NationalWatch

EXCLUSIVE: Much has changed in the political landscape since former Rep. Dave Brat’s upset win over then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., though conservatives have repeatedly managed to gain ground over time.

Democrats have been lambasted as of late for heated political rhetoric that has led – whether directly or indirectly – to death threats and attacks on Republicans and conservatives.

Brat, now vice provost at Liberty University in Lynchburg, noted he was speaking for himself and discussed how the politics of “rage” made their way to Virginia in recent weeks.

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The Virginia State Capitol, center, is shown, as revelers celebrate Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s inauguration. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Recordings of former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor, telling crowds to “let your rage fuel you” have made the rounds amid already heightened political tensions following assassination attempts on President Donald Trump, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the murder of Charlie Kirk.

“I was on a radio show earlier this morning and Spanberger — all political views are my own again — gave out the secret sauce on the left: Let your rage out, right. That’s her new line,” Brat said, citing those remarks.

Spanberger dismissed any contention that she is encouraging violence, telling Fox News Digital through a spokesperson that she will “continue to condemn comments that continue to make light of or justify violence of any kind – full stop.”

Brat was unconvinced, adding that he has looked into “psychological underpinnings” of political movements including the nascent transgender rights issues that have been front-and-center in Virginia schools and public spaces.

“We (Republicans) believe in protecting the rights of all people. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness for everybody. We’re the ones where the Judeo-Christian West is the tradition. They gave you human rights in the 12th century all the way up through protections in our Constitution. So that’s now what’s at stake.”

WATCH: LAWMAKERS WRESTLE WITH HOW TO APPROACH HATEFUL POLITICAL RHETORIC IN WAKE OF KIRK ASSASSINATION

Rep. Dave Brat R-VA is seen at the White House while in office in Washington. (Reuters)

Within the last week, multiple reports of death threats against Virginia lawmakers came to light.

Del. Geary Higgins, R-Lovettsville, told Fox News Digital a man allegedly threatened to shoot him at his next rally in response to a defense of GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears after she was faced with racist signage at a protest.

Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, faced a similar threat – telling Fox News Digital a man allegedly threatened to kill her while claiming Republicans are ruining the country.

Some on the left have harnessed such “rage” politics in their latest attempt to paint the Judeo-Christian right as the “judgmental, bad people” as they have in past elections, Brat said.

“When minority [groups] get to act like they’re the majority and put these crazy sexual stuff in kindergarten textbooks. That’s we’re against. And then when the trans folks are out with quotes saying ‘When we come alive and find out who we are, the emotions come out full force. And it ends up, you know, letting us, in a sense of rage’ — and this is in quotes out on the web all over the place, a bunch of other emotions as well,” Brat said.

EXPERTS WARN LEFTIST CELEBRATIONS OF CHARLIE KIRK’S DEATH SIGNAL A DANGEROUS MAINSTREAM SHIFT IN POLITICS

“And so, for the left to be using these folks as a political tool, for me, it’s just obscene.”

The right, he said, is the actual political wing that created the “protection of minority rights.”

Similar public derision by conservatives is not new, and is something he had to deal with during his own time in office, Brat contended, when asked what has changed in the decade-plus since.

“What else has changed: There’s been a MAGA revolution,” he said – adding it was much different even on the right when he was in office and conservatives were out of vogue.

WHO IS VIRGINIA’S NEXT GLENN YOUNGKIN: HOW THE GOP WINS STATEWIDE AGAIN

Brat spoke about the friction he and the new crop of conservatives had with the proverbial “old guard” during their time, remarking that now-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard – then a Hawaii Democrat – was one of few to even acknowledge them.

“We were backbenchers. Tulsi Gabbard would come back and hang out with us because we were fun,” he quipped.

Brat also clashed with top Republicans including anti-Trump then-Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., the leader of the House Ethics Committee.

Dent later denied Brat’s claim he wanted to kick the Freedom Caucus out of the GOP conference for not toeing the line.

The Freedom Caucus, which included Brat, also played a pivotal role in ousting then-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio – a role for which the man Brat beat, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., was seen as heir apparent.

I’M A DEMOCRAT, AND CHARLIE KIRK’S MURDER MUST UNITE ALL AMERICANS AGAINST VIOLENCE

While the caucus remains, currently under the leadership of Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, the “MAGA Revolution” and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s split from the Silicon Valley establishment have greatly affected body politic, Brat said.

Those, he said, should be a boon to Earle-Sears and the Virginia GOP ticket.

“So nothing’s really changed, it’s the same ingredients.“

Brat said the one condition of U.S. politics that has changed since his own win or Youngkin’s win has been events like the murder of Charlie Kirk, which also connects to the theme of rage in politics.

Brat said that after 9/11, church attendance briefly rose and “nationalism kicked in” – but faded quickly.

Kirk’s murder and other recent threats against lawmakers are likely to stick longer in voters’ minds, Brat predicted. Kirk’s murder has also been linked by some to leftist “rage.”

Kirk combined faith with constitutional principles, Brat said, adding younger people are becoming educated in that way through people like the TPUSA leader.

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“Charlie was all about faith and reason together in the university — that’s what a university is supposed to do is unite faith and reason,” said Brat.

“If that comes to fruition right now, we could see some shockers in Virginia and New Jersey.”

The Supreme Court will launch its new term Monday with a focus on controversial prior rulings and a review of President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive agenda.

After a three-month recess, the nine justices met together for the first time this week to reset their docket, and discuss appeals that have piled up over the summer. The high court will resume oral arguments to confront issues like gender identity, election redistricting, and free speech.

But looming over the federal judiciary is the return of Trump-era legal battles. The administration has been winning most of the emergency appeals at the Supreme Court since January, that dealt only with whether challenged policies could go into effect temporarily, while the issues play out in the lower courts — including immigration, federal spending cuts, workforce reductions and transgender people in the military.

In doing so, the 6-3 conservative majority has reversed about two dozen preliminary nationwide injunctions imposed by lower federal courts, leading to frustration and confusion among many judges.

FEDERAL JUDGES ANONYMOUSLY CRITICIZE SUPREME COURT FOR OVERTURNING DECISIONS WITH EMERGENCY RULINGS

The nine Supreme Court justices pose for their official portrait inside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 7, 2022. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images )

Now those percolating petitions are starting to reach the Supreme Court for final review — and legal analysts say the bench may be poised to grant broad unilateral powers to the president.

The justices fast-tracked the administration’s appeal over tariffs on dozens of countries that were blocked by lower courts. Oral arguments will be held in November.

In December, the justices will decide whether to overturn a 90-year precedent dealing with the president’s ability to fire members of some federal regulatory agencies like the Federal Trade Commission. 

And in January, the power of President Trump to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors will be tested in a major constitutional showdown. For now, the Biden-appointed Cook will remain on the job.

“A big fraction of the Supreme Court’s docket will present the question: ‘can President Trump do?’— then fill in the blank. And that could be imposing tariffs; firing independent board members; removing illegal aliens; sending the military into cities like Los Angeles,” said Thomas Dupree, a prominent appellate attorney and constitutional law expert. “So, much of what the Supreme Court is deciding this term is whether the president has acted within or has exceeded his authority.” 

The tariffs dispute will be the court’s first major constitutional test on the merits over how broadly the conservative majority high court views Trump’s muscular view of presidential power, a template for almost certain future appeals of his executive agenda.

Presidential prerogative or power push?

In earlier disputes over temporary enforcement of those policies, the court’s left-leaning justices warned against the judiciary becoming a rubber stamp, ceding its power in favor of this president.

After a late August high court order granting the government the power to temporarily terminate nearly $800 million in already-approved health research grants, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said her conservative colleagues had “ben[t] over backward to accommodate” the Trump administration. “Right when the Judiciary should be hunkering down to do all it can to preserve the law’s constraints, the Court opts instead to make vindicating the rule of law and preventing manifestly injurious Government action as difficult as possible. This is Calvinball jurisprudence with a twist. Calvinball has only one rule: There are no fixed rules. We seem to have two: that one, and this Administration always wins.”

But some of Jackson’s colleagues have denied they are paving the way for Trump’s aggressive efforts to redo the federal government.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT WEIGHS TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER AS ADMIN OUTLINES ENFORCEMENT DETAILS

Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stands as she and members of the Supreme Court pose for a new group portrait following her addition, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022.  (J. Scott Applewhite, File/AP Photo)

“The framers recognized, in a way that I think is brilliant, that preserving liberty requires separating the power,” said Justice Brett Kavanaugh earlier this month at a Texas event. “No one person or group of people should have too much power in our system.”

And Justice Amy Coney Barrett told Fox News’ Bret Baier three weeks ago that she and her colleagues “don’t wear red and blue, we all wear black because judges are nonpartisan … We’re all trying to get it right. We’re not playing for a team.”

Barrett, who is promoting her new book, “Listening to the Law,” said her court takes a long-term view, and is not reflexively on Trump’s side.

“We’re not deciding cases just for today. And we’re not deciding cases based on the president, as in the current occupant of the office,” Barrett told Fox News. “I think the judiciary needs to stay in its lane … we’re taking each case and we’re looking at the question of presidential power as it comes. And the cases that we decide today are going to matter, four presidencies from now, six presidencies from now.”

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Justice Amy Coney Barrett speaks at the Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference in Chicago on Aug. 18, 2025. (Getty Images)

These sharp court fractures between competing ideologies will likely escalate, as the justices begin a more robust look at a president’s power, and by dint, their own.

Divisive decisions

“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Trump cryptically posted on social media a month after retaking office.

Federal courts have since been trying to navigate and articulate the limits of the executive branch, while managing their own powers.

Yet several federal judges — appointed by both Democratic and Republican presidents — have expressed concern that the Supreme Court has been regularly overturning rulings by lower courts dealing with challenges to Trump administration policies — mostly with little or no explanation in its decisions.

Those judges — who all requested anonymity to speak candidly — tell Fox News those orders blocking enforcement have left the impression they are not doing their jobs or are biased against the President.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TORPEDOES SCOTUS WITH EMERGENCY REQUESTS AND SEES SURPRISING SUCCESS

President Donald Trump speaks during a White House press conference on Supreme Court rulings in Washington, D.C. on June 27, 2025.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Those frustrations have spilled into open court.

“They’re leaving the circuit courts, the district courts out in limbo,” said federal appeals Judge James Wynn about the high court, during oral arguments this month over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to Social Security data.

“We’re out here flailing,” said Wynn, an Obama bench appointee. “I’m not criticizing the justices. They’re using a vehicle that’s there, but they are telling us nothing. They could easily just give us direction, and we would follow it.”

