work through
Erika Kirk says God began a “mighty work” through her husband, Charlie, and she intends to see it through.
It’s a nod to her new role as head of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth voting advocacy group he started in 2012.
She finished her remarks by saying that Charlie Kirk’s story reminds us that “to live free is the greatest gift but to die free is the greatest victory.”
“Happy birthday, my Charlie,” she said. “Happy freedom day.”
Erika Kirk says her husband may have made a bid for the White House if he had lived
“And if the moment had come, he probably would have run for president, but not out of ambition,” she said as she wrapped up her tribute to Charlie Kirk. “He would only have done it if that was something that he believed that his country needed.
Venezuelan leader calls on press to combat US ‘lies’
Following the latest U.S. strike on a small boat accused of carrying drugs in international waters off Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly and a close ally of President Nicolás Maduro, called on the press to combat U.S. “lies” that are being used to justify a possible invasion.
The government had convened foreign media and dozens of leaders of local media outlets for Rodríguez’s message Tuesday.
“The objective is not the search for the truth and much less fighting drug trafficking,” Rodríguez said. It’s about “looking for the way to have an excuse for aggression.”
“We’re not asking you to make up anything, but rather to defend the truth,” he said.
Nation’s highest civilian honor is the best birthday gift, Erika Kirk says
Erika Kirk says the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the perfect birthday gift for Charlie.
She said after receiving the award on her husband’s behalf that she had spent years trying to find the best birthday gift for him. Charlie Kirk would have turned 32 on Tuesday.
She says he preferred quiet birthdays, but she can say with confidence that Trump has given him the best birthday present with the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Trump presents award to Kirk’s widow
After describing it as a “really big deal,” the president asked a military aide to read the citation. Erika Kirk wiped her eyes and Trump handed the medal to her.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for honoring my husband in such a profound and meaningful way,” she said.
Trump detours to appreciate the sound of sirens
During remarks about public safety, Trump could hear sirens from somewhere nearby.
“What a beautiful sound,” he said. “They’re stopping crime. That’s what they’re doing.”
He went on to describe them as “real deal sirens” and “not politically correct sirens.”
Senate Democrats’ bill to halt US assistance for Argentina fails to quickly advance
Senate Democrats were trying to quickly advance a bill that would prohibit $20 billion in assistance that Trump has promised to Argentina, but it failed to get the unanimous consent needed after a Republican objected to the legislation.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that overseas banking, argued that Trump was only promising the assistance to help Argentine President Javier Milei.
“That’s Argentina First, not America First,” she said.
The chair of the Senate committee on banking, Sen. Tim Scott, objected to Warren’s attempt, saying that it would “impair Treasury’s ability to help an ally in South America.”
CDC has lost nearly a quarter of its workforce this year, union estimates
Public health experts and others are still trying to determine the exact impact of the latest government layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But one union estimates that the Atlanta-based agency has lost roughly a quarter of its workforce so far this year.
The American Federation of Government Employees held a call with reporters Tuesday, in which it estimated that of the more than 13,000 CDC employees at the beginning of this year, more than 3,000 have left through layoffs, buyouts, retirements or other ways.
AFGE officials were reacting to questions about more than 1,300 CDC received reduction-in-force notices that went out Friday — of which about 700 were late revoked in follow-up notices.
Government officials attributed to chaos to a coding error, but have not responded to questions about how a mistake of that magnitude happened, and what CDC programs and staff are being eliminated in this latest round.
Trump credits Kirk with boosting his comeback campaign
“He helped make it happen,” the Republican president said. Without Kirk, “maybe you would have Kamala standing here today,” referring to former Vice President Kamala Harris who was his Democratic opponent last year. “That would not be good.”
Trump attributes nice weather for Charlie Kirk event to God’s blessing
Trump opened the ceremony for Charlie Kirk’s posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom by noting how beautiful the day was out in the Rose Garden.
He said that the weather was supposed to be terrible and rainy but instead it was sunny, allowing the event to be moved from indoors to outdoors.
