US government layoffs ‘likely to be in the thousands’, says White House
US government layoffs could be in the thousands, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt has said, as the federal government entered the second day of the shutdown. She did not provide details.
Look, it’s likely going to be in the thousands. And that’s something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here, again, is unfortunately having to work on today.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House and as the bipartisan blame game rages on, she added:
These discussions and these conversations, these meetings would not be happening if the Democrats had voted to keep the government open.
Asked specifically which agencies would be targeted, Leavitt said, “We’re looking at agencies that don’t align with the president’s values” and “that we feel are a waste of the taxpayer dollar”.
Key events
WIC, the federal program that provides free, healthy food to low-income pregnant women, new mothers and children under five, could run out of funds if the government shutdown persists, NBC News reports.
The program serves some 6.8 million people. According to the National WIC Association, “devastating disruptions” may deny millions of moms and children access to nutritious foods if the government remains closed for longer than a week or two, as contingency funds from the USDA will have dried up by then.
“Historically, when there has been a shutdown, WIC has remained open for business, but because this one falls at the start of the fiscal year, there are some risks,” Georgia Machell, president of the National WIC Association, told NBC. She called on Congress to pass a funding bill that protects the program and keeps it running without interruption.
A USDA spokesperson told the outlet that WIC’s continued operation will depend on “state choice and the length of a shutdown”.
Meanwhile, some administration officials are privately warning agencies against mass firings during the shutdown, the Washington Post (paywall) reports.
Senior federal officials are telling agencies not to fire employees en masse, warning that it may violate appropriations law and be vulnerable to challenges from labor unions, the Post reports citing two anonymous sources.
Senate majority leader John Thune told Politico last night that Democrats folding is the only way he sees the shutdown ending.
His comments were echoed House speaker Mike Johnson, who earlier told reporters this morning, “I have quite literally nothing to negotiate,” and insisted that Democrats should support the “clean” continuing resolution.
Per Politico’s report, Thune “insisted he would not negotiate on the substance of an extension [to Obamacare subsidies] while the government is closed. But pressed on whether he was open to discussions with Democrats about how the health care negotiations might work post-shutdown or how to advance full-year appropriations bills, he said, ‘We are.’”
Some of those conversations are happening. With our members and their members there’s a lot of back-and-forth going on right now about some of the things they would like to see happen.
Thune also said it’s “unlikely” that there will be Senate votes this weekend, meaning the shutdown is likely to last for at least six days. He told Semafor this morning:
They’ll have a fourth chance tomorrow to open up the government. If that fails, we’ll give them the weekend to think about it. We’ll come back vote again Monday.
Venezuela’s defense minister General Vladimir Padrino said on Thursday that five combat planes had been detected near country’s coast, in what he characterized as a threat by the United States.
“They are imperialist combat planes that have dared to come close to the Venezuelan coast” Padrino said at an air base, in comments broadcast on state television, saying information about the planes had been reported to a control tower by an airline. “The presence of these planes flying close to our Caribbean Sea is a vulgarity, a provocation, a threat to the security of the nation.”
The US has deployed a fleet of warships through the Caribbean, which Washington says is to combat drug trafficking, and has also struck several boats it claims were carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing those aboard. Experts have questioned the legality of the strikes.
Earlier, we reported that Trump has declared drug cartels operating in the Caribbean are unlawful combatants and said the US is now in a “non-international armed conflict”, according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press.
The US military last month carried out three deadly strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean. At least two of those operations were carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela.
On Monday, Venezuela’s vice-president said Nicolás Maduro was ready to declare a state of emergency in the event of a US military attack on the country, and warned of “catastrophic” consequences if such an onslaught materializes.
Hamas to demand key revisions to Trump Gaza plan before accepting, sources say
Jason Burke
Hamas will demand key revisions to Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire proposal but is likely to accept the plan in coming days as a basis for renewed negotiations, analysts and sources close to the group have told my colleague and Guardian international security correspondent Jason Burke.
Trump imposed a deadline of “three or four days” from Tuesday for Hamas to give its response to his 20-point plan, which aims to bring the two-year war in Gaza to a close and allow an apparently indefinite international administration of the devastated territory, or “pay in hell”.
Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist from Gaza based in Cairo, said Hamas now had to “choose between the bad and the worst”. “If they say ‘no’, as Trump has made clear, that will not be good and will allow Israel to do whatever it takes to finish this. They will say “yes, but we need this and that”, Abusada said.
Hamas leaders are divided between Istanbul, Doha and Gaza, which complicates discussions on the group’s response. Turkey and Qatar are putting pressure on Hamas to make concessions.
