October 2025 EVENTS

The US federal government shut down at midnight after a deadlocked Congress failed to reach a deal on funding.

This means that federal workers will be unpaid during this time, although Congress will still be paid, and only federal agencies and activities deemed essential are still open.

Senators are leaving town until Friday, meaning the government will be shut down at least until then, though it will likely last longer.

Republicans on Capitol Hill want Congress to pass a short-term funding bill without any additional add-ons to keep the government funded at FY2024 levels through Nov. 20.

Democrats want to use the funding deadline as leverage to secure health care-related wins and to restore cuts to Medicaid made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Republicans passed in July. 

Democrats outlined health care provisions in their counter proposal that was rejected by the Senate last week – including the expansion of expiring Obamacare tax credits for federally backed health insurance premiums and the reversal of the Medicaid cuts that were signed into law under Trump’s megabill in July.

The world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91, her institute has said.

She died of natural causes while in California as part of a US speaking tour.

Born in London in 1934, Goodall began researching free-living chimpanzees in Tanzania in 1960. In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which works to protect the species and supports youth projects aimed at benefiting animals and the environment.

She was considered the leading expert on chimpanzees, her career spanning more than 60 years. Her research was pivotal in proving the similarities in primate and human behavior.

Overnight on Tuesday, Sept. 30, federal agents from different agencies raided an apartment building on the South Side of Chicago. Armed federal agents in military fatigues busted down doors, pulling men, women and children, some of them reportedly naked, from their apartments, residents and witnesses told the Chicago Sun-Times.

ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later.

DHS said 37 people were arrested.

Federal agents used flashbang grenades to burst through the building and several drones and helicopters were deployed, neighbors told the Sun-Times.

"They just treated us like we were nothing," Fisher said.

Another person shared, “As I got to my unit to stick my key in the door, I was grabbed by an officer. And, I said, 'What's going on? What's going on?' He never actually told me. He said I was being detained.”

Neighbors like Eboni Watson say they ducked for cover as they heard several flash bangs.

"They was terrified. The kids was crying. People was screaming. They looked very distraught. I was out there crying when I seen the little girl come around the corner, because they was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other," Watson said. "That's all I kept asking. What is the morality? Where's the human? One of them literally laughed. He was standing right here. He said, 'f*** them kids.'

A witness shared that trucks and military-styled vans were used to keep parents and their kids separate. “They had the Black people in one van, and the immigrants in another van,” one person also remarked.

Destruction was left behind inside the apartment complex, with doors blown off their hinges and holes left in the walls.

The FBI confirmed on Tuesday morning that they were helping U.S. Border Patrol carry out a targeted immigration enforcement operation in the area, adding that they have been supporting these efforts at the U.S. attorney general's direction.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have condemned the federal response, saying it is not making the city safer.

Jane Fonda has relaunched the Committee for the First Amendment, the McCarthy-era initiative started by her father, Henry Fonda.

The committee, established to protect free speech from government censorship, has the support of over 550 entertainment figures, including: Quinta Brunson, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Natalie Portman, Aaron Sorkin, Spike Lee, Pedro Pascal, Ben Stiller, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Penn, John Legend, Damon Lindelof, Julianne Moore, Janelle Monáe, Barbra Streisand, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ethan Hawke, Billie Eilish, Anjelica Huston and Judd Apatow.

“The McCarthy Era ended when Americans from across the political spectrum finally came together and stood up for the principles in the Constitution against the forces of repression,” Fonda said in a statement.

 “Those forces have returned. And it is our turn to stand together in defense of our constitutional rights.

We refuse to stand by and let that happen,” she continued. “Free speech and free expression are the inalienable rights of every American of all backgrounds and political beliefs – no matter how liberal or conservative you may be. The ability to criticize, question, protest, and even mock those in power is foundational to what America has always aspired to be.”

The original committee was co-founded by Henry Fonda in the 1940s, in response to the House un-American activities committee, which derailed or ended many careers by accusing entertainment figures of being communist sympathizers.

In a letter encouraging her peers to join the initiative, Fonda stated “I’m 87 years old. I’ve seen war, repression, protest, and backlash. I’ve been celebrated, and I’ve been branded an enemy of the state.”

“But I can tell you this: this is the most frightening moment of my life,” she added. “When I feel scared, I look to history. I wish there were a secret playbook with all the answers – but there never has been. The only thing that has ever worked – time and time again – is solidarity: binding together, finding bravery in numbers too big to ignore, and standing up for one another.”

