House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is clearly growing frustrated as President Donald Trump continues to undercut repeated Democrat-driven attempts to pin the ongoing government shutdown on the White House.
Jeffries told reporters at a Monday press conference that he would not support standalone legislation to pay federal workers and military service members — despite the fact that Democrats have spent the shutdown going from microphone to microphone to blame Republicans for the fact that federal employees were not getting paid — and complained that it was just a political stunt.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨WATCH: Jeffries tells <a href="https://twitter.com/AndiNapier?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AndiNapier</a> that he does NOT support legislation that the Senate is expected to vote on this week to pay federal employees and service members calling, it a &#8220;political ploy.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/y0D9eQZhuE">pic.twitter.com/y0D9eQZhuE</a>
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1980388107922076155?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It appears to be more like a political ploy giving Donald Trump discretion over which employees should be compensated and which employees should not be compensated. All employees should be compensated, and that will happen when we reopen the government,&#8221; Jeffries complained.
The Senate bill in question would ensure that members of the military would not go without their next paychecks — nor would federal workers who have continued to report to work during the shutdown — which would undercut Democrat complaints about the broad impact of the shutdown, and not for the first time.
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Democrats began the shutdown with complaints about young mothers and their children who would soon go hungry because their benefits through the Women, Infants, and Children (W.I.C.) program would run out due to the shutdown — but the Trump administration was able to find untapped funds to bridge that gap.
Democrats then pivoted to blame Trump and Republicans for the fact that a shutdown would stop payments to members of the military — but a short time later, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/get-our-troops-paid-trump-says-he-wont-let-military-suffer-due-to-dem-shutdown">redirected funds</a> from the Pentagon to ensure that service members received their pay on the 15th.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) Holds News Conference

Hakeem Jeffries Is Big Mad Because Trump Cut The Legs Off His Narrative (Again)

Donald Trump

Government Shutdown

Hakeem Jeffries

Media

Politics

The latest CNN poll suggests that despite their attempts to spin a very different narrative, Democrats are not coming off as the winners as the government shutdown drags on — and President Donald Trump is not losing any ground at all.
CNN&#8217;s chief data analyst Harry Enten broke down the details alongside anchor John Berman, saying that there was a world of difference between the way voters viewed the current shutdown compared to how they&#8217;d viewed the 35-day shutdown – stretching from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019 — during President Trump&#8217;s first term.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This shutdown is a different world for Trump than the 2018-19 shutdown. He&#8217;s in a much better spot.
His net approval is up slightly during this shutdown vs. dropping during 2018-19.
Why? The % who blame him a great deal for the shutdown is down significantly now vs. 2018-19. <a href="https://t.co/WHEqHaqo4M">pic.twitter.com/WHEqHaqo4M</a>
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) <a href="https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1980278938044694817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Turns out shutdowns are different the second time around when it comes to Donald Trump,&#8221; Enten declared. &#8220;Take a look here: you know, we speak about Donald Trump, shutdowns, net approval rating – we&#8217;re talking 20 days into it, in 2018 slash 2019, Donald Trump&#8217;s net approval rating was already falling. The shutdown was eating into his popular support, it was down three points already at this particular point and would fall considerably more, it was very much on the decline.&#8221;
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That&#8217;s not the case 20 days into the current shutdown, Enten continued: &#8220;This shutdown hasn&#8217;t eaten into Donald Trump&#8217;s support at all! His net approval rating is actually up a point, in terms of his popular support. So the bottom line is this: the first shutdown during Trump&#8217;s first term, 2018-2019, was hurting Donald Trump. This one is not hurting him at all.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s no real reason Donald Trump might say, at least when it comes to popular support, &#8216;I want to get out of this shutdown.'&#8221;
When Berman asked about the blame for the shutdown — and who might shoulder most of it — the numbers reflected a similar shift: fewer than half of those surveyed (48%) blame President Trump for the current shutdown compared to the 61% who blamed him in 2018.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a different world,&#8221; he said.

Uh-Oh: CNN Poll Says Shutdown Is Not Playing Well For Dems, And Trump’s Doing Just Fine