Courting controversy

The president may be winning short-term victories in a court where he has appointed a third of its members, but that has not stopped him or his associates from criticizing federal judges, even calling for their removal from office when preliminary rulings have gone against the administration.

“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump posted on social media, after a March court ruling temporarily halting the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members.

The target of the attack was DC-based Chief Judge James Boasberg, appointed to the bench by President Obama.

 Top Trump White House policy advisor Stephen Miller, in interviews, has warned against some unaccountable and “communist crazy judges” “trying to subvert the presidency.” 

TRUMP TURNS TO SUPREME COURT IN FIGHT TO OUST BIDEN-ERA CONSUMER SAFETY OFFICIALS

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

According to an analysis by Stanford University’s Adam Bonica, federal district judges ruled against the administration 94.3% of the time between May and June. 

But the Supreme Court has in turn reversed those injunctions more than 90% of the time, giving the president temporary authority to move ahead with his sweeping reform agenda.

As for the rhetoric, the high court has walked a delicate path, reluctant to criticize Trump directly, at least for now.

“The fact that some of our public leaders are lawyers advocating or making statements challenging the rule of law tells me that, fundamentally, our law schools are failing,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor at a recent Georgetown University Law Center event, without naming Trump by name. “Once we lose our common norms, we’ve lost the rule of law completely.”

Chief Justice John Roberts in March offered a rare public statement criticizing impeachment calls from the right.

But several federal judges who spoke to Fox News also wish Roberts would do more to assert his authority and to temper what one judge called “disturbing” rhetoric.

The U.S. Marshals Service — responsible for court security — reports more than 500 threats against federal judges since last October, more than in previous years. Law enforcement sources say that includes Boasberg, who, along with his family, has received physical threats and intimidating social media posts.

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Charlie Kirk was a conservative activist who led Turning Point USA. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

“I think it is a sign of a culture that has, where political discourse has soured beyond control,” said Justice Barrett in recent days.

“The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity,” said Justice Jackson in May. “The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy, on our system of government.”

The administration in recent days asked Congress for $58 million more in security for executive branch officials and judges, following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who led Turning Point USA. 

Testy term awaits

A Fox News poll from this summer found 47% of voters approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing, a 9-point jump since last year when a record low 38% approved.

“Over the past decade, public confidence in our major institutions has declined,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps conduct the Fox News survey with Democrat Chris Anderson. “The Court’s rebound could reflect its attempts to steer a middle course on politically polarizing questions or indicate an uptick in positive attitudes toward our more venerable institutions.”

Still, by more than 2-to-1, more voters think the court is too conservative (43%) than too liberal in its decisions (18%, a low), while 36% think the court’s rulings are about right. That continues a seven-year trend.

FEDERAL JUDGES ANONYMOUSLY CRITICIZE SUPREME COURT FOR OVERTURNING DECISIONS WITH EMERGENCY RULINGS

The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on June 20, 2024. ( Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The public’s views of the court’s ability to steer clear of politics will be tested this term.

Besides the two Trump-related appeals, the justices are already scheduled to decide:

• At least two appeals involving LGBTQ+ rights: which public school sports teams transgender students can join; and state laws banning so-called “conversion therapy” for minors who may have gender identity or sexual orientation issues.
• Two election-related disputes involving partisan gerrymandering and federal campaign spending coordination that each could have major impacts on the 2026 midterms and beyond.

Precedent on a precipice

But court watchers are pointing to several hot-button pending appeals where “stare decisis” or respect for established landmark court rulings will be tested:  same-sex marriage and communal school prayer.   

The high court is expected to decide in coming weeks whether to put those petitions on its argument calendar, with possible rulings on the merits by June 2026.

But other cases are already awaiting a final ruling: the use of race in redistricting under the Voting Rights Act; and independent government boards.

“I think the likeliest candidates for being revisited are the ones that involve the power of the president to fire the heads of federal agencies,” said attorney Dupree. “This is an old precedent that’s been on the books really back since the New Deal, and it’s come into question in recent years. There’s been a long shadow hanging over these decisions, and I think the Supreme Court is poised to revisit those this term and in all likelihood overrule that.”

The court may have already set the stage, by using the emergency docket in recent weeks to allow Trump to temporarily fire members of several other independent federal agencies without cause. The court’s liberal wing complained that giving the president that power without explanation effectively unravels the 1935 precedent known as “Humphrey’s Executor.”

KAVANAUGH CITES 3 PRESIDENTS IN EXPLAINING SUPREME COURT’S BALLOONING EMERGENCY DOCKET

“Today’s order favors the president over our precedent,” said Justice Elena Kagan in a blistering dissent against Trump’s removal of Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board.

The court’s “impatience to get on with things — to now hand the President the most unitary, meaning also the most subservient, administration since Herbert Hoover (and maybe ever) — must reveal how that eventual decision will go” on the merits, added Kagan.

Sotomayor said recent overturned precedents were “really bad” for certain groups of people.

“And that’s what’s at risk, is in each time we change precedent, we are changing the contours of a right that people thought they had,” she said this month. “Once you take that away, think of how much more is at risk later. Not just in this situation.”

The conservative justices in recent years have not been shy about revisiting cases that had been settled for decades but now have been overturned: the nationwide right to abortion, affirmative action in education and the discretionary power of federal agencies.

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Other pending issues the justices may soon be forced to confront which could upset longstanding precedent include libel lawsuits from public officials, flag burning and Ten Commandments displays in public schools.

One justice who has been more willing than his benchmates to overrule precedents may be its most influential: Justice Clarence Thomas.

“I don’t think that any of these cases that have been decided are the gospel,” Thomas said last week at a Catholic University event. If it is “totally stupid, and that’s what they’ve decided, you don’t go along with it just because it’s decided” already.

A judge on Saturday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending underage migrants to adult detention centers once they turn 18. 

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras said the new policy violates an order he issued in 2021 that instructed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement not to send any migrant to an ICE detention center after they turn 18. 

Underage migrants aren’t held in ICE detention centers. They’re held in centers run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to ICE for comment. 

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U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras said the new policy violates an order he issued in 2021 that directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement not to send any migrant to an ICE detention center after they turn 18.  (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

The Trump administration is now offering teen migrants a $2,500 stipend to leave the United States voluntarily, according to several reports citing a letter sent Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement to shelters housing migrant children.

Several immigration rights groups had asked Contreras to intervene in the filing made just after midnight Saturday morning. 

Last month, another judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting certain Guatemalan minors to their home country after the government walked back claims that it intended to reunite the youths with their parents.

Judge Timothy Kelly, who issued the order, said the Trump administration could not show that any parents wanted their children back.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFERS TEEN MIGRANTS $2,500 TO LEAVE US VOLUNTARILY: REPORTS

Immigrants line up in the dining hall at a new U.S. government holding center for migrant children in Carrizo Springs, Texas, July 9, 2019.  (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

“That explanation crumbled like a house of cards about a week later,” Kelly wrote in his order. “There is no evidence before the Court that the parents of these children sought their return.”

Michelle Lapointe, a lawyer for the American Immigration Council, one of the organizations involved in the filing, told The Associated Press, “All of these are pieces of the same general policy to coerce immigrant youth into giving up their right to seek protection in the United States.” 

Migrant children in the U.S. are often released into foster care or to family members as long as they’re not considered a flight risk or a danger. 

A federal agent sits in a vehicle outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building Sept. 24, 2025, in Broadview, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

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Lawyers for some of the migrants said they heard that ICE was telling shelters that children turning 18 would be taken to ICE detention centers even if they already had plans to be released and that they could only be released on a case-by-case basis for “urgent humanitarian reasons” or “significant public benefit.”

Fox News’ Ashley Oliver and Michael Dorgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The federal judge who sentenced the defendant found guilty of attempting to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is being criticized by conservatives on social media for the length of the sentence and for concerns over Nicholas Roske, who goes by Sophie, identifying as transgender.

Judge Deborah Boardman, a Biden appointee, sentenced Roske to eight years in prison on Friday for attempting to assassinate Kavanaugh in June 2022, in the weeks before the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision.

The sentence is far lower than what the Department of Justice (DOJ) had sought. Prosecutors said Roske should face at least 30 years, while Roske’s defense team had asked for eight.

Boardman said during the sentencing hearing that while Roske’s actions were “reprehensible,” she also considered a string of mitigating factors, including that Roske “spontaneously confessed to and cooperated with police.”

BONDI PRAISES RYAN ROUTH VERDICT, SAYS ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT WAS AN ‘AFFRONT TO OUR VERY NATION ITSELF’

Federal Judge Deborah Boardman sentenced Nicholas Roske, who now goes by Sophie, to eight years in prison on Friday for attempting to murder Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (Fox News)

“Maryland U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman—a Biden appointee—is a national disgrace,” Mike Davis, a conservative lawyer and strategist and former Chief Counsel for Nominations to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, wrote on X on Friday. “She only sentenced to 8 years, instead of 30, someone who attempted to murder Justice Kavanaugh and his family in their home. Make no mistake: Today’s Democrats want conservatives killed.”

Another person wrote that Boardman “needs to be removed from the bench right the f— now,” then shared a screenshot of another post mentioning that Boardman asked if Roske would be sent to a women’s prison. 

FEDERAL JUDGE RELEASES WOMAN ACCUSED OF THREATENING TO KILL TRUMP

The person who attempted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in June 2022 was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday. (Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images)

Author M.A. Rothman called the sentence “pathetic.”

“A guy who showed up at a Supreme Court Justice’s house armed and ready to k*ll him just got a lighter sentence than some people get for tax crimes — and the judge turned it into a trans acceptance story,” he added. “This is beyond parody. The DOJ wanted 30 years. He got 8. And the media barely blinked.” 

Another person on X balked at Boardman considering the “fact that he now identifies as a woman into giving him a lower sentence.”

The DOJ plans to appeal the sentence, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday. 

People protest in front of the Supreme Court over the court’s Dobbs ruling in June 2022 in Washington, D.C.  (Allison Robbert/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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“The attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual,” she wrote on X. “@TheJusticeDept will be appealing the woefully insufficient sentence imposed by the district court, which does not reflect the horrific facts of this case.” 

Boardman was appointed as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Maryland in 2019, until she was nominated by former President Joe Biden to be a U.S. district judge. She was confirmed by the Senate in 2021. 

Fox News’ Ashley Oliver and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Republicans are winning the messaging war over the ongoing government shutdown and urged his conference to keep the heat on congressional Democrats during a private call with lawmakers on Saturday.

The call came on the fourth day of the shutdown, a day after Senate Democrats again rejected a GOP-led plan to keep federal agencies funded through Nov. 21.

