‘We have no choice’: Trump says layoffs are an inevitability if the government shuts down
When asked by a reporter during his executive order signing, why it’s necessary to cut more federal jobs in the event of a government shutdown, the president said it’s something you “have to do”.
“No country can afford to pay for illegal immigration, health care for everybody that comes into the country. And that’s what they [Democrats] are insisting,” Trump said. “They want open borders. They want men playing in women’s sports. They want transgender for everybody. They never stop. They don’t learn. We won an election in the landslide. They just don’t learn. So we have no choice. I have to do that for the country.”
Key events
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Bondi to appear before Senate judiciary committee next week
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‘We have no choice’: Trump says layoffs are an inevitability if the government shuts down
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Trump signs executive order to use AI in pediatric cancer research
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Qatar, Egypt and Turkey urge Hamas to accept Trump’s Gaza proposal – report
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Federal judge says that Trump administration’s targeting of pro-Palestinian activists violates the First Amendment
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‘We’ll probably have a shutdown,’ Trump says in Oval Office press conference
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Democrats call out Republicans for postponing votes on Capitol Hill
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Trump announces agreement with Pfizer to lower medication prices
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What was in Trump and Hegseth’s astonishing speeches to US top military brass?
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Major reforms to military acquisitions and sales are coming, Trump says
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Trump suggets ‘dangerous cities’ should be used ‘as training grounds’ for the military and national guard
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Trump says ‘straightening out’ US cities will be ‘a major part for some of the people in this room’
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Trump tells military generals ‘we’re under invasion from within’
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Trump says he wants to get Putin and Zelenskyy together
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Trump says Hamas ‘has to agree’ to US proposal for Gaza, adding ‘if they don’t it’s going to be very tough on them’
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Trump says he’s never seen ‘a room so silent before’ as he address top military brass
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Hegseth tells generals if they do not agree with him, ‘do the honorable thing and resign’
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Hegseth says that if new military standards prevent women from serving in combat, ‘it is what it is’
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Pentagon will review its definitions of ‘toxic leadership’, ‘bullying’ and ‘hazing’, says Hegseth
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‘No more beardos,’ Hegseth tells military leaders they must look professional
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‘Fat troops are tiring to look at’: Hegseth orders top officers to focus on fitness
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Combat troops will have to meet ‘highest male standard’, Hegseth says
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‘We are done with that shit’: Hegseth says military is done with diversity efforts in extraordinary speech to generals
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‘You might say, we’re ending the war on warriors,’ says Pete Hegseth in speech to military leaders
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Trump and Hegseth to address unprecedented gathering of military leaders
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Trump gutting protected status for immigrants will strain US healthcare, Democrats warn
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Donald Trump to preside over gathering of US military’s top commanders in Quantico, Virginia
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US justice department sues Minnesota over sanctuary city policies
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Pentagon review reportedly confirms Aukus submarines pact is safe
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US deports planeload of Iranians after deal with Tehran, New York Times says
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US government to shut down within hours if no funding deal agreed
On the Senate floor, Patty Murray – who serves as the senior Senator from Washington, and vice chair of the influential appropriations committee – just said that she hopes Republicans will “come to their senses and come to the table”.
“If Republicans want to avoid a shutdown like Democrats want to avoid a shutdown, then stop spending so much time saying you will sit down with us on health care later,” Murray said. “Spend that time working with us right now.”
Bondi to appear before Senate judiciary committee next week
Attorney general Pam Bondi is set to appear before the Senate judiciary committee on Tuesday 7 October, as turmoil in the justice department continues.
Last week, federal prosecutors indicted former FBI director James Comey. This despite the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, Erik Siebert, finding insufficient evidence to prosecute Comey.
The president, then moved to fire Siebert, and installed White House staffer and his personal attorney, Lindsey Halligan.
‘We have no choice’: Trump says layoffs are an inevitability if the government shuts down
When asked by a reporter during his executive order signing, why it’s necessary to cut more federal jobs in the event of a government shutdown, the president said it’s something you “have to do”.
“No country can afford to pay for illegal immigration, health care for everybody that comes into the country. And that’s what they [Democrats] are insisting,” Trump said. “They want open borders. They want men playing in women’s sports. They want transgender for everybody. They never stop. They don’t learn. We won an election in the landslide. They just don’t learn. So we have no choice. I have to do that for the country.”
Trump signs executive order to use AI in pediatric cancer research
The president signed an executive order today to “accelerate” pediatric cancer research by using artificial intelligence.
This includes doubling a $50m investment in the childhood cancer data initiative.
“For years, we’ve been amassing data about childhood cancer, but until now, we’ve been unable to fully exploit this trove of information and apply it to practical medicine,” Trump said.