CNN poll

Democrats

President Donald Trump locks in a critical deal with Australia as he presses on several foreign policy fronts, the administration ramps up the Caribbean war on drugs, and a Christian couple loses their foster care license over gender theory.
It’s Tuesday, October 21, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">White House Roundup</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-988769" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-768x433.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The weekend protesters may have cleared out, but it’s shaping up to be another wild week in Washington – with a major presidential focus on foreign policy. 
Ukraine: President Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday. While it wasn’t their most contentious meeting, Trump seems less bullish on Ukraine since his recent conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump suggested that he’s not ready yet to provide Ukraine with the Tomahawk missiles they’ve requested.
Australia: On a more positive note, Trump had a productive meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday.
The two leaders signed a critical minerals and rare earths deal. Under the agreement, the United States and Australian governments will invest more than $3 billion in critical mineral projects over the next six months, “with recoverable resources in the projects estimated to be worth $53 billion,” according to the White House.
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The deal also includes a lot of burden sharing and making new defense investments that will strengthen the alliance between the United States and Australia.
On the home front: The president recently decided to weigh in on upcoming elections. Trump made a late-breaking endorsement of Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears for Virginia governor.
The endorsement of Earle-Sears comes when the race is tightening because of a scandal lower down on the ballot with the Democratic candidate for state attorney general, Jay Jones.
In New Jersey’s gubernatorial race, Trump has endorsed Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
The New Jersey race is also tightening up significantly. Ciattarelli came close to winning in 2021. Trump endorsed him in May because Ciattarelli was in a primary battle then.
Shutdown showdown: The shutdown shows no sign of ending soon. Rumors on Capitol Hill suggest rank-and-file Democrats want to negotiate an “off-ramp” with Republicans, but no one has said what that looks like. The posture of the situation is best described as a waiting period to see what Democrats will do.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump&#8217;s War On Narco-Terrorists</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-988771" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-768x433.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The Trump administration is massively escalating its counternarcotics campaign in the Caribbean against suspected drug traffickers. 
Venezuela: The Trump administration saw the destruction that occurred to the United States under the Biden presidency when it came to opening up our borders. According to Trump, that pulled countries like Venezuela to send in prisoners, gangbangers, and narcotraffickers, and the president says he wants that to end for good.
Trump is pressuring the Maduro regime by carrying out dramatic kinetic strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and sending the message that there is a new sheriff in town.
Former DEA Attache for Venezuela Wes Tabor told The Daily Wire that the pressure is so extreme that he doesn’t see Maduro staying in power much longer.
“There&#8217;s an internal pressure that&#8217;s boiling between Nicolas Maduro and between the Estado Alliance, who is basically the head of the military and also in the Senate. And he has a lot of power with the military, whereas Maduro is the figurehead. He&#8217;s the president. Those two are battling it out right now in the country,” said Tabor.
“I&#8217;ve heard rumors from my sources in Venezuela,” he continued. “They&#8217;re saying, you know, there have been a few times that Nicolas Maduro was thinking about bugging out.”
Colombia: Trump wants Colombia to be wary of becoming the next Venezuela — signaling that the United States could take a stricter stance against Bogotá and its leadership if the government refuses to cooperate with his administration. The Colombian president is slowly chipping away at the longstanding relationship with a United States that has cracked down on cocaine production.
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Anti-Christian Foster Care Case</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-988773" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-300x168.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="168" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-300x168.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-768x431.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-1536x862.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-2048x1150.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The state of Massachusetts has revoked the license of foster parents Lydia and Heath Marvin, both Christians, after the couple refused to sign a “gender-affirming” policy. The couple is now taking legal action, claiming religious discrimination.
The Marvins: The Marvins have been fostering children since 2020, primarily infants and toddlers with medical needs or special challenges – the kind of children few homes are equipped to handle. Their record shows they accepted cases others turned down.
In April, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) revoked their fostering license. The stated reason: the Marvins declined to sign the state’s revised LGBTQ Non-Discrimination Policy — specifically a section requiring foster parents to affirm a child’s gender identity and sexual orientation.
The Marvins argue that signing would conflict with their sincerely held Christian convictions. They’ve initiated legal action, claiming religious discrimination and violation of their First Amendment rights.
The DCF: DCF officials insist their duty is to protect children. In their view, that means placing kids only in homes that will affirm their gender identity and sexual orientation.
Step back: Critics such as journalist and child-welfare expert Naomi Schaefer Riley say the state has lost sight of the bigger mission.
“A lot of these states have just really lost sight of the goal there — which should be providing as many options for safe, loving homes as possible to these kids,” Riley told The Daily Wire.
Riley, who has written extensively on family policy, says this case fits a growing national pattern where religious foster families feel pressured to abandon their beliefs or stop fostering altogether. That’s a serious problem because, according to a <a href="https://cafo.org/faith-foster-care-and-the-surprising-path-to-flourishing/#:~:text=This%20week%2C%20the%20Institute%20for,11%25)">study</a> released just last month, Christians are more than three times more likely to foster a child compared to those with no religious affiliation. They’re also more likely to adopt out of the foster care system.
It’s a trend: In Massachusetts, another couple — Mike and Kitty Burke — were rejected as foster parents last year after expressing Catholic beliefs about marriage and gender that didn’t align with the state’s policy.
And in Oregon, a woman named Jessica Bates was denied a foster license for refusing to commit to gender-affirming practices. Her case is now before a federal appeals court.
Riley says many more conflicts never make the headlines.
“Once they make clear they’re looking for parents who fit a certain mold, people of faith either violate their own principles to comply, or they just don’t sign up at all because they know the agency is going to be hostile to their religious practice,” she said.
Hope for the Marvins: One major court precedent is the 2021 Supreme Court decision Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. In that case, the court ruled that the city violated the Free Exercise Clause when it stopped contracting with Catholic Social Services because the agency wouldn’t certify same-sex couples.
The court said that because Philadelphia’s rules allowed for exceptions, the city couldn’t deny a religious exemption.
Legal analysts say the Marvin case could hinge on similar reasoning — whether Massachusetts’ policy is truly “neutral and generally applicable,” or if it targets religious beliefs.
The Marvins’ lawsuit, filed with help from Alliance Defending Freedom, is still in early stages.

MRN_251021_V1

Morning Brief: Trump Foreign Policy Blitz, War On Narco-Terrorists, & Foster Care’s Faith Problem