One sticking point is the plan’s demand that Hamas disarm, a source close to the organisation said. The surrender of all weapons would be very difficult for Hamas to accept, especially without any political process or substantial progress towards a two-state solution.
Another concern for Hamas is the vague promise of Israeli withdrawals, though the clear statement that there will be no annexation or occupation of Gaza by Israel was welcomed by one source close to Hamas.
Hugh Lovatt, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said it would be very difficult for Hamas to accept the terms unconditionally. “That is understandable. The text lacks details. But then anything other than total and final acceptance will be used against Hamas by Israel, the Trump administration and possibly the Europeans,” he said.
You can read Jason’s full piece here:
Trump’s declaration that drug cartels in the Caribbean are unlawful combatants also comes amid a report that the US justice department is closing a task force that took on drug cartels and an office that aimed to ease racial tensions, in a reorganization that drops a plan to merge the nation’s top drug and gun law enforcement agencies, reports Reuters.
The most sweeping reorganization of the DOJ in two decades, which attorney general Pam Bondi approved in September, will cut about 275 positions, leading to the elimination of or involuntary re-assignment of about 140 employees.
“Reduction in force” letters to employees whose roles will be affected in the units that are to be closed were due to be sent out earlier this week, other government documents seen by Reuters showed.
The DOJ said the changes are designed to “promote efficiencies and effective governance,” according to the documents. The plan has drawn criticism from congressional Democrats and from former department employees, who say it could hurt critical work.
Donald Trump declares that US is in ‘non-international armed conflict’ with drug cartels operating in the Caribbean
Trump has declared drug cartels operating in the Caribbean are unlawful combatants and says the US is now in a “non-international armed conflict,” according to a Trump administration memo obtained by the Associated Press on Thursday.
A US official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly told the AP that Congress was notified about the designation by Pentagon officials on Wednesday.
The move comes after the US military last month carried out three deadly strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean. At least two of those operations were carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela.
Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed the use of AI-generated videos by Trump that mocked senator Chuck Schumer and representative Hakeem Jeffries. Speaking to reporters, Johnson said the Democrats were “overreacting to a joke” and argued that the focus should remain on ending the shutdown on Republican terms.
The videos, posted by Trump on his social media platform on Monday and have since played on a loop in the White House briefing room for hours on Wednesday, use fabricated audio to make it seem as if the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, called Democrats “woke pieces of shit”, and showed the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, with a fake mustache and sombrero.
JD Vance also made light of the videos, saying earlier: “I think it’s funny. The president’s joking and we’re having a good time. You can negotiate in good faith while also making a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions, and even poking some fun at the absurdity of themselves.”
Senate to vote again on Friday on reopening government, says majority leader John Thune
Senate majority leader John Thune says that the Senate will come back on Friday to vote once again on reopening the government, but adds that weekend votes to reopen the government are unlikely.
“If that fails, then we’ll give them the weekend to think about it. We’ll come back and we’ll go again on Monday,” the South Dakota Republican said.
Judge denies Kilmar Ábrego García’s bid for asylum in the US
An immigration judge in Baltimore has denied Kilmar Ábrego García’s bid for asylum, but he has 30 days to appeal.
Ábrego’s case has drawn national attention since the 30-year-old was wrongfully deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in March. The Salvadorian national has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for years, but he originally immigrated to the US illegally as a teenager. According to court documents, he was fleeing gang violence.
Following widespread pressure, the Trump administration returned him to the US in June. Upon his return, however, he immediately faced criminal charges related to human smuggling, allegations that his lawyers have rejected.
Ábrego was released from criminal custody in Tennessee on Friday while awaiting trial. But the Trump administration announced new plans to deport him to Uganda and then Eswatini.
Then Ábrego was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) during a scheduled immigration check-in in Baltimore, which was one of the conditions of his release.
Trump administration officials have waged a relentless public relations campaign against Ábrego, repeatedly referring to him as a member of the MS-13 gang, among other things, despite the fact that he has not been convicted of any crimes.
Here is my colleague Chris Stein’s report detailing the US government shutdown stretching into its second day and Donald Trump hailing the funding lapse as an “unprecedented opportunity” to further his campaign of firing federal workers and downsizing departments.
‘It’s going to get more and more painful,’ says Mike Johnson, as he claims Trump and Vought making cuts ‘reluctantly’
Speaking to reporters this morning, House speaker Mike Johnson has indicated that lawmakers are no closer to a deal on government funding and, standing at a podium emblazoned with the words, “The Democrat shutdown”, continued to lay blame for the shutdown squarely on the opposition.