“I was telling Erika, God was watching,” Trump said of Kirk’s widow. “And he didn’t want that for Charlie.”
Feds deploy tear gas in Chicago street after high-speed chase leads to crash
A high-speed chase involving Border Patrol agents pursuing a suspect led to a crash Tuesday afternoon in a residential street on Chicago’s East Side, authorities said. Footage from the scene shows bystanders gathering before agents deployed a tear gas to disperse them.
While Border Patrol agents conducted an immigration enforcement operation, DHS officials said a person suspected of being in the country illegally used a vehicle to ram into a Border Patrol vehicle before fleeing. The agents chased the suspect’s vehicle until the suspect stopped and attempted to run away on foot, according to DHS.
As agents arrested the suspect, a crowd began to form and “crowd control methods were used,” DHS officials said.
The Chicago Police Department confirmed that federal agents deployed tear gas into the street.
Footage from ABC shows dozens of protesters waving flags as several federal agents and local police officers hold them back from the street. Border Patrol agents can be seen throwing tear gas cannisters into the crowd, enveloping the street in a white gas as protesters cough and run from the area.
Trump says US may stop buying cooking oil from China as ‘retribution’ for soybean boycott
In a Truth Social post, he called Beijing’s decision not to buy U.S. soybeans “an Economically Hostile Act.”
He wrote that the U.S. can “easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves” and doesn’t need to buy it from China. China has been the biggest foreign buyer of American soybeans for many years but hasn’t bought any since May.
The post is the latest escalatory rhetoric after trade tensions flared up last week when Beijing imposed extra export rules on rare earths products. However, both sides also have made off-ramp remarks, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent telling Fox News on Monday that the leaders still plan to meet at the end of the month in South Korea.
More Education Department workers laid off
More than 200 civil rights workers at the U.S. Education Department are being laid off after an appeals court cleared the way for their dismissal.
An appeals court last month reversed a lower court decision that blocked the March firings. Department officials cited the ruling in a layoff notice that was sent to Office for Civil Rights workers on Monday and obtained by The Associated Press.
It adds to more than 400 other layoffs the department announced last week as the Trump administration pressures Democratic lawmakers over the federal shutdown.
A department spokesperson did not immediately comment.
Mass layoffs in March nearly halved the Education Department, but a federal judge halted the firing of about 260 Office for Civil Rights workers. Many were being brought back to the agency when an appeals court reversed the decision.
Trump says some Democrat-backed programs won’t return after shutdown
The president says his administration is using the government shutdown to target federal programs that Democrats like and “they’re never going to come back, in many cases.”
“We are closing up Democrat programs that we disagree with and they’re never going to open again,” he said.
Trump added: “We’re being able to do things that we were unable to do before” during the shutdown, which he blames on Democrats. Democrats blame Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
Trump said officials will present a list of targeted programs on Friday.
He didn’t provide further details except to say his administration is seeking to terminate “some of the most egregious socialist – semi-communist” programs.
Trump and Hegseth defend Pentagon’s news press policy
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon press corps that has objected to the policy should have been “front and center across the board on wanting to give credit to the president” for his ceasefire deal in Gaza, but “Instead, what they want to talk about is a policy about them.”
Outlets including The Associated Press, New York Times and Newsmax have refused to agree to the policy, saying it threatens to punish them for routine news gathering protected by the First Amendment.
Trump said he thought the press is “very dishonest” and said he could see why Hegseth is “bothered” by the press access to the Pentagon.
“It bothers me to have soldiers and, you know, even high-ranking generals walking around with you guys on their sleeve,” Trump said.
Trump suggested he might move the White House press corps out of the building and said, “You’re lucky I’m president because we could move them very easily across the street.”
Trump threatens to revoke Boston’s World Cup matches if authorities don’t get tougher on crime
“We could take them away,” the president said of games in the city that he said were already sold out.
“If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I feel there’s unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni – the head of FIFA who’s phenomenal -- and I would say, “Let’s move into another location” and they would do that.”
Trump meant FIFA head Gianni Infantino. He said Infantino “wouldn’t love to do it, but he’d do it very easily.”