During the call, Johnson and other House GOP leaders urged fellow Republicans to use this next week in their districts to tell constituents about what the ongoing shutdown means for them, Fox News Digital was told.

The House speaker expressed confidence that the shutdown would end quickly if Republicans “hold the line,” Fox News Digital was told, and praised the House GOP’s unity so far amid the fallout.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SPARKS GOP PLAN TO PENALIZE LAWMAKERS WITH NEW SALARY TAX

Republicans led by Speaker Mike Johnson and Democrats led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are trading blame over the current government shutdown. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo; J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Johnson also told Republicans toward the end of the call that the House would return only after Senate Democrats voted to reopen the government, a source said.

House and Senate GOP leaders have signaled that they will not budge from their current federal funding proposal, a short-term spending bill called a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep spending levels roughly flat for seven weeks.

That measure passed the House — largely along party lines — on Sept. 19. The House has since been out of session in a bid to put pressure on Senate Democrats to accept the plan.

It is also why Johnson opted on Friday to designate the next week as a district work period, canceling a previously planned legislative session from Tuesday through Friday.

Johnson told House Republicans on the Saturday call that it was the best way to prevent “Democrat disruptions,” Fox News Digital was told. 

No Republicans voiced disagreement with the plan, Fox News Digital was told, signaling the GOP’s unity on the issue.

He told reporters during a press conference Friday morning that the House may not return until Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats agreed with Republicans’ bill.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., turns to an aide during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 3, 2025.  (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

“We passed it, and it’s been rejected by the Senate,” Johnson told reporters during a news conference. “So the House will come back into session and do its work as soon as Chuck Schumer allows us to reopen the government. That’s plain and simple.”

Democrats, who were infuriated by being sidelined in the federal funding negotiations, have been pushing for an extension of Obamacare subsidies enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements would expire by the end of 2025 without congressional action.

Democrats have also introduced a counter-proposal for a CR that would keep the government funded through Oct. 31 while reversing the GOP’s cuts to Medicaid made in their “One Big, Beautiful Bill” (OBBB).

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN

The counter-proposal would have also restored federal funding to NPR and PBS that was cut by the Trump administration earlier this year.

Republicans have panned that plan as a non-starter full of partisan demands, while pointing out that Democrats have voted for a “clean” measure similar to the GOP proposal 13 times during former President Biden’s time in office.

On the Saturday call, House GOP leaders encouraged Republicans to emphasize that Democrats’ counter-proposal would restore funding for illegal immigrants receiving Medicaid dollars that was cut by the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill, Fox News Digital was told.

The government is in a partial shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)

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Democrats have accused Republicans of lying about that line of attack.

GOP leaders also emphasized on the call that military members are not paid during government shutdowns, urging Republicans to make that point in their districts, while also warning that federal flood insurance funding is also in danger of drying up.

Fox News Digital was also told that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said the next important date in the shutdown fight would be Oct. 15, the date of servicemembers’ next paycheck — which they could miss if the shutdown is ongoing.

Senate Democrats have now rejected the GOP’s funding plan four times since Sept. 19. The Senate is expected to next vote on the bill again on Monday.

The government shutdown costs taxpayers $400 million every day to pay federal employees who are not actively working, totaling $1.2 billion as of Friday, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data published by Sen. Joni Ernst’s, R-Iowa, office estimates. 

“Schumer’s Shutdown Shenanigans mean taxpayers will be on the hook for another $400 million today to pay 750,000 non-essential bureaucrats NOT to work,” Ernst said in comment to Fox News Digital Friday. 

“Democrats’ political stunt to fight for taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants has officially become a billion-dollar boondoggle,” she added. “Enough has to be enough for the radical left. We must reopen the government and get Washington back to work serving veterans, families, and hardworking Americans.” 

A law passed in 2019 requires furloughed employees receive backpay after a funding agreement is reached and a shutdown ends. The CBO found that the furloughed employees’ daily cost of compensation sits at about $400 million, or a total of $1.2 billion as of Friday. 

WHITE HOUSE SAYS FEDERAL LAYOFFS COULD HIT ‘THOUSANDS’ AHEAD OF TRUMP, VOUGHT MEETING

Sen. Joni Ernst’s office released Congressional Budget Office data showing the government shutdown is expected to cost taxpayers $400 million a day to pay furloughed federal employees.  (Reuters)

“Using information from the agencies’ contingency plans and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), CBO estimates that under a lapse in discretionary funding for fiscal year 2026 about 750,000 employees could be furloughed each day; the total daily cost of their compensation would be roughly $400 million,” a letter from the Congressional Budget Office to Ernst stated Tuesday. The data was released after the Iowa Republican requested CBO provide a data cost breakdown of the shutdown in September as the deadline clock ran out. 

The CBO data largely was based on statistics from a five-week partial shutdown that ran from Dec. 22, 2018, until Jan. 25, 2019, under the first Trump administration, the office noted in its letter to Ernst.

The letter added that the number of furloughed federal employees, which is currently estimated to sit at about 750,000 staffers, could vary by the day “because some agencies might furlough more employees the longer a shutdown persists and others might recall some initially furloughed employees.” 

The government shut down early Wednesday morning after Senate lawmakers failed to reach a budget agreement. House lawmakers had approved a short-term extension of fiscal year 2025 funding earlier in September that aimed to keep the government funded through Nov. 21. 

The Trump administration and Republicans have since pinned blame for the shutdown on Democrats, claiming they sought taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants. Democrats have denied they want to fund healthcare for illegal immigrants, and instead have blamed Republicans for the shutdown.

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office for comment on the CBO data and Ernst’s remarks but did not immediately receive a reply. 

White House spokesman Kush Desai slammed Democrats as “not serious people” when asked about the CBO data Friday morning. 

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN

“Democrats are burning $400 million a day to pay federal workers not to work because they want to spend $200 billion on free health care for illegal aliens,” Desai told Fox News Digital. “These are not serious people.” 

Trump repeatedly has said he did not want a shutdown to unfold, but noted Tuesday as the clock ran out that some “good” could come from it. 

The administration is expected to lay off federal employees across various agencies amid the shutdown, with President Donald Trump meeting Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought, center, to map out which departments and programs to target for cuts.  (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

“A lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” he told reporters. “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things. But they want open borders. They want men playing in women’s sports. They want transgender for everybody. They never stop. They don’t learn. We won an election in a landslide.” 

SOCIAL SECURITY, AIRPORTS, FOOD STAMPS: HOW ARE YOU AFFECTED DURING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN?

The administration is expected to lay off federal employees across various agencies amid the shutdown, with Trump meeting Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought Thursday to map out which departments and programs to target for cuts. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Oct. 2, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that “thousands” of employees will likely be laid off. 

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“Look, it’s likely going to be in the thousands,” Leavitt said. “It’s a very good question. 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.” 

The government shutdown underscored President Donald Trump‘s whirlwind work week after Senate lawmakers failed to reach a budget agreement in a stalemate that’s anticipated to spur “thousands” of federal layoffs. 

The shutdown took effect after the clock struck midnight Wednesday and has continued since. Trump championed earlier in the week that he did not want a shutdown to bring the government to a screeching halt, but remarked some “good” could come from it as he looks to further trim down the size of the government. 

“A lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” he said Tuesday. “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things. But they want open borders. They want men playing in women’s sports. They want transgender for everybody. They never stop. They don’t learn. We won an election in a landslide.” 

“Thousands” of federal employees are set to face layoffs, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, while Trump met with Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought Thursday to map out which agencies and programs could be targeted. 

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN

The government shutdown underscored President Donald Trump’s whirlwind work week.  (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

House lawmakers passed a short-term extension earlier in September of fiscal year 2025 funding, aimed at keeping the government open through Nov. 21. Senate lawmakers, however, could not reach an agreement on the budget ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline, sparking the shutdown. 

Democrats expressed frustration they were sidelined from spending negotiations, as well as the GOP bill excluding enhanced Obamacare subsidies from the Biden era that are set to lapse at the end of 2025. 

KAROLINE LEAVITT WARNS DEMOCRATS FACE ‘VERY REAL’ CONSEQUENCES IF SHUTDOWN STANDOFF DRAGS ON

The Trump administration and Republicans have since pinned blame for the shutdown on Democrats pushing to include taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants. Democrats have denied the claims and pinned blame on Republicans for the shutdown. 

It is unclear how long the shutdown will last as the Senate comes to stalemate on votes. 

President Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu outside the White House Sept. 29, 2025, as the pair works to achieve peace in Gaza.  (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump’s Hamas ultimatum 

Outside of Capitol Hill buzzing about the shutdown, Trump also gave Hamas terrorists until Sunday to reach a peace agreement as the war with Israel, which started Oct. 7, 2023, continues raging. Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday at the White House, where he announced a 20-point plan to end the Gaza war. 

Hamas is now left to agree to the plan or face the military wrath of Israel. 

TRUMP UNVEILS 20-POINT PLAN TO SECURE PEACE IN GAZA, INCLUDING GRANTING SOME HAMAS MEMBERS ‘AMNESTY’

“They will be given one last chance,” Trump said in a Friday Truth Social post. “THIS DEAL ALSO SPARES THE LIVES OF ALL REMAINING HAMAS FIGHTERS!”

“We will have PEACE in the Middle East one way or the other. The violence and bloodshed will stop,” Trump added. “RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, ALL OF THEM, INCLUDING THE BODIES OF THOSE THAT ARE DEAD, NOW! An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time.”

U.S. generals from around the world were summoned to convene with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.  (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press )

Hegseth, Trump meet with top military brass 

U.S. generals from around the world were summoned to convene with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Trump at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia Tuesday, when Trump celebrated “reawakening the warrior spirit” within the military. 

“We’re bringing back a focus on fitness, ability, character and strength,” Trump said Tuesday. “And that’s because the purpose of America’s military is not to protect anyone’s feelings. It’s to protect our republic.”

TRUMP DECLARES ‘REAWAKENING’ OF ‘WARRIOR SPIRIT,’ UNWAVERING SUPPORT FOR MILITARY: ‘I HAVE YOUR BACKS’

Trump criticized the military’s recent shift toward political correctness. 

“The apparatus of our country was not set up for merit,” Trump said. “It was set up for political correctness. And you can never be great if you’re going to do that.”

“We will not be politically correct when it comes to defending American freedom, and we will be a fighting and winning machine,” he continued. “We want to fight. We want to win, and we want to fight as little as possible.”

US in ‘non-international armed conflict’ with drug cartels

The Trump administration also sent a memo to Congress Thursday explaining the United States is now “in a non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, which administration officials have designated as “terrorist organizations.”