30-35 ICE Agents carried out a raid outside a homeless shelter in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on Wednesday morning, detaining four people without any warrants. 

According to FOX 32 Chicago, the incident happened around 9 a.m. CST, when about seven unmarked SUVs arrived at the shelter, which is run by the Bright Star Community Development Corporation. 

Executive Director Caryl West said “[The agents] jumped out, exited and there were about 20 residents, maybe, outside here, and they immediately gave chase,” West said. “They did not present warrants or ask if they could speak to any residents. They just showed up.” 

Officials at the shelter reported that five people were initially detained, and only one was later released. Surveillance video and Facebook Live footage from Pastor Harris captured the scene. 

WBEZ Chicago reports that the FAA has set a 12-day restriction against private drones based on a request from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. An FAA alert on the restriction says the restrictions are for “special security reasons” without further explanation.

The restricted flying zone, which started on Oct. 1 and expires Oct. 12, covers a 15-nautical-mile radius emanating from Downtown Chicago, reaching as far north as suburban Winnetka, west beyond Interstate 294, and as far south as suburban Dolton.

“I’ve been watching aviation for decades and don’t remember an action quite like this,” said Joseph Schwieterman, a transit expert and editor of DePaul University’s Issues in Aviation Law & Policy Journal.

The drone restrictions in Chicago were set the day after U.S. Border Patrol agents rappelled from Black Hawk military helicopters onto the roof of a South Shore apartment building and arrested more than 30 people. Residents of the building told the Sun-Times Wednesday that authorities also used drones in the operation.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois blasted the flight restrictions as an apparent attempt by the Trump administration to limit the public and media’s ability to monitor federal immigration activity.

“When redressing claims of the use of excessive force and other abuses by ICE and other Administration agents, video footage gathered by individuals and the media has been crucial,” Edwin Yohnka, ACLU Illinois’ director of communications and public policy, said in a statement.

“This broad limitation over such a giant swath of the Chicagoland area suggests that ICE intends (as we recently saw) to use their own drones and helicopters for immigration enforcement action,” Yohnka said. “Using these military tactics without appropriate oversight and accountability is dangerous to the people targeted in these actions and the entire community.”

A new Netflix posthumous interview series has launched, with the first episode focusing on celebrated primatologist and environmental activist Dr. Jane Goodall, following her death last week. 

“Absolutely, there are people I don’t like, and I would like to put them on one of (Elon) Musk’s spaceships and send them all off to the planet he’s sure he’s going to discover,” Goodall said in the interview. 

“Who’s on the spaceship? “Along with Musk would be Trump and some of Trump’s real supporters. And then I would put Putin in there, and I would put President Xi. I’d certainly put Netanyahu in there and his far-right government. Put them all on that spaceship and send them off.”

Newly-released video shows a federal agent firing pepper balls at protesters outside the ICE processing center in the Chicago suburb of Broadview last month, striking Pastor David Black of the First Presbyterian Church in the head as he was praying.

The footage, captured by Kelly Hayes via Storyful on Sept. 19, shows protesters standing outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility shouting toward three agents stationed on the roof.

One of the agents begins firing pepper balls and hits Pastor Black in the head. Black then falls to the ground as others come to his aid.

Witnesses stated that the agents laughed after the pastor was struck.

The U.S. Treasury finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with Argentina and bought pesos in the open market on Thursday, announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on social media.

"Instead of using our dollars to buy Argentine pesos, Donald Trump should help Americans afford health care," Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on social media in response to the announcement.

The value of the peso has declined sharply in recent months, while investors have been dumping Argentine stocks and bonds.

Bessent said in a statement that the success of Argentina's "reform agenda" was of "systemic importance".

"A strong, stable Argentina which helps anchor a prosperous Western Hemisphere is in the strategic interest of the United States," he added. "Their success should be a bipartisan priority."

In a social media post, Argentina’s President Milei thanked Trump and Bessent for support.

"Together, as the closest of allies, we will make a hemisphere of economic freedom and prosperity," he said.

Argentina has defaulted on its debt three times since 2001, including most recently in 2020.

Milei has been positioning himself as a Trump-like figure, complete with "Make Argentina Great Again" rhetoric, winning admiration from conservatives in the US. He has met repeatedly with Trump, with another visit expected next week.

Bessent had previously pushed back at suggestions that the support amounted to a bailout for the Trump administration's "billionaire buddies".

New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted Thursday in Alexandria, Virginia, as Trump’s Justice Department continues to pursue charges against his opponents.

