Highlights from Oct. 2, 2025
- DAY 2 OF THE SHUTDOWN: Neither side is showing signs of budging as the shutdown continues in its second day. No votes are scheduled in the Senate until tomorrow afternoon, but some lawmakers were present on Capitol Hill today amid the stalemate.
- MASS FIRINGS EXPECTED: Russell Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget, told House Republicans on a conference call yesterday that mass firings at the federal level would happen this week. That's in addition to the hundreds of thousands of government workers who are typically furloughed during a shutdown.
- AGENCY PLANS: Each federal department and agency has its own procedures for operating during a shutdown. While many federal employees will be furloughed, others will need to show up for work without pay.
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Trump has ‘determined’ the U.S. is in ‘armed conflict’ with cartels, administration tells Congress
The Trump administration informed Congress in a confidential notice this week that Trump has “determined” that the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and that members of the organizations can be targeted as unlawful combatants.
“The President determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States,” the notice said.
“In response, based upon the cumulative effects of these hostile acts against the citizens and interests of United States and friendly foreign nations, the President determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations,” it added.
The designation essentially puts drug cartels in the same legal category as terrorist groups like Al Qaeda or the Islamic State.
Sen. Bill Cassidy says FDA's approving generic form of mifepristone is 'a betrayal'
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., hammered the Food and Drug Administration's approval of a generic form of mifepristone, one of the two medications used in most U.S. abortions, as providing "one more tool to kill babies."
Calling the decision "a betrayal," Cassidy wrote today on X: “I fully support President Trump’s Pro-Life, Pro-Family agenda," but he said the approval was not what FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "indicated they would do in their confirmation hearings."
Kennedy was invited to testify before Cassidy’s HELP Committee; an exact date has not been set.
Cassidy, a physician who has been critical of Kennedy for his views on vaccines, will have the opportunity to press him about mifepristone, vaccines, the firing of former CDC Director Susan Monarez and more at the upcoming hearing.
U.S. to expand intelligence assistance to Ukraine for strikes on Russian energy facilities
The Trump administration plans to provide additional intelligence to Ukraine to help Kyiv strike at oil and gas facilities inside Russia, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.
It would be the first time the United States has expanded intelligence assistance to Ukraine since Trump returned to the White House in January.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the administration’s plans.
Trump’s rhetoric on Russia has shifted over the past month. He has criticized Moscow, calling it a “paper tiger” that has proved unable to defeat its smaller neighbor.
Lawmakers post altered content of political opponents on X
This afternoon, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., shared two social media posts with altered content targeting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Cassidy’s posts join a trend of lawmakers posting fake or altered content to make fun of members of the opposing party.
The first post on X was a fake image of Schumer, smiling and holding up two sock puppets, with the caption: “Truly, nothing says ‘serious governing’ like cartoon kittens explaining fiscal policy. What’s next, sock puppets?” The post was attached to a repost of a video on @TheDemocrats’ page in which animated cats “explained” and acted out the steps of the government shutdown.
The second post was a video depicting a fake cat, with Schumer’s face imposed onto it, jumping into a flaming trash can. In the video, the cat was labeled as “The Radical Left” and the trash can as “Schumer shutdown.”
Today's posts come after Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday night, ahead of the shutdown, a video showing Schumer with fake AI-generated audio, saying Democrats “have no voters anymore, because of our woke, trans bulls---.”
Trump’s video also depicted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in a fake sombrero and mustache.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, shared a similar video on his own X page featuring all 44 Senate Democrats who voted against the House-passed stopgap measure sombreros and mustaches. The caption read: “The 44 Senate Democrats who voted for Schumer’s Shutdown should know that the Sombrero posting will continue until they re-open our government.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, followed suit, also posting altered content in several videos on X. One featured House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., with fake “Minion” makeup over his face. The post included the text, "Trump’s Minion Mike lies to the American people." Another post shows Vice President JD Vance also in fake “Minion” makeup.
AOC says Schumer and Jeffries are leading the shutdown fight
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has become a leading figure in the fight over government funding, but it’s not a role she has asked for. Rather, it’s a role Republicans have thrust upon her.
“Chuck Schumer is terrified he’s going to get a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” Vice President JD Vance said yesterday. “The reason why the American people’s government is shut down is because Chuck Schumer is listening to the far-left radicals in his own party because he’s terrified of a primary challenge.”