The president didn’t offer specifics, but suggested that crime threats were hurting Boston and that his administration could solve those.
He’s already deployed National Guard troops to Washington and Memphis, and Trump’s efforts to increase military presence in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, have sparked legal fights.
Police protecting U.S. Capitol, Congress miss first full paycheck
As the government shutdown leaves many federal workers furloughed or working without pay, its impact is increasingly being felt in missed paychecks.
The union representing members of the U.S. Capitol Police — who protect the Capitol, members of Congress and their staff — said that on Friday, officers did not receive a full paycheck.
“The longer the shutdown drags on, the harder it becomes for my officers,” said Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the union. “Banks and landlords do not give my officers a pass because we are in shutdown – they still expect to be paid.”
Trump threatens to pull aid to Argentina based on election results
Trump, seeming to refer to Argentina’s crucial midterm elections later this month that will be a referendum on Milei’s policies, said that “If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina.”
It’s not the first time this year Trump has sought to insert himself in the domestic affairs of another country to protect a leader seen as an ally.
The comments came a day after Trump, while speaking at the Knessett, called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be pardoned in the corruption trial he faces. Trump branded the trial a “witch hunt,” a term he used for his own court cases while he was running for president last year.
The president also called the prosecution against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, for attempting to overturn his 2022 election, a “witch hunt.” Trump then imposed 50% tariffs on the Latin American country and sanctioned its main justice in retaliation.
Treasury secretary meets with Ukranian prime minister
Scott Bessent met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko to reaffirm the U.S.’ “unwavering support for Ukrainian sovereignty.”
A Treasury readout of the meeting states that Bessent stressed the need for European allies to ratchet up pressure on Russia, and any country that purchases Russian oil.
Trump says he’s considering imposing tariffs on Spain
He said the move could come in retaliation for Spain not following other NATO members and increasing its military spending.
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Trump added that Spain is “doing very well off our backs.” He was referring to Spain being the sole member of the 32-nation alliance not to commit to increasing military spending to 5% of GDP.
Trump said that geography ensures that Spain gets NATO protection “automatically” but that what the country had done was “very disrespectful to NATO.”
Trump has previously suggested Spain should be expelled from NATO. He didn’t say that this time, but said of imposing possible tariffs, “I may do that” and that, “I think they should be punished.”
That’s despite Trump’s administration already having negotiated tariff rates with the European Union, which includes Spain.
Trump tells Hamas to disarm and return dead hostages
Trump says he wants dead hostages held in Gaza back and warns Hamas if “they don’t disarm, we will disarm them.”
The U.S. president made the comment while speaking at the White House during Argentinian President Javier Milei’s visit.
It comes after an Israeli military agency declared a “violation” of the truce agreement that it would respond to by halving the number of trucks allowed to bring humanitarian aid into the devastated territory.
Milei gives Trump gold-framed letter nominating him for Nobel Peace Prize
The glowing letter that the Argentine leader wrote expressed his “deepest admiration” for Trump and his “commitment to peace.”
Trump has long sought a Nobel Peace Prize but suggested he may never be awarded it.
Trump received nominations for the prize this year but many of them occurred after the February deadline for the 2025 award. That fell just a week and a half into his second term.
Foreign leaders who’ve sought close relations with the White House have suggested Trump should win the award or said they will nominate him.
Trump explains why U.S. is helping out Argentina
The U.S. is establishing a $20 billion currency swap line to prop up the Argentine peso — and that assistance is to help a “great philosophy take over a great country,” Trump says.
“Argentina is one of the most beautiful countries that I’ve ever seen,” Trump said.
The president also stressed that it was helping “our neighbors.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that Argentina was “foremost” among Latin American countries that have “aligned with the United States on issue after issue.”
“I think this is important,” Trump said. “This is our hemisphere.”
Trump and Milei begin their meeting
The two leaders are holding a working lunch in the Cabinet Room at the White House.
“He’s MAGA all the way,” Trump said of the Argentine leader. It usually refers to Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” but in this instance, Trump was also using it to say “Make Argentina Great Again.”
