Hamas responded Friday to President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip, agreeing to give up power and release all remaining hostages, but the group said that other elements require further consultations among Palestinians.
Trump’s peace plan has been accepted by Israel and was welcomed internationally after it was unveiled alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.
Earlier on Friday, Trump threatened
Hamas will suffer more attacks if it did not agree. Trump said on social media, “Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas.”
The latest:
Hamas said Friday that it has accepted some elements of U.S. President Trump’s plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip, including giving up power and releasing all remaining hostages, but that others require further consultations among Palestinians.
The statement came hours after Trump said that Hamas must agree to the deal by Sunday evening, threatening an even greater military onslaught nearly two years into the war sparked by the Oct. 7 attack into Israel. It was unclear how the U.S. and Israel would respond to partial acceptance.
Trump appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday. His peace plan has been accepted by Israel and welcomed internationally, but key mediators Egypt and Qatar have said some elements need further negotiation, without elaborating.
House Speaker Mike Johnsons announced that the chamber would close for legislative business next week, a move meant to force the Senate to work with the government funding bill that has been passed by House Republicans.
During the House’s pro-forma session Friday, the speaker moved to make next week a district work period.
Asked whether he was concerned that health insurance premiums may rise in his state should Affordable Care Act subsidies lapse, Thune replied: “I’m always worried about anything going on in my state. Inflation is always a big issue. But again, I don’t think it’s absolutely a bad policy.”
“That doesn’t mean it can’t be reformed or fixed, it can. But we can’t get to that conversation until we get the government back into place,” he added.
Asked about his whereabouts for the weekend, Thune said: “I’m flying back to South Dakota, but I’ll be available!”
“We had a brief chat on the floor and I’ve chatted with some other members on their side of the aisle,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said of conversations he’s had with Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Senate Democrats.
“I think that the path forward on this is more likely to be achieved with rank and file members who actually want to have an appropriations process, want us to get back on track on the calendar legislatively,” said Thune as he left the Senate floor.
“I understand the predicament but we’ve got to get the government opened up or else we can’t get anything else done around here,” said Thune.
President Trump says he has personally reversed $187 million in funding cuts made by his administration for New York’s law enforcement and counterterrorism operations.
The restoration, which the Republican announced on Truth Social Friday, follows a bipartisan outcry from New York officials who said the original decision by the Department of Homeland Security to cut the funds put New Yorkers and Americans in danger.
Trump said on social media it was his “honor” to reverse the cuts.
He had heard complaints about the reductions from both Democrats and Republicans representing New York. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said they represented an 86% of homeland security funding to the state, impacting the New York City police and fire departments, state police and other law enforcement agencies.
Republican U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, the only Republican representing New York City in Congress, said she had spoken with Trump about the cuts, which she called a “terrible idea.”
A fired national security prosecutor has written colleagues a letter saying he’s “disappointed” to be leaving his job but even more distressed by what’s happened to the office where he works.
Michael Ben’Ary was fired on Wednesday from his job running the national security section in the prestigious Eastern District of Virginia. The termination came hours after Julie Kelly, a conservative writer and activist, shared online that he previously worked as senior counsel to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco during the Biden administration.
Kelly’s post speculated that Ben’Ary may have been part of the “internal resistance” in the office to the recently charged case against FBI Director James Comey. But Ben’Ary played no role in the Comey case.
In a letter to colleagues, Ben’Ary said the decision to fire career prosecutors and agents puts national security at risk and shows that the Justice Department’s leadership is more interested in punishing perceived enemies than it is in keeping the public safe.
He also noted that his firing will “hurt” the case against a suspected planner in the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan. Ben’Ary was helping prosecute that case in Virginia and preparing for it to go to trial.
Democrats refused to budge in a Senate vote and President Trump readied plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government.
On the third day of the shutdown, a Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would reopen the government fell well short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation. Senators were expected to depart for the weekend, and there have been few signs of any real progress towards ending the congressional standoff.
The Smithsonian Institution including all its museums will remain open at least through Oct. 11 amid an ongoing federal government shutdown.
Museums, research centers and the National Zoo were originally projected to only be able to operate through Saturday using prior-year funding.
The extension was posted Friday on the Smithsonian website.
The Smithsonian, the National Museum of African American History & Culture, has been targeted by the Trump administration for programs that advance “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.”