TRUMP ADMIN TELLS CONGRESS IT DETERMINED US ENGAGED IN FORMAL ‘ARMED CONFLICT’ WITH ‘TERRORIST’ DRUG CARTELS

“The President directed these actions consistent with his responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive to conduct foreign relations,” the memo stated.

The White House said the memo was filed following a Sept. 15 strike on “a Designated Terrorist Organization.” 

The memo follows Trump vowing to unleash the U.S. military on drug cartels amid a buildup in the Caribbean in August, and has signed off on a series of U.S. military strikes against alleged drug vessels from Venezuela to combat the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. 

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The most recent U.S. strike on an alleged drug trafficking vessel was carried out Friday off the coast of Venezuela.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind, Louis Casiano and Morgan Philips contributed to this report. 

Democratic gubernatorial nominee in New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill is once again declining to endorse her party’s nominee for mayor in neighboring New York City.

“I am not getting engaged in that race because I’m completely focused on New Jersey. I’m going to let the people of New York decide that race,” Sherill said at a gubernatorial candidate forum.

Sherrill’s answer comes as some Democrats continue to view Zohran Mamdani as politically toxic given President Donald Trump and Republicans aim to anchor the 33-year-old Democratic socialist mayoral nominee to vulnerable Democrats up for election this year or in next year’s midterms.

During Friday’s forum, which was hosted by PIX11 News, Sherrill said New Jersey voters weren’t asking her about the New York City mayoral race, which has grabbed plenty of national attention after Mamdani soundly defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other Democrats in June’s primary to win their party’s mayoral nomination.

GARDEN STATE BATTLE: DEMOCRAT AND REPUBLICAN NOMINEES TRADE FIRE OVER THIS KEY ISSUE

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey responds to questions during the first general election debate with Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli. Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Lawrenceville, N.J.  (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

“People in New Jersey are constantly talking to me about affordability,” she said. 

“They’re talking to me about their cost, about electricity, about housing prices, etc., about healthcare. They’re worried about the freezing of gateway tunnel funds,” Sherrill emphasized. 

Amid the government shutdown, the Trump administration announced this week that it was halting federal funding for the massive Gateway Tunnel project to build a new rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York City.

Asked a second time during the forum about the New York City race, Sherrill responded, “Again, I’m focused on the New Jersey race, and that’s a New York race. I’m not registered to vote there. So I’m focused here.”

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SPARKS BLAME GAME IN CRUCIAL RACE FOR GOVERNOR

While Sherrill’s comments at Friday’s forum reiterated past statements about Mamdani, her Republican rival in the 2025 ballot box battle to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has accused her of trying to have it both ways.

This summer, GOP New Jersey gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli highlighted in a social media post past comments from Sherrill, including one saying she hasn’t weighed in on the New York City race, as well as another of her saying, “if he’s the Democratic candidate, which it sounds like he is, I assume I will.” 

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor in New Jersey, takes part at a candidate forum at Fairleigh Dickinson University, on Oct. 1, 2025, in Madison, N.J.  (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

The Ugandan-born Mamdani, if elected, would become the first Muslim and first millennial mayor of the nation’s most populous city. He is the clear frontrunner in the latest public opinion polls in the mayoral race in the Democrat-dominated city.

Mamdani is sitting on double-digit leads over Cuomo, who’s running as an independent in the general election, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, in the latest New York City public opinion polls.  

FIVE RACES TO WATCH WITH FIVE WEEKS TO GO UNTIL ELECTION DAY 2025

While the Democratic National Committee and some top Democrats are backing Mamdani, others have kept their distance and have yet to endorse him.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul did recently endorse Mamdani, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top two Democrats in Congress and fellow New Yorkers, have declined to support him.

New York City Democratic socialist mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani speaks to volunteers at a canvass launch in Brooklyn on Sept. 28, 2025.  (Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Mamdani surged to the Democratic primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living. It was fueled by a massive grassroots army of supporters and backing from top national progressive champions, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

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Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5 and setting up government-run grocery stores.

Mamdani has been heavily criticized by his rivals for his far-left platform, as well as his verbal attacks on Israel, his past critical comments about the New York City Police Department (NYPD), and his proposal to shift certain responsibilities away from the NYPD and focus on social services and community-based programs. 

FIRST ON FOX: House Democrats’ campaign arm is rolling out new ads to pressure Republicans to return to the negotiating table as the 2025 government shutdown is poised to enter its second week.

Democrats have sought to make the ongoing standoff into a healthcare fight, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., insisting their caucuses will not vote for a funding bill that does not include an extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is investing in a four-figure ad buy across 13 districts where Democrats believe they can hold or flip seats in the 2026 midterms.

The ads point out that “Republicans control the government” and say, “They just shut it down.” The ads in Democrat-held districts say lawmakers there are “protecting affordable health care.”

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Three of those districts are held by Republicans, while 10 are held by Democrats.

Both the House and Senate are out this weekend after the upper chamber tried and failed for a fourth time on Friday to advance the GOP’s plan to fund federal agencies through Nov. 21.

The bill, called a continuing resolution (CR), is an extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels, which also include $88 million in security spending for lawmakers, the White House and the judicial branch amid a heightened political threat environment.

Democrats have argued that Americans who rely on the enhanced Obamacare subsidies are in imminent threat of seeing their health care premiums skyrocket if not dealt with in this measure.

The Obamacare subsidies were given a temporary enhancement during the COVID-19 pandemic under former President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, and later extended through 2025 under his Inflation Reduction Act.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SPARKS GOP PLAN TO PENALIZE LAWMAKERS WITH NEW SALARY TAX

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to the media next to Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS)

Republican leaders have said they are willing to discuss reforming and extending the subsidies at a later date, while accusing Democrats of holding the government hostage at the expense of vulnerable Americans who rely on federal services.

“Vulnerable House Republicans shut down the government because they don’t care about working Americans having access to affordable health care,” DCCC spokesperson Nebeyatt Betre told Fox News Digital. “While Republicans create a health care crisis, House Democrats will keep working to lower Americans’ health care costs. Make no mistake: vulnerable House Republicans own this shutdown, and the DCCC is making sure voters know who to blame.”

House Republicans’ campaign arm, meanwhile, released an ad earlier this week on the heels of the government shutting down at midnight on Wednesday.

Their own ads, also a four-figure investment, accused Democrats of refusing to “fund the government” at the expense of military paychecks, veterans, farmers and small businesses.

The government is in a partial shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)

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Republicans have been pointing to Democrats’ counter-proposal for a CR as proof that Democrats are fighting to restore health care for illegal immigrants. The left’s plan called for repealing the health care changes made in the GOP’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” which, among other measures, tightened restrictions on who can access Medicaid.

Democrat leaders have denied fighting for illegal immigrants, however.

“Out of touch Democrats shut down the government to bankroll handouts for illegal immigrants and appease their radical base. Voters won’t forget who betrayed them, and the NRCC will make sure Democrats pay the price,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital at the time.

The 2025 government shutdown is about to enter its second week, with Democrats and Republicans still unable to agree on a federal funding deal.

It’s the first government shutdown since 2019, when federal agencies were shuttered for 35 days.

Both sides have been blaming the other for the dysfunction in Washington; Democrats are accusing Republicans of letting healthcare premiums go up for millions of Americans, while the GOP is blaming the left for putting vulnerable Americans at risk while holding the government hostage for partisan demands.

Political strategists who spoke with Fox News Digital, however, have downplayed the shutdown’s effects on the coming 2026 elections.

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN

The government entered a partial shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)

“Every time there has been a shutdown, there have been myriad of stories on winners and losers, who gets the blame, what does it mean for the elections, etc. And yet, every time the result is the same — voters aren’t thinking about the last shutdown when they vote,” GOP strategist Doug Heye told Fox News Digital.

“Republicans ‘lost’ the 2013 shutdown. Impacts on the 2014 election? Zero. Could this be different? Maybe. But there’s nothing to suggest that yet.”

Others have suggested Republicans could see some public blame, but similarly argued that other issues — namely, the economy and cost of living — would take precedence in voters’ minds next year.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SPARKS GOP PLAN TO PENALIZE LAWMAKERS WITH NEW SALARY TAX

“Ultimately, what’s going to decide the midterms next year is going to be the economy. People are very upset about the economy. They’re very upset about inflation. They were promised that everything was going to get less expensive. Now everything’s more expensive,” said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist and founder of fundraising and campaigns firm Authentic.

“So I think that’s going to be a much greater decider than the government shutdown.”

In the short term, however, Nellis said he saw Republicans bearing the brunt of the blame — noting they control the House, Senate and White House.

“Typically, neither party looks good during a shutdown, just broadly. But the party in power gets blamed for what’s happening,” he said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters at the White House with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Vice President JD Vance behind him during negotiations with President Trump and congressional leaders on Sept. 29, 2025. (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, John Feehery of EFB Advocacy, who served as press secretary to former Republican House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert, said blame would fall mostly along party lines.

He added that Independents, however, would likely blame the GOP, “because they are the ones who typically like shutdowns.”

“I would say that even though the Democrats clearly are to blame for this, because this is their strategy, I think Republicans are going to get blamed slightly more than the Democrats,” Feehery said.

On the 2026 electoral impacts, however, he said, “There’s winners and losers in the parlor games in Washington, but amongst the American people…they blame both sides, and they don’t seem to really take it out on whoever the party in power is.”

Brad Bannon of polling firm Bannon Communications Research, a Democratic strategist, said inflation would likely matter more than the shutdown in 2026.

“If prices start going down, you know, the whole issue would not be a problem for Republicans, and it won’t have any impact,” Bannon said. “I think the key question is not how long the shutdown lasts, but how much, in 13 months, inflation continues to be a problem.”

He pointed to a recent poll in the Washington Post that showed Republicans seeing slightly more blame for the current shutdown than Democrats in terms of short-term impact.

That poll showed 47% of Americans blaming Republicans, compared to 30% blaming Democrats. Twenty-three percent of people were undecided.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., left, speaks to the media next to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on the day President Trump met with top congressional leaders at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 29, 2025.  (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

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The shutdown is poised to enter its second week after Senate Democrats rejected the GOP’s plan for a fourth time on Friday.

The measure, called a continuing resolution (CR), is a mostly flat seven-week extension of current federal funding levels. It also would include $88 million in security funding for lawmakers, the White House and the judicial branch — which has bipartisan support.

But Democrats in the House and Senate were infuriated by being sidelined in federal funding talks. 

They have been pushing for an extension of Obamacare subsidies enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements would expire by the end of 2025 without congressional action.