Republican after Republican has used the progressive star as a foil in their argument that Democrats are going overboard in their demands to end the shutdown. They claim she and the left wing of the party are pressuring their more moderate leadership to hold firm.
Ocasio-Cortez made it clear in an interview with NBC News that Democratic leadership, not she, is driving the party’s strategy.
Thune digs in on ‘stupid’ shutdown: Talks with Schumer are ‘not going to accomplish a lot’
On the second day of the shutdown, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., called it “stupid” and said a negotiation with his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Chuck Schumer, is not “going to accomplish a lot.”
In an interview with NBC News’ Tom Llamas that will air tonight, Thune said Democrats will have another opportunity tomorrow afternoon to join Republicans in voting for a clean, short-term bill to reopen the government.
“I would suspect that we’ll probably cross paths on the floor; we’re both on the floor quite often. Our offices are not far apart. So if he wants to chat, he knows where to find me,” Thune said of Schumer, D-N.Y., the minority leader. “But I think at this point, right now, the issue ... is pretty straightforward. I don’t know that, you know, negotiation is going to accomplish a lot.”
Statue of Trump and Epstein holding hands returns to National Mall
A statue of two bronze-colored figures depicting Trump and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein reappeared on the National Mall near the Capitol today.
The statue, which was placed on the Mall last week, was removed early Sept. 24, according to Park Police.
The statue, which shows the two men holding hands, each with one leg in the air, is titled “Best Friends Forever.” A plaque between the two reads: “In honor of friendship month, we celebrate the long-standing bond between President Donald J. Trump and his closest friend Jeffrey Epstein.”
The National Park Service did not respond to a request for comment because of the government shutdown.
White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson provided a statement last week in response to questions about the original installation:
“Liberals are free to waste their money however they see fit — but it’s not news that Epstein knew Donald Trump, because Donald Trump kicked Epstein out of his club for being a creep. Democrats, the media, and the organization that’s wasting their money on this statue knew about Epstein and his victims for years and did nothing to help them while President Trump was calling for transparency, and is now delivering on it with thousands of pages of documents.”
NBC News has reported that, in a statement to The Independent, the group "The Secret Handshake" claimed responsibility for the statue.
Watchdog group alleges White House, agencies violating ethics law
The watchdog group Public Citizen filed numerous complaints with the Office of Special Counsel today alleging the White House and numerous federal agencies are violating the Hatch Act by blaming Democrats for the shutdown on their websites.
"This is using taxpayer money to advertise in favor of Donald Trump and against the Democratic party to the voting public. While the president is exempt from the Hatch Act, the White House staff is not exempt," says the complaint about the White House site, which greets visitors with a message that says, "Democrats have shut down the government."
“Even for an administration that flouts ethics guidelines regularly, these messages are a particularly egregious and clear-cut sign that Trump and his cabinet see themselves as above the law," Public Citizen’s Craig Holman said in a statement.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement that, "it’s an objective fact that Democrats are responsible for the government shutdown, the Trump Administration is simply sharing the truth with the American people."
In addition to the White House, the group filed complaints against the Justice Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the Office of Management and Budget and the Agriculture Department over similar partisan messages.
DOJ fires top national security prosecutor after he’s questionably linked to Comey pushback
A top national security prosecutor in a key federal office was fired after a pro-Trump writer, without evidence, linked him to internal pushback over the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey last week.
Michael Ben’Ary, a veteran prosecutor who was serving as chief of the national security unit for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, was fired yesterday, three sources familiar with the situation told NBC News.
The firing came hours after Julie Kelly, a writer who advocated for Jan. 6 defendants and is deeply connected to the Trump administration, had written on X that the public “can only assume” that Ben-Ary “was a big part of the internal resistance” to indicting Comey.
Government shutdown key dates: What could happen, day by day
The federal government entered a shutdown at midnight on Oct. 1 when lawmakers failed to pass new funding bills. It’s unclear how long the stalemate will last, and lawmakers do not appear to be any closer to coming to an agreement that could reopen the government.
After the shutdown began, certain programs and services went dark and federal workers faced furloughs. More programs are expected to be affected by a longer shutdown, and administration officials have suggested that federal workers could be fired.
NBC News is tracking the key dates and events of the ongoing shutdown in this graphic, which will be updated daily.
