Senate Dems emboldened by weekend rallies block GOP plan to end shutdown for 11th time
Senate Democrats, fresh off a weekend of anti-Trump rallies, again blocked the Republicans’ plan to reopen the government for an 11th time as the shutdown nears its fourth week. Senate Republicans had hoped their colleagues across the aisle would have a change of heart after the “No Kings” rallies across the country, but like many times before, Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., largely voted to block the funding bill. Neither side has changed its position as the shutdown has continued to drag on. ‘GOOFBALLS’ AND HOSTAGES: GOP SENATORS SAY SCHUMER’S SHUTDOWN TACTICS DESTROYING THE SENATE Senate Democrats want an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies, which were enhanced when Senate Democrats controlled the upper chamber under President Joe Biden and are set to expire by the end of this year. Schumer accused congressional Republicans of being unwilling to solve the problem, despite overtures from Senate Republicans that they’d be open to have a vote on the matter. “What kind of country do we live in? What kind of party is this Republican Party that is unwilling to solve this problem, which is staring Americans in the face, frightening Americans from one end of the country to the other,” Schumer said. “And yet Republicans, what are they doing about it? Nothing. They’re on vacation. It’s unacceptable and morally repugnant.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., contended over the weekend at the “No Kings” rally in Washington, D.C., that when Democrats were in charge, the government never shut down. “The government is shut down and shutdowns are painful,” he said. “They hurt people. And frankly, that’s why there was not a single government shutdown when Joe Biden was president and Democrats were in charge of Congress. Because we acted like adults, we negotiated with Republicans. We found common ground. We kept the government open.” SENATE DEMOCRATS BLOCK GOP PLAN FOR 10TH TIME, ENSURING SHUTDOWN LASTS INTO NEXT WEEK But Senate Republicans have remained adamant that they won’t negotiate while the government is shut down. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., extended an olive branch to Senate Democrats and offered a vote on the expiring subsidies, but so far, Senate Democrats have not agreed. Republicans are also trying to fund the government through other means. Thune tried and failed to advance the annual defense appropriations bill through a procedural hurdle last week, which Senate Democrats blocked. Republicans are also trying to finish work on a trio of funding bills passed in August, but Senate Democrats are blocking that, too. “Any idea that this is about Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits is going by the wayside when they continue to keep the government shut down and don’t allow us time to actually work on the issue,” Thune said. “I don’t think they want a solution. I think they want a political issue.” Another issue is that even if lawmakers were to pass the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) on Tuesday, Congress would only have one month to finish work on spending bills to fund the government. When asked if the it was time to think about the House coming back to extend the deadline, Thune said, “For sure.” “I mean, every day that passes, we have less time to fund the government,” he said. Meanwhile, lawmakers will get the chance to pay certain federal workers and the military later in the week. SCHUMER’S SHUTDOWN SCHEME EXPLAINED: DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON OBAMACARE CREDITS AS STANDOFF DRAGS ON Thune said that he planned to tee up legislation from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and several other Senate Republicans that would pay military service members and certain “excepted” federal workers who are still working despite the ongoing shutdown. That bill could be ready for a vote by Thursday at the latest. When asked if he worried that Senate Democrats would continue to take hostages during the shutdown fight, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said, “Hopefully not.” “Because at whatever point the Schumer shutdown ends is because the Democrats are finally tired of it, or they hear enough from their constituents,” he said. “Hopefully enough people will tell them, ‘Hey, we don’t want that anymore. You keep government open. Do the job.’” But for now, there’s no real end in sight for the shutdown. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, contended that neither side would break the impasse given that there’s no “incentive” to do so. “What we’re seeing is different,” Murkowski said. “You’ve got both sides that are just really hard dug in, but everybody thinks they’re winning. Nobody is winning when everybody’s losing. And that’s what’s happening right now. The American public is losing.”