Australia

Colombia

Foster Care

Morning Wire

Ukraine

United States

Venezuela

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) appears to be at odds with himself over what constitutes acceptable behavior in the event of a government shutdown.
During a Sunday morning broadcast of &#8220;Meet the Press,&#8221; NBC host Kristen Welker asked Kaine about statements he&#8217;d made during a previous government shutdown in 2019 — and pressed him on the fact that he is taking a different — opposite — position just six years later.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NBC plays a clip of <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTimKaine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenTimKaine</a> in 2019 saying he&#8217;d only discuss policy after the government is re-opened.
&#8220;By your own logic, should Democrats not vote to re-open the government first and negotiate later&#8230;?&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/SenTimKaine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenTimKaine</a>: No it&#8217;s different now 🤡 <a href="https://t.co/CdwzHr04on">pic.twitter.com/CdwzHr04on</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1980017649007403177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;You know, Senator, back in 2019, you made a similar argument during that shutdown that Republicans are making now,&#8221; Welker began. &#8220;Republicans at the time were asking for more funding for a border wall. You said, &#8216;Let&#8217;s reopen the government first.'&#8221;
Welker went on to play a clip of Kaine from 2019, in which he said, &#8220;We first should reopen government. Why punish people who are applying for food stamps because the president is having a temper tantrum? Open the government first &#8230;&#8221;
&#8220;So Senator, by your own logic, should Democrats not vote to re-open the government first and negotiate later?&#8221; Welker asked.
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&#8220;Kristen, here&#8217;s what&#8217;s different now,&#8221; Kaine replied. &#8220;The president told Republicans to write this budget without any Democratic involvement.&#8221;
Kaine left out the fact that the Continuing Resolution currently on the table — which would at least temporarily reopen the government — is considered &#8220;clean,&#8221; meaning that it makes no changes from the previous spending levels.
Democrats have been holding out largely because they object to certain cuts made in the Big Beautiful Bill — most notably to provisions that would have allowed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dems-peeved-that-media-sees-through-their-no-healthcare-for-illegals-lie">illegal immigrants</a> to get health care at taxpayer expense.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It’s right there on paper.
Democrats are fighting for healthcare for illegal aliens, NOT the American people. <a href="https://t.co/HIRQyu9lZK">https://t.co/HIRQyu9lZK</a> <a href="https://t.co/qaj4KGzBIj">pic.twitter.com/qaj4KGzBIj</a>
— GOP (@GOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/GOP/status/1973800680055009462?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Kaine is not the only Democrat who&#8217;s been confronted with his own previous statements on government shutdowns either. &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221; host Margaret Brennan (CBS) pressed Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) about his previous comments — namely that government shutdowns should not be &#8220;used for hostage taking.&#8221;
&#8220;Aren&#8217;t you doing today exactly what you were criticizing then?&#8221; she asked.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
*plays clip from 2018 where <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisMurphyCT</a> says government shutdowns should never be used for hostage-taking*
CBS: &#8220;Aren&#8217;t you doing today exactly what you were criticizing then&#8230;?&#8221;
Murphy: Erm, no.
(example number one million of <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisMurphyCT</a> being a sleazy moron) <a href="https://t.co/ygJC4IdZyo">pic.twitter.com/ygJC4IdZyo</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1977397124326178971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Senate Committee Hears Testimony In Virtual Hearing From Nation’s Leading Disease Experts On Covid-19

Tim Kaine Goes Head-To-Head With … Tim Kaine On Government Shutdown Ethics

Hillary Clinton

Meet the Press

NBC News

Tim Kaine

After Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on a CNN town hall to discuss the government shutdown—and repeatedly attacked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) while issuing demands for President Donald Trump to meet—Johnson fired back, “With every ounce of Christian character that I can muster &#8230; bless her heart.”
Ocasio-Cortez accused Johnson of “choosing to punish the American people,” declaring that she would not “enable it by acquiescing and enabling the behavior of bullies.” She added, “So it ends today,” and warned, “If I were Mike Johnson, you should be in that office negotiating with Hakeem Jeffries every damn day until we reopen this government.” Ocasio-Cortez also demanded, “I will not accept a measly one-year extension of the ACA,” and argued that “health care is a human right &#8230; the minimum wage should be a living wage in this country &#8230; [and] public colleges and universities should be tuition-free.”
“Does AOC, does she have both oars in the water here, thinking that the president is going to bow down to these demands?” Fox News’ Laura Ingraham asked Johnson.
“With every ounce of Christian character that I can muster, Laura, let me just say, bless her heart,” Johnson replied. “This would be comical if it were not so dangerous. You’re looking at the two leaders of the modern Democratic Party. We say all the time, ‘This is not your father‘s party.’ It’s not. These guys are full Marxists. You hear how vapid their ideology is; what empty suits they are.”
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“But they are the leaders of the party,” he continued. “They are dragging the rest of the old guard, the old party leaders, around by the nose, and they are subservient to their wishes. Chuck Schumer has picked a fight over this very simple clean CR to just keep the government funded for 21 additional days, till November 21, seven more weeks, so we can get this appropriations process done. And the reason he did it is because he’s afraid of that voice you just heard on that stage. He’s afraid AOC  is going to challenge him.”
“There’s a rise of Marxism in the party; it’s happening in New York, in their state, and he’s terrified. That’s why everybody around the country is feeling such pain right now, because of this nonsense,” he concluded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨“Bless her heart.”
“This would be comical if it weren’t so dangerous. <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a> and her fellow Marxists are dragging the Democratic Party into chaos while Schumer panics to keep his job.” — <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpeakerJohnson</a> <a href="https://t.co/DdGQ3pAcfN">pic.twitter.com/DdGQ3pAcfN</a>
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) <a href="https://twitter.com/IngrahamAngle/status/1978972928789073984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

MixCollage-17-Oct-2025-11-26-AM-4521

‘Bless Her Heart’: Speaker Johnson Torches AOC After She Attacks Him, Makes Demands On Trump