Republican leaders have signaled openness to discussions about reforming and enhancing those healthcare credits but are rejecting Democrats’ demand to include them in the seven-week bill. 

President Donald Trump has an almost flawless record on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket this year, a streak that has delivered crucial moments of relief to the government as it fights hundreds of lawsuits challenging the president’s agenda.

The Supreme Court has ruled in Trump’s favor on government cuts, nationwide injunctions, immigration policies and more, leading the White House to tout what it recently counted as 21 victories before the high court.

Those victories are, however, temporary. The upcoming term, which begins Monday, will allow the justices to begin weighing the full merits of some of these court disputes and ultimately cement or undo key parts of the Trump agenda.

Jonathan Adler, a William & Mary Law School professor, attributed the interim wins to the Supreme Court’s desire to narrow the judicial branch’s role in policymaking.

TRUMP’S CONTROVERSIAL PLAN TO FIRE FEDERAL WORKERS FINDS FAVOR WITH SUPREME COURT

President Donald Trump greets Chief Justice John G. Roberts as he arrives to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Speaking during a Federalist Society panel this week, Adler said the high court’s thinking might be that “lower courts are doing too much. We’re going to scale that back because it’s not our place, and it’s for the executive branch and the legislative branch to figure that out.”

The Trump administration has only challenged about one-fifth of the adverse rulings it has received from the lower courts. Adler said Solicitor General John Sauer, who represents the government, is strategically selecting which cases to bring to the high court. 

“If you go through them, setting Humphrey’s Executor stuff slightly to the side, what they all have in common is that there’s a kind of clear argument that … district courts were a little too aggressive here,” Adler said.

He acknowledged that some might have a different view, that the Trump administration has been “too muscular” and that court intervention is a necessary check.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TORPEDOES SCOTUS WITH EMERGENCY REQUESTS AND SEES SURPRISING SUCCESS

The Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (Valerie Plesch/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The emergency docket, sometimes known as the shadow or interim docket, allows the Trump administration or plaintiffs to ask the Supreme Court to quickly intervene in lawsuits and temporarily pause lower court rulings. The process can take a couple of days, weeks or months, and is viewed as a much speedier, albeit temporary, way to secure court relief than if the high court were to fully consider the merits of a case, which can include a long briefing schedule and oral arguments.

The Supreme Court’s emergency docket this year has been extraordinarily active. Attorney Kannon Shanmugam, who has argued dozens of cases before the high court, said Trump’s high volume of executive actions is partly the reason for that.

“[An increase in emergency motions] coincides with the rise of executive orders and other forms of unilateral executive action really as the primary form of lawmaking in our country with the disappearance of Congress, and that has posed enormous challenges for the court,” Shanmugam said.

Through the emergency docket, the Supreme Court has greenlit Trump’s mass firings of career employees and high-profile terminations of Democratic appointees. It has curtailed nationwide injunctions and cleared the way for controversial deportations and immigration stops. The high court has said the government can, for now, withhold billions of dollars in foreign aid and discharge transgender service members from the military.

In other instances, parties on both sides in a court fight have construed Supreme Court outcomes as wins.

In one such order, the Supreme Court said the Trump administration must attempt to return Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the government admitted in court to improperly deporting to a Salvadoran prison. But at the same time, the high court noted that district court judges must also be deferential to the executive branch’s authority over foreign policy.

Similarly, the high court said the administration must allow deportees under the Alien Enemies Act a reasonable chance to fight their removal through habeas corpus petitions. The justices have not yet weighed in on the merits of Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, one of his most aggressive deportation tactics, which the president employed to swiftly remove alleged Tren de Aragua members.

KAVANAUGH CITES 3 PRESIDENTS IN EXPLAINING SUPREME COURT’S BALLOONING EMERGENCY DOCKET

Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife, Jennifer, speak to supporters outside of an ICE Field Office in Baltimore. (Fox News Digital/Breanne Deppisch)

Conservative lawyer Carrie Severino, president of the legal watchdog JCN, said one criterion the Supreme Court considers when making fast decisions is whether parties are at risk of irreparable harm.

As an example, Severino pointed to the Supreme Court recently allowing Trump to fire Biden-appointed FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, a case that the high court is now using as a vehicle to revisit in the coming months the 90-year precedent set by Humphrey’s Executor v. United States.

Severino said, “If one assumes, ‘Okay, if Trump’s right,’ then this is a serious burden on the government to have a good chunk of their four years being taken up with not being able to actually staff the government as they want to. If Trump’s wrong, then Commissioner Slaughter should have been in that position, and they can remedy that by providing her back pay.”

“When you’re balancing those types of harms, this is the kind of case where the government’s going to have a leg up,” Severino said.

In a small defeat for Trump on Wednesday, the Supreme Court declined to allow the president to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and instead said it would hear her case in January. The move was a deviation from the court’s typical posture and underscored its unique view on the Federal Reserve compared with other agencies.

The Supreme Court’s majority has often split along ideological lines and offered little reason for its emergency decisions. This differs from final orders from the court, which can be lengthy and include numerous concurring opinions and dissents.

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Attorney Benjamin Mizer, who served as a top DOJ official during the Biden administration, cautioned during the panel that the Supreme Court could reverse its shadow docket positions down the road.

“As cases reach the court on the merits, we shouldn’t presume that the administration will win them all,” Mizer said.

Multiple police union leaders have requested or supported federal law enforcement assistance to counter rising rates of violent crime in their cities, including in Charlotte, where the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska drew national attention. But, at least one union leader reversed course after city officials rejected the idea as illegal and unnecessary. 

On Thursday, the Fraternal Order of Police in Charlotte’s Mecklenburg County became the latest police union to invite the National Guard, having sent a letter to city leaders requesting federal law enforcement assistance after the city faced 15 murders in roughly a month. Prior to Charlotte, police unions from Milwaukee and Washington, D.C., also signaled support for the deployment of federal law enforcement by the Trump administration. 

The leader of Milwaukee’s Police Association, Alex Ayala, indicated last month he planned to request that the Trump administration bring federal troops and law enforcement officials to his city. However, he later walked the claim back following pushback from city leaders, calling the request a violation of federal law and unnecessary. 

OBAMA-NOMINATED FEDERAL JUDGE MARRIED TO HOUSE DEM RECUSES HIMSELF FROM OREGON NATIONAL GUARD CASE 

A patrol vehicle belonging to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD). (Charlotte Police)

“We will not need the guard to come to Charlotte,” the city’s mayor, Vi Lyles, said in response to the city’s police union request for federal help. Her comments were echoed by numerous Democratic leaders in the region, from the city’s congressional representative to local city council officials.

“These measures do not address the root causes of violence,” JD Mazuera Arias, a Charlotte City Council member, said in a statement after the request was made public. 

In addition to Charlotte, Ayala said last month he intended to make a similar request for federal assistance in Milwaukee. However, following pushback from Milwaukee city officials calling the request illegal and unnecessary, Ayala told a local news station that his remarks were taken out of context and that he has not reached out to the Trump administration.

The District of Columbia’s police union, led by Gregg Pemberton, has also supported the president’s choice to bring federal troops into the nation’s capital. Pemberton told Fox News last month that the difference has been “night and day” since the federal deployment there earlier this summer. 

TRUMP CRIME CRACKDOWN IN MEMPHIS SEES EARLY SIGNS OF SUPPORT

D.C. was one of the first major metropolitan cities in a series this summer that saw an infusion of federal law enforcement officials to help with crime. At the time, city leaders, like Mayor Muriel Bowser, similarly pushed back on whether federal assistance in the nation’s capital to help with crime was necessary.

Armed National Guard members patrol near the U.S. Capitol following President Trump’s deployment order earlier this summer. (Getty Images/Tasos Katopodis)

“I want the message to be clear to the Congress, we have a framework to request or use federal resources in our city,” Bowser told reporters earlier this summer when Trump began cracking down on crime in D.C. “We don’t need a presidential emergency.”  

In addition to Charlotte, Milwaukee and D.C., the National Police Association has also expressed support for the Trump administration’s federal deployment to help with violent crime in major metropolitan areas. 

Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling is a 28-year member of the Chicago Police Department and previously served as the Chief of Counterterrorism for the Chicago Police Department. (John J. Kim/Chicago Sun-Times)

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“This isn’t politics—it’s a fight for our neighbors’ lives. On August 22nd, Iryna Zarutska was savagely cut down on a Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) train, and since then, 15 more Charlottean’s have been gunned down in our streets,” the Charlotte-Mecklenburg FOP said in a post on Facebook Friday. “Just yesterday, two lives were lost in a double homicide—and a 16-year-old murdered in a busy Uptown shopping district. Our Uptown beat is reeling from nearly a 200% spike in homicides year-to-date compared to last year.”

“I think it’s a great strategy for the president to bring in the National Guard along with other federal resources to Memphis to show the rest of the country that what happened in Washington, D.C. can work in other cities like Memphis and beyond,” National Police Association spokesperson Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith added in regard to federal officials being deployed to Tennessee’s second-largest city, Memphis.

His name isn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump’s unprecedented second-term agenda and the federal government shutdown are top of mind on the campaign trail with one month to go until Election Day 2025. 

In the spotlight this November are New Jersey and Virginia, the only two states to hold gubernatorial contests the year after a presidential election. 

The races, which traditionally grab outsized national attention, are viewed as crucial early tests of Trump’s popularity and agenda, and key barometers ahead of next year’s midterm showdowns for the U.S. House and Senate.

Also in the political spotlight next month is the ballot box proposition over congressional redistricting in California, the three state Supreme Court contests in battleground Pennsylvania and New York City’s high-profile mayoral election.

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President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda is playing a major influence on the 2025 campaign trail for key races. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)

Here’s a closer look at 2025’s top elections.

New Jersey

Trump is weighing heavily on this year’s ballot box battle for governor of New Jersey.

And Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli, who enjoys the president’s support, says Democratic nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill is trying to use Trump as a cudgel.

“Listen, if you get a flat tire on the way home from work today, she’s going to blame it on the president. There isn’t anything she doesn’t blame on the president,” Ciattarelli argued in a Fox News Digital interview.

BLUE STATE REPUBLICAN RIPS DEMOCRATIC RIVAL FOR BLAMING ‘EVERYTHING ON TRUMP’

Sherrill, in a recent fundraising email to supporters, charged, “As Trump has inflicted all this damage on our country, Republican politicians like Jack Ciattarelli have cheered him on every step of the way.”

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey responds to questions during the first general election debate with Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli, on Sept. 21, 2025, in Lawrenceville, N.J.  (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

And at their first debate last month, she pointed to Ciattarelli and claimed that “he’ll do whatever Trump tells him to do.”