Milei, speaking in Spanish, said he was “very honored, especially in this moment when we are giving thanks for Trump’s great leadership.”
“We can follow a peaceful route and make Argentina a strong example for freedom and prosperity,” Milei said.
Trump confirms another US strike against boat in Caribbean
He said in a post on social media that six people were killed in the strike on the vessel suspected of carrying drugs off the waters of Venezuela. No U.S. forces were harmed.
It’s the fifth deadly strike in the Caribbean as the Trump administration has asserted that it is treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must be met with military force.
Frustration with the administration has been growing on Capitol Hill among members of both major political parties. Some Republicans are seeking more information from the White House on the legal justification and details of the strikes. Democrats contend the strikes violate U.S. and international law.
▶ Read more about the latest strike.
House Judiciary Committee seeks testimony from Jack Smith
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee want the Justice Department special counsel who prosecuted Trump to appear for an interview.
Rep. Jim Jordan, the committee chair, charged in a letter to Smith that his team’s prosecutions of Trump were “partisan and politically motivated.” Jordan’s move shows how Republicans are escalating their tactics to go after Trump’s perceived enemies.
Smith pursued two criminal cases against Trump -- for illegally holding classified documents and for interfering in the 2020 election -- but abandoned them after Trump won election last year.
The House Judiciary Committee has also conducted interviews with other members of Smith’s team, Jordan said, but they declined to answer many questions, citing the Fifth Amendment.
Milei arrives at the White House
The Argentine leader was greeted warmly by Trump in the West Wing driveway shortly after 1:30 p.m.
The two men posed for photos, both giving a thumbs-up.
When asked by a reporter for his message to Argentina, the U.S. president said: “We love them. We will be there for them.”
Trump added, “and they have a great leader. They have a very great leader.”
Argentina’s leader praises Trump before White House meeting
“Your commitment to life, freedom and peace has restored hope to the world,” President Javier Milei wrote on social media, congratulating the U.S. president on securing a ceasefire deal in Gaza, where a truce is holding after a devastating, two-year Israel-Hamas war.
The Trump-Milei bromance has already paid off for Argentina — most recently, to the tune of a $20 billion bailout.
Experts say Milei comes to the White House with two clear objectives. One is to negotiate U.S. tariff exemptions or reductions for Argentine products.
▶ Read more about the White House meeting.
Trump takes note of slow return of dead hostages to Israel
“ALL TWENTY HOSTAGES ARE BACK AND FEELING AS GOOD AS CAN BE EXPECTED. A big burden has been lifted, but the job IS NOT DONE,” Trump wrote in a posting on his Truth Social platform. “THE DEAD HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED, AS PROMISED! Phase Two begins right NOW!!”
He made no mention in his post of Israel announcing earlier Tuesday that it would halve the flow of aid into the territory as a result of the slow return of the dead.
Trump moves Kirk Medal of Freedom ceremony to Rose Garden
The president said in a post on social media that he’s moving the ceremony to posthumously honor Charlie Kirk outside at the White House, where he paved over the Rose Garden grass, because the crowd will be “so big and enthusiastic.”
Trump said the new location will allow people to see the changes he’s made, such as the Presidential Walk of Fame where he hung portraits of the previous commanders-in-chief, along with renovations to the Palm Court.
Trump’s post to the entire world also included instructions on how to enter the White House for the event: “Enter through Main South Entrance.”
Some airports decline to show Noem’s video message on government shutdown
Airports in Las Vegas, Charlotte, Phoenix and Westchester County say the Homeland Security secretary’s video goes against their policy or regulations because of its political content.
In the video, Noem blames Democrats for the federal government shutdown and its impacts on operations to screen travelers. The shutdown has left airports scrambling with flight disruptions.
US rejects bid to buy 167 million tons of coal for less than a penny per ton
The bid’s price for the coal on public lands in Montana reflected the low appetite for coal among utilities turning to cheaper natural gas and renewables such as wind and solar.