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Bernie Sanders

Congress

House Speaker

Marxism

Mike Johnson

D.C. braces for “No Kings” protests as Democrats refuse to budge on the shutdown, two legacy media outlets face dramatic overhauls, and the largest media convention in the country uninvites two prominent conservative journalists — including one from The Daily Wire.
It’s Friday, October 17, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Democrat Shutdown Enters Day 17</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-987421" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/22No-Kings22-In-D.C-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/22No-Kings22-In-D.C-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/22No-Kings22-In-D.C-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/22No-Kings22-In-D.C-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/22No-Kings22-In-D.C-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/22No-Kings22-In-D.C.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: On Thursday, the 16th day of the current government shutdown drew comparisons to the 2013 Obamacare standoff and is fast approaching the record 35-day shutdown of 2018 over the southern border wall. With lawmakers flying home on Friday, the shutdown is guaranteed to last at least until next week. 
Both parties are standing firm. Democrats are doubling down, demanding negotiations with Republicans over healthcare, and Republicans say they want the government opened first before they’ll talk. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants to negotiate on healthcare, specifically focusing on extending the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) tax credits, which expire at the end of the year.
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The conventional wisdom in Washington is that the shutdown will drag on until President Donald Trump does something to stop it, or if rank-and-file Democrats revolt against their leadership.
Democrats in trouble: No one ever comes off good in a shutdown fight, but Republicans have managed to stay on top of this one. They’ve stuck to their messaging, and they’re making it clear that they’re going to find ways for soldiers and other essential workers to get paid even though funding has technically dried up.
Democrats seem excited about keeping things closed. Schumer caught backlash last week for saying the shutdown gets better every day.
People are starting to notice that Democrats are programming events in a way that seems to suggest they know the shutdown isn’t ending any time soon. Wednesday night’s town hall with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was scheduled days in advance, and Democrats are using this weekend’s &#8220;No Kings&#8221; protests to push their shutdown messaging.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">DEI Targeted In NBC Layoffs</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-987423" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Legacy-Media-Rebuild-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Legacy-Media-Rebuild-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Legacy-Media-Rebuild-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Legacy-Media-Rebuild-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Legacy-Media-Rebuild-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Legacy-Media-Rebuild.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Amid major shakeups across the broadcast media landscape, NBC announces it’s laying off 7% of its news staff. According to reports, diversity, equity, and inclusion roles are especially on the chopping block.
The layoffs are affecting about 150 journalists and producers out of a 2,000-person workforce. The main reason is that the company is spinning off its cable networks, such as MSNBC and CNBC, into a new entity called Versant.
NBC management says the cuts reflect redundancies tied to the reorganization. They say that many of the roles eliminated were simply shared support across NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC.
According to a report from The Wrap, DEI departments and positions are being especially targeted. The terminations are hitting the dedicated teams “covering issues affecting black, Asian American, Latino and LGBTQ+ groups” hardest.
DEI is DIEing: public opinion has shifted dramatically on DEI in the last few years.
Prior to the layoffs, NBC had teams specifically dedicated to those DEI categories, each with specialized websites called “verticals” devoted to covering topics and news relevant to them – NBC BLK for Black audiences, NBC Latino for Hispanic stories, NBC Asian America, and NBC OUT for LGBTQ+ coverage. The staff members for these verticals are almost all getting cut. Just two senior editors will remain to oversee content.
NBC says that doesn’t mean that coverage of those groups will disappear. They say the verticals, those specialized sites, will continue to publish content, but the content will be written by general reporters rather than those specialized teams.
On DEI specifically, it’s been a bloodbath throughout the news business.
During a major round of layoffs at the Los Angeles Times in January 2024, the newspaper cut the team for &#8220;De Los,&#8221; a vertical launched in 2023 to cover the Latino community, and a reporter hired specifically to cover Asian American communities.
In July 2024, CNN dismantled its “Race and Equality” team as part of a restructuring strategy. Just like with NBC, CNN said that the team would be integrated into the larger newsroom to “infuse” diversity coverage across all departments, but confirmed that the team as a distinct unit no longer existed.
DEI’s demise: The Trump administration set the tone. The president has signed multiple executive orders dismantling DEI programs throughout the federal government.
While NBC says this restructuring is to make a strategic shift to focus on streaming, it also provides the network with some distance from its cable channels, which have been roundly criticized for being overtly left-wing.
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Conservative Journalists Uninvited From MediaFest</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-987425" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Conservative-Journalists-Snubbed-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Conservative-Journalists-Snubbed-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Conservative-Journalists-Snubbed-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Conservative-Journalists-Snubbed-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Conservative-Journalists-Snubbed-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Conservative-Journalists-Snubbed.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The <a href="https://www.cjr.org/feature/student-journalism-mediafest-fraught-religion-faith-reporting.php">Columbia Journalism Review</a> published a report revealing that a supposedly non-partisan conference, MediaFest, that’s taking place this week, pulled both Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan and The Daily Signal’s Virginia Allen from the event. The reason: a student media advisor said the two women espouse anti-LGBT views.
Morning Wire spoke with Olohan and Allen about their experience being blocked from MediaFest. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.)
Morning Wire: You were abruptly uninvited to this MediaFest event – and we’re just now learning the real reason why. First, what were you there to participate in? 
Olohan: I had been asked to be on a faith panel at this event. … As a Catholic, as a reporter, someone who has covered the culture issues, I would have been talking about these issues that I&#8217;ve covered so closely, abortion, marriage, gender, family, all these different life issues. … Let&#8217;s face it, a lot of the reporters who are giving us our news right now are not currently people of faith and they&#8217;re very religiously illiterate. We could have been offering a really interesting perspective here and unfortunately we won&#8217;t be.
Morning Wire: Instead you were disinvited. Did the organizers give you a journalistic rationale for pulling you out of the event? 
Olohan: At first, they said that they had objections to our reporting and they tried to say we had accuracy issues and the articles that they had particularly objected to. … The story that they were really upset about that I wrote was an exclusive from Congressman Brandon Gill, and we wrote about legislation that he was trying to pass that would say that you could not flush aborted baby body parts into our water systems. … But at the end of the day, what we now know is that they appear to have a problem with the fact that we&#8217;re conservative journalists. We would not be pushing the ideology that they would prefer we would be pushing. At the end of the day, that seems pretty biased to me to get rid of a different perspective.
Morning Wire: As The Daily Wire noted in an editorial, while you two were excluded, the organizers had no problem inviting Nikole Hannah Jones, the radical far-Left author of The 1619 Project. The double standard is impossible to miss. Thanks, Mary Margaret. Joining us now is Virginia Allen. Now, as I understand it, you were told that you were being removed due to a report you wrote on the 13,000 missing migrant children that the Trump administration had found. What exactly was the organizers’ complaint there?
Allen: I wish I knew exactly. … I think they took issue with the fact that I had cited individuals in the Trump administration who have been very critical of the Biden administration for literally losing thousands of kids. I assume that they wanted me to also include someone from the Biden administration claiming, no, we didn&#8217;t, in fact, lose thousands of children. But by their own admission, by their own documents that came out from the Biden administration, they did in fact lose the location of unaccompanied alien children. … I think at the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that they didn&#8217;t like individuals speaking at their conference who are openly pro-life, who openly believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and who quite frankly are bold enough to sometimes report some of the good things that the Trump administration is doing for our country.
Morning Wire: The Trump administration is taking a very proactive, aggressive approach to shifting the landscape in terms of new media. Are you seeing in DC the effects of those shifts? Are there some positive signs for conservative journalists?
Allen: Oh, absolutely. … Under the Biden administration, we&#8217;re asking questions. We were sending those emails to the White House asking for comment and it was, you know, nine times out of 10 radio silence. Now, all of a sudden, we have an administration that’s willing to engage and speak to all media regardless of how big or small, leftist or conservative … and I think it&#8217;s a tone change that started in Washington, D.C., and now has rippled out across the rest of the country as more and more Americans are waking up to great news outlets like The Daily Wire, like The Daily Signal, who report fair and balanced, but are also very open about, hey, we are conservatives and we&#8217;re going to bring you the straight news and we&#8217;re not gonna put any leftist spin on it.