Thursday’s indictment focused on a 2020 mortgage for a property in Norfolk.

The grand jury returned two felony charges: bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. James’ first court appearance is scheduled for October 24 in Norfolk.

According to the indictment, James claimed on mortgage paperwork that a home she purchased in Norfolk would be her second residence. That claim allowed her to get favorable loan terms not available for investment properties, prosecutors say.

But, prosecutors allege, James did not use the house and instead rented the property to a family of three. 

Prosecutors allege James received improper gains of $18,933 over the life of the loan.

The charges come as Trump continues to call for his enemies to be prosecuted in court. 

“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,” James said in a statement.

“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” she added. “The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties.”

Letitia James successfully prosecuted Trump in 2024, finding he lied for years about his wealth on financial statements he used to secure loans and make deals as he built the real estate empire that vaulted him to fame and the presidency. The judge ordered the former president to fork over $355 million of his fortune, plus interest.

Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman shot multiple times by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents was recently indicted by a grand jury on federal charges of impeding a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

Prosecutors allege Martinez rammed the vehicle of federal agents with her vehicle before they shot her, claiming it was self-defense and that she was armed.

Martinez’s lawyer, Christopher Parente, said footage from one of the agent’s body-worn cameras contradicted that account, and Martinez will plead not guilty at an arraignment scheduled in the coming days.

According to Parente, that camera footage captured one of the officers saying, “Do something, bitch,” before opening fire.

The footage has not yet been made public.

Another person, 21-year-old Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, was also indicted on Thursday in the same case.

Federal agents allege that Martinez was involved in a vehicle chase before ramming a CBP vehicle. Authorities claim that a government vehicle carrying three CBP agents was followed and boxed in by a “convoy of civilian vehicles”, including cars driven by Martinez and Santos.

Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado won 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.

She dedicated her award to the "suffering people of Venezuela" and to Trump, citing his "decisive support of our cause".

"More than ever we count on President Trump," she wrote on X.

Machado is part of a Latin American far right that is subordinate to the US, sympathetic to Trump and a fervent supporter of the Zionist apartheid regime.

Instead of defending Venezuelan migrants, Machado herself uses them to build a case for foreign intervention in Venezuela. In her speech at the Patriots summit she asserted that “Venezuela today is the greatest threat facing the West on our continent (…) criminal networks (…) have intentionally promoted migration as a mechanism to weaken our society and our families and hemispheric destabilization (…) This is a global war and you are our allies”.

In the ‘global war’ that Machado envisages, she places herself defending the West’s values on its ‘frontier’. 

In 2020 Machado’s party, Vente Venezuela, formalized a pact with Likud “to forge an alliance between our two parties to cooperate on issues related to strategy, geopolitics and security, among others, in order to create an operational partnership”. “The goal is to bring the people of Israel closer to the people of Venezuela while advancing, together, the Western values to which both parties subscribe: freedom, liberty, and a market economy”, reads the document signed by both organizations.

In 2018, Machado asked Netanyahu to intercede with the UN Security Council to bring about intervention in Venezuela. Machado has insistently stated that if she gains power she will restore diplomatic relations with Israel..

Vincent Battiloro , 17, is facing first-degree murder charges in New Jersey after he allegedly struck and killed two teenage girls in a hit-and-run. 

Battiloro is accused of intentionally driving an SUV into 17-year-old friends Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas, before allegedly ditching the car and fleeing the scene, allegedly driving 70 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone when the crash occurred.

He was detained for questioning that evening and released pending further investigation, then arrested the next morning.

The victims' relatives and friends claimed Battiloro was stalking one of the girls and a restraining order had been sought against him before the crash. However, minors in New Jersey cannot independently seek restraining orders, even in cases of stalking or harassment. 

In addition to the two first-degree murder charges, police issued Battiloro at least 15 tickets and citations related to the crash, including speeding, reckless driving and driving without a license.

Christopher Battiloro, the police chief of Westfield, a neighboring town, responded to the crash and confirmed the suspect is his relative, but not a member of his immediate family. 

"I want to be clear, as loud and as firm as possible, that in NO WAY do my wife, children or I condone, defend, or excuse the actions that caused this terrible and tragic loss of life," the chief said in part of a lengthy statement posted by the Westfield Police Department on Facebook. 

The chief said he has faith in the justice system to hold the suspect accountable. 

