4 hours ago
6
Donald Trump has blamed Democrats for stalled talks that have made a US government shut down all but certain, and has threatened to punish the party and its voters during any stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.
Late on Tuesday Senate Democrats voted down a Republican bill to keep funding the government, putting it on a near certain path to a shutdown after midnight Wednesday for the first time in almost seven years. Democrats refused to vote for the bill unless it included a series of concessions centred on healthcare.
After the vote, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget issued a memo saying that “affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”
“So we’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected. And they’re Democrats, they’re going to be Democrats,” Trump said at an earlier White House event. The president added that a “lot of good can come down from shutdowns” and suggested he would use the pause to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things”.
US heads toward first government shutdown in nearly seven years
Trump on Tuesday said a government shutdown was “probably likely” after talks among congressional leaders on continuing funding appeared to yield little progress before a midnight deadline.
Democrats are demanding an extension of premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans, which expire at the end of the year. They also want to undo Republican cuts to Medicaid, the program providing healthcare to poor and disabled Americans, and public media outlets.
Federal agencies blame Democrats for looming shutdown in apparent Hatch Act violation
Several US federal agencies on Tuesday began blaming Democrats for an impending government shutdown, in a move that experts say appears to violate the Hatch Act, which limits the political activities of government employees.
Some agencies reportedly sent emails to employees on Tuesday afternoon, while others posted public statements faulting Democrats, the “radical left” and “radical liberals in Congress” for a potential government shutdown at midnight.
Trump defends troops in US cities after Hegseth decries military DEI efforts
At an address of assembled generals and admirals, Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, outlined changes to military policy and philosophy in a set of 10 directives meant to change organizational culture around fitness, race and gender, describing the previous state of military affairs as the “woke department”.
Donald Trump followed Hegseth’s call to embrace the virtues of lethality as a doctrine with a suggestion buried in an hour-long campaign-style speech that the gathering of officers and senior enlisted advisers should consider targeting US cities and civilian populations as a training exercise.
Trump gives Hamas ‘three or four days’ to respond to Gaza plan
Donald Trump has given Hamas an ultimatum of “three or four days” to respond to his proposed peace and reconstruction plan in Gaza, warning the militant group would “pay in hell” if it rejects the deal, as the Israeli offensive continued, inflicting further civilian casualties.
Trump says $500m deal reached with Harvard to settle dispute
Donald Trump has said said his administration had reached a deal with Harvard and that the school would pay $500m to settle the dispute between the federal government and the university.
“Linda is finishing up the final details,” Trump told reporters at an event in the Oval Office, referring to Linda McMahon, the education secretary. “And they’ll be paying about $500m and they’ll be operating trade schools. They’re going to be teaching people how to do AI and lots of other things, engines, lots of things.”
Judge rules against policy to deport pro-Palestinian students
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s policy to detain and deport foreign scholars over their pro-Palestinian views violates the US constitution and was designed to “intentionally” chill free speech rights.
Trump announces deal with Pfizer to lower drug prices
Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Pfizer, the prescription drug manufacturer, has agreed to offer medications at “heavily discounted prices” through a website operated by the federal government.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 29 September 2025.
