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  • Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wins the Nobel Peace Prize

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    Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”

    The former opposition presidential candidate is a “key, unifying figure” in the once deeply divided opposition to President Nicolás Maduro’s government, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.

    What You Need To Know

    • Former opposition presidential candidate and activist María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, has won the Nobel Peace Prize, with the Norwegian Nobel committee praising her as a unifying figure in the country

    • Machado has remained in hiding due to threats against her life; she has not been seen in public since January

    • Machado was disqualified from running against President Nicolás Maduro in last year’s election, which saw widespread repression and human rights violations

    • The election results led to protests and ended diplomatic relations between Venezuela and several countries

    “In the past year, Ms. Machado has been forced to live in hiding,” Watne Frydnes said. “Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.”

    Machado says she’s humbled and grateful

    Machado’s ally, Edmundo González, who lives in exile in Spain, celebrated the Nobel award as a “very well-deserved recognition” of her fight and that of Venezuelans for freedom and democracy. He posted a short video on X of himself speaking by phone with Machado.

    “I am in shock,” she said, adding, “I cannot believe it.”

    “This is something that the Venezuelan people deserve,” Machado said in a call with the Norwegian Nobel Institute. “I am just part of a huge movement. … I’m humbled, I’m grateful and I’m honored not only by this recognition, but I’m honored to be part of what’s going on in Venezuela today.”

    “I believe that we are very close to achieving, finally, freedom for our country and peace for the region,” she said, adding that “even though we face the most brutal violence, our society has resisted” and insisted on struggling by peaceful means. “I believe that the world will now understand how urgent it is to finally, you know, succeed.”

    Crackdown on dissent

    Maduro’s government has routinely targeted its real or perceived opponents.

    Machado, who turned 58 this week, was set to run against Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government disqualified her. González, who had never run for office before, took her place. The lead-up to the election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations.

    The crackdown on dissent only increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.

    The election results announced by the Electoral Council sparked protests across the country to which the government responded with force that ended with more than 20 people dead. They also prompted an end to diplomatic relations between Venezuela and various foreign countries, including Argentina.

    Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since January. A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González over the publication of election results. He went into exile in Spain and was granted asylum.

    More than 800 people are in prison in Venezuela for political reasons, according to the human rights advocacy group Foro Penal. Among them is González’s son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, who was detained in January.

    Dozens of those prisoners actively participated in Machado’s efforts last year. Some of her closest collaborators, including her campaign manager, avoided prison by sheltering for more than a year at a diplomatic compound in Caracas. They remained there until May, when they fled to the U.S.

    Early Friday in Caracas, some people heading to work expressed disbelief at the news of Machado’s win.

    “I don’t know what can be done to improve the situation, but she deserves it,” said Sandra Martínez, 32, as she waited at a bus stop. “She’s a great woman.”

    There was no immediate reaction from Maduro’s government.

    Support for Machado and the opposition in general has decreased since the July 2024 election — particularly since January, when Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term and disappointment set in.

    Machado was included in Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in April. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote her entry, in which he described her as “the Venezuelan Iron Lady” and “the personification of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism.”

    Machado becomes the 20th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, of the 112 individuals who have been honored.

    Speculation about Trump’s Nobel chances

    There had been persistent speculation ahead of the announcement about the possibility of the prize going to U.S. President Donald Trump, fueled in part by the president himself and amplified by this week’s approval of his plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

    Asked about lobbying for and by Trump, Watne Frydnes said: “I think this committee has seen any type of campaign, media attention. We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what for them leads to peace.

    “This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates, and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. So we base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”

    White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a post on X Friday morning that “President Trump will continue making peace deals around the world, ending wars, and saving lives.” He added that “the Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”

    The peace prize is the only one of the annual Nobel prizes to be awarded in Oslo, Norway.

    Four of the other prizes have already been awarded in the Swedish capital, Stockholm this week — in medicine on Monday, physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The winner of the prize in economics will be announced on Monday.

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  • Israel, Hamas to exchange hostages and prisoners after deal to pause in Gaza war

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    CAIRO — Israel and Hamas have agreed to a pause in their devastating two-year war and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners — a breakthrough greeted with joy and relief Thursday but also caution.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israel and Hamas have agreed to a pause in their devastating two-year war and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners

    • The breakthrough was greeted with joy and relief Thursday but also caution

    • Uncertainty remains about some of the thornier aspects of the plan advanced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump

    • Those aspects include whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza, but the sides appear closer than they have been in months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, reduced much of Gaza to rubble, brought famine to parts of the territory, and triggered other conflicts across the Middle East.

    Uncertainty remains about some of the thornier aspects of the plan advanced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump — such as whether and how Hamas will disarm, and who will govern Gaza. But the sides appear closer than they have been in months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, reduced much of Gaza to rubble, brought famine to parts of the territory, and triggered other conflicts across the Middle East.

    The war, which began with Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has also sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.

    Even with the agreement expected to be signed in Egypt later in the day, Israeli strikes continued, with explosions seen Thursday in northern Gaza. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

    An Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military guidelines said that Israel was continuing to hit targets that posed a threat to its troops as they reposition.

    In the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, celebrations were relatively muted and often colored by grief.

    “I am happy and unhappy. We have lost a lot of people and lost loved ones, friends and family. We lost our homes,” said Mohammad Al-Farra. “Despite our happiness, we cannot help but think of what is to come. … The areas we are going back to, or intending to return to, are uninhabitable.”

    In Tel Aviv, families of the remaining hostages popped champagne and cried tears of joy after Trump announced on social media late Wednesday that “ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line.”

    On Thursday, thousands of observant Jews streamed into Jerusalem’s Old City to mark the holiday of Sukkot, with extra rejoicing for the upcoming hostage release.

    “We were screaming and singing last night,” said Hindel Berman, a New Jersey resident who came to Jerusalem for the holiday. “We never, never, never gave up hope.”

    Under the terms, Hamas intends to release all 20 living hostages in a matter of days, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss details of an agreement that has not fully been made public.

    “With God’s help we will bring them all home,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed on social media.

    Netanyahu plans to convene his Security Cabinet late Thursday to approve the ceasefire, and the entire parliament will then meet to approve the release of Palestinian prisoners.

    The deal will include a list of prisoners to be released and maps for the first phase of an Israeli withdrawal to new positions in Gaza, according to two Egyptian officials briefed on the talks, a Hamas official and another official.

    Israel will publish the list of the prisoners — and victims of their attacks have 24 hours to lodge objections.

    The withdrawal could start as soon as Thursday evening, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be publicly named speaking about the negotiations.

    The hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin Monday, the officials from Egypt and Hamas said, though the other official said they could occur as early as Sunday night.

    Five border crossings would reopen, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, allowing 400 trucks in the initial days and increasing to 600 trucks after that, the Egyptian and Hamas officials said.

    Trump is expected in the region in the coming days.

    Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has opposed previous ceasefire deals, said he had “mixed emotions.”

    While he welcomed the return of the hostages, he said he had “immense fear about the consequences of emptying the jails and releasing the next generation of terrorist leaders” and said that as soon as the hostages are returned, Israel must continue trying to eradicate Hamas and ensure Gaza is demilitarized.

    Hamas, meanwhile, called on Trump and the mediators to ensure that Israel implements “without disavowal or delay” the troop withdrawal, the entry of aid into Gaza and the exchange of prisoners.

    Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip celebrate after the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan, as they gather at a plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

    Trump’s peace plan

    The Trump plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their attack on Israel two years ago. Some 1,200 people were killed by Hamas-led militants in that assault, and 251 were taken hostage. Israel believes around 20 of the hostages are still alive.

    Under the plan, Israel would maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza. The U.S. would lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort in Gaza.

    The plan also envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to undergo a sweeping reform program that could take years to implement.

    The Trump plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state, which Netanyahu firmly rejects.

    More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded during the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

    People react as they celebrate following the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan to pause the fighting, at a plaza known as hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

    People react as they celebrate following the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan to pause the fighting, at a plaza known as hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

    Relief at a deal

    Even with many details yet to be agreed, many expressed relief at the progress.

    In Tel Aviv, joyful relatives of hostages and their supporters spilled into the central square that has become the main gathering point in the effort to free the captives.

    Einav Zangauker, the mother of Israeli captive Matan Zangauker and a prominent advocate for the hostages’ release, told reporters that she wants to tell her son she loves him.

    “If I have one dream, it is seeing Matan sleep in his own bed,” she said.

    From the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, Alaa Abd Rabbo called the announcement “a godsend.”

    “This is the day we have been waiting for,” said Abd Rabbo, who was originally from northern Gaza but was forced to move multiple times during the war. “We want to go home.”

    This would be the third ceasefire since the start of the war. The previous two also saw hostages and prisoners exchanged. Israel ended the most recent ceasefire, which started in January, with a surprise bombardment in March.

    Ayman Saber, a Palestinian from Khan Younis, said he plans to return to his home city and try to rebuild his house, which was destroyed last year by an Israeli strike.

    “I will rebuild the house, we will rebuild Gaza,” he said.

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    Associated Press

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  • Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from deploying troops in Portland

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    PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying the National Guard in Portland, ruling Saturday in a lawsuit brought by the state and city.

    U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, issued the order pending further arguments in the suit. She said the relatively small protests the city has seen did not justify the use of federalized forces and allowing the deployment could harm Oregon’s state sovereignty.

    What You Need To Know

    • A federal judge in Oregon has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying the National Guard in Portland
    • U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued the order Saturday in a lawsuit brought by the state and city
    • The Defense Department had said it was placing 200 members of Oregon’s National Guard under federal control for 60 days to protect federal property at locations where protests are occurring or likely to occur after Trump called the city “war-ravaged
    • Oregon officials and Portland residents alike said that description was ludicrous. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland has recently been the site of nightly protests



    “This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” Immergut wrote. She later continued, “This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.”

    The Trump administration late Saturday filed a notice of appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Trump voiced his frustration on Sunday morning about the ruling by Immergut.

    “I wasn’t served well by the people that picked judges,” Trump said, adding that the judge “ought to be ashamed of herself” because “Portland is burning to the ground.”

    State and city officials sued to stop the deployment last week, one day after the Trump administration announced that 200 Oregon National Guard troops would be federalized to protect federal buildings. The president called the city “war-ravaged.”

    Oregon officials said that characterization was ludicrous. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in the city has been the site of nightly protests that typically drew a couple dozen people in recent weeks before the deployment was announced.

    Judge: The federal response didn’t match the facts

    Generally speaking the president is allowed “a great level of deference” to federalize National Guard troops in situations where regular law enforcement forces are not able to execute the laws of the United States, the judge said, but that has not been the case in Portland.