Trump admin agencies coordinating to expose Biden admin’s ‘prolific and dangerous’ weaponization of government
EXCLUSIVE: Trump administration agencies are working to expose the Biden administration’s “prolific and dangerous weaponization of government,” Fox News Digital has learned. The Interagency Weaponization Working Group (IWWG) is made up of officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA and more. Officials told Fox News Digital that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard initiated the Interagency Weaponization Working Group, which has been meeting biweekly since April to “share information, coordinate, and execute.” DOJ TASK FORCE FINDS NUMEROUS INSTANCES OF ANTI-CHRISTIAN GOVERNMENT BIAS UNDER BIDEN “The American people made a clear choice when they elected President Trump — to stop the Biden administration’s prolific and dangerous weaponization of government agencies against the American people and the Constitution,” Gabbard told Fox News Digital. “I stood up this working group to start the important work of interagency coordination under President Trump’s leadership to deliver accountability.” She added: “True accountability is the first step toward lasting change.” Officials told Fox News Digital the group was created to streamline information sharing across the government in support of the Trump executive order. “Joe Biden’s Department of Justice targeted President Trump and anyone close to him, prosecuted pro-life advocates, treated parents at school board meetings as domestic terrorists, and destroyed public trust in federal law enforcement,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News Digital. GABBARD FIRES ‘DEEP STATE’ HEADS OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL TO ROOT OUT ‘POLITICIZATION OF INTEL’ “Under President Trump, we are working every day alongside our partners to end weaponization and restore one tier of justice for all,” Bondi said. Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital that, “for years, Biden’s DOJ turned federal law enforcement into a political weapon.” FLASHBACK: HOUSE WEAPONIZATION PANEL RELEASES 17,000-PAGE REPORT EXPOSING ‘TWO-TIERED SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT’ “Going after President Trump, pro-life Americans, and parents at school boards while letting real criminals run wild,” Patel told Fox News Digital. “Under Preisdent Trump, we’ve ripped that agenda out by the roots.” Patel added: “We’re restoring equal justice under the law, one standard, one mission: Protect the American people.” Officials involved pointed Fox News Digital to President Trump’s executive order, which says interagency coordination is needed to “ensure accountability for the previous administration’s weaponization of the federal government against the American people.” GABBARD ESTABLISHES NEW INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TASK FORCE TO RESTORE TRANSPARENCY The executive order had directed Gabbard, in consultation with the heads of other appropriate departments and agencies within the intelligence community, to “take all appropriate action to review the activities of the intelligence community over the last four years and identify any instances” of the weaponization of government. Officials told Fox News Digital that the interagency group is “working to undo the Biden administration’s whole-of-government approach to abuse the powers of government against the American people.” “The weaponization of government against Americans did not happen in one agency, one time,” an official explained. “It happened repeatedly over the duration of the Biden administration.” FLASHBACK: FBI INTERVIEWED PRIEST, CHURCH CHOIR DIRECTOR AHEAD OF ANTI-CATHOLIC MEMO, HOUSE GOP FINDS “That’s why, in order to depoliticize and deweaponize the government, it is important to understand what agencies carried out, what roles, and why,” the official continued. “The IWWG is essential for coordinating across agencies.” But officials said the media has attempted to “negatively spin lawful oversight and accountability” by claiming it is a way for the Trump administration to weaponize the government against its political opponents. FLASHBACK: BIDEN CAMPAIGN, BLINKEN ORCHESTRATED INTEL LETTER TO DISCREDIT HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY, EX-CIA OFFICIAL SAYS “The irony is, accusing the Interagency Weaponization Working Group of targeting the president’s political opponents is classic projection and could not be further from the truth,” an official said. The official said that there is “no targeting of any individual person for retribution.” “IWWG is simply looking at available facts and evidence that may point to actions, reports, agencies, individuals, and more who illegally weaponized the government in order to carry out political attacks,” the official said. “The only people who fear accountability are the ones who never expected to face it,” the official continued. “Oversight is not the problem—abuse of power is.”