MRN_251017_V2

Morning Brief: Dem Shutdown Drags On, Legacy Media Targets DEI, & Conservative Journos Snubbed

The Democratic Party may be regretting a Wednesday night town hall that saw CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins moderating as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — both of whom identify as Democratic socialists — fielded questions from the public about the ongoing government shutdown.
Collins pressed Sanders on his own previous statements — namely that government shutdowns were &#8220;dangerous&#8221; to the American people because they put at risk not just those who worked for the federal government and might be furloughed, but also anyone who depended on services provided by the federal government in their daily lives.
Quoting Sanders directly, Collins said he&#8217;d referred to shutting down the government as &#8220;a serious and dangerous action that we must do everything possible to prevent,&#8221; before asking, &#8220;What would you say to people who are missing their paychecks about why it&#8217;s worth it now?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🤔 <a href="https://t.co/04CRYe4N5y">https://t.co/04CRYe4N5y</a> <a href="https://t.co/KIRQdiFH4Y">pic.twitter.com/KIRQdiFH4Y</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978631136931656039?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Sanders, who has repeatedly voted against the clean continuing resolution that would reopen the government, claimed that he and other Democrats would &#8220;do everything they can&#8221; to get the government reopened quickly.
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Collins then asked Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez to explain what the end of the shutdown looked like to them — and they laughed off the idea of taking President Donald Trump and Republicans at their word that health care would be up for negotiations. Instead, Ocasio-Cortez made it clear that she wouldn&#8217;t vote to reopen the government — despite the fact that the CR in question has already passed the House in spite of her no vote — until she saw legislation guaranteeing what she wanted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
These losers — the leaders of the Democrat Party — are not serious people. They don&#8217;t have any clue what they&#8217;re talking about other than demanding free health care for illegals to vote to re-open the government.
Shame on them. <a href="https://t.co/IdygxnEB8r">pic.twitter.com/IdygxnEB8r</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978633289742045298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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One question from a young woman in the audience pertained to social media messaging – and why Republicans seemed to be more effective at getting their points across. After a brief moment in which Sanders appeared to freeze like a deer in headlights, he claimed that Republicans were more effective in their messaging because their &#8220;friends&#8221; owned the big tech companies and controlled much of legacy media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Crazy Bernie thinks Republicans are more &#8220;effective&#8221; at messaging on social media than Democrats because tech companies and the mainstream media are in the tank for us.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 <a href="https://t.co/eHDjDdKjsm">pic.twitter.com/eHDjDdKjsm</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978635415507644451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Sanders went on to claim — with encouragement from Ocasio-Cortez — that President Donald Trump was ordering Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to enforce federal immigration policy because he wanted legal citizens to live in fear that they, too, could be plucked off the streets without any notice.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Crazy Bernie says ICE raids — in which some of the most dangerous criminals on earth have been taken off American streets — are “about a movement toward authoritarianism.”
Absolutely deranged. <a href="https://t.co/wUoaPsrk9v">pic.twitter.com/wUoaPsrk9v</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978640477168578733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Things only got worse for Sanders after that, when a member of the audience — student Rohan Naval — asked him to explain how the shutdown would ultimately reflect on Senator Chuck Schumer&#8217;s (D-NY) leadership.
&#8220;I think it reflects more on [House Speaker] Mike Johnson&#8217;s leadership,&#8221; Sanders replied, failing to mention the fact that Johnson had gotten the clean CR passed in his chamber. &#8220;And President Trump&#8217;s leadership. This is a leadership that said it&#8217;s okay to — well, how do you feel? You tell me. Do you think it&#8217;s a good idea to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the richest people in the country and then make massive cuts to health care for working-class people?&#8221;
&#8220;I think Chuck Schumer has voted for continuing resolutions 13 times in the last four years, and he has the opportunity to vote for one again, but he‘s refusing to come to the table,&#8221; Naval responded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Crazy Bernie just got wrecked on national television 🤣 <a href="https://t.co/G5Emm2gY6v">pic.twitter.com/G5Emm2gY6v</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978641695760662647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;As I have said, there are 53 Republicans in the Senate, correct? They need 60. What does that mean? It means you have to talk to the other side. Mike Johnson is not talking. John Thune is not talking. President Trump is not talking. That is the problem,&#8221; Sanders complained — but thus far, Democrats have not proposed compromises, and have instead made a list of demands that would undo provisions of duly passed legislation (the Big Beautiful Bill in particular) that they dislike.

Bernie Sanders And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Hold “Fighting Oligarchy” Rally In L.A.