The wake for Salas was held Saturday in Cranford. Niotis was laid to rest at a funeral on Friday in Union.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. will allow Qatar to build a facility at an Air Force base in Idaho — just months after Qatar gifted the Pentagon with a luxury jet that Trump plans to use for Air Force One.

Hegseth made the announcement during a meeting with his Qatari counterpart, Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Hegseth said that Qatari pilots will train alongside U.S. troops, and that the arrangement will be mutually beneficial to both the U.S. and Qatar.

“Today we’re announcing [and] signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho. The location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase the lethality, [and] interoperability,” he said. “It’s just another example of our partnership.”

In a statement posted on X later that day, Hegseth shared what he called an “important clarification.”

“The U.S. military has a long-standing partnership w/ Qatar, including today’s announced cooperation w/ F-15QA aircraft. However, to be clear, Qatar will not have their own base in the United States—nor anything like a base. We control the existing base, like we do with all partners,” he wrote. 

Rescuers in western Alaska are working to find missing residents and help over 1,000 people displaced after hurricane-force wind gusts from what once was Typhoon Halong tore through remote, coastal communities, toppling homes off their foundations.

Wind gusts hit 107 mph in Kusilvak while nearby Toksook Bay recorded a gust of 100 mph.

These winds also drove dangerous storm surge, pushing feet of water onto land, which triggered major flooding in coastal areas. Water levels in Kipnuk soared to 14.5 feet Sunday — more than 2 feet above major flood stage and 1.5 feet above the previous record flood level set in 2000.

Three people are still unaccounted for in Kwigillingok as of Monday, said officials. At least 51 people and two dogs have been rescued in Kipnuk and Kwigillingok since the weekend, and over 1,000 others have been displaced and are currently in shelters, a local tribal health agency said. Authorities are working to confirm reports of additional missing individuals in Kipnuk.

The sparsely populated villages are more than 400 miles southwest of Anchorage. “Both communities experienced strong winds and heavy flooding overnight, which caused significant damage, including at least eight homes being pushed from their foundations,” Alaska State Troopers said Sunday.

Search efforts continued overnight and throughout Monday with help from the Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and the US Coast Guard. The Alaska National Guard response includes about 60 to 80 soldiers as of Monday, and upwards of 200 soldiers near the end of the week, said Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, who runs the state’s National Guard. It is the “largest [response] I’ve seen in quite some time,” he said.

Search and rescue efforts involved helicopters rescuing people off the roofs of houses as they were surrounded by several feet of flooding.

The storm was once Typhoon Halong, a powerful tropical system that formed in the northern Philippine Sea earlier this month. The storm moved through northern Alaska late Sunday and pushed into the Arctic Sea early Monday.

Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm. Help is on the way,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement Sunday.

Hamas has released the 20 living Israeli hostages it still held and Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian hostages under a breakthrough Gaza ceasefire deal.

Twenty living hostages were returned Monday to Israel to be reunited with their families and then transferred to hospitals, the Israeli military said.

Hamas first released seven and then 13 hostages. Israel meanwhile said it had freed over 1,900 Palestinian "prisoners" under the truce agreement. The ceasefire in the two-year Israel-Hamas war is the first phase of a plan brokered by the Trump administration.

Hamas said it will deliver on Monday four of the 28 remains of Israelis it holds in Gaza. It appeared unlikely that the other remains will be returned by the end of the day. 

One ceasefire document contains stipulations for remains that aren’t returned within 72 hours of the end of the fighting — a deadline that expired around noon Monday. On Sunday, Israel said “an international body” will help locate the remains if they are not released on Monday.

Israel released about 1,700 people that troops seized from Gaza during the war who were being held without charge, as well as about 250 Palestinians serving prison sentences. At least 154 of the Palestinians had been deported to Egypt from the West Bank as per stipulations in the deal.

Many are members of Hamas and the Fatah faction who were imprisoned over shootings, bombings or other attacks that killed or attempted to kill Israelis, as well as others convicted on lesser charges. They’ll return to the West Bank or Gaza, or be deported elsewhere.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy has passed away at the age of 79. Often referred to as Miss Major, she was an American author, activist, and community organizer for transgender rights.

 Miss Major took part in the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

 She spent her life advocating for trans women and sex workers struggling with addiction, homelessness, and incarceration, and worked with organizations supporting people with HIV and AIDS.  

Miss Major called the death in 1970 of her friend Puppy the start of her activism. Puppy was a trans woman whose death was ruled a suicide by the authorities while she strongly suspected she was murdered by a client. 