‘No Kings’ agitators recorded having children bash Trump piñata
Agitators at a “No Kings” demonstration in Chicago were filmed bashing a piñata resembling President Donald Trump Saturday. The protesters were gathered outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois. A man carrying the Trump piñata was repeatedly offering a stick to other protesters so they could hit it. The protesters were initially standoffish before a child took him up on the offer and began stabbing and hitting the Trump figurine, causing onlookers to cheer. Popular conservative accounts on X were quick to highlight the incident on social media. “Libs of TikTok” shared the video and said, “Democrats are having kids ‘stab’ a figure of Trump.” RYAN ROUTH TRIAL CONTINUES AFTER AGENT TESTIFIES SUSPECT AIMED RIFLE AT HIM ON TRUMP’S GOLF COURSE “They want us all dead,” the post continued. “They’re teaching their kids to kiII us.” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also condemned the incident. TONY HAWK, TAIWAN AND A FLASHLIGHT: TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT’S BIZARRE DEFENSE “This isn’t funny,” he wrote. “This is how assassination culture takes root.” “Democrats: please condemn this!” he added. The protest came just days after Secret Service agents discovered a hunting stand with a direct line of sight to Trump’s landing area at the Palm Beach International Airport in Florida last week. PROSECUTORS TO WRAP TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT CASE AS DEFENSE READIES WITNESSES While authorities have not connected the stand to a specific threat, White House officials say Trump resorted to an expedited boarding with heightened security when leaving Florida this weekend. Trump has survived two assassination attempts since announcing his candidacy for president in 2024, one in Bulter, Pennsylvania, in July 2024 and another in Palm Beach, Florida, in September of the same year. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The former shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by security at the scene. The former, Ryan Wesley Routh, was convicted on assassination-related charges in September.
Hillary Clinton leads brigade of left-wing mockery, bewilderment over Trump’s viral ‘No Kings’ protest video
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was among Democrats and Trump administration critics who took to social media this weekend to slam a satirical AI video President Donald Trump posted showing him dropping brown sludge on “No Kings” protesters. “He’s definitely not mad that 7 million Americans came out to protest him yesterday,” Clinton posted to X Sunday, accompanied by a screenshot of HuffPost’s report on Trump’s video mocking the protests against him. Millions of protesters took to the streets of cities nationwide Saturday as part of a massive “No Kings” protest denouncing Trump and his administration. The protesters argued Trump has conducted himself like a monarch as opposed to a president, taking issue with his administration’s actions on policies such as immigration and efforts to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the nation. Trump lampooned the protests in an AI-generated video Saturday showing him flying a military jet while wearing a crown before dumping brown sludge or sewage directly onto protesters, including liberal influencer Harry Sisson. The video played “Top Gun” theme song “Danger Zone” as the AI-generated Trump was seen dumping the sludge onto protesters. WATCH: ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTERS AT MASSIVE NYC RALLY REVEAL MOTIVATION FOR TAKING TO THE STREETS: ‘DISGUSTING’ The video set off condemnation, mockery and confusion among liberal critics. “That plane wouldn’t have made it off the ground with your fat–s in the pilot’s seat,” Sisson posted to X in response to the video. Followed by: “Can a reporter please ask Trump why he posted an AI video of himself dropping poop on me from a fighter jet? That would be great thanks.” Kenny Loggins, the singer behind the song “Danger Zone,” also posted a response demanding his music be removed from the video as it was not authorized. JOHN CUSACK TELLS TRUMP TO ‘GO TO HELL’ AT CHICAGO ‘NO KINGS’ PROTEST “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us,” Loggins said, according to a statement shared on his X account. “Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together. We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriotic. There is no ‘us and them’ – that’s not who we are, nor is it what we should be. It’s all of us. We’re in this together, and it is my hope that we can embrace music as a way of celebrating and uniting each and every one of us.” “BREAKING: DISGUSTING! Donald Trump posts AI video of himself flying a fighter jet and DUMPING POOP ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!” X account Occupy Democrats posted in a lengthy message Monday. “In the ultimate pronouncement that “subtlety is dead,” Donald Trump responded to the 7 million Americans who marched against him yesterday by posting an AI video of himself wearing a crown, flying a fighter jet and literally sh*tting on America.” “The person who posted this has access to the nuclear codes,” gun control activist David Hogg posted in response. “‘I’m gonna take a big dookie on the protestors! I’m gonna be king!’ Sure you are lil buddy, you’re 12,” Center for New Liberalism co-founder Jeremiah Johnson posted to X. “Trump posted an AI video of himself wearing a crown and dumping shit from a ‘King Trump’ jet on No Kings protesters. This is where we are as a country,” liberal X account Patriot Takes posted. JIMMY KIMMEL LIKENS ANTI-TRUMP ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS TO AMERICAN REVOLUTION Trump brushed off the protests Sunday as not representative of the general population, while slamming any characterization he leads as a “king.” “I’m not a king. I work my a– off to make our country great. That’s all it is. I’m not a king at all,” he told members of the media Sunday. When asked about liberals’ responses to the video, the White House directed Fox Digital to a photo of a woman crying during Trump’s 2017 inauguration that is frequently used in memes. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson also defended Trump’s video in comments to the media on Monday arguing the video was an effective satire. “The president uses social media to make the point,” Johnson said when asked about the video during a press conference. “You can argue he’s probably the most effective person who’s ever used social media for that he is. He is using satire to make a point.”
Trump’s impending San Francisco crackdown sparks backlash from Newsom, mayor
The White House is urging California Democrats to welcome the National Guard to “clean up” San Francisco, but Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., said the deployment will “ruin one of America’s greatest cities. “ President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that the National Guard is headed to San Francisco next. In a statement shared exclusively with Fox News Digital on Monday, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said San Francisco Democrats should “welcome the President in to clean up their city.” “America’s once great cities have descended into chaos and crime as a result of Democrat policies that put criminals first and law-abiding citizens last,” Jackson said Monday. “Making America Safe Again — especially crime-ridden cities — was a key campaign promise from the President that the American people elected him to fulfill.” Meanwhile, Mayor Daniel Lurie was also elected last November with a commitment to restoring public safety to San Francisco. NEWSOM SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT ORDER TO OREGON “Since January, I have said that public safety is my number one priority,” Lurie said during a public safety briefing Friday. “Over the last nine months, we have backed that up, rebuilding the ranks of our public safety agencies, strengthening coordination across departments and strategically deploying technology. It’s working, and this week proved it.” DEM GOVERNORS SUDDENLY CRACK DOWN ON CRIME AS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD THREATS LOOM But the White House urged California Democrats to recognize the progress made in Memphis, Tennessee, and in Washington, D.C., where fellow Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser has acknowledged the Trump administration’s success cleaning up the nation’s capital. “We’re going to go to San Francisco,” Trump said on Sunday. “The difference is, I think they want us in San Francisco. San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world, and then 15 years ago, it went wrong. It went woke.” Newsom was quick to fire back in a social media post Sunday, writing, “Fact check: Nobody wants you here. You will ruin one of America’s greatest cities.” During the safety briefing Friday, Lurie noted that, last week, more than 45,000 people descended upon San Francisco for Salesforce’s “Dreamforce 2025” conference, featuring hundreds of events about advancing technology and artificial intelligence. “45,000 visitors, and no reports of any major incidents. Once again, the eyes of the world were on San Francisco, and we delivered,” Lurie said, while applauding first responders and city workers who make San Francisco “shine.” “It happened because of our close partnership with the California Highway Patrol,” Lurie said. “We are working with the appropriate state and federal enforcement agencies every day to keep our city safe, and that coordination is delivering results for San Francisco.” Newsom criticized Trump in August for “militarizing American cities” after the president deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to fight crime in the nation’s capital. Trump has since deployed troops to Chicago, Memphis and Portland. The California governor, a frequent Trump critic who is considered a likely 2028 presidential candidate, deployed California Highway Patrol “crime-suppression teams” across the Golden State in August to prevent crime and promote public safety. “While the Trump administration undermines cities, California is partnering with them and delivering real results. With these new deployments, we’re doubling down on these partnerships to build on progress and keep driving crime down,” Newsom said in a statement in August, seemingly to deter another National Guard deployment to California. Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles this spring during protests rejecting deportations by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in line with another Trump mandate. In an Instagram post following the “No Kings” protests on Saturday, which erupted across the country in rejection of Trump’s sweeping, second-term agenda, Lurie thanked San Francisco law enforcement and protesters for maintaining peace. When reached for comment, Newsom’s and Lurie’s team pointed to their previous statements from their social media posts and the Friday press conference.