It’s worth noting something that Donald Trump said earlier, during his announcement in the Oval Office.
“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible. Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like,” the president said, seemingly in reference to the memo sent out by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last week that told federal agencies to prepare for layoffs in the event of a government shutdown. “And you all know Russell Vought. He’s become very popular recently because he can trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way.”
Vought, who is the director of the OMB, was standing beside the president during today’s announcement.
In response, top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer said the president “admitted himself that he is using Americans as political pawns”.
“He is admitting that he is doing the firing of people, if god forbid it [the shutdown] happens,” Schumer added. “Democrats do not want to shut down. We stand ready to work with Republicans to find a bipartisan compromise.”
In terms of who stands to be affected if Congress fails to pass a funding extension today, my colleague Lauren Gambino notes that approximately 750,000 federal employees will be furloughed each day of a government shutdown, according to an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office released on Tuesday.
Operations deemed essential – such as social security, military duties, immigration enforcement, and air traffic control – continue, but other services may be disrupted or delayed. Mail delivery and post office operations will continue without interruption.
Agencies have been releasing updated contingency plans in the event of a shutdown. The Department of Education said nearly all its federal employees would be furloughed, while most of the Department of Homeland Security workforce would remain on the job.
The effect can be wide-ranging and potentially long-lasting. Previous shutdowns have closed national parks and the Smithsonian museums in Washington; slowed air travel; delayed food safety inspections and postponed immigration hearings.
Lauren notes that while the broader economy may not feel the effects immediately, analysts warn that a prolonged shutdown could slow growth, disrupt markets, and erode public trust.
Read Lauren’s full primer on the looming shutdown below.
Qatar, Egypt and Turkey urge Hamas to accept Trump’s Gaza proposal – report
Qatar, Egypt and Turkey are urging Hamas to give a positive response to Donald Trump’s proposal for ending Israel’s war in Gaza, Axios is reporting, citing two sources with knowledge of the talks.
Trump said earlier this morning that he was giving the group “three or four days” to respond. “We have one signature that we need, and that signature will pay in hell if they don’t sign,” Trump told US generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia. Yesterday the president made clear that he would support Israel continuing the war if Hamas rejects the proposal, or reneges on the deal at any stage.
According to Axios’s source, while Trump presented the plan at a press conference yesterday alongside Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad were presenting it to Hamas leaders in Doha – and both urged Hamas to accept.
Per Axios’s report: “Al-Thani advised the Hamas leaders that this was the best deal he was able to get for them and it won’t get much better, the source told the news agency. He also stressed that based on his conversations with Trump, he was confident the US president was seriously committed to ending the war. He said that was a strong enough guarantee for Hamas. The Hamas leaders told al-Thani they would study the proposal in good faith.”
They met again on Tuesday, this time along with Turkish intelligence director Ebrahim Kalin, the source told Axios. Ahead of that meeting, al-Thani told Al-Jazeera he hopes “everyone looks at the plan constructively and seizes the chance to end the war”. He said Hamas needs to get to a consensus with all other Palestinian factions in Gaza before issuing an official response. “We and Egypt explained to Hamas during yesterday’s meeting that our main goal is stopping the war. Trump’s plan achieves the main goal of ending the war, though some issues in it need clarification and negotiation,” the Qatari PM added.
The US is set to deport some 400 Iranian people back to Iran in the coming months as part of a deal with the Iranian government, the New York Times (paywall) reports.
Iranian officials have told the paper that a US-chartered flight carrying about 100 people departed Louisiana last night and will arrive in Iran via Qatar in the next few days.
The deportation to Iran, which has one of the harshest human rights records in the world, marks “one of the starkest efforts yet by the Trump administration to deport migrants no matter the human rights conditions in countries on the receiving end”, the NYT’s report reads.
“The identities of the Iranians on the plane and their reasons for trying to immigrate to the United States were not immediately clear,” it notes. But Iranian officials add “that in nearly every case, asylum requests had been denied or the [deportees] had not yet appeared before a judge for an asylum hearing”.
Michael Sainato
Earlier today, the homepage of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (Hud) was changed to a message in bold, claiming “the Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.”
The partisan message comes after whistleblowers at the agency claimed they were fired for raising concerns about the agency dismantling efforts to enforce fair housing laws.
Here is my colleague Alice Speri’s story on today’s ruling from a federal judge that found 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.
In a short while, Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders at 3pm EST in the Oval Office.
As of now, it’s closed press, but we’ll keep you updated if anything changes.
Gabrielle Canon
With the potential for another contentious government shutdown looming large, national park leaders and advocates are concerned the Trump administration could again push for leaving America’s parks open when they are unstaffed.