    Plaintiffs were able to show that the demonstrations at the immigration building were not significantly violent or disruptive ahead of the president’s order, the judge wrote, and “overall, the protests were small and uneventful.”

    “The President’s determination was simply untethered to the facts,” Immergut wrote.

    White House says it will appeal

    Following the ruling, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said that “President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement — we expect to be vindicated by a higher court.”

    Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield called the ruling “a healthy check on the president.”

    “It reaffirms what we already knew: Portland is not the president’s war-torn fantasy. Our city is not ravaged, and there is no rebellion,” Rayfield said in a statement. He added: “Members of the Oregon National Guard are not a tool for him to use in his political theater.”

    Trump has deployed or threatened to deploy troops in several U.S. cities, particularly ones led by Democrats, including Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago and Memphis. Speaking Tuesday to U.S. military leaders in Virginia, he proposed using cities as training grounds for the armed forces.

    Last month a federal judge ruled that the president’s deployment of some 4,700 National Guard soldiers and Marines in Los Angeles this year was illegal, but he allowed the 300 who remain in the city to stay as long as they do not enforce civilian laws. The Trump administration appealed, and an appellate panel has put the lower court’s block on hold while it moves forward.

    Portland protests were small, but grew after deployment was announced

    The Portland protests have been limited to a one-block area in a city that covers about 145 square miles and has about 636,000 residents.

    They grew somewhat following the Sept. 28 announcement of the guard deployment. The Portland Police Bureau, which has said it does not participate in immigration enforcement and only intervenes in the protests if there is vandalism or criminal activity, arrested two people on assault charges. A peaceful march earlier that day drew thousands to downtown and saw no arrests, police said.

    On Saturday, before the ruling was released, roughly 400 people marched to the ICE facility. The crowd included people of all ages and races, families with children and older people using walkers. Federal agents responded with chemical crowd control munitions, including tear gas canisters and less-lethal guns that sprayed pepper balls. At least six people were arrested as the protesters reached the ICE facility.

    Later in the evening, federal agents again emerged from the facility and deployed tear gas on a crowd of about 100 people.

    Trump sent federal officers to Portland over the objections of local and state leaders in 2020 during long-running racial justice protests following George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police. The administration sent hundreds of agents for the stated purpose of protecting the federal courthouse and other federal property from vandalism.

    That deployment antagonized demonstrators and prompted nightly clashes. Federal officers fired rubber bullets and used tear gas.

    Viral videos captured federal officers arresting people and hustling them into unmarked vehicles. A report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general found that while the federal government had legal authority to deploy the officers, many of them lacked the training and equipment necessary for the mission.

    The government agreed this year to settle an excessive force lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union by paying compensating several plaintiffs for their injuries.

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    Associated Press

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  • Government shutdown stretches into Day 4 with no clear exit ramp in view

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    WASHINGTON — With no votes expected to take place this weekend, the next chance for Congress to end the partial government shutdown will come Monday.

    What You Need To Know

    • With no votes expected to take place this weekend, the next chance for Congress to end the partial government shutdown will come Monday

    • President Donald Trump has embraced the federal shutdown as an “unprecedented opportunity” to slash spending and shrink government

    • His administration has slashed billions in clean energy and transit funding in places like California and Illinois

    • Republicans in Congress believe they hold the upper hand in four-day-old stalemate, as Democrats voted against measures to keep the government open because they want to attach additional policy measures

    • But some in the GOP fear the strategy could backfire and cost them their political advantage

    President Donald Trump has embraced the federal shutdown as an “unprecedented opportunity” to slash spending and shrink government, but new rounds of targeted spending cuts from the White House aimed at Democratic states and priorities are raising concerns among Republicans that they may be at risk of ceding their political advantage.

    Republicans in Congress believe they hold the upper hand in four-day-old stalemate, as Democrats voted against measures to keep the government open because they want to attach additional policy measures. But the sweeping cuts to home-state projects — and the threat of mass federal firings — have some in the GOP worried the White House may be going too far and potentially give Democrats a way out.

    “This is certainly the most moral high ground Republicans have had in a moment like this that I can recall, and I just don’t like squandering that political capital when you have that kind of high ground,” GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told reporters this week.

    As hopes faded Friday for a quick end to the shutdown — with Democrats holding firm in a key Senate vote — the White House signaled more layoffs and agency cuts could follow. Trump shared a video Thursday night portraying budget director Russ Vought as the grim reaper. The cuts are raising fresh questions about whether voters want a government that uses discretionary power to punish political opponents — and whether Republicans may face electoral consequences for the White House’s actions.

    “There’s the political ramifications that could cause backlash,” Cramer said in another interview. “It makes everything going forward more difficult for us.”

    Since the shutdown began, Trump has moved to cancel $7.6 billion in clean energy grants across 16 states, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election. On Friday, the administration announced an additional $2 billion cut, this time to a major public transit project in Chicago. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration is also reviewing funding to Portland, Oregon.

    “He’s just literally took out the map and pointed to all the blue states,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, told The Associated Press.

    Democrats have seized on the shutdown and cuts as evidence of Trump’s overreach. There could be near-term fallout, including in next month’s governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia. Democratic candidates in both states have linked their GOP opponents to Trump’s policies and criticized them for not standing up to his latest moves.

    In New Jersey, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill blasted Republican Jack Ciattarelli over Trump’s move to block funding for a long-delayed rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, saying it will hurt commuters and put thousands of good-paying union jobs at risk.

    “What’s wrong with this guy?” Sherrill said Friday.

    In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger noted the state already has been hit hard by job cuts made by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. She said Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is “refusing to stand up for our workforce and our economy.”

    Earle-Sears said Democrats are to blame for the shutdown, and said Spanberger did nothing to encourage the state’s Democratic senators to stop it.

    The administration’s targeting of Democrat-led states has already begun to ripple through states like California, where $1.2 billion in funding for the state’s hydrogen hub was scrapped. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said it threatens more than 200,000 jobs.

    Though Harris won California handily in 2024, the state includes several competitive House districts that could decide control of the chamber in 2026. Similar districts exist in other states affected by the cuts, including New York and New Hampshire, which also has key gubernatorial and Senate races.

    Democratic groups have moved quickly to tie local Republicans to the fallout. American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic group, has highlighted swing-district Republicans in states where cuts have occurred, accusing them of having “sat by and let it happen.”

    “The cruelty that they might unleash on everyday Americans using the pretense of a shutdown is only going to backfire against them,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in an interview with The Associated Press and other outlets at the Capitol.

    The cuts are also complicating Senate negotiations, prolonging a shutdown that could leave thousands of federal workers without pay and halt key programs. Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat whom Republicans have tried to sway, said “there’s no question” the cuts have damaged talks.

    “If you’re trying to get people to come together and try to find common ground, that’s the absolute wrong way to do it,” said Peters.

    Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent, broke from Democrats earlier this week to support the GOP funding bill. He called the cuts “so utterly partisan as to be almost laughable.”

    “If they overreach, which is entirely possible, I think they’re going to be in trouble with Republicans as well,” said King.

    Many Senate Republicans have not endorsed Vought’s approach directly, instead blaming Democrats for rejecting funding bills and opening the door to the White House’s more aggressive moves.

    “It’s the reason why Republicans have continued to support a continuation,” said GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. “If you’ve noticed, Republicans have solidly supported this short-term continuing resolution because we do not want to see this.”

    “It’s not like we promoted it,” said Rounds. “We’ve done everything we can right now to try to avoid it.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Government shutdown stretches into Day 4 with no clear exit ramp in view

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    WASHINGTON — With no votes expected to take place this weekend, the next chance for Congress to end the partial government shutdown will come Monday.

    What You Need To Know

    • With no votes expected to take place this weekend, the next chance for Congress to end the partial government shutdown will come Monday

    • President Donald Trump has embraced the federal shutdown as an “unprecedented opportunity” to slash spending and shrink government

    • His administration has slashed billions in clean energy and transit funding in places like California and Illinois

    • Republicans in Congress believe they hold the upper hand in four-day-old stalemate, as Democrats voted against measures to keep the government open because they want to attach additional policy measures

    • But some in the GOP fear the strategy could backfire and cost them their political advantage

    President Donald Trump has embraced the federal shutdown as an “unprecedented opportunity” to slash spending and shrink government, but new rounds of targeted spending cuts from the White House aimed at Democratic states and priorities are raising concerns among Republicans that they may be at risk of ceding their political advantage.

    Republicans in Congress believe they hold the upper hand in four-day-old stalemate, as Democrats voted against measures to keep the government open because they want to attach additional policy measures. But the sweeping cuts to home-state projects — and the threat of mass federal firings — have some in the GOP worried the White House may be going too far and potentially give Democrats a way out.

    “This is certainly the most moral high ground Republicans have had in a moment like this that I can recall, and I just don’t like squandering that political capital when you have that kind of high ground,” GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told reporters this week.

    As hopes faded Friday for a quick end to the shutdown — with Democrats holding firm in a key Senate vote — the White House signaled more layoffs and agency cuts could follow. Trump shared a video Thursday night portraying budget director Russ Vought as the grim reaper. The cuts are raising fresh questions about whether voters want a government that uses discretionary power to punish political opponents — and whether Republicans may face electoral consequences for the White House’s actions.

    “There’s the political ramifications that could cause backlash,” Cramer said in another interview. “It makes everything going forward more difficult for us.”

    Since the shutdown began, Trump has moved to cancel $7.6 billion in clean energy grants across 16 states, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election. On Friday, the administration announced an additional $2 billion cut, this time to a major public transit project in Chicago. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration is also reviewing funding to Portland, Oregon.

    “He’s just literally took out the map and pointed to all the blue states,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, told The Associated Press.

    Democrats have seized on the shutdown and cuts as evidence of Trump’s overreach. There could be near-term fallout, including in next month’s governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia. Democratic candidates in both states have linked their GOP opponents to Trump’s policies and criticized them for not standing up to his latest moves.

    In New Jersey, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill blasted Republican Jack Ciattarelli over Trump’s move to block funding for a long-delayed rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, saying it will hurt commuters and put thousands of good-paying union jobs at risk.

    “What’s wrong with this guy?” Sherrill said Friday.

    In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger noted the state already has been hit hard by job cuts made by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. She said Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is “refusing to stand up for our workforce and our economy.”

    Earle-Sears said Democrats are to blame for the shutdown, and said Spanberger did nothing to encourage the state’s Democratic senators to stop it.

    The administration’s targeting of Democrat-led states has already begun to ripple through states like California, where $1.2 billion in funding for the state’s hydrogen hub was scrapped. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said it threatens more than 200,000 jobs.