He continued to insist that the Republicans had nothing to negotiate over because they’re pushing for a “clean” continuing resolution, which doesn’t include any new GOP provisions and would just maintain government funding at the current levels.
Johnson reiterated his point yesterday that Chuck Schumer had “handed the keys to the kingdom” to the executive. The White House said today that federal layoffs will probably be “in the thousands”. Johnson said:
The president takes no pleasure in this … When Congress turns off the funding and the funding runs out, it is up to the commander in chief, the president of the United States, to determine how these resources will be spent … He doesn’t want to do it.
Johnson also claimed the White House’s budget director, Russell Vought, is making cuts to the federal government “reluctantly”. (A reminder that Trump said earlier this morning that he couldn’t believe the Democrats had given him ‘this unprecedented opportunity’ to – with Vought – cut ‘many Democrat agencies’ perhaps permanently). Back to Johnson, who said:
Russ does this reluctantly … He takes no pleasure in this, because he has to sit down and decide, because he’s in charge of that office, which policies, personnel, and which programs are essential and which are not. That’s not a fun task and he’s not enjoying that responsibility.
He added this warning regarding the longer the government stays shut down:
It’s going to get more and more painful. Because the resources run out and more and more things have to be reduced and eliminated.
‘A tactic to punish’: Trump revives family separations amid drive to deport millions
Maanvi Singh
The Trump administration has revived the practice of separating families in order to coerce immigrants and asylum seekers to leave the US, attorneys and former immigration officials allege.
In several cases, officials have retaliated against immigrants who challenged deportation orders by forcibly separating them from their children, a Guardian investigation found. The officials misclassified the children as “unaccompanied minors” before placing them in government-run shelters or foster care.
The new practice has taken effect as the administration has also issued stringent new limits on who can take custody of unaccompanied minors – which advocates say keep thousands of children away from their relatives.
“This is a tactic to punish people for not acquiescing,” said Faisal Al-Juburi, head of external affairs at the legal aid group Raíces.
It’s a tactic to get immigrants to relent, to agree to self-deport.
The recent separations echo the “zero tolerance” policy of the first Trump administration, when the US systematically separated more than 5,600 children from their parents and caregivers at the US-Mexico border. Images of agents pulling children from their parents’ arms and placing them in overcrowded metal cages sparked domestic and international outrage, and Donald Trump ended the policy.
But seven years later, hundreds of parents have still been unable to reunify with their children; the administration lost track of many of the families it tore apart. Though the new separations so far appear less pervasive than the original policy, experts and attorneys said that it could result in another crisis of prolonged, permanent separations.
“I would say that the main difference is just that the separations are now happening all over the country, as opposed to at the border, concentrated in areas where you could visibly go see it,” said Michelle Brané, a former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official who served under the Biden administration. “But the rest of it is not that different. The objective is still to be cruel and send a message that people should not come to the US – that they should leave.”
You can read Maanvi’s full, harrowing piece here:
White House asks universities to commit to Trump’s priorities in exchange for preferential access to funding
The White House has asked nine top universities to sign a 10-point agreement, aligning with the administration’s priorities, to gain preferential access to federal funds, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Key measures outlined in the memo, dubbed the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”, include commitments to make create a “more welcoming environment for conservatives” on campus, cap international enrollment, accept the government’s definition of gender and apply it to campus bathrooms, locker rooms and women’s sports teams, and to end “the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions”.
Signing on would give universities priority access to some federal grants, but government money would not be limited solely to those schools, a White House official told the Associated Press. Colleges that agree would also have priority access to White House events and discussions with officials.
The 10-page proposed agreement was sent yesterday to some of the country’s most selective public and private universities: Vanderbilt, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia. It was not clear how these schools were selected or why, and whether similar offers might go out to other colleges.
The administration has used its control of federal funding as leverage at several other colleges, cutting off research money at schools including Harvard and Columbia as it has sought changes to the schools’ governance and policies.
Russell Vought, who also headed the office of management and budget during Trump’s first term, has worked alongside the “department of government efficiency” to dramatically slash through federal agencies and purge employees since Trump took office again in January.
A key architect of Project 2025, the controversial conservative manifesto to guide a second Trump term, has a Christian nationalist world view and a deep distaste for civil servants, seeking to reshape the federal government in line with his ideological vision – to dismantle the federal workforce, appoint Trump loyalists who will not block his agenda, and consolidate power for the president.
You can read more about him here:
