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6:20 PM ET, October 1, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
Federal Workers Are Being Told to Blame Democrats for the Shutdown  —  Workers at one agency were given unhinged, partisan language to use when setting out-of-office replies.  —  At 9:35am on Wednesday, the first morning of the US government shutdown, employees at the Small Business Administration …
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Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:
Trump Admin Tells Furloughed Workers To Set OOO Message Blaming Democrats For Shutdown  —  One health department employee said the directions seemed to be “coercing” subordinates into political activity.  —  After the government shutdown began Wednesday morning, furloughed employees …
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Vought: Mass firings will begin ‘in a day or two’  —  OMB chief Russ Vought told House Republicans on a private call Wednesday that the administration will start mass reduction in force moves, or firings, of federal workers “in a day or two,” according to four people granted anonymity to describe the call.
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Vance says he'll talk Obamacare premiums with Schumer — but only with government open … The federal government shut down in the early morning Wednesday, raising the specter of furloughs for up to 750,000 federal employees, per the Congressional Budget Office.
Robert Jimison / New York Times:
These Democrats Voted With Republicans Against a Shutdown  —  Two Democratic senators and one independent who caucuses with them crossed party lines to support the G.O.P. plan to keep government funding flowing.  —  The government shutdown that began on Wednesday reflected …
New York Times:
Government Shutdown: Democrats Did the Smart Thing
Punchbowl News:
10/1/25 ☀️ AM: … The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. this morning.
Matt Margolis / PJ Media:
Yes, Democrats Shut Down the Government to Give Illegals Free Healthcare
Associated Press:
Looming health insurance spikes for millions are at the heart of the government shutdown
Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
The Silence of the Generals  —  Well, here we go: The federal government has shut down.  Senate Democrats have vowed to oppose any spending measure that doesn't restore some of the health care cuts of this summer's One Big Beautiful Bill Act; meanwhile, Republicans are refusing to negotiate point blank …
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Eliot A. Cohen / The Atlantic:
Pete Hegseth Is Living the Dream  —  A man who retired as a major lectures hundreds of generals about the need to meet his standards.  —  In the end, it was mostly blither.  When Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth announced a gathering of some 800 generals and admirals (with their senior enlisted advisers), rumors ran wild.
Jonathan Cohn / The Bulwark:
The Republican Shutdown Argument is a Giant Lie  —  Hey, guys.  Earlier today, my colleague Mona Charen and I talked about President Trump's speech before the generals and admirals, as well as the politics of the government-shutdown fight.  Check it out here.
The Atlantic:
Hundreds of Generals Try to Keep a Straight Face
Cathy Young / The UnPopulist:   Hegseth's Hatred of Americans Makes Him Unfit for Office but a Perfect Fit for Trump
George Chidi / The Guardian:
Veterans react to Hegseth's ‘insulting’ address to generals and admirals
Discussion: MSNBC and MeidasTouch News
Aaron Pellish / Politico:
Trump targets states that voted for Harris in shutdown fight … New York-area lawmakers reacted with fury to the infrastructure cuts earlier Wednesday.  —  “Political revenge.  Clearly outlined by Trump, time and again.  He sees the U.S. as Blue and Red, and Blue states are enemies,” …
Discussion: Quartz
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Politico:
Trump to withhold billions of dollars from Gateway tunnel and Second Ave. subway projects
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Rachel Wolf / Fox News:
Patel cuts ties Comey's FBI made with ADL as organization faces backlash for TPUSA criticism  —  'That era is finished.  This FBI formally rejects Comey's policies and any partnership with the ADL,' Patel said  —  EXCLUSIVE - FBI Director Kash Patel is cutting ties with the Anti-Defamation League …
Slate:
There's a New Lawsuit Against “Kavanaugh Stops.”  It's Absolutely Devastating.  —  Gregory Bovino, the officer in charge of roving immigration enforcement in American cities, admitted this week that his agents arrest people based on “how they look.”  Asked by a WBEZ reporter to elaborate …
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Rage at Zohran Just Backfired in a Surprisingly Revealing Way  —  The Democrats who are capturing media and public attention right now all share something in common.  They are openly and urgently leveling with the American people about a singular basic reality: President Trump …
Discussion: Raw Story
President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Assuring the Security of the State of Qatar  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in recognition of the enduring alliance between the United States and the State of Qatar, it is hereby ordered:  —  Section 1.  Policy.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
White House fires much of the National Council on the Humanities  —  The White House appeared to fire all but four members of the National Council on the Humanities, an advisory board to the head of the government's grantmaking agency.  —  The White House on Wednesday abruptly terminated …
Discussion: New York Times
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
OpenAI's Sora 2 Copyright Infringement Machine Features Nazi SpongeBobs and Criminal Pikachus  —  Within moments of opening OpenAI's new AI slop app Sora, I am watching Pikachu steal Poké Balls from a CVS.  Then I am watching SpongeBob-as-Hitler give a speech about the “scourge of fish ruining Bikini Bottom.”
Discussion: Yahoo News, Gizmodo, Reuters and Breitbart
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Trump administration cancels nearly $8 billion in climate funding to blue states: Vought … The Trump administration has canceled nearly $8 billion in funding for climate-related projects in primarily Democratic-controlled states, a top administration official said on Wednesday.
Maya Goldman / Axios:
Some telehealth and home care frozen by shutdown  —  The government shutdown left some seniors without access to telehealth, while others receiving hospital-level care at home are being discharged or sent back to inpatient units. … - Most other Medicare and Medicaid services will continue …
Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:
U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz isn't part of Trump's Cabinet, sources say  —  The post of United Nations ambassador isn't a Cabinet position, according to sources familiar with the matter, as President Trump signals the decreased importance of the U.N. to his administration.
Matthew Xiao / The Washington Free Beacon:
Democratic Virginia AG Nominee Convicted in 2022 After Driving 116 MPH at Midnight, Court Records Reveal  —  Jay Jones, who completed 1,000 hours of community service in lieu of jail time, is set to challenge Republican incumbent Jason Miyares on the ballot next month
Kori Schake / Foreign Policy:
Trump's Speech to Generals Was Incitement to Violence Against Americans  —  Military leaders' quiet professionalism offers hope amid a maelstrom.  —  Yesterday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth behaved reprehensibly.
Discussion: Los Angeles Times
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
MAGA can't expand its base — and Christian music tells us why  —  The songs from Charlie Kirk's memorial exposed a serious problem  —  Donald Trump's authoritarian aspirations face one major obstacle: He is not very popular.  As counterintuitive as it may seem, political science shows …
Discussion: Raw Story and Dissent Magazine
ProPublica:
Trading on Tom Homan: Inside the Push to Cash in on the Trump Administration's Deportation Campaign  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  The first time a Pennsylvania consultant …
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Experts now rate the U.S. as a “mixed” or “illiberal” democracy  —  The U.S. has never been a full democracy.  By this I mean mainly that for most of our country's history, full voting and civil rights have been reserved for only a subset of the American people: only in 1920 did women gain the right to vote …
Discussion: Bright Line Watch
Laura Esposito / The Daily Beast:
Construction on Trump's Ballroom Continues Amid Government Shutdown  —  PRIORITIES  —  Critics think the multimillion dollar White House renovation is a little out of touch.  —  Nothing will stop President Donald Trump's construction of a lavish new White House ballroom—not even a U.S. government shutdown.
Discussion: Vanity Fair and NewsMax.com
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
E.J. Antoni's failed nomination makes the White House look even more incompetent  —  It's not often that Senate Republicans muster the courage to tell Donald Trump and his team, “Whoa, hold on, we can't go that far.”  —  As a rule, the process surrounding Donald Trump's nominees is relatively efficient.
Zi-Ann Lum / Politico:
Whitmer warns Trump's tariffs risk handing China an edge … The Michigan governor used the speech hosted by the Empire Club of Canada to praise the U.S.-Canada relationship, entire American and Canadian communities bound by an integrated auto industry and anchored by tens of billions in cross-border investments.
Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Supreme Court lets Lisa Cook remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now  —  The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now, declining to act on the Trump administration's effort to immediately remove her from the central bank.
Ruth Reader / Politico:
Trump officials move to kill plan for industry-led regulation of AI … AI is transforming care.  Hospitals are adopting high-tech systems to improve diagnoses and recommend treatments, but there's little formal regulation.  The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees some of the tools …
Discussion: Deseret News and The Hill
 
 
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 More Items: 
Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:
Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt retakes prime West Wing office space
Tyler Jett / Des Moines Register:
Des Moines superintendent did not receive the doctoral degree he frequently claimed
Anna Merlan / Mother Jones:
Not Just “Medbeds”: How Truth Social's Bogus Medical Claims Fool Elderly Trump Fans
 Earlier Items: 
Emily Brooks / The Hill:
Johnson: Shutdown ‘ultimately could be a benefit’ if Trump administration eliminates programs
Discussion: NewsMax.com and Fox Business
Jesse Valentine / American Journal News:
Tumblr linked to Republican John Reid engaged with Nazi porn accounts
Discussion: Blue Virginia
Tressie McMillan Cottom / New York Times:
This Is Not Free Speech  —  I learned that Charlie Kirk was dead by seeing a video of his assassination on social media.
Patrick Svitek / Washington Post:
Madison Cawthorn, ousted from House in 2022, tries comeback in Florida
Washington Post:
Pentagon plans widespread random polygraphs, NDAs to stanch leaks
Discussion: Raw Story and NewsMax.com
Paul Krugman:
Bulging Biceps Don't Win Modern Wars
Greg Ryan / Bloomberg:
Boston Mayor's Blowout Victory Jolts CEOs Seeking New Direction
Josh Moody / Inside Higher Ed:
Spending Soars, Rankings Fall at New College of Florida
Discussion: Oregonian
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, set to close after WBD splits into two companies in Q3 2026

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
The Chicago Tribune sues Perplexity for copyright infringement, alleging Perplexity's platforms lift Tribune content verbatim and divert traffic from the paper

David Pierce / The Verge:
Yahoo launches Game Breakdowns in beta, offering AI-generated game summaries, stats, and play recaps, all updated live, to Yahoo Fantasy Plus subscribers

 
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