“National parks don’t run themselves. It is hard-working National Park Service employees that keep them safe, clean and accessible,” 40 former superintendents said in a letter issued to Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, this week, urging him to close the parks if a shutdown occurs. “If sufficient staff aren’t there, visitors shouldn’t be either.”
Irreversible damage was done at popular parks, including Joshua Tree in California, following a month-long shutdown in Trump’s first term, when his administration demanded parks be kept open while funding was paused and workers were furloughed.
Without supervision, visitors left behind trails of destruction. Prehistoric petroglyphs were vandalized at Big Bend national park. Joshua trees, some more than a century old, were chopped down as trash and toilets overflowed. Tire tracks crushed sensitive plants and desert habitats from illegal off-roading vehicles in Death Valley. There were widespread reports of wildlife poaching, search-and-rescue crews were quickly overwhelmed with calls and visitor centers were broken into.
There were 26 pages of listed damages, according to Kristen Brengel, senior vice-president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, who added that those effects happened in late December and January – a season when many parks are typically quieter.
The autumn months, and October especially, still draw millions of visitors even as the peak of summer visitation begins to slow. In 2024, there were more than 28.4m recreational visits in October alone, according to data from the NPS.
One House Democrat told me, on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, that the “best thing” for Democrats right now is that their Republican colleagues are “refusing” to negotiate on healthcare, and “forcing the American people to get hammered with these consequences of what they’ve done”.
This Democrat added that if GOP lawmakers were to “cut some kind of deal on health care” it would “inoculate them to some extent, for the midterms in 2026”.
The Hill is reporting that the Senate is expected to vote on the Republican and Democratic versions of a stopgap funding bill at 5pm EST today.
A reminder that both failed to achieve the 60 votes needed to clear the chamber prior to last week’s congressional recess.
At the time of writing this post, government funding is set to expire in under 10 hours.
Federal judge says that Trump administration’s targeting of pro-Palestinian activists violates the First Amendment
A federal district court judge in Massachusetts today ruled that the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty members for pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the first amendment.
Judge William Young said that today’s ruling was to decide whether noncitizens lawfully present in the US “have the same free speech rights as the rest of us”.
“The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do.’ ‘No law’ means ‘no law’,” he said.
The lawsuit, brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University after activist Mahmoud Khalil’s was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in March, alleged the Trump administration was conducting an “ideological deportation” that was unconstitutional. It resulted in a nine-day trial in July.
Richard Luscombe
Coming soon to Miami: the Donald J Trump presidential library.
Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis and his cabinet voted Tuesday morning to hand over a lucrative parcel of land for the venture, the first formal step towards a building intended to honor the legacy of the 45th and 47th president.
The unanimous vote by DeSantis and three loyalists, including the unelected Florida attorney general James Uthmeier, conveys almost three acres of prime real estate in the shadow of the Miami Freedom Tower, the iconic and recently reopened “beacon of freedom” that saw tens of thousands of Cubans enter the US during its time as an immigration processing center.
On Monday, protestors at the site, currently a parking lot for Miami Dade College’s downtown campus, highlighted the juxtaposition with a building celebrating a president who has implemented the biggest crackdown on immigration in the nation’s history.
“I look forward to the patriotic stories the Trump Library Foundation will showcase for generations to come in the Free State of Florida,” Uthmeier said in a statement following the vote.
Eric Trump, the president’s son, celebrated the news in a post to X. “It will be the greatest Presidential Library ever built, honoring the greatest President our Nation has ever known,” he wrote.
Critics of the venture note that college trustees voted a week ago to transfer ownership of the land, estimated to be worth $67m, to the state without knowing what DeSantis intended to do with it.
On CNN today, Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, said that “sometimes you’ve got to stand and fight” in regard to the looming shutdown.
“A fight to protect Americans who can’t afford their healthcare, is a fight worth having,” she added.
The president said that he didn’t see Democrats “bend” at all when they discussed healthcare provisions in his meeting on Monday. He spoke with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries.
But when asked to clarify what he means when he talks about Democrats fighting for undocumented immigrants’ access to federal healthcare programs, when they aren’t eligible to access them, Trump didn’t answer the question.
Instead he listed off, what he described as, several achievements by the administration to curb illegal migration.
‘We’ll probably have a shutdown,’ Trump says in Oval Office press conference
Donald Trump has just said that the government will “probably” shut down, while addressing reporters in the Oval Office.
“They want to give Cadillac Medicare to illegal aliens … at the cost to everyone else,” the president said. This is a false claim that Trump and congressional Republicans have repeated since lawmakers have failed to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded. A reminder, this lapses tonight.
Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to enroll in subsidized programs like Medicaid, Medicare or the Affordable Care Act.