Battle for governor in closely watched election may be headed for a photo finish
With the November election just 15 days out, the Republican nominee in one of the nation’s only two races for governor this year is feeling confident. “The energy across the state is electric. The reception in minority communities has been great, and on being endorsed by prominent Democrats, that tells you all you need to know in terms of the people of New Jersey wanting change. And that’s what this election is all about. Change,” Jack Ciattarelli said this weekend in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” Ciattarelli, who’s making his third straight run for Garden State governor and who nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, has good reason to be optimistic he can pull off victory in blue-leaning New Jersey. In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration this decade, three public opinion polls released last week — from Fox News, Quinnipiac University and Fairleigh Dickinson University — indicated Ciattarelli narrowing the gap with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the race to succeed the term-limited Murphy. THE POLITICAL BOMB TRUMP EXPLODED IN THE NEW JERSEY SHOWDOWN FOR GOVERNOR The Fox News poll conducted Oct. 10 – 14, put Sherrill at 50% support among likely voters, with Ciattarelli at 45%. Sherrill’s 5-point advantage was down from an 8-point lead in Fox News’ September survey in New Jersey. New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally grab outsized attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections. CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING And this year, they’re being viewed, in part, as ballot-box referendums on President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and combustible second-term agenda. While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past 10 elections. And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by only six percentage points, a major improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier. Ciattarelli, interviewed by Fox News Digital last week in Bayonne, New Jersey, noted that he “made big gains” in his 2021 showing “in Hudson County and Passaic County,” two long-time Democratic Party strongholds. “And the President did very, very well in ’24 in those very same counties. And if you take a look at who’s been endorsing me, including some very prominent Democrats here in Hudson County, people want change,” Ciattarelli emphasized. But Ciattarelli is also aiming to energize Republican base voters in what’s likely to be a low-turnout election. Multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump will hold a tele-rally with Ciattarelli ahead of Election Day. Trump’s teaming up with Ciattarelli may help energize MAGA supporters, many of whom are low propensity voters who often skip casting ballots in non-presidential election years. And last week, Ciattarelli was joined at a jam-packed diner stop in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, by Vivek Ramaswamy, the MAGA rock star who is running for governor next year in his home state of Ohio. Ramaswamy, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who pushed an “America First 2.0” platform as he ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before ending his bid and becoming one of Trump’s top supporters and surrogates, told Fox News Digital that a Ciattarelli win this year would “set the table for even bigger and more decisive victories, hopefully in places like Ohio next year.” And this week another well-known Republican politician in MAGA world is headed to New Jersey. Fox News has learned the Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, a top House ally of the president who has Trump’s backing as he runs next year for Florida governor, will team up with Ciattarelli on Wednesday. ONLY ON FOX: RAMASWAMY SAYS GOP VICTORIES IN THE 2025 ELECTIONS WOULD ‘SET THE TABLE’ FOR BIGGER WINS IN 2026 Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, commenting on why Republicans feel bullish about the New Jersey showdown, raised concerns. “New Jersey is the best place, probably, for Donald Trump to actually stop the Democratic momentum — or at least minimize the Democratic momentum that we’ve seen throughout this year,” Martin said in a Politico interview. But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) forecasts a Sherrill victory in two weeks. “As numerous polls show her holding a strong lead and earning more than 50% of the vote, Mikie Sherrill is rising to meet the moment in this incredibly competitive race,” DGA spokesperson Izzi Levy told Fox News. “It’s clear that Mikie has the momentum, and that New Jersey voters are all-in to reject Ciattarelli for a third time this November.” Sherrill had plenty of company on the campaign trail this weekend from major Democratic Party surrogates, including two of the biggest names in the party — Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Wes Moore of Maryland. “From Maryland to New Jersey, we’re united with one goal – making sure every voice is heard at the ballot box,” Moore wrote on social media. “Proud to stand with @MikieSherrill and community members in Newark to get out the vote. Let’s finish strong this November!” And former President Barack Obama endorsed Sherrill and starred in a new ad for the party’s nominee. CIATTARELLI WELCOMES TRUMP’S HELP IN FINAL STRETCH IN BATTLE FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR While Trump isn’t on the ballot, he’s loomed large over the New Jersey gubernatorial election. At the second and final debate two weeks ago, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had “shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being that.” Asked whether he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was “part of a New Jersey movement.” HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS When asked to grade the president’s performance