Democrats Send Least Effective Messengers Possible To Defend Shutdown Stand-Off

Chuck Schumer

Schumer Shutdown

In a stunning admission that undercut weeks of Democratic spin, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) dropped a political grenade at a NewsNation town hall at the Kennedy Center this week — squarely blaming his own party for the federal government shutdown.
Fetterman didn’t mince words.
“That’s why shutting the government is really what the Democratic Party wants to do,” he told moderator Chris Cuomo to audible audience applause. “I follow country, then party. And it’s the wrong thing for the country.” He made clear he would not support using a shutdown as leverage in negotiations.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
John Fetterman just blew up Democrats&#8217; shut down narrative.
FETTERMAN: &#8220;Shutting the government is really what the Democratic Party wants to do&#8230; [Obamacare subsidies were] designed by the Democratic Party to expire &#8230; This is NOT something taken by the Republicans.” <a href="https://t.co/VE4s1LRWDE">pic.twitter.com/VE4s1LRWDE</a>
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1978654275392741722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Fetterman, one of the Senate’s most outspoken members, openly criticized Democrats for structuring the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) subsidies to expire at the end of 2025.
“This was designed by the Democratic Party to expire at the end of the year,” he said. “This is not something taken by the Republicans.” Translation: the expiration wasn’t some conservative plot — it was baked into the policy by Democrats themselves.
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He added that while he supports extending those subsidies, it should happen without holding the federal government hostage. “Let’s have a conversation to extend it and not shut the government down.”
The statement sent shockwaves through Washington and drew praise from Republicans, who quickly seized on it as validation.
“Senator John Fetterman said the quiet part out loud,” said RNC Chairman Joe Gruters. “Democrats caused this shutdown. They’re responsible for the expiration of their own policies, and now hardworking Americans are paying the price.”
This wasn’t Fetterman’s first warning shot. Back in March, he <a href="https://x.com/SenFettermanPA/status/1898012199051767997">declared</a> flatly on X: “Never, never, never vote for a shutdown — ever.” In early October, he <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/10/03/fetterman-heres-why-shutdown-is-fundamentally-wrong/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">reinforced</a> the same position: “When the Republicans were doing it, we rightly criticized them … Don’t shut it down. It’s fundamentally wrong.”
Fetterman was so committed to avoiding a shutdown that in late September, he became <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/politics/nation/john-fetterman-senate-vote-government-shutdown-20250919.html">one of three Democrats</a> in the Senate to vote for the Republican-crafted continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government running — a temporary bill that kept funding flat but didn’t address Democratic healthcare priorities. He also voted for the Democratic version, which would have extended Obamacare subsidies but failed to pass. His logic? Support both if it means avoiding chaos.
“My vote affirms that, despite their refusal to restore health care, I am unwilling to vote to shut down our government and unleash massive, national chaos,” Fetterman said at the time.
Fetterman’s move is rare in today’s polarized Senate. The Left wants to blame House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Republicans, but Fetterman’s words shredded that narrative.
In classic unfiltered fashion, Fetterman shrugged off a Trump-reposted video showing Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in a photoshopped sombrero, saying, “Somebody can put me in a sombrero and a mustache &#8230; I’ll laugh at it too.”
As Democrats head into a critical election year, one of their own just admitted: the shutdown wasn’t forced on them. They chose it.
And now they own it.

Congressional Lawmakers Continue Work On Funding Bill After Government Shuts Down

‘I Follow Country, Then Party’: Fetterman Blows The Whistle, Admits Dems Wanted The Shutdown

John Fetterman

Federal immigration agents working during the shutdown will get a paycheck.
Agents from both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol will start to receive their paychecks again and get back pay for the time they&#8217;ve worked since the shutdown began, multiple agency sources told The Daily Wire.
In a message from the National Border Patrol Council, the agency&#8217;s union, some agents were informed this week that their payday is coming.
&#8220;This is unprecedented and is due to the hard work of all federal law enforcement officers and the continued support of President Trump and his administration,&#8221; NBPC President Paul Perez wrote in the email.
Border agents also &#8220;may receive &#8216;accelerated&#8217; pay&#8221; for their next paycheck, according to the memo.
The government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-countdown-to-government-shutdown?contentProgram=SHUTDOWN%20UPDATES%3A%20Firings%20Begin%2C%20Trump%20Vows%20To%20Protect%20Military%20Pay&amp;contentType=Post&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;location=Home%20Tab&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Home%20Featured%20Carousel">shutdown</a> entered its 16th day on Thursday. Another vote to reopen the government is scheduled, but is expected to fail again.
Democrats in Congress are asking to negotiate on healthcare, while Republicans are demanding that the government be reopened before any further talks proceed.
With no end to the shutdown in sight, Border Patrol sources expressed relief at the news they&#8217;ll get paid.
Some of those agents are patrolling not only the southern and northern borders, but have also been deployed to cities like Chicago to assist ICE with President Donald Trump&#8217;s immigration enforcement efforts.
The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mexican-cartels-place-bounties-on-federal-agents-in-chicago?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Mexican+Cartels+Place+Bounties+On+Federal+Agents+In+Chicago">Chicago</a> are up against mounting threats to their lives, including bounties amounting to up to $50,000 that have been placed on their heads by local gangs and the Mexican cartels.
Those agents are taking a sigh of relief knowing they&#8217;ll get paid for their work.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a huge boost for us that this government has our backs, especially after all the stress the last administration put us through. We have been through shutdowns before, and we still come to work with pride, but I&#8217;m thankful to know we don&#8217;t have to deal with the stress of wondering how long it will be until we get paid again,&#8221; one agent told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;Getting pelted with rocks by Antifa really sucks, but it&#8217;s even worse when you&#8217;re not getting paid,&#8221; said another agent.
&nbsp;

U.S. Border Patrol

ICE, Border Patrol Agents To Be Paid Despite Democrat Shutdown In ‘Unprecedented’ Move