The vote to advance a GOP bill to reopen the government isn’t over, but senators are already heading for the exits of the Capitol.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he will give Democrats the weekend to think over their stance, but there have been few signs of meaningful progress to ending the impasse.
The bill was poised to fail Friday afternoon as over 40 senators have already voted against it. The Senate’s filibuster rules require at least 60 senators to vote to advance the legislation to a final vote.
“We’ve got to do something to make sure the premiums don’t essentially double, which they will in my state,” said the Missouri Republican, referencing ongoing discussions about extending the ACA tax credits. “We just can’t allow that to happen.”
“That’s a lot of Missourians that will not be able to afford healthcare. So we have to do something about it,” said Hawley.
Some Republicans have said they will address the expiring ACA tax credits once the government reopens. Hawley said they need to be addressed “as soon as possible.”
The Senate is now voting on whether to advance legislation known as a continuing resolution that would reopen the government. The bill has already passed the House, but Senate Democrats have almost all held out against voting for it.
The Senate’s filibuster rules make it necessary for the government funding legislation to gain support from at least 60 of the 100 senators. That’s given Democrats a rare opportunity to use their 47 Senate seats to hold out in exchange for policy concessions.
“These aren’t serious individuals. They want to keep the government shut down,” the Democratic leader said during a Friday press conference.
Jeffries leveled a litany of critiques of President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans. He added that President Trump “has behaved in a deeply unserious and deeply unhinged manner, and it’s evidence of the fact that Republican have a weak argument.”
Jeffries reiterated Democrats’ position that an extension of Affordable Care Act healthcare subsidies would be necessary for any budget to reopen the government.
“Everyone is about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles because of the Republican health care crisis. Everyone,” he warned.
Jeffries said that he had not spoken with House Speaker Mike Johnson about a potential delay in the House returning next week but said he “expects” the current schedule for lawmakers to hold.
“I’m ready to talk to Mike Johnson, John Thune, the President, the Vice President, or any member of the Trump administration with any authority, anytime, anyplace, anywhere,” Jeffries told reporters.
As senators vote for a fourth time on legislation to fund the government, plenty of chats between Republicans and Democrats are unfolding on the Senate floor.
The more moderate senators have become a key part of the effort to unlock the impasse in the Senate and conversations have unfolded between Sens. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat.
During previous government funding votes earlier this week, senators engaged in long, intense talks. So far today, there’s more of a casual atmosphere in the Senate chamber as the lawmakers settle in for what’s likely to be at least several more days of a government shutdown.
After opening the briefing by claiming that “the Democrats continue to recklessly hold the American people hostage over their demands to give illegal aliens free health care,” Leavitt was asked to explain the disconnect between this claim and the existing law that prevents people in the U.S. illegally from receiving federally-funded health care.
Leavitt responded that “Democrats’ proposal would require Medicaid to pay more for emergency care provided to illegal aliens than Medicaid does for American patients who are disabled, elderly, or children.”
Hospitals receive Medicaid reimbursements — which would be reduced under Trump’s bill — for emergency care that they are obligated by federal law to provide to people who meet other Medicaid eligibility requirements but do not have an eligible immigration status. These payments do not go directly to patients and such spending accounted for less than 1% of total Medicaid spending between fiscal years 2017 and 2023.
The Senate is voting on whether to advance to a vote on a government funding bill that is being put forward by Democrats. It is expected to fail.
Senate Democrats are using the legislation as an alternative to Republicans’ bill. Besides reopening the government, it would undo many of the changes to Medicaid that were enacted this summer by President Donald Trump’s tax cut and spending law.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly pointed to the Democratic bill as proof that Democrats are injecting unreasonable partisan priorities into the government funding fight, but Democrats are not seriously demanding that the bill be passed. Instead, they want Congress to take up an extension of tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans.
The Puerto Rican superstar is slated to perform at the next Super Bowl.
The announcement angered some conservatives, who dislike Bad Bunny’s criticism of Trump’s deportation policies.
Asked for the White House’s opinion, Leavitt said Trump may have more to say at some point.
“I won’t get ahead of him,” she said. “I won’t reveal what he feels about this.”
The White House says almost 70 percent of their employees are still reporting for duty as the government shutdown continues.
Of the 1,733 people employed by the Executive Office of the President, 554 are being furloughed, according to the White House’s shutdown contingency plans. That means 1,179 are coming to work, which is about 68 percent of the total staff.