Reporter’s Notebook: Government shutdown stalls as Democrats demand Obamacare subsidy extension
Government shutdowns can be pretty boring. Until a shutdown impacts you. There’s a missed paycheck. Flight delays. You can’t visit the Smithsonian. Questions about food and drug safety. You get the idea. But until you reach that tipping point, most Americans are ho-hum about government shutdowns and interpret the infighting between Democrats and Republicans as de rigueur on Capitol Hill. So they don’t pay much mind to them. However, Democrats engineered a scheme in advance of this fall’s government shutdown. They would transmogrify the shutdown into something Americans care about: healthcare. DEMOCRATS STRUGGLE FOR COHESIVE MESSAGING STRATEGY AMID SHUTDOWN STANDOFF Democrats know that healthcare consistently polls well with voters. Democrats have known for months that many people who receive their healthcare coverage via “Obamacare exchanges” would absorb a marked price spike with their premiums early next year. Moreover, notices informing people about the impending price increase would start to hit mailboxes in mid-October. So Democrats have pleaded with Republicans to subsidize Obamacare to defray looming price increases. Obamacare subsidies and the government shutdown aren’t directly connected. But Democrats believed they could link the two. And then, after people snored off to sleep about the government shutdown on Oct. 1, they were rudely awakened by a notice in the mail that their healthcare premiums were about to jump. Say what you will about the tactics, but it was a shrewd strategy by Democrats to seize on an issue important to their base. Moreover, it gave the party the opportunity to show voters that it’s “fighting” against President Donald Trump. That’s something which didn’t happen in the March funding round. In fact, the Democrats’ lack of fighting is what set a match to an internecine fight among Democrats about how to combat the president. The public and the government are absorbing the flames of that internal conflagration now, but Democrats may have found a way to salve those wounds. “Fighting for healthcare is our defining issue,” said House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., in an exclusive sit-down interview with Fox News. “Shutdowns are terrible and there will be families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage times we have.” That’s why healthcare is the linchpin to the shutdown. But enter Republicans. They believe Democrats own the healthcare crisis. They passed Obamacare in the first place. It was a Democratic Congress under President Joe Biden that boosted the subsidy to defray the cost of Obamacare in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the touchstone of the Democrats’ legislative agenda. “It is the Democrats who created that subsidy who put the expiration date on it. They did it all on their own,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Some Republicans have even reverted to their 2010 mantra to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. That said, Johnson tried to beat back those calls from conservatives. DEMOCRATS ROLL OUT NEW CAMPAIGN ADS TARGETING REPUBLICANS OVER ONGOING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN “There’s no way to repeal and replace it because it’s too deeply ingrained right now. We have to improve it,” said Johnson. Such a declaration would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Here we have a Republican Speaker of the House arguing that Congress must sustain — even assist — Obamacare. “Obamacare has been a failure,” said Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., on Fox News. “We’ve been enduring this now for almost 15 years.” Stutzman benefited from the GOP’s plan to ditch Obamacare in 2010. It was an historic, 63-seat midterm election pickup for Republicans. Voters sent Stutzman to Washington for the first time in that midterm. The Indiana Republican added that he’s “not sure that subsidies are the answer in the long run.” “Every couple of years they need more and more subsidies to be able to prop [Obamacare] up because it’s not affordable,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., on Fox Business Network. Democrats are demanding Obamacare subsidies before they agree to a Republican plan to fund the government. “It is an inflection point in this budget process where we have tried to get the Republicans to meet with us and prioritize the American people,” said Clark. But Republicans believe the need to boost Obamacare reveals flaws in the law. “Isn’t that an indictment that there’s a problem with [Obamacare]?” I asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “The fact that it needs to be propped up in some form?” “No,” replied Jeffries. “The overwhelming majority of the American people, including in the Republican-run states, support an extension of the [Obamacare] tax credits.” Some Republicans reject extending the subsidies. DEMOCRATS BLAME GOP FOR OBAMACARE WOES TIED TO PANDEMIC-ERA SUBSIDIES “I’m not going to vote to extend these subsidies. They’re through the roof expensive,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. But other conservatives insist that Obamacare needs rescuing. “If you’re on [Obamacare] your premium is going to literally double. If you have your own private health insurance policy, your premium is going to go up and people already can’t afford their premiums,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. “People back at home are going, ‘Wait a minute, my premium is going to skyrocket.’” Greene is one of the most outspoken members of her party when it comes to concerns about the premium increases. In fact, she believes that Republicans allowed “Democrats to hold the moral high ground on it, because they’re talking about it.” Greene and Johnson spoke about her concerns several days ago. But Obamacare vexed the GOP for years. Former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and others led an effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. House Republicans voted dozens of times to wipe out Obamacare in 2011 and 2012. They couldn’t push such a package through the Senate, but it made for a powerful GOP talking point. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., got a little closer. Republicans had the Senate in 2016. So the House and Senate both voted for the first time to repeal and replace Obamacare, but President Barack Obama vetoed it. Republicans finally