    Though Harris won California handily in 2024, the state includes several competitive House districts that could decide control of the chamber in 2026. Similar districts exist in other states affected by the cuts, including New York and New Hampshire, which also has key gubernatorial and Senate races.

    Democratic groups have moved quickly to tie local Republicans to the fallout. American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic group, has highlighted swing-district Republicans in states where cuts have occurred, accusing them of having “sat by and let it happen.”

    “The cruelty that they might unleash on everyday Americans using the pretense of a shutdown is only going to backfire against them,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in an interview with The Associated Press and other outlets at the Capitol.

    The cuts are also complicating Senate negotiations, prolonging a shutdown that could leave thousands of federal workers without pay and halt key programs. Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat whom Republicans have tried to sway, said “there’s no question” the cuts have damaged talks.

    “If you’re trying to get people to come together and try to find common ground, that’s the absolute wrong way to do it,” said Peters.

    Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent, broke from Democrats earlier this week to support the GOP funding bill. He called the cuts “so utterly partisan as to be almost laughable.”

    “If they overreach, which is entirely possible, I think they’re going to be in trouble with Republicans as well,” said King.

    Many Senate Republicans have not endorsed Vought’s approach directly, instead blaming Democrats for rejecting funding bills and opening the door to the White House’s more aggressive moves.

    “It’s the reason why Republicans have continued to support a continuation,” said GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. “If you’ve noticed, Republicans have solidly supported this short-term continuing resolution because we do not want to see this.”

    “It’s not like we promoted it,” said Rounds. “We’ve done everything we can right now to try to avoid it.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Funding bill fails in Senate again on shutdown Day 3 with no deal in sight

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    WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday once again failed to pass a short-term funding bill to reopen the federal government, making it likely that the shutdown now in its third day will stretch into a new week. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The Senate on Friday once again failed to pass a short-term funding bill to reopen the federal government, making it likely that the shutdown now in its third day will stretch into a second week
    • Two Democratic senators and one independent who caucuses with Democrats crossed party lines to join all but one Republican in backing the bill, which seeks to keep the government funded through mid-November and passed the GOP-House earlier this month; The same three also joined with the GOP in backing the bill two previous times
    • Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House; however, because their support is needed for a funding bill to pass in the Senate, Democrats are demanding changes to address the “health care crisis” in America they say was created by the GOP

    • The House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries made clear to reporters on Thursday that his party wants extensions on subsidies for those with health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act set to expire at year’s end

    • Potentially complicating matters on Democrats’ demand to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, Johnson on Friday said Republicans want to bring “reforms” to the program, also referred to as Obamacare

    Two Democratic senators and one independent who caucuses with Democrats crossed party lines to join all but one Republican in backing the bill, which passed the GOP-House earlier this month and seeks to keep the government funded through mid-November. The same three also joined with the GOP in backing the bill two previous times. Two senators, one Democrat and one Republican, did not vote. Friday’s vote marked the Senate’s fourth attempt at ushering the funding measure through the upper chamber. 

    Republican leader Sen. John Thune of South Dakota signaled earlier that he would save the next try for next week, telling reporters at a press conference “hopefully over the weekend they’ll have a chance to think about it,” referring to Democrats.

    After Friday’s vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana declared that Tuesday of next week through the following Monday would be a district work period, meaning lawmakers in his chamber will not return to the Capitol. 

    The Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York lamented at a press conference Friday afternoon that Republicans have “wasted a week.”

    State of play

    Senators are now expected to head home for the weekend with little glimmer of a deal in sight. Thune indicated Friday morning that as of now, he is still banking on enough Democrats relenting under the pressure of repeated votes and flipping sides to turn the lights back on. 

    “We will have a vote in another hour or two – it will be the fourth time the Democrats will have an opportunity to vote to keep the government open,” Thune said before the vote. “Now, at some point, reason, good sense, common sense, has to take effect here, because that’s really what this is.”

    But so far there has been no sign of such a scenario, with no new Democrats flipping in Friday’s vote. But per Senate rules, Republicans need 60 votes for the bill to pass, meaning seven Democrats – or eight if Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky continues to vote no – need to support the measure. 

    Along with the GOP-supported, short-term funding patch, senators have also rejected a counter bill Democrats offered that would reopen the government and address their health care concerns. 

    Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House. However, because their support is needed for a funding bill to pass in the Senate, Democrats are demanding changes to address the “health care crisis” in America they say was created by the GOP.

    Specifically, Democrats also want extensions on subsidies for those with health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act, which have lowered costs for millions of Americans but are set to expire at year’s end, in the temporary funding patch. 

    The House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York made clear to reporters on Thursday that his party wants a permanent extension of the health care credits. 

    “Everyone is about to experience dramatically increased premiums, copays, and deductibles because of the Republican health care crisis – everyone in America,” Jeffries said at a press conference on Friday. “And as that happens, they’ll know that this is a result of Donald Trump and failed Republican policies who have launched the largest assault on health care in American history.”

    Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have stressed they are ready to engage in bipartisan negotiations over funding and are slamming Republicans for being unwilling to do so. For the third-straight day, Johnson insisted again on Friday that the short-term funding bill passed in his chamber was as “clean” as can be – meaning it aims to keep spending at the current level previously passed by Congress and doesn’t contain tacked-on policies supported by Republicans – and therefore, there is nothing in it that can be negotiated. 

    Republicans say they are willing to have conversations about the health care subsidies but argue that the issue doesn’t need to be dealt with until closer to the end of the year when they expire and that the government needs to be kept open first. 

    Responding to a question about Democrats wanting agreements in writing, Johnson on Friday said the other side of the aisle wants “immediate, easy answers” on things that “take a long time to deliberate.”

    Potentially complicating matters on Democrats’ demand to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, Johnson said Republicans want to bring “reforms” to the program, also known as Obamacare.

    “But we have more reforms coming to try to fix Obamacare, which is not working for the people,” he said. “But you need common sense, responsible Republicans who are serious about policy to fix that for the people, and that’s what we’re working to do.”

    Thune reiterated the sentiment, saying he couldn’t make commitments on the subsidies because “that’s not something that we can guarantee that there are the votes there to do.” 

    The president’s position

    The shutdown has the potential to impact the economy, with hundreds of thousands of workers expected to be furloughed. And President Donald Trump has marveled at the “unprecedented opportunity” he says Democrats in Congress handed him to enact potentially permanent layoff and cuts to “Democrat Agencies” during the shutdown. 

    The president said he was meeting with his Office of Management and Budget chief, Russ Vought to discuss just that.

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who referred to the potentially permanent layoffs as an “unfortunate consequence” of the shutdown at Friday’s press briefing, said earlier this week that the firings were “imminent” and could be in the thousands. 

    “Unfortunately, we’re having to do a massive review of the bureaucracy to be good stewards of the American taxpayer dollar, and it’s the Democrats who have forced the White House and the president into this position to shut the government down,” Leavitt said Friday. 

    Despite being active on social media, Trump has not held public events over the last couple of days of the shutdown, leading Jeffries to accuse him Friday of being in a “witness protection program.” 

    Leavitt called that “ridiculous fodder” and pointed to the president’s work behind the scenes. 

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  • Government shutdown begins as nation faces new period of uncertainty

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    WASHINGTON — Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

    What You Need To Know

    • Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. 

    • The president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome

    • This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year

    • Republicans have refused to negotiate for now and have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks

    Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.

    “We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline.

    But the president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome.

    This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, in a remarkable record that underscores the polarizing divide over budget priorities and a political climate that rewards hardline positions rather than more traditional compromises.

    Plenty of blame being thrown around

    The Democrats picked this fight, which was unusual for the party that prefers to keep government running, but their voters are eager to challenge the president’s second-term agenda. Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that are expiring for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, spiking the costs of insurance premiums nationwide.

    Republicans have refused to negotiate for now and have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks. After the White House meeting, the president posted a cartoonish fake video mocking the Democratic leadership that was widely viewed as unserious and racist.

    What neither side has devised is an easy offramp to prevent what could become a protracted closure. The ramifications are certain to spread beyond the political arena, upending the lives of Americans who rely on the government for benefit payments, work contracts and the various services being thrown into turmoil.

    “What the government spends money on is a demonstration of our country’s priorities,” said Rachel Snyderman, a former White House budget official who is the managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington.

    Shutdowns, she said, “only inflict economic cost, fear and confusion across the country.”

    Economic fallout expected to ripple nationwide

    An economic jolt could be felt in a matter of days. The government is expected Friday to produce its monthly jobs report, which may or may not be delivered.

    While the financial markets have generally “shrugged” during past shutdowns, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis, this one could be different partly because there are no signs of broader negotiations.

    “There are also few good analogies to this week’s potential shutdown,” the analysis said.

    Across the government, preparations have been underway. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, directed agencies to execute plans for not just furloughs, as are typical during a federal funding lapse, but mass firings of federal workers. It’s part of the Trump administration’s mission, including its Department of Government Efficiency, to shrink the federal government.

    What’s staying open and shutting down

    The Medicare and Medicaid health care programs are expected to continue, though staffing shortages could mean delays for some services. The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security.

    But Trump has warned that the administration could focus on programs that are important to Democrats, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

    As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday. A group of former national park superintendents urged the Trump administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks in a shutdown are a danger to the public and put park resources at risk.

    No easy exit as health care costs soar

    Ahead of Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year, House Republicans had approved a temporary funding bill, over opposition from Democrats, to keep government running into mid-November while broader negotiations continue.

    But that bill has failed repeatedly in the Senate, including late Tuesday. It takes a 60-vote threshold for approval, which requires cooperation between the two parties. A Democratic bill also failed. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Democrats are leveraging their votes to demand negotiation.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said Republicans are happy to discuss the health care issue with Democrats — but not as part of talks to keep the government open. More votes are expected Wednesday.

    The standoff is a political test for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who has drawn scorn from a restive base of left-flank voters pushing the party to hold firm in its demands for health care funding.

    “Americans are hurting with higher costs,” Schumer said after the failed vote Tuesday.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home nearly two weeks ago after having passed the GOP bill, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

    “They want to fight Trump,” Johnson said Tuesday on CNBC. “A lot of good people are going to be hurt because of this.”

    Trump, during his meeting with the congressional leaders, expressed surprise at the scope of the rising costs of health care, but Democrats left with no path toward talks.

    During Trump’s first term, the nation endured its longest-ever shutdown, 35 days, over his demands for funds Congress refused to provide to build his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

    In 2013, the government shut down for 16 days during the Obama presidency over GOP demands to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Other closures date back decades.

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  • Fresh cycle of uncertainty as government shutdown begins

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    WASHINGTON— Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

    What You Need To Know

    • The government shutdown has begun, and it’s plunging the U.S. into a fresh cycle of uncertainty

    • President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline

    • Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, and many offices will be shuttered

    • Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as he seeks to punish Democrats

    Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by Trump’s Republican administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.