It would have been the biggest U.S. government coal sale in more than a decade. But coal emissions are a leading driver of climate change, which scientists say is making weather more extreme. Trump has made reviving the coal industry a centerpiece of his energy agenda, but economists say he’s unlikely to reverse its decline.
A Department of Interior statement Tuesday said the $186,000 bid from the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. didn’t meet the requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act. Agency representatives did not provide further details, and it’s unclear if they will attempt another sale.
Maine Gov. Mills to confront Trump again with US Senate campaign
The New England governor who told Trump to his face that she would see him in court now plans to challenge Maine’s Republican U.S. senator at the ballot box.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills cited her White House confrontation in her Tuesday launch video. She told The Associated Press: “I’ll stand up to Trump, just as I did in February.”
Mills says she’s running for a broader resistance to Trump and to oust five-term Sen. Susan Collins, who voted for the tax breaks and spending cuts law that reduced food and health care aid for children and low-income Americans.
Other challengers for the Democratic nomination include oyster farmer Graham Platner, who has the backing of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Read more about the Maine senate race
Advocacy group sues Social Security Administration over access to records
Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit against the SSA Tuesday, asking a court to compel the release of public records related to policy changes at the agency.
The plaintiffs allege that SSA’s changes during Trump’s second term — which include mass firings and changes to how benefits are administered — have left millions of retirees and people with disabilities struggling to access the benefits they rely on.
They seek internal memos, communications, and data about the impact of SSA’s policies.
“Transparency isn’t optional — it’s essential,” Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement. “We’re taking action to demand accountability and ensure the public knows what’s happening behind closed doors.”
Democrats rally in front of White House budget office
Congressional Democrats and laid-off workers are gathering outside the White House’s budget office to decry the Trump administration’s moves to fire federal employees during the shutdown.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, called it “a lie” and illegal for the White House to use the shutdown to impose mass layoffs.
The Democrats stood behind people that held signs printed with budget director Russ Vought’s face and his quote about wanting to put federal workers “in trauma.”
“When they viciously attack our federal employees, they are viciously attacking the American people,” Van Hollen said.
GOP House Speaker backs funding transfers to pay troops
Mike Johnson says the Trump administration “has every right” to move congressionally-mandated funds around to pay the nation’s troops.
“If the Democrats want to go to court and challenge troops being paid, bring it,” Johnson said at a Capitol press conference.
Moving the funds removes a major pressure point that might have encouraged negotiations over the shutdown. Members of the military were projected to miss their first paycheck on Wednesday.
The Trump administration is exercising vast leeway both to fire workers — drawing complaints from fellow Republicans and lawsuits from employee unions — and to determine who is paid. Military troops and federal law enforcement agents don’t necessarily have to go without pay thanks to other funding sources as well as the billions made available in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is now law.
▶ Read more about the latest shutdown related developments
House speaker rallying global support to nominate Trump for the next Nobel Peace Prize
Mike Johnson says he and the speaker of the Israeli Knesset are starting a project to rally global leaders to support Trump’s nomination for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Conservatives have hailed Trump’s effort to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and say he deserves the annual award.
“Under his leadership, we are witnessing the dawn of a new golden age, not just for America but for the entire free world,” the Louisiana Republican, said at a news conference.
ICE using full-body restraints during deportations, raising concerns over inhumane treatment
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been using a full-body restraint device called the WRAP during deportations. The Associated Press spoke to a number of people who said they were placed in the device after they had already been shackled.
The manufacturer says the device is intended for violent individuals, but detainees claim it is used to intimidate or punish them.
ICE’s use of the WRAP has continued despite safety concerns expressed two years ago by a watchdog division of its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
A DHS spokesperson says ICE’s use of the restraints is “fully in line with established legal standards.”
▶ Read more from the AP’s investigation into ICE’s use of full-body restraints
Trump’s ‘big bill’ helps pay Coast Guard salaries in shutdown
The administration has begun tapping funds from Trump’s tax breaks and budget law to start paying for priorities during the shutdown — in this case, ensuring the Coast Guard doesn’t go without paychecks.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement that thanks to “the One Big Beautiful Bill, the brave men and women of the US Coast Guard will not miss a paycheck this week.”