House GOP announces $24M cash haul as government shutdown drags on
FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans’ campaign arm is announcing it brought in nearly $24 million in the months of July through September this year. More than half of that — roughly $13.95 million — came in September, as Republicans were readying for a political messaging war over federal funding. That fight is still ongoing now, more than halfway through October. The government has been shut down for 20 days as Republicans and Democrats are still in disagreement over federal spending. The National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) $13.95 million haul represents its best September in a non-election year and a 50% increase from the previous comparable September in 2023. THUNE SLAMS SCHUMER’S ‘KINGMAKER’ POLITICS, REFUSES TO ‘KISS THE RING’ IN SHUTDOWN TALKS The NRCC is ending the third quarter with nearly $46 million cash on hand and nearly $93 million raised in 2025 alone. In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, NRCC Chair Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., pointed out that House Republicans already voted to keep the federal government funded last month and touted the GOP base propelling his group ahead of the 2026 elections. “House Republicans are firing on all cylinders. Our majority funded the federal government, and we’re delivering for working families and building unstoppable momentum heading into 2026,” Hudson said. “With President Trump leading the charge and voters rallying behind our conservative agenda, we’re raising record-breaking resources to hold the House and grow our majority,” he said. Republicans are battling to keep the House in next year’s midterm elections, which have historically been unfavorable to the party in power. The GOP has held the House majority since 2023. But GOP leaders have expressed confidence in their agenda and in the White House, while arguing the Democratic Party is facing a lack of cohesion and disapproval of its policies by American voters. The NRCC outpaced its counterpart, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in the previous quarter of 2025, raising $32.3 million compared to the DCCC’s $29.1 million. SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES The DCCC ended the year with more cash on hand, however, with $39.7 million compared to the NRCC’s $37.6 million. Both groups and their allies have spent much of October battling over the government shutdown in the court of public opinion. Republicans are accusing Democrats of holding the federal government hostage by refusing to vote for their funding bill unless partisan healthcare demands are met. Democrats, meanwhile, have argued that Republicans are risking the healthcare costs of millions of Americans by not including an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire this year without congressional action. The House passed a seven-week federal funding bill largely along party lines on Sept. 19. It has been stalled in the Senate, however, where at least several Democrats are needed to hit the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to break the filibuster.
Trump returns to DC as dim outlook lingers, no end in sight for shutdown
With the federal government still closed, President Donald Trump begins the week back from Florida at the center of a political stalemate that shows no signs of easing. The standoff, now dragging into its third week, comes as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans remain at odds with Democrats over healthcare subsidies. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN 101: WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE, HERE’S WHAT HAPPENS NEXT Trump has placed the blame squarely on Democrats for the shutdown that has triggered thousands of federal layoffs, frozen billions in infrastructure funding and rippled through local economies nationwide. “The Democrats are kamikazes right now. They’re kamikaze pilots right now. They have nothing going. They have no future,” Trump said during an exclusive interview on “Sunday Morning Futures.“ ‘THAT ENDS NOW:’ WHITE HOUSE VOWS REMOVAL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM TAXPAYER BENEFITS Democrats say failure to act before November’s open enrollment could saddle millions of Americans with higher premiums. The White House argues that the Democrats’ plan includes billions for Medicaid coverage for undocumented immigrants, which Trump claims would put Americans’ healthcare at risk. Though once uncommon, government shutdowns have grown more frequent in recent decades as political brinkmanship has become a hallmark of budget negotiations. Since 1976, the U.S. government has experienced 20 shutdowns. The most recent one, the longest in U.S. history, occurred when a dispute over funding Trump’s border wall halted government operations for 34 days, spanning from December 2018 into January 2019. Senators on Thursday failed for the tenth time to break the impasse, leaving the government shutdown unresolved. Meanwhile, the House has been adjourned since Sept. 19 and is not expected to reconvene until the shutdown ends.
Through the lens: Bernie Sanders, costumed demonstrators rally against Trump at No Kings Day protest
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Bill Nye joins protesters, many in costumes, in Washington, D.C., for the No Kings 2.0 Rally to protest the Trump administration.