    “We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline.

    But the president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome.

    This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, in a remarkable record that underscores the polarizing divide over budget priorities and a political climate that rewards hard-line positions rather than more traditional compromises.

    Plenty of blame being thrown around

    The Democrats picked this fight, which was unusual for the party that prefers to keep government running, but their voters are eager to challenge the president’s second-term agenda. Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that are expiring for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, spiking the costs of insurance premiums nationwide.

    Republicans have refused to negotiate and have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks. After the White House meeting, the president posted a cartoonish fake video mocking the Democratic leadership that was widely viewed as unserious and racist.

    Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday said Republicans want to resolve the health care issues that concern Democrats but will not negotiate until the government reopens.

    Until then, he stressed, people and federal workers will be affected in a variety of ways, and, as examples, he cited people on federal food assistance programs, potential flight delays for air travelers and service members not getting paid while they report for duty.

    “It’s craziness, and people are going to suffer because of this,” Vance said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends.”

    What neither side has devised is an easy off-ramp to prevent what could become a protracted closure. The ramifications are certain to spread beyond the political arena, upending the lives of Americans who rely on the government for benefit payments, work contracts and the various services being thrown into turmoil.

    “What the government spends money on is a demonstration of our country’s priorities,” said Rachel Snyderman, a former White House budget official who is the managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington.

    Shutdowns, she said, “only inflict economic cost, fear and confusion across the country.”

    Economic fallout expected to ripple nationwide

    An economic jolt could be felt in a matter of days. The government is expected Friday to produce its monthly jobs report, which may or may not be delivered.

    While the financial markets have generally “shrugged” during past shutdowns, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis, this one could be different partly because there are no signs of broader negotiations.

    “There are also few good analogies to this week’s potential shutdown,” the analysis said.

    Across the government, preparations have been underway. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, directed agencies to execute plans for not just furloughs, as are typical during a federal funding lapse, but mass firings of federal workers. It’s part of the Trump administration’s mission, including its Department of Government Efficiency, to shrink the federal government.

    What’s staying open and shutting down

    The Medicare and Medicaid health care programs are expected to continue, though staffing shortages could mean delays for some services. The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security.

    But Trump has warned that the administration could focus on programs that are important to Democrats, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

    As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday. A group of former national park superintendents urged the Trump administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks in a shutdown are a danger to the public and put park resources at risk.

    No easy exit as health care costs soar

    Ahead of Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year, House Republicans had approved a temporary funding bill, over opposition from Democrats, to keep government running into mid-November while broader negotiations continue.

    But that bill has failed repeatedly in the Senate, including late Tuesday. It takes a 60-vote threshold for approval, which requires cooperation between the two parties. A Democratic bill also failed. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Democrats are leveraging their votes to demand negotiation.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said Republicans are happy to discuss the health care issue with Democrats — but not as part of talks to keep the government open. More votes are expected Wednesday.

    The standoff is a political test for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who has drawn scorn from a restive base of left-flank voters pushing the party to hold firm in its demands for health care funding.

    “Americans are hurting with higher costs,” Schumer said after the failed vote Tuesday.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home nearly two weeks ago after having passed the GOP bill, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

    “They want to fight Trump,” Johnson said Tuesday on CNBC. “A lot of good people are going to be hurt because of this.”

    Trump, during his meeting with the congressional leaders, expressed surprise at the scope of the rising costs of health care, but Democrats left with no path toward talks.

    During Trump’s first term, the nation endured its longest-ever shutdown, 35 days, over his demands for funds Congress refused to provide to build his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

    In 2013, the government shut down for 16 days during the Obama presidency over GOP demands to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Other closures date back decades.

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    Associated Press

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  • Shutdown standoff deepens ahead of crucial Monday meeting at the White House

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    WASHINGTON — Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Majority Leader John Thune are digging in ahead of this week’s deadline to keep the government open, showing little evidence of budging even as both sides have agreed to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader John Thune are digging in ahead of this week’s deadline to keep the government open, showing little evidence of budging
    • Both sides have agreed to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday
    • Republicans say that Democrats need to help them pass a simple extension of government funding by Tuesday night to avoid a shutdown, and they will not agree to negotiate on it even as they will need a bipartisan vote to pass it
    • Democrats say they want immediate talks on health care and that they are willing to shut down the government if they don’t get concessions

    Republicans say Democrats need to help them pass a simple extension of government funding by Tuesday night to avoid a shutdown and they will not agree to negotiate until after it’s approved. Democrats say they want immediate talks on health care, and they are willing to shut down the government if they don’t get concessions.

    A shutdown is “totally up to the Democrats,” Thune, R-S.D., said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

    “The ball is in their court.” Thune said. “There is a bill sitting at the desk in the Senate right now, we could pick it up today and pass it, that has been passed by the House that will be signed into law by the president to keep the government open.”

    Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the same program that “it’s up to them” whether Republicans will negotiate when the two sides meet at the White House on Monday.

    “God forbid the Republicans shut the government down,” Schumer said. “The American people will know it’s on their back.”

    The Senate standoff is just the latest in annual disagreements over funding, but hopes are dimming for a quick resolution. Democrats have suggested they are more willing than ever to allow a shutdown as they face demands from their base voters to fight harder against Trump and the Republican-lead Congress. Some even argue that a shutdown might not make much difference because Trump has slashed so many government jobs already.

    “We’re hearing from the American people that they need help on health care,” Schumer said. “And as for these massive layoffs, guess what? Simple, one-sentence answer: they’re doing it anyway.”

    The Senate is expected to vote on the House-passed bill to extend government funding on Tuesday, ahead of the 12:01 a.m. Wednesday deadline to avert a shutdown. The bill would keep the government open for another seven weeks while Congress finishes its annual spending bills.

    Republicans will likely need at least eight Democrats to approve a short-term fix, as Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is expected to vote against it. Majority Republicans hold 53 seats and they need 60 votes to end a filibuster and pass the legislation.

    Schumer said Democrats need “a serious negotiation” at the White House meeting with Trump and the four top congressional leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

    Trump last week abruptly cancelled a planned meeting with Democrats after “reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands” of Democrats, Trump said on social media.

    Schumer said the rescheduled White House meeting is “a good first step.”

    “Now if the President at this meeting is going to rant and just yell at Democrats and talk about all his alleged grievances and say this, that and the other thing, we won’t get anything done. But my hope is it will be a serious negotiation,” Schumer said.

    Ahead of the last potential government shutdown in March, many Democrats called on Schumer to resign after he provided support for Republicans to keep the government open.

    Democrats now fear, among other things, that Republicans will allow Affordable Care Act tax credits expire that have made health insurance more affordable for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. Informally known as Obamacare, tax credits for the expanded health coverage program which go to low- and middle-income people, are set to expire at the end of the year and open enrollment starts in November.

    Some Republicans are open to extending the tax credits, but not without changes. Thune said Sunday that the program is “desperately in need of reform” and “is fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse. There are so many people who don’t even know they have coverage, because the payments are made directly to the insurance company.”

    The White House has raised the possibility of mass firings across the federal government if there is a shutdown. Trump’s White House told agencies to prepare large-scale layoffs of federal workers if the government shuts down.

    Johnson told CNN’s State of the Union that Trump “wants to bring in the leaders to come in and act like leaders and do the right thing for the American people.” Johnson said “the only thing we are trying to do is buy a little time” with a short-term extension to finish the appropriations process.

    “It’s fine to have partisan debates and squabbles but you don’t hold the people hostage for their services to allow yourself political cover and that’s what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are doing right now.”

    Johnson said Schumer “is doing this for one reason: He is trying to get cover from the far left base of his party because they’ve been hammering for not fighting Trump. So he’s going to try to show that he’s fighting Trump.”

    Jeffries told ABC’s “This Week” that “we are always of the view that we need to fund the government,” later adding he is “hopeful” a deal can be reached.

    Jeffries said the White House did not explain why the meeting was initially canceled and that his party would work to blunt the health care cuts Republicans approved earlier this year. Jeffries said time is of the essence because higher healthcare costs would go out “in a matter of days.”

    “We want to find a bipartisan path forward and reach a spending agreement with our Republican colleagues that actually meets the needs of the American people but that also addresses the Republican healthcare crisis that’s harming everyday Americans.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicited by Justice Department

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    WASHINGTON — James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.

    The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump’s chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution. Trump has for years derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution.

    What You Need To Know

    • James Comey has been charged with making a false statement to Congress and obstruction of a criminal proceeding
    • The charges come in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies
    • The indictment Thursday makes Comey the first former senior government official to face prosecution in connection with one of Trump’s chief grievances: the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election
    • Trump and his supporters have long derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign
    • Comey, in a video he posted after his indictment, said: “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial”

    The criminal case is likely to deepen concerns that the Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi is being weaponized in pursuit of investigations and now prosecutions of public figures the president regards as his political enemies. It was filed as the White House has taken steps to exert influence in unprecedented ways on the department, blurring the line between law and politics at an agency where independence in prosecutorial decision-making is a foundational principle.

    Trump on Thursday hailed the indictment as “JUSTICE FOR AMERICA!” Bondi, a Trump loyalist, and FBI Director Kash Patel, a longtime vocal critic of the Russia investigation, issued similar statements. “No one is above the law,” Bondi said.

    Comey, in a video he posted after his indictment, said: “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial.”

    Comey was fired months into Trump’s first administration and since then has remained a top target for Trump supporters seeking retaliation related to the Russia investigation. He was singled out by name in a Saturday social media post in which Trump appeared to appeal directly to Bondi bring charges against Comey and complained that Justice Department investigations into his foes had not resulted in criminal cases.

    “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump wrote, referencing the fact that he himself had been indicted and impeached multiple times. “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

    Turmoil in the office that filed the case

    The office that filed the case against Comey, the Eastern District of Virginia, was thrown into turmoil last Friday following the resignation of chief prosecutor Erik Siebert, who had not charged Comey and had faced pressure to bring charges against another Trump target, New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a mortgage fraud investigation.

    The following evening, Trump lamented in a Truth Social post aimed at the attorney general that department investigations had not resulted in prosecutions. He nominated as the new U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who had been one of Trump’s personal lawyers but has not previously served as a federal prosecutor.

    Halligan had rushed to present the case to a grand jury this week because prosecutors evaluating whether Comey lied to Congress during testimony on Sept. 30, 2020, had until Tuesday to bring a case before the five-year statute of limitations expired. The push to move forward came even as prosecutors in the office had detailed in a memo concerns about the pursuit of an indictment.