Border Patrol

Immigration

President Donald Trump pivots from the Middle East to peace in Ukraine, Trump intervenes to protect military paychecks amid the Democrat shutdown, and drug cartels declare “open season” on federal agents.
It’s Thursday, October 16, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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If you would rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">After Middle East Peace, Trump Turns Toward Russia</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-986667" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trump-Eyes-Ukraine-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trump-Eyes-Ukraine-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trump-Eyes-Ukraine-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trump-Eyes-Ukraine-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trump-Eyes-Ukraine-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trump-Eyes-Ukraine.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: After securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Trump has shifted his focus to the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will make his third trip to the White House on Friday since Trump began his second term. The two are expected to discuss supplying Ukraine with more powerful weapons, such as Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as additional air defenses to counter Russian bombardments.
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The United States has reportedly started to share intelligence on Russian energy infrastructure with Ukraine, increasing Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside Russian territory.
Trump pushes Putin: The U.S. president has made clear in recent months that he sees Russian President Vladimir Putin as the main obstacle to peace in the Ukraine war. The president is reportedly considering additional sanctions on Russia to increase pressure on Putin to negotiate.
“I’m very disappointed because Vladimir and I had a good relationship,” <a href="https://youtu.be/hfwxTnKt6iA?t=2418">said</a> Trump on Tuesday. “He just doesn’t want to end that war.”
View from Moscow: Moscow has said that even if Tomahawks were provided to Ukraine, that would not “change the dynamic” of the war. A Kremlin spokesman later added that the missiles would be an “extreme concern.” Putin said that he would increase Russia’s air defense, but he did not mention escalation on his end.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Shuffles Funds In Dem Shutdown To Pay Military</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-986669" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Funding-The-Frontlines-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Funding-The-Frontlines-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Funding-The-Frontlines-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Funding-The-Frontlines-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Funding-The-Frontlines-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Funding-The-Frontlines.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Two weeks into a Democrat shutdown, and now federal employees are starting to feel the effects. On Wednesday, military personnel were set to miss their first paychecks, but President Trump ordered War Secretary Pete Hegseth to find a way to keep the troops paid.
Morning Wire spoke with Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), chairman of the Republican Study Committee. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.)
Morning Wire: Now we&#8217;ve crossed one of the first thresholds for missed pay of this shutdown. There were fears that the military would miss a paycheck this week, but then Trump intervened. How did that go down? 
Pfluger: As a veteran and as somebody who served for over 20 years, this is personal to me because I saw it firsthand during previous shutdowns, where you had especially the junior enlisted personnel, those with families and young kids, some of them on food stamps. This puts them in a terrible position, and commanders, instead of focusing on the mission and the threat, readiness and lethality now have to focus on how are their men and women in uniform going to put food on the table? Thankfully, Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth came up with a plan to pay the troops and that is happening mid-month. But it doesn&#8217;t last forever, so if Democrats keep up their shenanigans and keep up the shameful approach that they&#8217;re using and showing why they don&#8217;t really like the military, then I&#8217;m not sure that they&#8217;re going to get a paycheck on the next pay period.
Morning Wire: To be clear – they managed to pay everyone this time, but this isn&#8217;t something that can continue for weeks. 
Pfluger: Yeah, they&#8217;re pulling money out of other areas. I mean, the money that they&#8217;re using to pay the troops was probably intended to go to operations or readiness or things like that. It was not the bucket that Congress appropriated for military pay, personnel pay, so this isn&#8217;t going to last forever.
Morning Wire: Is there any way that Congress could ensure going forward that this doesn&#8217;t happen again, particularly with the military? Can we put in place emergency measures for how government shutdowns affect military members?
Pfluger: I sure hope so. I think there&#8217;s an appetite for that. And I&#8217;d go a step further. I would include Border Patrol. I would include law enforcement, federal law enforcement, all the agencies that are charged with keeping us safe, national security level agencies. I&#8217;d go a step further on that. But let me just say this. Where are my Democrat colleagues on the other side of the aisle who served in uniform? Where are they right now? Why are they not standing up and taking the stand and saying enough is enough? … I&#8217;d like to see a country where we come back together and we unite and do the right thing. I thought that was going to happen after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and, obviously, it hasn’t.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">DHS Says Cartels Threaten Federal Immigration Agents</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-986671" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Cartels-Target-ICE-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Cartels-Target-ICE-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Cartels-Target-ICE-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Cartels-Target-ICE-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Cartels-Target-ICE-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Cartels-Target-ICE.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Federal immigration agents carrying out President Trump&#8217;s immigration enforcement efforts in Chicago are facing mounting threats stemming from drug cartels in Mexico, according to the Department of Homeland Security. 
Intelligence on threats is coming into federal immigration agencies daily, an agent on the ground in Chicago told The Daily Wire. Mexican drug cartels are recruiting and operating within the city of Chicago to go after ICE and Border Patrol agents. 
DHS says cartels are offering up to $50,000 in bounties for the heads of federal officers. On top of that, they are recruiting leftist, anti-ICE agitators who have already been out in the streets, and they’re asking them to help.
According to DHS, cartels are placing armed spotters on top of rooftops in areas where ICE agents are making arrests, and the spotters mark the coordinates of ICE officers and Border Patrol agents and relay their whereabouts.
The threats: The latest allegedly involved a Latin Kings gang member. A leader of that gang was nabbed by the federal authorities in Chicago. He is accused of placing a bounty on the head of Operation Midway Blitz, Chief Gregory Bovino.
On Tuesday, Border Patrol agents were rammed by an illegal alien driver who also had an illegal alien passenger in his car. That brought an anti-ICE riot mob to one of the quiet neighborhoods in Chicago.
The riot forced federal authorities to deploy tear gas. Federal officials were targeted with rocks and other objects.
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MRN_251016_V1

Morning Brief: Trump’s Peace Plan Pivot, Troops Paid In Dem Shutdown, & Cartel Targets ICE Agents

Cartels

Department of Defense

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Military

Russia

Vladimir Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Wednesday <a href="https://x.com/AmberJoCooper/status/1978559530712887604">addressed</a> the ongoing government shutdown, calling Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer a &#8220;loser.&#8221;
&#8220;This is a Democrat Schumer shutdown and he’s trying to do it to get relevance back into the party because he’s a loser,&#8221; Trump said during an Oval Office press conference.
The president added that he has known Schumer &#8220;all his life.&#8221;
&#8220;He’s always been sort of a loser — but an intelligent one. I think he’s losing IQ points with time,” he continued.
Trump said that he hopes not to follow Schumer down this path, but added that, if it did, he’s confident the media would be quick to report it.
As of Wednesday, the government shutdown had entered its 15th day, with no indication of ending any time soon. In the afternoon, the Senate voted again to block the House-passed continuing resolution to reopen the government.
The vote was 51-44. The resolution needs 60 votes to pass.
Before the vote on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said if necessary, they would vote again on Thursday.
There is growing speculation that the shutdown may not end until after the nationwide “No Kings” protests scheduled for this Saturday.
The protest is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mike-johnson-says-dems-wont-end-shutdown-until-after-no-kings-protest-internal-docs-show-he-may-be-right?author=Amber+Jo+Cooper&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Mike+Johnson+Says+Dems+Won%E2%80%99t+End+Shutdown+Until+After+%E2%80%98No+Kings%E2%80%99+Protest.+Internal+Docs+Show+He+May+Be+Right.">reportedly</a> described as a “peaceful national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson told <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1976625782077227332">Fox News</a> that Democrats are holding off until then, and he &#8220;can&#8217;t believe they&#8217;re actually doing this.&#8221;
&#8220;They have a Hate America rally scheduled for Oct. 18 on the National Mall. It&#8217;s all the Pro-Hamas wing, the Antifa people, they&#8217;re all coming out,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;It&#8217;s being told to us that they won&#8217;t be able to reopen the government until after that rally because they can&#8217;t face their rabid base.&#8221;