"Puppy’s murder made me aware that we were not safe or untouchable and that if someone does touch us, no one gives a shit. We only have each other. We always knew this, but now we needed to take a step towards doing something about it. [...] We girls decided that whenever we got into a car with someone, another girl would write down as much information as possible. We would try not to just lean into the car window but get a guy to walk outside the car so that everyone could see him, so we all knew who he was if she didn’t come back. That's how it started. Since no one was going to do it for us, we had to do it for ourselves."

Trump was in Egypt today to sign the Gaza deal and made the following statement.

 “This took 3,000 years to get to this point. Can you believe it?” 

A bizarre statement considering:

• Israel was only created by United Nations in 1947. 
• Beyond that, Christianity is only about 2,000 years old
• Islam is about 1,400 years old. 

A report from Politico exposed thousands of text messages from a Young Republican group chat in which members joked about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

The group chat included about a dozen leaders associated with the Young Republican National Federation, the GOP’s 15,000-member political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40 years old, and spanned more than seven months this year.

The Young Republican National Federation condemned the “vile and inexcusable language revealed in the Politico article” and called for immediate resignations of all those involved.

Some participants in the chat were promptly fired from their jobs.

However, Vice President Vance downplayed the text messages Wednesday on “The Charlie Kirk Show ” podcast, saying that a “person seriously wishing for political violence and political assassination is 1,000 times worse than what a bunch of young people, a bunch of kids say in a group chat, however offensive it might be.”

Vance, 41, went on to say “most of what I, the stupid things that I did as a teenager and as a young adult, they’re not on the internet.”

The father of three said he would caution his own children, “especially my boys, don’t put things on the internet, like, be careful with what you post. If you put something in a group chat, assume that some scumbag is going to leak it in an effort to try to cause you harm or cause your family harm.”

“I really don’t want to us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke, telling a very offensive, stupid joke is cause to ruin their lives,” Vance said.

Here’s a list of Young Republicans mentioned in the piece and the repercussions they are now facing.

Peter Giunta.

The 31-year-old former chair of the New York State Young Republicans, Giunta “was the most prominent voice in the chat spreading racist messages — often encouraged or ‘liked’ by other members,” Politico reported.

“I love Hitler,” Giunta reportedly said in one of the text messages. He also made comments about sending opponents to the “gas chamber” if they don’t support his nomination for chair of the Young Republican National Federation, Politico reported.

Giunta resigned last month as chairman and president of the New York State Young Republicans amid allegations of “serious potential financial misconduct” within the organization, reported by Politico Playbook. At the time, Giunta told the outlet the accusations were “nothing more than a sad and pathetic attempt at a political hit job.”

Before Politico’s bombshell report on Tuesday, Giunta served as chief of staff in New York State Assemblyman Michael Reilly’s office, where Giunta had worked for more than five years.

Giunta was fired in the wake of the Politico report.

“The comments shared in the group chat that have been reported are extremely troubling and disappointing. They do not align with my values. As a result, Mr. Giunta’s assignment in my office has ended,” Reilly said in a statement to The Hill.

Giunta claimed the screenshots were provided to Politico for “extortion” purposes by Gavin Wax, head of the New York City Young Republican Club, in a “highly-coordinated year-long character assassination.”

He told Politico, “I am so sorry to those offended by the insensitive and inexcusable language found within the more than 28,000 messages of a private group chat that I created during my campaign to lead the Young Republican National Federation.”

“While I take complete responsibility, I have had no way of verifying their accuracy and am deeply concerned that the message logs in question may have been deceptively doctored,” he said.

Bobby Walker

Walker took over as chair of the New York State Young Republicans after Giunta resigned last month. For much of the time that the text messages span, Walker served as vice chair of the organization.

Walker was reported to have referred to a reported rape as “epic” and used the homophobic slur, “f—–,” though Politico noted he was also “the group’s main target for the same epithet.”

“If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked fr fr,” Walker wrote at one point.

Walker had reportedly been in line to manage New York State Senator Peter Oberacker’s (R) campaign for Congress, but Politico reported, citing a spokesperson for the campaign, that “Walker won’t be brought on in light of the comments in the chat.”

Walker responded to the public reporting, raising questions about the authenticity of the text messages, which he said “may have been altered, taken out of context, or otherwise manipulated,” adding, “private exchanges were obtained and released in a way clearly intended to inflict harm.”

But he also apologized for the language “attributed to me” in a statement to Politico.