The 1,179 coming to work are either designated as essential during a shutdown, are in positions that are funded through other avenues, or for other reasons.
Of the 1,179 still working during a shutdown, 863 are considered “necessary to perform activities necessarily implied by law,” and another 183 are deemed “necessary to the discharge of the president’s constitutional duties and powers.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino were filmed Friday watching from the roof of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Broadview, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago, as protesters gathered below, according to footage shared online by conservative media personality Benny Johnson.
Noem was surrounded by armed agents and a camera crew while standing beside a sniper set-up. Noem was also present at a Friday morning raid at a Chicago Walmart, according to Johnson’s videos.
Some protesters have aimed to block vehicles from going in or out of the area in recent weeks, part of growing pushback to a surge of immigration enforcement that began in early September. Federal agents have repeatedly fired tear gas, pepper balls and other projectiles toward crowds and at least five people have faced federal charges after being arrested in those clashes.
Bovino, who led the recent immigration crackdown in Los Angeles, could be seen driving in the passenger seat of a Border Patrol vehicle leaving the facility amid protests Friday morning. He announced in September that he had arrived in Chicago, on the same day Noem confirmed she was in the nation’s third-largest city and posted videos of armed agents making multiple arrests.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday lashed out at the treatment President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is meting out to protestors at a suburban Chicago immigration station.
Through a spokesperson, the Democrat said that federal authorities “are acting with impunity” at the president’s direction outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview. He said the “inhumane” tactics of the masked officials include rough treatment of protesters, arresting a reporter and firing chemical agents into the crowds.
Pritzker said the newly established “unified command” of the Illinois State Police, Cook County Sheriff’s Department and others which is staffing Broadview will control crowds while ensuring protesters their First Amendment right to free speech.
“They show their faces, they have proper identification, and they are accountable to the people of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “It is clear federal agents cannot be trusted to act to protect the safety and constitutional rights of the public.”
The White House said Friday that the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a generic form of mifepristone was just following the law and not a sign of support for the abortion pill.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted that the FDA and Health and Human Services was merely following the law.
The decision is “not an endorsement of this drug by any means,” Leavitt said.
The approval has drawn fire from conservatives. Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president from his first term, said the approval was a “complete betrayal of the pro-life movement that elected President Trump.”
Leavitt said Sortor was “defending himself” from left-wing protestors in Portland, and she criticized police for arresting “a journalist who was there to document the chaos.”
She said there would be a “full investigation” by the Department of Justice, and Trump asked advisers to review wants to cut federal funding for the Democratic-run city.
The White House began its press briefing on Friday by rattling off the various consequences of the shutdown that were already hitting Americans.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt discussed a report that said military families are already seeking food aid as troops go without a paycheck.
Leavitt said Trump supports the idea of making sure they’re cared for, and “if Democrats believe in this very simple premise too, they should end this shutdown immediately.”
Other impacts Leavitt discussed were the halting of nutrition assistance for women, infants and children, air traffic controllers working without pay, and a lapsing federal flood insurance program.
“This madness must end,” Leavitt said.
Drafts of the design were confirmed by the U.S. Treasury.
The $1 coin would be minted to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary.
The design shows the side of Trump’s face on the front and another image of him raising his fist with an American flag on the back.
“Argentina gets $20 billion and the South Side gets nothing. What happened to America First?” Brandon Johnson said in a statement.
He was responding to what he called a “politically motivated decision” by Trump’s budget office to withhold $2.1 billion in federal funding for transit improvements in Chicago.
Johnson said the Red Line extension of the city’s famous elevated train line had promised 25,000 jobs, and that it was something residents in disadvantaged and predominantly Black communities had been awaiting for more than 50 years.
“We are calling for these cuts to be immediately reversed, and we will use every tool at our disposal to restore this funding,” Johnson said. “Chicagoans have waited far too long to turn back now.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday he ordered a fourth strike on a small boat in the waters off Venezuela, according to a social media post.
In his post, Hegseth said “our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route.”
The strike comes less than a day after it was revealed that President Trump declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and declared that the United States is now in an “armed conflict” with them, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune says that he’s open to talking with Democrats about their demand to extend tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans, but he’s not making commitments until they vote to open the government back up.
“That’s not something that we can guarantee that there are the votes there to do,” Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said during a news conference at the Capitol.
The Senate is headed towards another vote on funding the government Friday, but Thune did not sound optimistic that there would be a breakthrough with Democrats.