Senators Meet For Their Weekly Policy Luncheons

Trump: Schumer Is A ‘Loser’ Using The Shutdown In A Bid To ‘Get Relevance Back’

John Thune

In Washington, D.C., a politician’s words don’t count for much. What counts are their actions, and who benefits from them.
When you look behind the spin and empty talking points, illegal aliens and big insurance companies benefit most from the Democrats’ ongoing filibuster of the budget and government shutdown.
First, illegal aliens and other non-citizens stand to gain roughly <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-memo-says-democrats-plan-could-spend-200b-healthcare-illegal-immigrants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$200 billion</a> in welfare benefits under Democrat proposals to cancel reforms passed by Republicans earlier this year.
Congress had to close Obama and Biden-era loopholes that provided welfare to illegal aliens, including bonus money for <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/10/fact-democrats-shut-down-government-over-free-healthcare-for-illegals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">illegal aliens</a>’ “emergency” Medicaid, ObamaCare <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/10/fact-democrats-shut-down-government-over-free-healthcare-for-illegals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funding</a> for non-citizens, lax oversight that let illegal aliens enroll with <a href="https://thefga.org/research/loopholes-fueling-illegal-alien-medicaid-obamacare-benefits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stolen identities</a>, and the “<a href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-moves-shut-down-medicaid-loophole-protects-vulnerable-americans-saves-billions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California loophole</a>,” which forced federal taxpayers to fund blue states’ welfare spending on illegal aliens.
All told, the Democrats’ plans would put taxpayers back on the hook for billions in welfare for illegal aliens, and they’re willing to shut down the government to get it.
The second beneficiary of the Democrats’ shutdown is the big insurance companies.
That’s thanks to one of President Joe Biden’s COVID-era bonus programs: a temporary policy to expand ObamaCare subsidies to insurance companies — more recently known as “<a href="https://paragoninstitute.org/private-health/the-great-obamacare-enrollment-fraud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Great ObamaCare Enrollment Fraud</a>.”
During COVID, Democrats significantly increased taxpayer-funded Obamacare subsidies at every level, including those who make up to <a href="https://thefga.org/research/bidens-covid-credits-are-obamacare-expansion-congress-should-allow-expire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">half a million dollars</a>. For the typical enrollee, taxpayers paid 100% of the premiums for a platinum-plus plan that had no deductible and few copays.
At the time, Biden’s COVID bonus was sold as a temporary boost with an expiration date — December 31, 2025 — a date unilaterally <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2022420" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chosen</a> and <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00325.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreed to</a> by the<a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48290#:~:text=The%20Fiscal%20Year%20(FY)%202022%20Budget%20Reconciliation%20Law%20(P.L.%20117%2D169)%20extended%20the%20ARPA%20provision%20for%20three%20additional%20tax%20years%2C%202023%20through%202025." target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Democrats</a> in charge.
These are the credits the Democrats just shut down the government to protect.
The problem is: low-income workers aren’t the biggest beneficiaries of this plan. Insurance companies are.
The Obamacare tax credits are sent every month directly to the insurance company, regardless of what plan the enrollee chooses, and regardless of whether the enrollee uses them. Unsurprisingly, the most generous plans are selected the most often: platinum-plus. The average annual subsidy for this group has risen to about <a href="https://www.cms.gov/data-research/statistics-trends-reports/marketplace-products/2025-marketplace-open-enrollment-period-public-use-files" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$7,500 per person,</a> from the taxpayers’ pockets straight to the insurance companies’ bottom lines.
That didn’t just incentivize sign-ups — it turbocharged fraud.
Today, the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services reports a <a href="https://www.cms.gov/files/document/cms-9884-f-2025-pi-rule-master-5cr-062025.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">greater number of sign-ups</a> than the entire population of eligible Americans. Somehow, these Obamacare subsidies are being used by more enrollees than exist in the entire eligibility pool — and in some states, enrollment is five times the number of eligible enrollees.
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a>
Insurance brokers and agents are paid a commission on sign-ups no matter how they were generated. That means taxpayer money is rewarding <a href="https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/social-media-ads-health-insurance-scams-37d1ecfa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open fraud</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/social-media-ads-health-insurance-scams-37d1ecfa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stolen identities</a>, and people being signed up or switched <a href="https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/social-media-ads-health-insurance-scams-37d1ecfa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">without their knowledge or permission</a>.
As further proof of fraud, a stunning <a href="https://thefga.org/research/bidens-covid-credits-are-obamacare-expansion-congress-should-allow-expire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">40%</a> of zero-premium enrollees made no health-care claims at all in 2024 — no doctor visit, no lab tests, no prescriptions filled. The number of no-claim enrollees has increased more than sixfold since 2020.
Altogether, taxpayers are now sending more than $53 billion every year directly to insurance companies for people who never use these plans, don&#8217;t know they have them, or don&#8217;t even exist.
Still, congressional Democrats are so committed to protecting this taxpayer giveaway that they shut down the government to demand its extension.
Even when these credits do expire, taxpayers will still cover more than 90% of the premiums. The average enrollee will pay only $3 to $14 per week for platinum-plus plans.
The voters saw through this nonsense when they gave Republicans their majorities in Congress — in no small part because of their pledges on government spending and illegal immigration.
So why would Republicans cave on both issues today, simply to save the Democrats from having to eat their words?
Jonathan Ingram is the Vice President of Policy and Research at the Foundation for Government Accountability.
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Who Benefits From Democrats’ Shutdown Plan? Illegal Aliens And Big Insurance

Illegal Immigation

Obamacare

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