The two candidates have also traded fire over who’s to blame for the federal government shutdown, which is impacting the Garden State.

Ciattarelli, pointing to his rival’s vote in Congress, said, “I do know that there’s a bipartisan group of congresspeople that are trying to keep the government open. My opponent has decided not to be part of that bipartisan group, and she voted no. And so here we are.”

Sherrill, who has repeatedly linked Ciattarrelli to Trump, placed the shutdown blame squarely on Trump’s shoulders, writing in a social media post, “This is precisely the extreme MAGA agenda that @Jack4NJ wants to bring to NJ.”

The two candidates face off next week in the second and final debate in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

Ciattarelli, who is making his third straight run for governor and who came close to upsetting Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, discounted talk that Trump is the dominant issue in the race.

And Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker and a certified public accountant who started a medical publishing company before getting into politics, charged that the Democrats are to blame, as he works overtime trying to link Sherrill to Murphy and the Democrats who’ve long controlled the state legislature in Trenton.

Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli, left, shake hands with Democratic candidate for governor Mikie Sherrill, right, before a debate on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Lawrenceville, N.J.  (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

The combustible ballot box battle was rocked two weeks ago after a report revealed that the United States Naval Academy blocked her from taking part in her 1994 graduation amid a cheating scandal.

Ciattarelli and his campaign are calling on Sherrill, who went on to pilot helicopters during her military career after graduating from the Naval Academy, to release her military records to explain why she was blocked from attending her graduation ceremony.

But a second report revealed that the National Personnel Records Center, which is a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, errantly released Sherrill’s improperly redacted military personnel files, which included private information including her Social Security number, to a Ciattarelli ally. 

The news spurred calls by top Democrats across the country for an investigation.

Virginia

Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is facing off against former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger in the race to succeed GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Youngkin is prevented from running for re-election, as Virginia’s constitution does not allow sitting governors to seek consecutive terms.

Earle-Sears was born in the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 6. She served in the Marines and is a former state lawmaker who made history four years ago when she won election as Virginia’s first female lieutenant governor. 

Winsome Earle-Sears, Republican gubernatorial candidate for Virginia, center, during a campaign event at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department in Vienna, Virginia, US, on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. Earle-Sears will face off with former Representative Abigail Spanberger this Nov., giving the state its first female governor.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Spanberger is a former intelligence officer in the CIA who won election to Congress in 2018 before securing re-election in 2020 and 2022.

The winner in November will make history as Virginia’s first female governor in the commonwealth’s four-century-long history. Additionally, if Earle-Sears comes out on top, she will become the nation’s first Black woman to win election as governor.

Trump and his policies are a major issue in the state’s gubernatorial showdown.

Abigail Spanberger, Virginia Democratic Party nominee for governor, addresses the crowd during an event in support of her run for office at the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center in Richmond, Virginia, on April 8, 2025. (Max Posner/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

The president’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been on a mission this year to chop government spending and cut the federal workforce.

The moves by DOGE, which was initially steered by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, have been felt acutely in suburban Washington’s heavily populated northern Virginia, with its large federal workforce.

And this week’s federal government shutdown, which will likely hit Virginia hard, is also now a top topic in the race.

New York City

The mayoral election in the nation’s most populous city always grabs outsized attention, especially this year as New York City may elect its first Muslim and first millennial mayor.

Democratic socialist 33-year-old state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani’s victory in June’s Democratic Party mayoral primary sent political shock waves across the country. And he’s come under attack from Republicans and from his rivals on the ballot over his far-left proposals.

Mamdani is the clear frontrunner in the heavily blue city as he faces off against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who came in a distant second in the primary and is now running as an independent candidate. Cuomo is aiming for a political comeback after resigning as governor four years ago amid multiple scandals.

Democratic socialist state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani, left, is the Democratic Party’s mayoral nominee in New York City. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is running in the general election as an independent. (Getty Images)

Also running is two-time Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, a co-founder of the Guardian Angels, the non-profit, a volunteer-based community safety group.

Embattled Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who was running for re-election as an independent, dropped out of the race a week ago, but his name remains on the ballot.

Trump, a native New Yorker, has continuously been in the spotlight in the race for months.

California Prop 50

Voters in heavily blue California will vote in November on whether to temporarily set aside their popular nonpartisan redistricting commission and allow the Democrat-dominated legislature to determine congressional redistricting for the next three election cycles.

The vote will be the culmination of an effort by Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats to create up to five left-leaning congressional seats in the Golden State to counter the new maps that conservative Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in August, which will create up to five more right-leaning U.S. House districts in the red state of Texas.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California speaks during a congressional redistricting event, on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli )

The redistricting in Texas, which came after Trump’s urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to pad their razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Democrats currently hold a 5-2 majority on Pennsylvania’s highest court. 

But three Democrat-leaning justices on the state Supreme Court, following the completion of their 10-year terms, are running to keep their seats in “Yes” or “No” retention elections.

The election could upend the court’s composition for the next decade, heavily influence whether Democrats or Republicans have an advantage in the state’s congressional delegation and legislature, and impact crucial cases including voting rights and reproductive rights.

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While state Supreme Court elections typically don’t grab much national attention, contests where the balance of a court in a key battleground state is up for grabs have attracted tons of outside money.

The state Supreme Court showdown this spring in Wisconsin, where the 4-3 liberal majority was maintained, drew nearly $100 million in outside money as both parties poured resources into the election.

With the government shutdown now in day four and no compromise in sight, a federal budget expert says two dates could send things “spiraling out of control”: the first day essential federal workers go without pay and the first day service members miss a paycheck.

The next federal worker pay date is Oct. 10 and the next pay date for the military is Oct. 15, according to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and U.S. General Services Administration. 

Richard Stern, director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at the Heritage Foundation, explained that while both sides are blaming the other for the shutdown, neither wants to be responsible for essential government workers or the troops to miss out on pay, making those dates central to ending the shutdown.

Stern explained that while Democratic leaders are attempting to blame the GOP for the shutdown, it was their decision to reject a compromise temporary spending bill that shut down the government.

SPEAKER JOHNSON FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEM LEADERS WITH STAUNCH WARNING AGAINST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

When military service members and essential government workers start missing out on paychecks, the pressure on Democrats to end the government shutdown will mount, one expert said. (Aaron Favila/AP Photo; Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images and AP)

Democrats have insisted that any agreement to keep the government funded must extend tax credits for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) beyond the end of this year, a provision Republicans rejected.

Some Democrats have even admitted it was their decision to close the government. In a viral video, Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., said, “We got to make sure Americans have the healthcare that they need, and if that means we’ve got to shut the government down, so be it.”

Former Politico reporter Rachel Bade also went on the record recently, saying, “The pressure is just going to skyrocket on Democrats.”

“I mean, it’s not just some people who live paycheck-to-paycheck. Most people cannot go without getting a subsequent paycheck. Like, that’s just the reality of things — troops not getting paid,” said Bade. “So, I think over the next, you know, week or so, if it lasts that long, we’re just going to have this … gut-wrenching reminder of what shutdowns mean.”

Stern likened the Democrats’ actions to deciding to “stomp [their] feet and make a dramatic situation out of it.”

REPUBLICANS ERUPT OVER SHUTDOWN CHAOS, ACCUSE DEMS OF HOLDING GOVERNMENT ‘HOSTAGE’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and most Senate Democrats are unwilling to budge on their position as the government shutdown rolls into a third day.  (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Republicans passed a clean seven-week funding bill. They offered them the ability to fund the government for seven weeks and continue negotiations,” he said. “It was superfluous. It really was gratuitous of them to say, no, we demand the shutdown.”

“Democrats are asking for a restoration of so-called foreign aid. But a lot of that is money for transgender surgeries and abortions overseas,” Stern continued. “They want more money to go to NPR and PBS, that spread left-wing propaganda. They want other grant money that goes to left-wing causes. But the big ticket item is they want one and a half trillion dollars of extension of a welfare program that largely hands money to very well-off Americans, and included in that, they want to remove anti-fraud provisions that were passed in the one big, beautiful bill. Not only would that increase fraud, but it will actually effectively expand these welfare benefits to legal aliens. So, it’s hard to understand where they’re coming from, but that’s what they’re asking.”

“So, at the end of the day, I think they’re going to get the blame that I think they deserve.”

President Donald Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought have indicated the administration could use mandatory pots of money provided in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act to ensure that service members, Border Patrol agents and other Homeland Security personnel paychecks are not interrupted, which could serve as a lifeline for Democrats, Stern noted.

GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN AFTER CONGRESS DEADLOCKS ON SPENDING DEAL

President Donald Trump speaks to a gathering of top U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Virginia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Even if this is the case, the White House noted shortly before the shutdown began that the government closure would jeopardize military pay, critical care for veterans, firefighter pay, disaster relief funding and many other programs important to Americans.

Either way, Stern said that the longer the shutdown continues, the greater the danger that funding can fail, and essential services start buckling under the pressure.

One example of essential federal workers who could be impacted by an extended government shutdown is air traffic controllers and other FAA personnel, who do not receive paychecks during government shutdowns despite being required to work to keep the nation’s flight schedules safe and on time. Though they are eventually paid when the government reopens, extended periods of time without a paycheck lead to stress on both the workers and the overall flight system.

SOCIAL SECURITY, AIRPORTS, FOOD STAMPS: HOW ARE YOU AFFECTED DURING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN?

The U.S. Capitol Building at sunset.  (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead)

In 2019, on the 35th day of a government shutdown, ten air traffic controllers called in sick in Virginia and Florida, triggering ground stops at LaGuardia Airport in New York and cascading delays at Newark, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

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“This gets to the question of when do things start spiraling out of control?” said Stern, adding, “Some of these program expirations, as the shutdown drags on, might put more of a fire under Congress on both sides to reach a deal, whatever it means.”

Fox News Digital’s Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.

Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ attempt to reopen the government again, all but guaranteeing that the government shutdown rolls through the weekend.

After a day off to observe Yom Kippur, lawmakers made little progress in finding an off-ramp to end the shutdown, which entered its third day on Friday. And as the government remains closed, both sides appear to be digging further into their positions.

Senate Republicans’ attempt to reopen the government failed on a largely party-line 54-44 vote for a fourth time, with the same trio of Senate Democratic caucus members — Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; and Angus King, I-Maine — joining most Republicans in backing the bill.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENTERS 3RD DAY AS SENATE STALEMATE OVER OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES DRAGS ON

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and most Senate Democrats are unwilling to budge on their position as the government shutdown rolls into the weekend. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to bring the bill to the floor again and again in a bid to chip away at Democrats’ largely unified front. He lamented the work that could be happening, like advancing spending bills and negotiating other bipartisan priorities, on the Senate floor rather than repeating the same exercise of trying to reopen the government. 

