NPR News: 10-04-2025 11AM EDT
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. There is no apparent movement in trying to end the shutdown of the federal government now in its fourth day.
What is the latest on the federal government shutdown and who is affected?
Republicans want a temporary bill that would continue spending at previous levels for a short period to allow for negotiations. Democrats want to include a measure that would extend the health care subsidies now slated to expire this year. Meanwhile, federal employees either can't work or must work without pay. Johnny Jones falls into that category. As a TSA agent, he's considered an essential worker. He says it's tough.
How are federal employees like TSA agents coping without pay during the shutdown?
Everybody's starting to make preparations for how they're going to pay their bills. And during the last shutdown, I've known some people that had to take loans and pay 30 percent interest on them. It was horrible. And it took them months or even years to recover.
Meanwhile, the White House is going forward with plans to cut programs and spending, primarily in areas with many Democratic voters. NPR's Barbara Sprunt reports.
Democrats have called this an intimidation tactic. They've blasted a plan from the White House's budget arm to fire federal workers instead of temporarily furloughing them, which is usually what happens in a shutdown. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont said he thinks that plan will backfire.
And the idea that you have a president who says, hey, your state voted against me. We're going to cut funding for you. That is not only illegal, not only outrageous, it is unconstitutional.
So Democrats like Sanders insist these cuts are illegal, but it's an open question right now. There are several active lawsuits challenging the administration's cuts to congressionally approved spending.
NPR's Barbara Sprunt. The Israeli military is cutting back on some of its operations in Gaza in order to allow Hamas to locate living hostages and exhume the bodies of those who are dead. Hamas said earlier it agreed to a U.S. proposal to hand over all remaining hostages to Israel, after which Israel would end its war in Gaza. But as NPR's Emily Fang reports, there is no ceasefire yet.
Israeli shelling of Gaza continued overnight into Saturday. NPR's Anas Baba in Gaza reported at least three strikes Saturday morning, one of which killed one civilian. Mahmoud Basel, the spokesperson for Gaza's civil defense teams, warned residents not to return to areas the Israeli military was withdrawing from. In a recorded warning, he listed off-limits neighborhoods and said his teams are awaiting an official ceasefire announcement from the U.S. Earlier this week, Israel issued an ultimatum warning all civilians to leave Gaza City in the north or be considered a, quote, supporter of terror. Emily Fang, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky says a Russian drone struck a railway station today. Dozens were wounded. He said Russians couldn't be unaware that they were attacking civilians. This is NPR News. In Germany, the airport in Munich was shut down last night for the second night in a row because of drone sightings. Officials say it's slowly reopening today. Japan's governing party today elected a new leader. Sanae Takeichi is likely to become the country's first female prime minister. She served as economic security minister and calls for greater defense spending and stricter controls on immigration. Her Liberal Democratic Party has governed Japan for most of the past 70 years and holds the most seats in the lower house of parliament, which determines the national leader.
The next round of Major League Baseball playoffs gets underway today with division series games in Milwaukee, Toronto, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Chuck Hornbach has more on the high-stakes matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs.
The Brewers had the best record in baseball this year, but the Cubs finished just five games back and defeated the San Diego Padres in a wildcard series.
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