“There is no excuse for the language and tone in messages attributed to me. The language is wrong and hurtful, and I sincerely apologize,” Walker said. “This has been a painful lesson about judgment and trust, and I am committed to moving forward with greater care, respect, and accountability in everything I say and do.”

Samuel Douglass

Douglass, a state senator from northern Vermont who heads the state’s Young Republicans, is the only elected official in the group chat.

He is facing growing calls to resign over his participation in the chat — including from Vermont’s Republican governor, Phil Scott.

“The hateful statements made in this group chat are disgusting and unacceptable. The vile, racist, bigoted, and antisemitic dialogue that has been reported is deeply disturbing. There is simply no excuse for it,” Scott said in a Tuesday statement.

“Those involved should resign from their roles immediately and leave the Republican party – including Vermont State Senator Sam Douglass,” he added.

Douglass, in the chat, replied to Walker’s remark about a “very obese Indian woman” after Giunta pushed back, saying the woman “was not Indian.”

“She just didn’t bathe often,” Douglass added, according to Politico.

After Douglass made another comment about a Jewish colleague, his wife, Brianna Douglass, Vermont’s national Young Republicans committee member who was also on the chat, responded he was giving the colleague too much credit “and expecting the Jew to be honest.”

Samuel Douglass did not respond to a request for comment.

William Hendrix

Hendrix, the vice chair of Kansas Young Republicans, was also an active participant in the chat. He reportedly used variations of the N-word more than a dozen times.

Hendrix is reported to have invoked racist stereotypes when describing Black people, writing, “Bro is at a chicken restaurant ordering his food. Would he like some watermelon and kool aid with that?”

Until last Thursday, he was communications assistant for Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R). A spokesperson for Kobach’s office told Politico that “we are aware of the issues raised in your article” and Hendrix was “no longer employed” in the attorney general’s office.

The Kansas GOP told local news outlets on Tuesday that the Kansas Young Republicans organization was inactive following the Politico report. The group’s website has been made private.

Michael Bartels

Bartels works for the Trump administration, with his LinkedIn profile showing he was a senior adviser in the office of general counsel in the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Politico reported, “Bartels did not have much to say in the chat, but he didn’t offer any pushback against the offensive rhetoric in it either.”

Alex Dwyer

Dwyer was chair of the Kansas Young Republicans. In the group chat, Dwyer is alleged to have reacted with a smiley face to Giunta’s text, “Great. I love Hitler.”

Anne KayKaty

KayKaty is New York’s national committee member and is also Giunta’s girlfriend. In a conversation about sending political opponents to gas chambers, KayKaty said, “I’m ready to watch people burn now.”

Joe Maligno

Maligno identified himself as the general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans. In the same conversation, he reportedly wrote, “Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic.”

Luke Mosiman 

Mosiman is the chair of the Arizona Young Republicans. In the chat, he mused about linking a political opponent to white supremacist groups and putting out “pro Nazi” propaganda. He then backtracked, suggesting Kansas Young Republicans might end up liking that opponent more.

Rachel Hope

Hope, the Arizona Young Republicans events chair, reacted to Mosiman’s original proposal, saying, “Omg I love this plan.” She reacted to other text messages in the chat.

John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during Trump's first term before becoming a vocal critic, was indicted on Thursday on 18 charges related to the mishandling of classified documents.

Details from the indictment charge Bolton with eight counts for the transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention of such information. Each count faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

In a statement, the Justice Department said Bolton illegally transmitted classified information using a personal email and messaging applications, including U.S. "intelligence about future attacks, foreign adversaries, and foreign-policy relations."

"There is one tier of justice for all Americans," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. "Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable."

Another case of blatant Republican hypocrisy, when there were no repercussions when Hegseth, the secretary of defense, texted war plans, including precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing to the editor in chief of The Atlantic.

Susan Stamberg, an original National Public Radio staffer who went on to become the first U.S. woman to anchor a nightly national news program, died Thursday at the age of 87.

Stamberg's stories and segments over the decades spanned the human experience, from examining matters of state to illuminating pointillist details of artistic achievement. She would be recognized by her peers with honors from the National Radio Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and more. She retired in September.

After joining NPR, Stamberg rose quickly from producer to anchor of All Things Considered in 1972. 

After 14 years, Stamberg shifted to hosting Weekend Edition Sunday.

Stamberg yielded the weekend host's chair after just a couple of years, choosing instead to work as a special correspondent.

After her husband died in 2007, Stamberg spent more time at NPR West as her son Josh built a career as an actor in California.