“They have taken hostage the federal government and, by extension, the American people, who are the only losers in this,” Thune said. “Everybody’s talking about who wins and who loses and who gets the blame. That’s not what this is about. This is about doing what’s in the best interest of the American people. And what’s in the best interest of the American people is keeping the government open and operating so it can continue to work on their behalf.” 

Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., demand that they get a seat at the table to negotiate a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR).

Their main rallying cry has been pushing for an extension to expiring Obamacare tax credits, which Senate Republicans have said they would consider only after the government is reopened. While the credits don’t expire until the end of the year, Democrats argue that if Congress doesn’t act now, people who use Obamacare will see their healthcare premiums skyrocket.

“We know Americans want this, and we know many of my Republican colleagues want this as well,” Schumer said. “But failure to act would be devastating. And Republicans know it. Even Donald Trump knows it. He talked about it a little bit with us in the White House.”

DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO BUDGE OVER OBAMACARE FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to continue putting the GOP’s short-term funding extension up for a vote. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

When asked if the pressure would mount to a point where Democrats cave, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., told Fox News Digital, “We’re on the right side of history right now.”

Republicans largely agree it is an issue that should be dealt with, but they also want reforms in the program rather than the blanket, permanent extension that Democrats suggested in their counter-proposal.

Some Democrats also view the shutdown as a way to stand up to President Donald Trump.

“The truth is, we shut down the government because Republicans wouldn’t negotiate, because Donald Trump wants to shut down,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. “He’s just bragging in the Oval Office about how good a shutdown will be for him. And we’re going to talk about the consequences of Republicans continuing to push these giant healthcare increases on people and the consequences of a lawless president.”

The administration is not resting on its laurels either and has targeted funding in blue cities and states, along with threats of mass firings beyond the typical furloughs of nonessential federal employees to get congressional Democrats to blink.

FIRST BIPARTISAN SHUTDOWN NEGOTIATIONS SURFACE ON CAPITOL HILL AFTER FUNDING BILL BLOCKED AGAIN

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks to a reporter after a vote in the U.S. Capitol July 23, 2025 (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced Friday that $2.8 billion in Chicago infrastructure project funding would be put on hold to prevent “race-based contracting,” a move that came on the heels of $18 billion in infrastructure money in New York City and $8 billion in “Green New Scam” funding from going to 16 blue states being withheld earlier this week.

Thune argued that the administration is what Democrats “have wrought” by continuing to withhold their votes. 

“They are allowing the administration to do the very thing that, back in March, they said they didn’t want to give them the authority to do,” he said. “And that’s to make decisions just like that. But that’s what’s going to happen.” 

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Meanwhile, bipartisan talks are brewing in the background, though no real deal nor compromise has materialized.

There have been suggestions of extending the credits for another year after the government is reopened or doing a shorter CR to match up with the beginning of open enrollment on Nov. 1. But Republicans engaged in talks are more keen to keep the government open until at least Nov. 21 to allow appropriators to finish their work on spending bills.

“Nobody’s married to any of this, but we’ve got to get the 45 days in effect first,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said. 

Seattle Democratic Mayor Bruce Harrell said during a mayoral debate Thursday night he has “no desire” to put repeat criminal defenders in jail, and he doesn’t know how to answer the question on whether the city is “too lax” on repeat offenders.

“So, let me make something very clear. I was the one that sponsored the ‘Ban the Box’ legislation when everyone opposed it because the criminal system has had a disparate impact on Black and Brown communities, let me lead with that,” Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a mayoral debate Thursday night when asked a follow-up question about repeat offenders in the city.

Harrell’s “Ban the Box” proposal in 2013 prevented employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal history on applications up front. 

Harrell then said, “When this person is committing six or seven crimes, I don’t know his or her story. Maybe they were abused as a child. Maybe they’re hungry. But my remedy is to find their life story to see how we can help. First, I have no desire to put them in jail, but I need to protect you, and that’s the calibration that we have.

SEATTLE MAYOR ACCUSED OF LYING AFTER BLAMING CHRISTIAN RALLY FOR PARK VIOLENCE

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell speaks at a podium (David Ryder/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I put police officers on the stand. I’ve cross-examined them. So, whether they commit seven or eight crimes, to me, is not the issue. The issue is, why are they committing these crimes? And so we have a health-based strategy.”

Repeat offenders have been a part of the national conversation with respect to crimes in recent weeks after several high-profile murders carried out by suspects with lengthy criminal records, including in North Carolina where Ukrainian Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death on a train by a suspect with a long history of arrests going back more than a decade, including charges of felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon and communicating threats.

Earlier this year in South Carolina, 22-year-old Logan Federico was robbed and executed during a home invasion by a suspect who had 39 charges on his record.

BLUE STATE MAYOR PROPOSES CITY ORDINANCE TO STRENGTHEN TRANSGENDER CARE PROTECTIONS IN THE FACE OF TRUMP EOS

Progressive activist and incumbent Democratic Mayor of Seattle Bruce Harrell both advanced to the general election to be Seattle’s next mayor.  (Katie Wilson Campaign/Getty Images)

Harrell was asked by a debate moderator if the city is “too lax” on repeat offenders who are “driving” most of the crime in the city. The mayor responded by calling it an “interesting question.”

“I don’t know how to answer that question. ‘Too lax,’ I don’t know how you gauge that.”

Harrell explained that he knows it’s “necessary” to “catch criminals in the act doing bad things” and talked about the need for more police officers” along with “constitutional arrests.”

“I’m not going to give an opinion on the attitude of my officers. I look at them, and I tell them this is my vision. George Floyd was murdered, purely and simply, and I need you to recruit culturally competent officers, and we created the CARE Department, which is an unarmed response, the largest city in the country to do this. So, whether they’re lax or not for me, all due respect, is not the question. It’s are they effective? And they are very effective. I just need to get my numbers up because the defund movement demoralized the police department.”

A spokesperson for the mayor defended the debate remarks, saying Harrell “believes people need to be held accountable for their actions – full stop.”

“Since day one, he’s been very vocal about arresting criminals and the data supporting arrests under his administration is clear. In June, Seattle Police arrested 14 of the most prolific drug dealers – seizing $3 million worth of drugs, enough to kill every person in Seattle twice,” the spokesperson continued.

The spokesperson went on to slam his far-left opponent for “advocating for cutting the police budget by 50% and reducing officer staffing to levels not seen in decades, he has worked to restore police staffing. “

“The mayor also believes in a holistic approach that connects people with the services and treatment needed to effectively reduce recidivism,” the spokesperson concluded. “These two strategies are not at odds – and it’s why in Seattle homicides are down 40%, as well as significant decreases in gun violence, violent crime, and property crime.”

Seattle Red talk show host Jason Rantz, who first posted about Harrell’s debate response, told Fox News Digital that the mayor’s “governing philosophy” was on display. 

“Harrell says he has ‘no desire’ to jail an eight-time criminal. Well, the feeling’s mutual, because criminals in Seattle clearly have no desire to stop offending,” Rantz said. 

“This is what happens when your mayor governs like a progressive therapist instead of a leader. And this wasn’t a gaffe. It’s his governing philosophy to protect repeat offenders and abandon public safety. If you’re a law-abiding Seattleite, Harrell made it clear that we’re on our own.”

Harrell, who received criticism on social media for his comments, is running for re-election in a November election where he faces off against longtime progressive activist Katie Wilson, who has faced criticism from the mayor for past calls to lower police staffing.

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The Seattle skyline (Reuters/Jason Redmond)

Widely known for her role in helping establish and continuing to lead the left-wing Transit Riders Union, Wilson champions progressive positions such as minimum wage increases, better access to public transit and affordable housing. She has also pledged to “Trump-proof” Seattle and has been likened to New York City’s Zohran Mamdani by political pundits.

When asked about her plan for addressing repeat offenders, Wilson touted the city’s “diversion” program “where if someone is arrested they have the opportunity instead of going through that booking and jail process to be diverted” into case management processes for drug treatment and shelter.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

The Democratic and Republican nominees in a crucial election for governor in New Jersey are trading fire over taxes in one of the most heavily taxed states in the nation.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the 2025 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, on Friday launched a new ad labeling her GOP rival Jack Ciattarelli “high tax Jack.”

And Ciattarelli, following the first debate between the two candidates, emphasized on social media that Sherrill “refused to rule out raising your taxes.”

Taxes, along with affordability, are top issues on the New Jersey campaign trail in one of the most expensive states in the country.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SPARKS BLAME GAME IN CRUCIAL RACE FOR GOVERNOR

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey responds to questions during the first general election debate with Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli. Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Lawrenceville, N.J.  (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

The Sherrill campaign ad spotlights the “taxes are on the table” comment made by Ciattarelli running mate Jim Gannon earlier this week at the lieutenant governor’s debate.

“Whoa Jack, what the [bleep] did your guy just say,” says the narrator in the digital spot.

The debate answer by Gannon, a county sheriff, came as he was asked whether the Ciattarelli administration would consider increasing taxes on millionaires.

FIVE RACES TO WATCH WITH FIVE WEEKS TO GO UNTIL ELECTION DAY 2025

“We have to look at it. You have to look at the whole thing,” Gannon added. “What I’m saying is, millionaires, we can’t just beat up the millionaires. The millionaires, many times, are employers; they’re employing us.”

Following the debate, the Ciattarelli campaign said that Gannon meant to say that cutting taxes is on the table, not raising them. 

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor of New Jersey, takes part at a candidate forum at Fairleigh Dickinson University, on Oct. 1, 2025 in Madison, N.J.  (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)

Ciattarelli, who came close to defeating Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, appeared to do some cleanup in a Fox News Digital interview the day after the debate.

“There will be no tax increases under Governor Ciattarelli. And I would put forth a very specific plan on how to decrease the income tax and the property tax here in New Jersey. No tax increases,” he said.

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The crossfire over taxes came a week after Sherrill, at her first debate with Ciattarelli, appeared to give her rival some political ammunition with her answer to a question on whether she’d consider raising the sales tax if elected governor.

“I’m not going to commit to anything right now, because I’m not just going to tell you what you want to hear,” Sherrill responded.

Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli, left, shakes hands with Democratic candidate for governor Mikie Sherrill, right, before a debate on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Lawrenceville, N.J.  (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

Ciattarelli took to social media following the debate to write, “Both candidates were asked tonight if they would commit to not raising your taxes as Governor. Only one would. It was me. Mikie refused. Hear that loud & clear New Jersey: Mikie Sherrill refused to rule out raising your taxes. Here’s the truth: We just can’t afford Mikie.”

