SHUTDOWN INEVITABLE? A government shutdown, which would pause many services, is now less than a week away and seems more likely by the day.
Congressional leaders and their aides are now bracing for a shutdown starting Oct. 1, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports.
Trump's announcement earlier in the week that he canceled a meeting scheduled for today with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has seemed to snuff out the best chance left to avoid a shutdown.
"I look forward to meeting with them if they get serious about the future of our Nation," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "We must keep the Government open, and legislate like true Patriots rather than hold American Citizens hostage, knowing that they want our now thriving Country closed."
The administration already appears to be making plans for a shutdown as a memo from the Office of Management and Budget indicates that widespread firings could occur across federal agencies. The memo urges federal agencies to "use this opportunity to consider reduction-in-force (RIF) notices" for all employees if three conditions are met.
The conditions are the lapse of discretionary funding starting mid-next week, if other sources of funding aren't available and if the employee's activities aren't "consistent with the president's priorities."
Some Democrats have expressed concern that a shutdown would give Trump even more power than he currently has.
Both sides have already taken to blaming each other in the event a shutdown occurs at the end of next Tuesday.
Trump and congressional Republicans have called for a "clean" continuing resolution (CR) that keeps government funding at its current levels, adds greater security funding for officials' protection following Kirk's shooting and keeps the government open through Nov. 21.
But Democrats have rejected that, centering their opposition on the CR's lack of continued health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which are set to expire. The party is hoping the potential for a shutdown presents a win-win situation, in which they'll either secure the subsidies extension or Republicans will receive blame for a shutdown.
"They can kind of have their cake and eat it too," one source familiar with the thinking of Democratic leaders told The Hill's Nathaniel Weixel. "They can work to appease the base right now and get a meaningful policy win for their constituents from ACA, but still turn around and continue getting health care to be a main topic of conversation ... and try to get persuadable swing voters in the midterms."
Republicans will argue that Democrats are the ones to blame, as they're the ones talking about voting against the measure to keep the government open. Both the House-passed clean CR and a Democratic alternative that includes the health care subsidies have failed in the Senate.
If the government shuts down, it would be the first one since the shutdown from December 2018 to January 2019 during Trump's first term in office. Lasting more than a month, it was the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
It arose from Trump's demand of billions of dollars in funding to construct a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump eventually agreed to a deal to reopen the government and weeks later declared a national emergency to allow him to direct funds toward a wall.
When the government is shut down, all services deemed non-essential are closed. National parks may be closed, and many federal employees across different agencies like the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration would be furloughed.
A backlog can also happen at airports as Transportation Security Administration employees are required to continue working without pay.
▪ ABC: What you need to know ahead of a possible shutdown.
▪ Reuters: As shutdown nears, Trump administration quiet on contingency plans.
OVERSIGHT: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) indicated that the public should expect "explosive" hearings in the body on the Trump administration's use of executive power in office.
He said the hearings with top Cabinet officials could be similar to the one that took place weeks ago between senators of both parties and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Thune said GOP senators have a responsibility to "make sure we're doing appropriate oversight" of the executive branch's decisions as an "independent, co-equal branch of government."
Thune's comment came during an interview on CNN in which host Dana Bash asked him about various controversial administration decisions, like calling for the revocation of broadcast licenses from networks that criticize the president and firing members of independent agency boards.
"I've been around several administrations, several presidents. Every one of them tries to assert as much executive power as they possibly can. And sometimes that gets tested in courts and obviously sometimes there's oversight that happens through the Congress, through the power of the purse," he said.
EPSTEIN FILES VOTE: A long-awaited vote on the release of the files the federal government has related to Jeffrey Epstein seems all but certain with the election of another Democrat to the House on Tuesday.
Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who easily won a special election to fill the remainder of the term of her late father, former Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D), has vowed to support the release of the Epstein files. Once she is sworn in and signs the discharge petition organized by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), she will be the 218th House member to sign it, reaching the threshold to force a vote.
Grijalva is expected to be sworn in when the House returns to business next month, and a vote could follow soon after.
Massie has already declared victory, as both Grijalva and her Republican opponent said they would support a vote to release the files. The Kentucky Republican has made releasing the files a central focus for weeks amid the scrutiny the administration has received for its handling of the case.
He's at times been a thorn in the side of House Republican leadership as he's voted against GOP-backed spending measures in the past, including Trump's "big beautiful bill." House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has sought to avoid a vote on the Epstein files so far.
But House rules allow a discharge petition that receives 218 signatures, a majority of the chamber, to receive a vote on the floor. All Democrats and four Republicans — Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Massie — have signed the petition.
The vote seems likely to create another round of headaches for the president and his administration as he's sought to move the country on from the files and as critics argue he's repeatedly attempted to distract attention away from them.
▪ The Hill: Epstein-Trump statue taken down in D.C. despite permit.
COMEY CASE: Former FBI Director James Comey may soon face charges as federal prosecutors prepare to ask a grand jury for an indictment against him, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.
The case concerns allegations that Comey made false statements during testimony before Congress in September 2020 regarding his handling of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Timing is critical as the five-year statute of limitations is set to expire at the end of the month, requiring any indictment to come before then.
The reports come days after Erik Siebert, a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, resigned following pressure from the president. Trump expressed frustration that prosecutors felt they didn't have enough evidence to charge Comey or New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), whom officials are investigating over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she denies.
Following Siebert's resignation, Trump appointed Lindsey Halligan, a top aide, to serve as U.S. attorney and continue with the investigations.
Comey has denied lying under oath during his testimony.
If an indictment against Comey is handed up, or at least requested, it would raise further questions about the independence of the Justice Department as Trump has openly pushed for investigations into several of his political enemies.
He made a post on Truth Social on Saturday urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to take legal action against Comey, James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
▪ NPR: "Unease grows at the Justice Department as Trump's threats get even more blunt."
▪ The New York Times: Despite Trump pressure, some Justice Department safeguards remain beyond his reach.
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