    The sparse two-count indictment does not deal with the substance of the Russian investigation but instead consists of charges of making a false statement and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

    It accuses Comey of lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee when he said he had not authorized anyone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about a particular investigation. Though the indictment does not mention the investigation or its subject, it appears from the context to refer to an FBI inquiry related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who ran for president against Trump in 2016.

    It also alleges that he did “corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede the due and proper exercise” of the Senate’s inquiry.

    Lingering focus on the Russia investigation

    Trump has for years railed against both a finding by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia preferred him to Clinton, a Democrat, in the 2016 election as well as criminal investigation that tried to determine whether his campaign had conspired with Moscow to sway the outcome of that race.

    Prosecutors led by special counsel Robert Mueller did not establish that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia, but they did find that Trump’s campaign had welcomed Moscow’s assistance.

    The indictment comes against the backdrop of a Trump administration effort to recast the Russia investigation as the outgrowth of an effort under Democratic President Barack Obama to overhype Moscow’s interference in the election and to undermine the legitimacy of Trump’s victory.

    Administration officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, have declassified a series of documents meant to chip away at the strength of an Obama-era intelligence assessment that said Moscow had engaged in a broad campaign of interference at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    A senior Justice Department official in Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, Comey was picked by Obama to lead the FBI in 2013 and was director when the bureau opened the Russia investigation in the summer of 2016.

    Comey’s relationship with Trump was strained from the start and was exacerbated when Comey resisted a request by Trump at a private White House dinner to pledge personal loyalty to the president. That overture so unnerved the FBI director that he documented it in a contemporaneous memorandum.

    Trump fired Comey in May 2017, an action later investigated by Mueller for potential obstruction of justice.

    After being let go, Comey authorized a close friend to share with a reporter the substance of an unclassified memo that documented an Oval Office request from Trump to shut down an FBI investigation into his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Trump and his allies later branded Comey a leaker, with the president even accusing him of treason. Comey himself has called Trump “ego driven” and likened him to a mafia don.

    The government’s handling of the Trump-Russia investigation is among the most studied chapters of modern American history, with multiple reviews and reports dedicated to it, and yet prosecutors have not pursued cases against senior FBI officials.

    Prosecutors in the first Trump Justice Department declined to prosecute Comey following an inspector general review into his handling of memos documenting his conversations with Trump in the weeks before he was fired. He also was not charged by a special counsel, John Durham, who scrutinized the FBI’s handling of the Trump-Russia investigation.

    Earlier this year, the department fired Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, from her job as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. She has since sued, saying the termination was carried out without any explanation and was done for political reasons.

    Separately, Comey’s son-in-law, Troy Edwards, resigned as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia minutes after Comey was indicted. Troy Edwards wrote in a one-sentence resignation letter addressed to Halligan that he quit his job “to uphold my oath to the Constitution and the country.”

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  • Amazon to pay $2.5B to settle FTC allegations

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    SEATTLE — Amazon has reached a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the online retail giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships and made it difficult for them to cancel after doing so.

    What You Need To Know

    • Amazon has reached a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission which said the online giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships, and made it difficult to cancel after they did so

    • The Seattle company will pay $1 billion in civil penalties — the largest fine in FTC history, and $1.5 billion will be paid to consumers who were unintentionally enrolled in Prime, or were deterred from canceling their subscriptions

    • Amazon admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement

    The Seattle company will pay $1 billion in civil penalties — the largest fine in FTC history, and $1.5 billion will be paid to consumers who were unintentionally enrolled in Prime, or were deterred from canceling their subscriptions, the agency said Thursday. Eligible Prime customers include those who may have signed up for a membership via the company’s “Single Page Checkout” between June 23, 2019 to June 23, 2025.

    The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon in U.S. District Court in Seattle two years ago alleging more than a decade of legal violations. That included a violation of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, a 2010 law designed to ensure that people know what they’re being charged for online.

    Amazon admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement. It did not immediately respond to requests by The Associated Press for comment Thursday.

    Amazon Prime provides subscribers with perks that include faster shipping, video streaming and discounts at Whole Foods for a fee of $139 annually, or $14.99 a month.

    It’s a key and growing part of Amazon’s business, with more than 200 million members. In its latest financial report, the company reported in July that it booked more than $12 billion in net revenue for subscription services, a 12% increase from the same period last year. That figure includes annual and monthly fees associated with Prime memberships, as well as other subscription services such as its music and e-books platforms.

    The company has said that it clearly explains Prime’s terms before charging customers, and that it offers simple ways to cancel membership, including by phone, online and by online chat.

    “Occasional customer frustrations and mistakes are inevitable — especially for a program as popular as Amazon Prime,” Amazon said in a trial brief filed last month.

    But the FTC said Amazon deliberately made it difficult for customers to purchase an item without also subscribing to Prime. In some cases, consumers were presented with a button to complete their transactions — which did not clearly state it would also enroll them in Prime, the agency said.

    Getting out of a subscription was often too complicated, and Amazon leadership slowed or rejected changes that would have made canceling easier, according to an FTC complaint.

    Internally, Amazon called the process “Iliad,” a reference to the ancient Greek poem about the lengthy siege of Troy during the Trojan war. The process requires the customer to affirm on three pages their desire to cancel membership.

    The FTC began looking into Amazon’s Prime subscription practices in 2021 during the first Trump administration, but the lawsuit was filed in 2023 under former FTC Chair Lina Khan, an antitrust expert who had been appointed by Biden.

    The agency filed the case months before it submitted an antitrust lawsuit against the retail and technology company, accusing it of having monopolistic control over online markets.

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  • Jimmy Kimmel is set to return to his late-night show after ABC lifts suspension

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    NEW YORK — Jimmy Kimmel is set to return to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension that triggered a national discussion about freedom of speech and President Donald Trump’s ability to police the words of journalists, commentators and even comics.

    What You Need To Know

    • ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” is set to return to the air, with millions of people expected to watch to see how he addresses his nearly weeklong suspension

    • Two groups of ABC affiliates that denounced Kimmel last week said they would not carry his return. 

    • Kimmel’s suspension by ABC following remarks about the aftermath of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death triggered a national discussion about freedom of speech and President Donald Trump’s ability to police the words of journalists, commentators and even comics

    • The return reportedly came after negotiations between Kimmel and executives for ABC and its parent company, Walt Disney

    • ABC said Kimmel would return after the network had “thoughtful conversations” with the host

    But two groups of ABC affiliates that denounced Kimmel last week said they would not carry his return. Nexstar Media Group said it would continue to preempt the show, “pending assurances that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.” Sinclair Broadcast Group said it would also keep Kimmel off its stations. The two corporations collectively control about a quarter of ABC affiliates.

    ABC, which suspended Kimmel’s show last Wednesday following criticism of his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, announced Monday that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would return after the network had “thoughtful conversations” with the host.

    “Our long national late nightmare is over,” Stephen Colbert joked on his CBS show in response to Kimmel’s reinstatement.

    ABC suspended  Kimmel indefinitely after comments he made in a monologue last week. Kimmel suggested that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on Kirk’s death and were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

    Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr last week said it appeared that Kimmel was trying to “directly mislead the American public” with his remarks about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man charged with Kirk’s killing, and his motives. Those motives remain unclear. Authorities say Robinson grew up in a conservative family, but his mother told investigators his son had turned left politically in the last year.

    “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said before ABC announced the suspension. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    Those remarks set a backlash in motion, with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz saying that Carr acted like “a mafioso.” Hundreds of entertainment luminaries, including Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Aniston, signed a letter circulated by the American Civil Liberties Union that called ABC’s move “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”

    Some consumers punished ABC parent Disney by canceling subscriptions to its streaming services.

    Trump had hailed Kimmel’s suspension, even inaccurately saying the show had been canceled. Kimmel has been a relentless Trump critic in his comedy.

    Trump’s administration has used threats, lawsuits and federal government pressure to try to exert more control over the media industry. Trump sued ABC and CBS over news coverage, which the companies settled. Trump has also filed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and successfully urged Congress to strip federal funding from NPR and PBS.

    How — or even whether — Kimmel would address the controversy on his first show back remained a mystery. Millions of people are likely to watch.

    Disney and ABC executives reportedly negotiated the return for several days before announcing the resolution. The ABC statement said the suspension happened because some of Kimmel’s comments were “ill-timed and thus insensitive,” but it did not call them misleading.

    Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Kirk and now headed by his widow, posted on X that “Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make.”

    The suspension happened at a time when the late-night landscape is shifting. Shows are losing viewers, in part because many watch highlights the next day online. CBS announced the cancellation of Colbert’s show over the summer. Kimmel’s contract with ABC reportedly lasts through May.

    Colbert, in his opening monologue Monday, grabbed his recently won Emmy Award for outstanding talk series, saying, “Once more, I am the only martyr on late night!”

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  • Caretaker killed by tiger at wildlife preserve in southeastern Oklahoma

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    HUGO, Okla. — An animal handler was killed by a tiger under his care at a preserve for big cats in southeastern Oklahoma, the organization said Sunday.

    What You Need To Know

    • An animal handler was killed by a tiger under his care at a preserve for big cats in southeastern Oklahoma

    • Growler Pines Tiger Preserve says in a statement that Ryan Easley died Saturday in “an accident” involving a tiger at the property near Hugo, not far from the Texas border

    • All tours have been canceled until further notice

    • The preserve’s website says it is a private facility where visitors can book tours to view tigers and see demonstrations on how the animals are trained and cared for

    Growler Pines Tiger Preserve said in a statement that Ryan Easley died Saturday in “an accident” involving a tiger at the property near Hugo, not far from the Texas border.

    “This tragedy is a painful reminder of both the beauty and unpredictability of the natural world,” the preserve said on its Facebook page. “Ryan understood those risks — not out of recklessness but out of love. The animals under his care were not just animals to him, but beings he formed a connection with — one rooted in respect, daily care and love.”

    All tours have been canceled until further notice, the statement said.

    The preserve is a private facility where visitors can book tours to view tigers and see demonstrations on how the animals are trained and cared for, according to its website.

    People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed Easley received his tigers from Joe Exotic, the star of the reality TV series “Tiger King.” Exotic’s real name is Joseph Maldonado. 

    Maldonado said he only let Easley keep his tigers at a zoo for one winter. In a since-deleted social media post Maldonado said Easley “took great care of his animals” and “was an advocate for tigers as well as elephants.” 

    Maldonado is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence after being convicted in a murder-for-hire plot and of multiple wildlife violations.

    PETA issued a blunt statement in response to Easley’s death.