But the next day, Sherrill, in a campaign release, committed to not increasing the sales tax. 

“I will not raise the sales tax as your governor,” she said.

TRUMP LOOMS LARGE OVER THIS CRUCIAL RACE FOR GOVERNOR

Taxes were the top concern on the minds of New Jersey voters in a Fox News poll released this week.

In spontaneous, unprompted replies, 34% said taxes are the biggest problem facing the state, with 20% saying the cost of living. Other issues like housing and energy costs, were mentioned by 5% or fewer. 

The poll, which was conducted Sept. 25–28, indicated that Sherrill was preferred by 16 points among those whose priority is the cost of living, while tax voters favored Ciattarelli by 5 points.

Sherrill, a Navy veteran who flew helicopters during her years in the military and who later served as a federal prosecutor before first winning election to Congress in 2018, held a 7-point lead over Ciattarelli among registered voters questioned in the Fox News survey.

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But Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker and a certified public accountant who started a medical publishing company before getting into politics, touted in his Fox News Digital interview that “the energy is off the charts, and the fact that I’m being endorsed by Democratic mayors around the state says a whole lot about people wanting change here in the state of New Jersey.”

The two candidates will face off next week in their second and final debate before voters head to the polls in the election to succeed term-limited Murphy.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is sending a pointed signal to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as the 2025 government shutdown is poised to enter a second week.

The leader of the House of Representatives canceled chamber activities for next week, effectively directing lawmakers to remain in their home districts until at least Oct. 14.

Johnson appears to be raising the stakes on Senate Democrats, who keep refusing the GOP’s plan to fund government agencies on a short-term basis in favor of making demands on healthcare that Republicans are calling unreasonable.

Originally, the House had been slated to return to a regular legislative schedule on Oct. 7. The full House was last in session on Sept. 19.

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN

House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, is criticizing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, for refusing to agree to a GOP-led plan to avert a government shutdown. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Johnson warned earlier on Friday that the House may not return until Schumer and Democrats agreed with Republicans’ bill.

“We passed it, and it’s been rejected by the Senate,” the House speaker told reporters during a news conference. “So the House will come back into session and do its work as soon as Chuck Schumer allows us to reopen the government. That’s plain and simple.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital during his own Friday news conference that he would summon his Democratic caucus back into D.C. next week whether Republicans were there or not.

Meanwhile, two sources told Fox News Digital earlier on Friday that it was one of several strategies that House GOP leaders were considering, but were waiting to see how the Senate’s Friday afternoon vote played out.

It was the fourth time Senate Democrats rejected the GOP’s funding plan, a mostly flat extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 government funding levels. The measure, called a continuing resolution (CR), would also include $88 million in security funding for lawmakers, the White House and the judicial branch — which has bipartisan support.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, talk with reporters following their meeting with President Donald Trump and Republican leaders on the government funding crisis on Sept. 29, 2025.  (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

But Democrats in the House and Senate were infuriated by being sidelined in federal funding talks. 

They have been pushing for an extension of Obamacare subsidies enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements would expire by the end of 2025 without congressional action.

Democrats have also introduced a counter-proposal for a CR that would keep the government funded through Oct. 31 while reversing the GOP’s cuts to Medicaid made in their “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”

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The counter-proposal would have also restored federal funding to NPR and PBS that was cut by the Trump administration earlier this year.

Republicans have panned that plan as a non-starter full of partisan demands, while pointing out that Democrats have voted for a “clean” measure similar to the GOP proposal 13 times during former President Joe Biden’s time in office.

Canceling next week’s House votes also puts off the probability that lawmakers would have to vote on making the Department of Justice release even more files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

The government has entered a partial shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)

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Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., needed just one more person to sign onto a petition aimed at forcing a vote on the Epstein files — a signature they would have gotten if Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was sworn in next week following her special election victory.

House GOP leaders have panned that petition as unserious and superfluous, having already directed the House Oversight Committee to investigate the DOJ’s handling of Epstein’s case.

Johnson told Fox News Digital earlier this week that he was concerned the bipartisan measure was written in a way that it would not protect sensitive information regarding Epstein’s victims.

When asked about Johnson’s move during his own Friday news conference, Schumer told reporters, “Johnson and the House Republicans care more about protecting the Epstein files than protecting the American people.”

Virginia Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones once remarked on shooting the Virginia House speaker in texts with another lawmaker, the latest example of charged political rhetoric some have called the politics of “rage.”

Texts obtained by Fox News Digital Friday showed an August 2022 conversation between Jones — then a recently departed delegate from Norfolk — and another lawmaker after the death of Del. Joe Johnson, D-Bristol, at age 90.

“Hence the glowing tributes from the Rs. Damn, that (message) was for Mark,” Jones texted Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chester.

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Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones, left., and former Virginia House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, right. (Getty Images)

At the time, several House Republicans — including leadership — offered eulogizing words for Johnson, who had been known as an aisle-crossing, friendly moderate. One of those who had kind words for Johnson was then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.

Jones told Coyner that Johnson “leaked everything to your [Republican] caucus. It’s why Gilbert gave him such a glowing tribute.”

“If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves,” he continued. “Send them out awash in something.”

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A text message from Jay Jones to Del. Carrie Coyner.

At that point, Coyner appeared to attempt to rein in the conversation, texting, “Jay Jones.”

But Jones continued, adding, “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”

The future attorney general candidate was not yet finished condemning the House leader.

“Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” he wrote. 

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Coyner tried again to end the conversation: “Jay. Please stop.”

“Lol. OK, OK,” he replied.

A source familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital that, around that point, Jones and Coyner had a telephone conversation, which was followed by Jones trying to lighten the mood.

“I genuinely was [asking questions]. I wasn’t attacking you. I was trying to understand your logic.”

Coyner disagreed, to which Jones replied, “Yes, I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”

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In another message to Coyner, Jones considered whether Gilbert and his wife Jennifer were “breeding little fascists.”

A spokesperson for Coyner’s campaign confirmed the veracity of the texts first reported by National Review, saying they were “disturbing and disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office.”

“Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and joked about shooting Todd Gilbert. It’s disgusting and unbecoming of any public official,” the spokesperson said. 

Gilbert recently resigned from Richmond to accept President Donald Trump’s nomination as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. He has since left that post, according to reports.

Jones’ comments created a firestorm Friday evening, with another state lawmaker recently subjected to a death threat condemning Jones.

Del. Geary Higgins, R-Lovettsville, said Democrats continue to amp up violent rhetoric that has gotten people hurt.

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“They shot the president. They killed Charlie Kirk. They threatened to kill Kim Taylor. They said they’d kill me at my next rally, then my kids. Now we learn Jay Jones repeatedly said he wanted to kill Speaker Todd Gilbert. Is this what “letting your rage fuel you” looks like?” he said, referring to a widely-condemned remark by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger unrelated to Jones, specifically.

Spanberger condemned her fellow Democrat, saying in a statement that she spoke “frankly” with Jones after the texts surfaced about her “disgust” for what he had said.

“I will always condemn violent language in our politics,” Spanberger said.

A source familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital Jones initially had accidentally texted Coyner, who later made Gilbert aware of the Democrat’s invective.

When reached by Fox News Digital, Jones also did not deny the messages were his and blamed his opponent for allegedly planting stories and then criticized Republicans.

“Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret, and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics,” Jones said.

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“Let’s be clear about what is happening in the attorney general race right now: Jason Miyares is dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign.

“This is a strategy that ensures Jason Miyares will continue to be accountable to Donald Trump, not the people of Virginia. This race is about whether Trump can control Virginia or Virginians control Virginia.”

A source familiar with Gilbert told Fox News Digital he has no comment on the matter.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Friday signed “Iryna’s Law,” which increases checks on criminals getting out on bail and prohibits cashless bail for some violent crimes and most repeat offenders following the stabbing death of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte light-rail train in August. 

Stein, a Democrat, has said he doesn’t like every part of the bill that was passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature, which also looks to restart executions in North Carolina, but he signed it because it “alerts the judiciary to take a special look at people who may pose unusual risks of violence before determining their bail. That’s a good thing.”

Iryna Zarutska, 23, was killed on Aug. 22, and Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., who had been arrested more than a dozen times, including an armed robbery charge for which he served five years in prison before the fatal train stabbing, has been charged with first-degree murder.

He was most recently released in January on a misdemeanor charge.

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North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Friday signed a law that increases checks on criminals getting out on bail following the murder of a Ukrainian refugee on a train in August.  (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)

“Finally, we are getting dangerous criminals off our streets so we can make sure no one else suffers the heartbreak that Iryna Zarutska’s family endured,” Charlotte-area Republican state Rep. Tricia Cotham, who was involved with the legislation, said in a news release. 

Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have blamed Zarutska’s death on Democrats, accusing them of being soft on crime. 

“The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer’s knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including Former Disgraced Governor and ‘Wannabe Senator’ Roy Cooper,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after the attack. 

The violent stabbing sparked outrage, especially after security video showing the attack was released. 

“We can and must do more to keep people safe,” Stein said in a video posted to social media on Friday. “When I review public safety legislation that comes to my desk, I use one simple test: Does it make people safer?” 

He said that “Iryna’s Law” alerts the judiciary to take a special look at who could warrant an “unusual” risk for violence before determining their bail. 

A memorial dedicated to Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, N.C., after her death.   (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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“That’s a good thing and why I have signed it into law.” 

But, he said he had criticisms of the law, including that it focuses more on a defendant’s ability to post bail rather than the threat they pose, and “more alarming,” he added that a last-minute amendment to the bill that “aims to bring about execution by firing squad in North Carolina. It’s barbaric.”

The last execution in North Carolina was in 2006. 

He stressed that he wouldn’t allow firing squads while he’s governor. The bill doesn’t specifically mention firing squads. 

Iryna Zarutska cowers as her attacker towers over her. (NewsNation via Charlotte Area Transit System)

He said he was also troubled by the bill’s “lack of ambition or vision. It simply does not do enough to keep you safe.” 

The governor said he wanted the legislature to pass his comprehensive bill that would add more police officers on the streets, violence prevention measures like keeping kids out of gangs, and would attempt to make sure that people who are violent or mentally ill don’t have access to guns via background checks. 

Booking photo of Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., taken Aug. 28, 2025, days after the fatal train stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.  (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO))

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“Iryna’s Law” prohibits cashless bail for some violent crimes and for most repeat offenders; it limits the discretion magistrates and judges have in making pretrial release decisions; allows for the state chief justice to suspend magistrates and requires more defendants to undergo mental health evaluations. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.