Trump had already instructed the Department of Defense to make sure military service members are paid. The Pentagon announced it would do so with $8 billion in unused research and development funds.
The law includes more than $300 billion in new funds for the military as well as for DHS and Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
White House budget office prepared for long shutdown standoff
The office led by budget director Russ Vought also said in a social media post that it will continue implementing reduction-in-force plans to fire federal workers.
The post said the office would “pay the troops, pay law enforcement, continue the RIFs, and wait.”
Many in Washington are digging in for a prolonged government funding fight. The shutdown is already well into its second week.
Pennsylvania man pleads guilty in arson at governor’s mansion while Shapiro’s family slept
A man who scaled an iron security fence, eluded police and used beer bottles filled with gasoline to ignite the occupied Pennsylvania governor’s mansion pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted murder.
Cody Balmer, 38, was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison after he also entered pleas to terrorism, 22 counts of arson, aggravated arson, burglary, aggravated assault of Gov. Josh Shapiro, 21 counts of reckless endangerment and loitering in the April 13 attack that did millions of dollars in damage to the state-owned brick building.
Shapiro and his family were awakened and evacuated hours after celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover. Balmer told police after turning himself in that he had planned to beat Shapiro with a sledgehammer, according to court documents.
▶ Read more about the attack on the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion
Supreme Court rejects Jones’ appeal of $1.4 billion Sandy Hook judgment
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and left in place the $1.4 billion judgment against him over his description of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a hoax staged by crisis actors.
The Infowars host had argued that a judge was wrong to find him liable for defamation and infliction of emotional distress without holding a trial on the merits of allegations lodged by relatives of victims of the shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut.
The justices did not comment on their order, which they issued without even asking the families of the Sandy Hook victims to respond to Jones’ appeal.
▶ Read more about Jones’ rejection by the Supreme Court
Barack Obama appears in ad urging California voters to counter Trump
Barack Obama is entering the fight for U.S. House control by appearing in a 30-second ad urging California voters to approve a ballot proposal that could add as many as five Democrat-held House seats from California.
“Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years,” Obama says, looking directly into the camera. “You can stop Republicans in their tracks.”
Proposition 50 is aimed at offsetting Trump’s moves in Texas and elsewhere to help win more Republican seats in the 2026 midterm election. Voting is underway and concludes Nov. 4. Republicans hold a 219-213 House majority, with three vacancies.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has framed the election as a referendum on all things Trump, who is unpopular in liberal-leaning California outside of his conservative base. Republicans call it a Democratic power grab that would override an independent commission created by voters.
News outlets face Pentagon ouster for refusing to sign defense secretary’s pre-approval rules
Major news organizations say they won’t sign a Defense Department document about its new press rules, making it likely the Trump administration will evict their reporters from the Pentagon.
Pete Hegseth reacted to their refusal by posting a hand-waving emoji on X. His team has said that reporters who don’t acknowledge the policy in writing by Tuesday must turn in badges admitting them to the Pentagon and clear out their workspaces the next day.
The new rules bar journalist access to large swaths of the Pentagon without an escort and say Hegseth can revoke press access to reporters who ask anyone in the Defense Department for information — classified or otherwise — that he has not approved for release.
The New York Times, The Associated Press, the conservative Newsmax television network, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and Reuters, among other outlets, say the policy threatens to punish routine news gathering protected by the First Amendment.
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Trump complains that the photo of him on Time Magazine is ‘the Worst of All Time’
The president posted a lament on social media early Tuesday morning about a signature subject: his hair.
Trump has long been known for his swoopy blonde hair, but on the latest issue of Time recognizing his ceasefire deal in Gaza, he feels his locks are lacking.
“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an extremely small one. Really weird!” the president wrote.
The president also complained that the shot is taken facing up, showing more neck and chin than he seemed to prefer.
“This is a super bad picture, and deserves to be called out,” he wrote. “What are they doing, and why?”
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