Donald Trump has blamed Democrats for stalled talks that have made a US government shut down all but certain, and has threatened to punish the party and its voters during any stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.<\/p>\n
Late on Tuesday Senate Democrats voted down a Republican bill to keep funding the government, putting it on a near certain path to a shutdown after midnight Wednesday for the first time in almost seven years. Democrats refused to vote for<\/a> the bill unless it included a series of concessions centred on healthcare.<\/p>\n After the vote, the White House\u2019s Office of Management and Budget issued a memo saying that \u201caffected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected. And they\u2019re Democrats, they\u2019re going to be Democrats,\u201d Trump said at an earlier White House event. The president added that a \u201clot of good can come down from shutdowns\u201d and suggested he would use the pause to \u201cget rid of a lot of things we didn\u2019t want, and they\u2019d be Democrat things\u201d.<\/p>\n US heads toward first government shutdown in nearly seven years<\/p>\n Trump on Tuesday said a government shutdown was \u201cprobably likely\u201d after talks among congressional leaders on continuing funding appeared to yield little progress before a midnight deadline.<\/p>\n Democrats are demanding an extension of premium tax credits<\/a> for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans, which expire at the end of the year. They also want to undo Republican cuts to Medicaid, the program providing healthcare to poor and disabled Americans, and public media outlets.<\/strong><\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Federal agencies blame Democrats for looming shutdown in apparent Hatch Act violation<\/p>\n Several US federal agencies on Tuesday began blaming Democrats<\/a> for an impending government shutdown, in a move that experts say appears to violate the Hatch Act, which limits the political activities of government employees.<\/p>\n Some agencies reportedly sent emails to employees on Tuesday afternoon, while others posted public statements faulting Democrats, the \u201cradical left\u201d and \u201cradical liberals in Congress\u201d for a potential government shutdown at midnight.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Trump defends troops in US cities after Hegseth decries military DEI efforts<\/p>\n At an address of assembled generals and admirals, Pete Hegseth<\/a>, the US defense secretary, outlined changes to military policy and philosophy in a set of 10 directives meant to change organizational culture around fitness, race and gender, describing the previous state of military affairs as the \u201cwoke department\u201d.<\/p>\n Donald Trump<\/a> followed Hegseth\u2019s call to embrace the virtues of lethality as a doctrine with a suggestion buried in an hour-long campaign-style speech that the gathering of officers and senior enlisted advisers should consider targeting US cities and civilian populations as a training exercise.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Trump gives Hamas \u2018three or four days\u2019 to respond to Gaza plan<\/p>\n Donald Trump has given Hamas an ultimatum of \u201cthree or four days\u201d to respond to his proposed peace and reconstruction plan in Gaza, warning the militant group would \u201cpay in hell\u201d if it rejects the deal, as the Israeli offensive continued, inflicting further civilian casualties.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Trump says $500m deal reached with Harvard to settle dispute<\/p>\n Donald Trump has said said his administration had reached a deal with Harvard and that the school would pay $500m to settle the dispute between the federal government and the university.<\/p>\n \u201cLinda is finishing up the final details,\u201d Trump told reporters at an event in the Oval Office, referring to Linda McMahon, the education secretary. \u201cAnd they\u2019ll be paying about $500m and they\u2019ll be operating trade schools. They\u2019re going to be teaching people how to do AI and lots of other things, engines, lots of things.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Judge rules against policy to deport pro-Palestinian students<\/p>\n A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration<\/a>\u2019s policy to detain and deport foreign scholars over their pro-Palestinian views violates the US constitution and was designed to \u201cintentionally\u201d chill free speech rights.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Trump announces deal with Pfizer to lower drug prices<\/p>\n Donald Trump<\/a> announced on Tuesday that Pfizer<\/a>, the prescription drug manufacturer, has agreed to offer medications at \u201cheavily discounted prices\u201d through a website operated by the federal government.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n What else happened today:<\/p>\n