    “It’s never safe for humans to interact directly with apex predators, and it’s never a surprise when a human is attacked by a stressed big cat who has been caged, whipped, and denied everything natural and important to them,” the animal rights group said. “PETA is calling for the remaining wild animal exhibitors who aren’t dead or in federal prison to get out of the business now and send the animals to accredited sanctuaries where they can finally live in peace.”

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    Katie Streit, Associated Press

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  • Trump honors Charlie Kirk as a martyr for the nation, pledges crackdown

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    GLENDALE, Ariz. — President Donald Trump flew to Arizona on Sunday with a cohort of his administration’s most senior officials, the speaker of the House and a slew of Republican lawmakers to eulogize and memorialize his ally Charlie Kirk in a front of tens of thousands packed into an NFL stadium less than two weeks after the 31-year-old right-wing activist was assassinated in Utah.

    Capping off the five-hour service, Trump reiterated what he said the night the founder of the influential conservative youth organization Turning Point USA was killed: Kirk was a “a martyr now for American freedom” and, in his name, the federal government will crackdown on political foes and lead “not just a political realignment, but also a spiritual reawakening.” The remarks came a day after the president publicly demanded Attorney General Pam Bondi expedite the prosecution of his enemies.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Donald Trump flew to Arizona on Sunday with a cohort of his administration’s most senior officials, the speaker of the House and a slew of Republican lawmakers to eulogize and memorialize his ally Charlie Kirk
    • Trump said Kirk was a “a martyr now for American freedom” and, in his name, the federal government will crackdown on political foes and lead “not just a political realignment, but also a spiritual reawakening”
    • The remarks came a day after the president publicly demanded Attorney General Pam Bondi expedite the prosecution of his enemies
    • Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and successor as Turning Point USA’s leader, said that she forgives the shooting suspect accused of killing her husband
    • Other speakers included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Kennedy, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Kirk’s friends and colleagues, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump Jr.

    Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and successor as Turning Point USA’s leader, spoke right before Trump and eulogized her husband by speaking of their shared Christian faith and saying that she forgives the shooting suspect who prosecutors say told friends and family he killed Kirk “because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.”

    “The answer to hate is not hate,” Erika Kirk said. “The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love, love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

    A half an hour later, halfway through his remarks, Trump said he hates his opponents and apologized to the grieving widow before touting that the Justice Department is “investigating networks of radical left maniacs who fund organized fuel and perpetrate political violence.”

    “He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose. He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them,” Trump said. “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry. I am sorry Erica.”

    “I can’t stand my opponent,” Trump added.

    A banner for conservative activist Charlie Kirk is seen during a memorial service for Kirk, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)

    On Saturday, in a message addressed to “Pam” on his Truth Social platform, Trump demanded Bondi accelerate investigations and prosecutions into his enemies, including former FBI director James Comey, California Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Lettia James. He cited the criminal prosecutions of him in between his terms in office and the impeachments from his first time as reasons why “​​we can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”

    “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Trump wrote on Saturday evening after forcing out a U.S. attorney in Virginia over his frustration with a lack of criminal charges brought against James, who has led many legal fights against Trump’s administration and businesses. 

    On Sunday in Arizona, Trump said the Justice Department was attempting to investigate the “very bad people” that he claimed funded “paid agitators” to protest Kirk and him, dubiously claiming “the violence comes largely from the left.” Neither Trump nor the Justice Department has produced evidence that crimes committed by left-wing actors are being funded by wealthy benefactors or connected to advocacy organizations that oppose the administration.

    ‘A martyr for the Christian faith’

    The framing of Kirk as a martyr for the president’s movement who played a key role in the campaign to get him back into the White House, as well as the intertwining of Christianity and right-wing politics in the U.S. were common themes echoed by the speakers throughout the day, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Kennedy, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Kirk’s friends and colleagues, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump Jr.

    Kirk “became convinced that we needed not just a political realignment, but also a spiritual reawakening,” Trump said. “We have to bring back religion to America, because without borders, law and order and religion, you really don’t have a country anymore. We want religion brought back to America. We want to bring God back into our beautiful USA like never before. We want God back.”

    Hegseth declared Kirk “a warrior for country, a warrior for Christ” and said the activist not only “started a political movement, but unleashed a spiritual revival.” Trump also referred to the memorial as “an old time revival.”

    Vance said he’s “talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public life” because of Kirk. In response to critics of Kirk’s politics, the vice president said that if he were still alive, he believed that Kirk “would encourage me to be honest that evil still walks among us, not to ignore it for the sake of a fake kumbaya moment, but to address it head on and honestly as the sickness that it is.”

    “My friends, for Charlie, we must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America, and he is a martyr for the Christian faith,” Vance said.

    Comments about Kirk have become a Trump administration target

    The right-wing activist had a long, well-documented history of statements and policy positions about race, Islam, Judaism, women and LGBTQ people that Democratic politicians and other critics have described as racist, bigoted and antisemitic, Since his death, the administration and their allies have promised retaliation and applied pressure on organizations to fire or punish workers who voice criticisms of Kirk’s work, including getting Disney to pull late night show host Jimmy Kimmel off the air.

    In response to Kirk’s killing — by a 22-year-old Utah man who officials have said disagreed with Kirk’s politics from a left-wing perspective but have not alleged he he was aligned with any groups, other individuals or even a specific ideology — Trump also said last week he was going to designate “antifa” as a “major terrorist organization” to expedite prosecutions of left-wing activists and organizations.

    It’s unclear how Trump will do so in practice because antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” is an umbrella term for a variety of groups and ideological movements who use a wide-range of tactics, both legal and illegal. Additionally, there is no current federal law or legal framework for designating domestic groups as terrorists due to the broad First Amendment protections for political activity.

    “But law enforcement can only be the beginning of our response to Charlie’s murder,” Trump said, laying blame for “atrocities of this kind that we saw in Utah of all places” at the feet of liberals and leftists. 

    Trump’s deputy chief of staff and longtime speechwriter Stephen Miller put it in much starker terms during his speech at the service earlier in the day.

    “The day that Charlie died, the angels wept, but those tears had been turned into fire in our hearts, and that fire burns with a righteous fury that our enemies cannot comprehend or understand,” Miller said. “You have no idea the dragon you have awakened. You have no idea how determined we will be to save this civilization, to save the West, to save this republic. Because our children are strong and our grandchildren will be strong, and our children’s children’s children will be strong.”

    A man listens during a worship song before the start of a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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    Joseph Konig

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  • Fired CDC director testifies about ultimatum over vaccine recommendations

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    WASHINGTON –– Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez has begun her testimony before a congressional committee Wednesday morning — three weeks after she was fired by the Trump administration.

    What You Need To Know

    • Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez has begun her testimony before a congressional committee Wednesday morning — three weeks after she was fired by the Trump administration

    • Monarez told lawmakers that she was given an ultimatum by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign or be terminated after she refused to “preapprove” vaccine recommendations of an advisory panel

    • That panel — the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — is expected to vote on new vaccine recommendations this week

    • Former Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who later resigned after Monarez was fired, joined the former CDC director on Capitol Hill for the hearing

    Monarez told lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that she was given an ultimatum by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if she refused to “commit in advance to approving” vaccine recommendations and “dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause.”

    “On the morning of Aug. 25, Secretary Kennedy demanded two things of me that were inconsistent with my oath of office and the ethics required of a public official,” she told the committee.

    Her remarks Wednesday echoed a chain of events she described in a Wall Street Journal op-ed — that she “was told to preapprove the recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed antivaccine rhetoric.”

    That panel — the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices –– is expected to vote on new vaccine recommendations this week.

    In the wake of Monarez’s ouster, several other agency leaders resigned in protest, and President Donald Trump picked Jim O’Neill, who had been serving as Kennedy’s deputy, to step in as interim CDC director. 

    Former CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who quit after Monarez was fired, joined the former CDC director on Capitol Hill for the hearing, which was given the title “Reviewing Recent Events at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Implications for Children’s Health.”

    “I resigned because CDC leaders were reduced to rubber stamps, supporting policies not based in science and putting American lives at risk,” Houry told the committee.

    In a hearing earlier this month, Kennedy acknowledged that he had told Monarez to fire scientists at the agency. During his testimony, Kennedy had also addressed what he called “the recent shakeup” at the CDC.

    “We are the sickest country in the world,” Kennedy told lawmakers.
”That’s why we have to fire people at CDC. They did not do their job. This was their job to keep us healthy.”

    When asked about Monarez, Kennedy said, “I told her that she had to resign because I asked her, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ And she said, ‘No.’” 

    Monarez refuted Kennedy’s comments calling her “untrustworthy” during her opening statement Wednesday.

    Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who represents Louisiana and chairs the powerful Senate health committee, said during his opening remarks Wednesday that lawmakers were looking to find “all the facts, not a version of the facts that fits a certain narrative agenda.”

    “It may be impossible to learn who’s telling the truth, but this hearing is an initial step in trying to answer why the top leadership of the CDC was fired or resigned before they could be fired,” he said, adding, “Turmoil at the top of the nation’s top public health agency is not good for the health of the American people.”

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    Christina Santucci

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  • U.S. and China reach framework deal for ownership of TikTok

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    MADRID — A framework deal has been reached between China and the U.S. for the ownership of popular social video platform TikTok, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after weekend trade talks in Spain.

    What You Need To Know

    • A framework deal has been reached between China and the U.S. for the ownership of TikTok
    • U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday after trade talks in Madrid that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly finalize the deal
    • Bessent said the objective was to switch to U.S. ownership from China’s ByteDance
    • China’s international trade representative told reporters that the sides have reached “basic framework consensus”
    • During Joe Biden’s presidency, Congress and the White House used national security grounds to approve a U.S. ban on TikTok unless its Chinese parent company sold its controlling stake

    Bessent said in a press conference after the latest round of trade talks between the world’s two largest economies concluded in Madrid that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly finalize the deal. He said the objective was to switch to U.S. ownership from China’s ByteDance.

    “We are not going to talk about the commercial terms of the deal,” Bessent said. “It’s between two private parties. But the commercial terms have been agreed upon.”

    Li Chenggang, China’s international trade representative, told reporters the sides have reached “basic framework consensus” to resolve TikTok-related issues in a cooperative way, reduce investment barriers and promote related economic and trade cooperation.

    The meeting in Madrid is the fourth round of trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials since Trump launched a tariff war on Chinese goods in April. A fifth round of negotiations is likely to happen “in the coming weeks,” Bessent said, with both governments planning for a possible summit between Trump and Xi later this year or early next year to solidify a trade agreement.

    However, nothing has been confirmed, and analysts say possible trade bumps could delay the visit.

    Why a TikTok deal is needed

    In Madrid, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the team was “very focused on TikTok and making sure that it was a deal that is fair for the Chinese” but also “completely respects U.S. national security concerns.”

    Wang Jingtao, deputy director of China’s Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, told reporters in Madrid there was consensus on authorization of “the use of intellectual property rights such as (TikTok’s) algorithm” — a main sticking point in the deal.

    The sides also agreed on entrusting a partner with handling U.S. user data and content security, he said.

    During Joe Biden’s Democratic presidency, Congress and the White House used national security grounds to approve a U.S. ban on TikTok unless its Chinese parent company sold its controlling stake.

    U.S. officials were concerned about ByteDance’s roots and ownership, pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the government. Another concern became the proprietary algorithm that populates what users see on the app.

    Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly extended the deadline for shutting down TikTok. The current extension expires Wednesday, two days before Trump and Xi are scheduled to discuss the final details of the framework deal.

    Although Trump hasn’t addressed the forthcoming deadline directly, he has claimed that he can delay the ban indefinitely.

    Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said it appears that “both sides have found a way forward to transfer ownership to a U.S. company.”

    “If accurate, this would represent an important step forward in resolving a lingering bilateral dispute,” she said.

    Fentanyl and other issues are still unresolved

    Other long-running issues like export controls, Chinese investments in the U.S. and restrictions on chemicals used to make fentanyl also came up. Bessent indicated that money laundering, related to drug trafficking, “was an area of extreme agreement.”

    Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who led the Chinese delegation, said the sides held “candid, in-depth and constructive” communications, according to China’s official news agency Xinhua.

    But Li, China’s international trade representative, said Beijing opposes the “politicization” and “weaponization” of technology, trade and economic issues, adding that China would “never seek any agreement at the expense of principle, the interests of the companies, and international fairness and justice.”

    He criticized the U.S. for overstretching the concept of national security and imposing sanctions on more Chinese companies. Calling it “a typical, unilateral, bullying practice,” Li said China demanded restrictive measures be removed.

    “The U.S. side should not on one hand ask China to accommodate its concerns, whilst at the same time continue to suppress Chinese companies,” Li said.

    As the weekend talks were underway, Trump said the war in Ukraine would end if all NATO countries stopped buying Russian oil and placed tariffs on China of 50% to 100% for doing so. The Chinese Commerce Ministry on Monday called the demand “a classic example of unilateral bullying and economic coercion.”

    A leaders’ summit may be in sight

    China’s foreign ministry on Monday did not say if Beijing has invited Trump for a state visit.

    Analysts have suggested that the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries in South Korea at the end of October could provide an opportunity.

    The plan for another round of trade talks is “encouraging but seems to be cutting things close,” Cutler said, adding that more work is needed at lower levels for a Trump-Xi meeting to take place and that there are other opportunities for them to meet next year.

    For now, “there is little time to hammer out a meaningful trade agreement,” she said. “What we are more likely to see is a series of ad-hoc deliverables, possibly a Chinese commitment to buy more U.S. soybeans and other products, a U.S. agreement to hold back on announcing certain further U.S. high-tech export controls, and another 90-day rollover of the tariff pause.”

    A previous version of this Associated Press story misstated Chinese President Xi Jinping’s title.

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  • Patel: DNA evidence found near scene of Charlie Kirk’s shooting matches suspect

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    OREM, Utah — DNA on a towel wrapped around a rifle found near where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated matched that of the 22-year-old accused in the killing, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Monday.

    What You Need To Know

    • FBI Director Kash Patel says DNA on a towel wrapped around a rifle found near where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated matches that of the 22-year-old accused in the killing

    • Patel told Fox News Channel on Monday investigators also have used DNA to link suspect Tyler Robinson with a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the fatal shot was fired

    • Authorities in Utah are preparing to file capital murder charges against Robinson as early as Tuesday in the killing of Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics

    • Patel says Robinson wrote in a note before the shooting that he had an opportunity to take out Kirk

    Investigators also have used DNA evidence to link the suspect, Tyler Robinson, with a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the fatal shot was fired, Patel told Fox News Channel on Monday.

    Authorities in Utah are preparing to file capital murder charges against Robinson as early as Tuesday in the killing of Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics who became a confidant of President Donald Trump after founding Arizona-based Turning Point USA, one of the nation’s largest political organizations.

    Kirk, who brought young, conservative evangelical Christians into politics, was shot Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University during one of his many campus stops. The shooting raised fears about increasing political violence in a deeply polarized United States.

    Officials have said Robinson carried a hatred for Kirk and ascribed to a “leftist ideology” that had grown in recent years. Robinson’s family and friends said he spent large amounts of time scrolling the “dark corners of the internet,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday.

    Patel told Fox News that Robinson had written in a note before the shooting that he had an opportunity to take out Kirk and was going to do it. Investigators were able to recover the note’s contents after it had been destroyed, the FBI director said, paraphrasing from the note without revealing more details.

    Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk speaks at a Turning Point event on Sept. 4, 2024, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

    Authorities said Robinson has not been cooperating with law enforcement. They say that he may have been “radicalized” online and that ammunition found in the gun used to kill Kirk included anti-fascist and meme-culture language engravings. Court records show that one bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!”

    Robinson was arrested late Thursday near where he grew up around St. George, in the southwestern corner of Utah between Las Vegas and Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

    Tributes to Kirk continue across the country. A line of mourners wrapped around the Kennedy Center in Washington for a vigil on Sunday, and there were moments of silence at several professional sporting events.

    Vice President JD Vance, who counted Kirk as a close friend, planned to serve as a substitute host on Monday for Kirk’s talk show on Rumble, a streaming platform.

    “Please join me as I pay tribute to my friend,” Vance wrote on social media.

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  • Authorities piece together more information about Kirk assassination suspect

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    OREM, Utah — Family and friends of the 22-year-old accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk described his politics as veering left in recent years as he spent large amounts of time scrolling the “dark corners of the internet,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Utah Gov. Spencer Cox says investigators are not yet ready to discuss a motive in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk but the 22-year-old who was arrested leaned to the left
    • Cox said that information comes from interviews with suspect Tyler Robinson’s family and friends
    • Cox is a Republican who’s called for partisans on both sides to tone down their rhetoric after the assassination
    • Cox also confirmed reports that Robinson was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, who is transgender
    • Cox stressed the roommate knew nothing of the attack and has been cooperating with law enforcement

    Investigators were still piecing together information about the suspect, Tyler Robinson, and not yet ready to discuss a potential motive. But Cox noted that Robinson, who is not cooperating with law enforcement, disliked Kirk and may have been “radicalized” online.

    Kirk founded Turning Point USA to bring more young, conservative evangelical Christians into politics as effective activists, and he was a confidant of President Donald Trump, leading to a flood of tributes that included a vigil Sunday night at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, became prominent in part through his speaking tours, and he was shot Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University.

    “There clearly was a leftist ideology,” Cox said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” citing interviews with Robinson’s relatives and acquaintances. “Friends have confirmed that there was kind of that deep, dark internet, the Reddit culture, and these other dark places of the internet where this person was going deep.”

    Charlie Kirk speaks before he is shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

    He pointed to references found engraved on the ammunition used to kill Kirk, which included anti-fascist and meme-culture language. Court records show that one bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!”

    A Republican who has called on all partisans to tone down their rhetoric following the attack, the governor added: “I really don’t have a dog in this fight. If this was a radicalized MAGA person, I’d be saying that as well.”

    Utah’s governor says a motive still isn’t pinned down

    Cox stressed on several Sunday morning news shows that investigators are still trying to pin down a motive for the attack on Kirk. The governor said more information may come out once Robinson appears in court Tuesday.

    Cox said the suspect’s partner was transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign Robinson was targeting Kirk for his anti-transgender views. But authorities have not said whether it is relevant as they investigate Robinson’s motive.

    “The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female,” Cox said. “I can say that he has been incredibly cooperative, this partner has been very cooperative, had no idea that this was happening.”

    Investigators have spoken to Robinson’s relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family’s home in Washington, Utah, about 240 miles (390 kilometers) southwest of Utah Valley University.

    State records show Robinson is registered to vote but not affiliated with a political party and is listed as inactive, meaning he did not vote in the two most recent general elections. His parents are registered Republicans.

    The suspect grew up in southwestern Utah

    Robinson grew up around St. George, in the southwestern corner of Utah between Las Vegas and natural landmarks including Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.

    He became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, at a young age, church spokesperson Doug Andersen said.

    Online activity by Robinson’s mother reflects an active family that traveled widely. In one photo, a young Robinson can be seen smiling as he grips the handles of a .50-caliber heavy machine gun outside a military facility.

    A high school honor roll student who scored in the 99th percentile nationally on standardized tests, he was admitted to Utah State University in 2021 on a prestigious academic scholarship, according to a video of him reading his acceptance letter that was posted to a family member’s social media account.

    But he attended for only one semester, according to the university. He is currently enrolled as a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George.

    Tributes emphasize Kirk’s religious faith

    The vigil at the Kennedy Center was among numerous tributes to Kirk that also included moments of silence at professional sporting events. The line of mourners in Washington wrapped around the center. Some people wore suits or summer dresses, while others were dressed in jeans and wore “Make America Great Again” caps.

    Seventeen-year-old Domiano Maceri and his mother drove about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Purceville, Virginia, to attend the Kennedy Center event. He said Kirk helped him find a way to better talk with friends who hold different opinions.

    “I definitely feel like I was inspired in different ways,” Maceri said as he waited to get inside. “It definitely gave me confidence to speak to my friends about my beliefs more.”

    Speakers included White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, two House members whose remembrances of Kirk were briefly stalled when they teared up, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

    “Father, help us remember the principles of your word that Charlie worked every day — to advance that we not return evil for evil but we overcome evil with good,” Johnson prayed.

    At Dream City Church in Phoenix, where Kirk hosted one of his “Freedom Night in America” gatherings, attendees viewed clips of the conservative activist discussing his desire to be “remembered for courage for my faith.”

    During a question-and-answer session, a church pastor, Angel Barnett, called on the crowd to honor Kirk by carrying on his message.

    “The left is nervous,” Barnett said. “And they’re concerned because they’ve lost control. Charlie started that, and we will continue it.”

    Added church panelist Brandon Tatum: “These cowards thought that they could end or eliminate the movement.”

    “They just made it bigger. They just made it stronger.”

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  • NATO scrambles jets to shoot down Russian drones in Poland

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    WOHYN, Poland — Multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland in what European officials described Wednesday as an deliberate provocation, causing NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down. A NATO spokesman said it was the first time the alliance confronted a potential threat in its airspace.

    What You Need To Know

    • Multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland in what European officials described as an deliberate provocation, causing NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down

    • A NATO spokesman said it was the first time the alliance confronted a potential threat in its airspace

    • The incursion happened late Tuesday and into the early hours of Wednesday during a wave of strikes by the Kremlin on Ukraine
    • The NATO response swiftly raised fears that the war could spill over — a fear that has been growing in Europe as Russia steps up its attacks and peace efforts go nowhere

    The incursion, which occurred during a wave of strikes by the Kremlin on Ukraine, and the NATO response swiftly raised fears that the war could spill over — a fear that has been growing in Europe as Russia steps up its attacks and peace efforts go nowhere.

    Russia’s Defense Ministry said it did not target Poland, while Belarus, a close ally of Moscow, said it tracked some drones that “lost their course” because they were jammed.

    However, several European leaders said they believed the incursion amounted to an intentional expansion of Russia’s assault against Ukraine.

    “Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels. “What (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wants to do is to test us. What happened in Poland is a game changer,” and it should result in stronger sanctions.

    Polish airspace has been violated many times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but never on this scale in Poland or anywhere else in NATO territory.

    Poland said some of the drones came from Belarus, where Russian and Belarusian troops have begun gathering for war games scheduled to start Friday.

    It was not immediately clear how many drones were involved. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament 19 violations were recorded over seven hours, but he said information was still being gathered. Polish authorities said nine crash sites were found, with some of them hundreds of kilometers from the border.

    “There are definitely no grounds to suspect that this was a course correction mistake or the like,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told parliament. “These drones were very clearly put on this course deliberately.”

    Dutch fighter jets came to Poland’s aid and intercepted some drones. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski later thanked the Dutch government “for the magnificent performance of Dutch pilots in neutralizing” the drones.

    NATO met to discuss the incident, which came three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began.

    Poland says some drones came from Belarus

    Tusk told parliament that the first violation came at approximately 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and the last around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. Earlier, Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish airspace.

    “What is new, in the worst sense of the word, is the direction from which the drones came. This is the first time in this war that they did not come from Ukraine as a result of errors or minor Russian provocations. For the first time, a significant portion of the drones came directly from Belarus,” Tusk said in parliament.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said its overnight strikes targeted Ukraine’s military-industrial complex in the western regions of the country — which border Poland — with no planned targets on Polish territory.

    In an unusual message of outreach, the ministry said it was ready to hold consultations with Poland’s Defense Ministry.

    Belarusian Maj. Gen. Pavel Muraveiko, the chief of the country’s general staff and first deputy defense minister, appeared to try to put some distance between his country and the incursion.

    In an online statement, he said that as Russia and Ukraine traded drone strikes overnight, Belarusian air defense forces tracked “drones that lost their course” after they were jammed, adding that Belarusian forces warned their Polish and Lithuanian counterparts about “unidentified aircraft” approaching their territory.

    Drones or parts of drones were found in eight locations in Poland, according to Polish officials. At a ninth site, objects of unknown origin were found.

    A house was hit in the village of Wyryki in the Lublin region near the Ukrainian border, Mayor Bernard Blaszczuk told the TVP Info television news channel. The roof was severely damaged, but no one was hurt.

    Rattled NATO members vow support

    NATO air defenses supported Poland in what spokesman Col. Martin O’Donnell called “the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.” That included the Dutch F-35 fighter jets that intercepted drones, according to Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans.

    The alliance “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace,” O’Donnell said.

    Tusk told parliament consultations took place under Article 4 of the NATO treaty — a clause that allows countries to call for urgent discussions with their allies. The consultations happened Wednesday at a previously planned meeting. They do not automatically lead to any action under Article 5, which is NATO’s collective security guarantee.

    Mark Lyall Grant, U.K. national security adviser from 2015 to 2017, said the incursion was obviously an escalation of Russia’s war in Ukraine, but there was not yet enough evidence to say it was an attack on a NATO member.

    But many European leaders expressed deep concern, including those in the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia that are the NATO members most nervous about Russian aggression.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it an “extremely dangerous precedent for Europe” and called for Russia to “feel the consequences.”

    “Moscow always tests the limits of what is possible and, if it does not encounter a strong response, remains at a new level of escalation,” he said. “Not just one Shahed (drone), which could be dismissed as an accident, but at least eight attack drones that were aimed in the direction of Poland.”

    By midday in Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump’s only public comments about the incursion was a short post on social media: “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!”

    Trump was set to speak later Wednesday to Polish President Karol Nawrocki, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

    Phillips O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said the incident underscored the failure of NATO member states to accurately assess the threat posed by Russia and properly prepare for war.

    “NATO states, even front line ones, have clearly not prepared for war of the type that is happening now,” he said in his Substack newsletter.

    Poland has complained about Russian objects entering its airspace during attacks on Ukraine before.

    In August, Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as a Russian drone, and called it a provocation.

    In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed through Polish airspace on its way to a target in western Ukraine. And in 2022, a missile that was likely fired by Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.

    Russian attacks hit central and western Ukraine

    Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones, as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missile overnight.

    Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27 cruise missiles, according to the report.

    One person was killed and at least five wounded, while several homes and businesses were damaged, according to local officials.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report Wednesday that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and areas of the Black Sea.

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  • Employers add 22,000 jobs in August, falling short of forecasts

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    WASHINGTON — The U.S. job market has gone from healthy to lethargic during President Donald Trump’s first seven months back in the White House, as hiring has collapsed and inflation has started to climb once again as his tariffs take hold.

    What You Need To Know

    • The U.S. job market has gone from healthy to lethargic during President Donald Trump’s first seven months back in the White House

    • Friday’s jobs report showed employers added a mere 22,000 jobs in August, as the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%

    • Factories and construction firms shed workers

    • The new data exposed the widening gap between the booming economy Trump promised and the more anemic reality of what he’s managed to deliver so far.

    Friday’s jobs report showed employers added a mere 22,000 jobs in August, as the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%. Factories and construction firms shed workers. Revisions showed the economy lost 13,000 jobs in June, the first monthly losses since December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The new data exposed the widening gap between the booming economy Trump promised and the more anemic reality of what he’s managed to deliver so far. The White House prides itself on operating at a breakneck speed, but it’s now asking the American people for patience, with Trump saying better job numbers might be a year away.

    “We’re going to win like you’ve never seen,” Trump said Friday. “Wait until these factories start to open up that are being built all over the country, you’re going to see things happen in this country that nobody expects.”

    The plea for patience has done little to comfort Americans, as economic issues that had been a strength for Trump for a decade have evolved into a persistent weakness. Approval of Trump’s economic leadership hit 56% in early 2020 during his first term, but that figure was 38% in July of this year, according to polling by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

    The situation has left Trump searching for others to blame, while Democrats say the problem begins and ends with him.

    Trump maintained Friday that the economy would be adding jobs if Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had slashed benchmark interest rates, even though doing so to the degree that Trump wants could ignite higher inflation. Investors expect a rate cut by the Fed at its next meeting in September, although that’s partially because of weakening job numbers.

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Trump’s tariffs and freewheeling policies were breaking the economy and the jobs report proved it.

    “This is a blaring red light warning to the entire country that Donald Trump is squeezing the life out of our economy,” Schumer said.

    By many measures, Trump has dug himself into a hole on the economy as its performance has yet to come anywhere close to his hype.

    — Trump in 2024 suggested that deporting immigrants in the country illegally would protect “Black jobs.” But the Black unemployment rate has climbed to 7.5%, the highest since October 2021, as the Trump administration has engaged in aggressive crackdowns on immigration.

    — At his April tariffs announcement, Trump said, “Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country and you see it happening already.” Since April, manufacturers have cut 42,000 jobs and builders have downsized by 8,000.

    — Trump said in his inaugural address that the “liquid gold” of oil would make the nation wealthy as he pivoted the economy to fossil fuels. But the logging and mining sectors — which includes oil and natural gas — have shed 12,000 jobs since January. While gasoline prices are lower, the Energy Information Administration in August estimated that crude oil production, the source of the wealth promised by Trump, would fall next year by an average of 100,000 barrels a day.

    — At 2024 rallies, Trump promised to “end” inflation on “day one” and halve electricity prices within 12 months. Consumer prices have climbed from a 2.3% annual increase in April to 2.7% in July. Electricity costs are up 4.6% so far this year.

    The Trump White House maintains that the economy is on the cusp of breakout growth, with its new import taxes poised to raise hundreds of billions of dollars annually if they can withstand court challenges.

    At a Thursday night dinner with executives and founders from companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Meta, Trump said the facilities being built to develop artificial intelligence would deliver “jobs numbers like our country has never seen before” at some point “a year from now.”

    But Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, noted that Trump’s promise that strong job growth is ahead contradicts his unsubstantiated claims that recent jobs data was faked to embarrass him. That accusation prompted him to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics last month after the massive downward revisions in the July jobs report.

    Strain said it’s rational for the administration to say better times are coming, but doing so seems to undermine Trump’s allegations that the numbers are rigged.

    “The president clearly stated that the data were not trustworthy and that the weakness in the data was the product of anti-Trump manipulation,” Strain said. “And if that’s true, what are we being patient about?”

    The White House maintained that Friday’s jobs report was an outlier in an otherwise good economy.

    Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said the Atlanta Federal Reserve is expecting annualized growth of 3% this quarter, which he said would be more consistent with monthly job gains of 100,000.

    Hassett said inflation is low, income growth is “solid” and new investments in assets such as buildings and equipment will ultimately boost hiring.

    But Daniel Hornung, who was deputy director of the National Economic Council in the Biden White House, said he didn’t see evidence of a coming rebound in the August jobs data.

    “Pretty broad based weakening,” Hornung said. “The decline over three months in goods producing sectors like construction and manufacturing is particularly notable. There were already headwinds there and tariffs are likely exacerbating challenges.”

    Stephen Moore, an economics fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and supporter of the president, said the labor market is “definitely softening,” even as he echoed Trump’s claims that the jobs numbers are not reliable.

    He said the economy was adjusting to the Trumpian shift of higher tariffs and immigration reductions that could lower the pool of available workers.

    “The problem going forward is a shortage or workers, not a shortage of jobs,” Moore said. “In some ways, that’s a good problem to have.”

    But political consultant and pollster Frank Luntz took the contrarian view that the jobs report won’t ultimately matter for the political fortunes of Trump and his movement because voters care more about inflation and affordability.

    “That’s what the public is watching, that’s what the public cares about,” Luntz said. “Everyone who wants a job has a job, for the most part.”

    From the perspective of elections, Trump still has roughly a year to demonstrate progress on improving affordability, Luntz said. Voters will generally lock in their opinions about the economy by Labor Day before the midterm elections next year.

    In other words, Trump still has time.

    “It’s still up for grabs,” he said. “The deciding point will come Labor Day of 2026.”

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