The Associated Press | ARLnow

NEW: Judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration from firing workers during the government shutdown

Published October 15, 2025 at 3:35PM

Students from Columbus, Ohio, wait outside a barrier as U.S. Capitol Police watch over the East Plaza where congressional leaders will have a news conferences on the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration for now must stop firing workers during the government shutdown, a federal judge ordered on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco said the cuts appeared to be politically motivated and were being carried out without much thought.

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Government shutdown could be the longest ever, House Speaker Johnson warns

By The Associated Press

Published October 14, 2025 at 12:45PM

The Capitol is seen under gray skies on the thirteenth day of the government shutdown, in Washington, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted Monday the federal government shutdown may become the longest in history, saying he “won’t negotiate” with Democrats until they hit pause on their health care demands and reopen.

Standing alone at the Capitol on the 13th day of the shutdown, the speaker said he was unaware of the details of the thousands of federal workers being fired by the Trump administration. It’s a highly unusual mass layoff widely seen as way to seize on the shutdown to reduce the scope of government. Vice President JD Vance has warned of “painful” cuts ahead, even as employee unions sue.

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Vance warns ‘deeper’ cuts ahead for federal workers as shutdown enters 12th day

By The Associated Press

Published October 13, 2025 at 12:45PM

Vice President JD Vance speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said there will be deeper cuts to the federal workforce the longer the government shutdown goes on, adding to the uncertainty facing hundreds of thousands who are already furloughed without pay amid the stubborn stalemate in Congress.

Vance warned that as the federal shutdown entered its 12th day, the new cuts would be “painful,” even as he said the Trump administration worked to ensure that the military is paid this week and some services would be preserved for low-income Americans, including food assistance.

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NEW: Firings of federal workers begin as White House seeks to pressure Democrats in government shutdown

By The Associated Press

Published October 10, 2025 at 1:20PM

The U.S. Capitol is silhouetted by the stark glare of the morning sun as a government shutdown begins its tenth day, in Washington, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.

Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social media site X that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government.

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Candidates in Virginia governor’s debate clash over shutdown and violent rhetoric

By The Associated Press

Published October 9, 2025 at 11:15PM

This combo image shows Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, left, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, right. (AP Photo)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia gubernatorial candidates Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger faced off Thursday for the first and only time on the debate stage in a fiery affair that was combative from the very first answer.

Earle-Sears, perceived by operatives in both parties to be trailing, went on the offensive throughout the hourlong clash, interrupting almost every one of Spanberger’s answers and referring to the congresswoman only by her first name.

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Troops will miss paychecks next week without action on the government shutdown

By The Associated Press

Published October 9, 2025 at 4:45PM

Aerial view of the Pentagon (staff photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Heather Campbell lost her job working for a food bank over the summer because of federal funding cuts. Her husband serves as an officer in the Air Force, but now he’s facing the prospect of missing his next paycheck because of the government shutdown.

If lawmakers in Washington don’t step in, Campbell’s husband won’t get paid on Wednesday. Because the couple lacks the savings to cover all their expenses, they expect to survive on credit cards to pay the mortgage and feed their three children, racking up debt as the political stalemate drags on.

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Federal government shutdown grinds into a second week, but quiet talks emerging

By The Associated Press

Published October 8, 2025 at 11:30AM

The Capitol is illuminated at dawn in Washington, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tours at the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House is keeping its doors closed, while the Senate is stuck in a loop of failed votes on a rejected plan to reopen the government. President Donald Trump is threatening to mass fire federal workers and refuse back pay for the rest.

As the government shutdown enters a second week, there’s no discernible endgame in sight.

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JUST IN: Trump administration threatens no back pay for federal workers in shutdown

By The Associated Press

Published October 7, 2025 at 11:45AM | Updated October 7, 2025 at 3:41PM

The Capitol is illuminated at dawn in Washington, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration warned on Tuesday of no guaranteed back pay for federal workers during a government shutdown, reversing what has been long-standing policy for some 750,000 furloughed employees, according to a memo being circulated by the White House.

Trump signed into law after the longest government shutdown in 2019 legislation to ensure federal workers receive back pay during any federal funding lapse. But in the new memo, his Office of Management and Budget says back pay must be provided by Congress, if it chooses to do so, as part of any bill to fund the government.

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Republicans and Democrats at an impasse as government shutdown enters sixth day

By The Associated Press

Published October 6, 2025 at 12:15PM

The U.S. Capitol is seen on the second day of the government shutdown, in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican and Democratic lawmakers have provided few public signs of meaningful negotiations to break an impasse on reopening the federal government as the shutdown entered its sixth day on Monday.

President Donald Trump, when asked on Sunday night when federal workers would be fired as he has threatened, told reporters: “It’s taking place right now, and it’s all because of the Democrats.” He declined to answer a question about which agencies are subject to the cuts.

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Attorney general candidate apologizes for 2022 texts depicting political violence

By The Associated Press

Published October 4, 2025 at 10:55PM

Jay Jones at a campaign appearance in Arlington (via Jay Jones/IG)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s Democratic candidate for attorney general has apologized for widely condemned text messages from 2022 that revealed him suggesting that a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”

The texts put the Democratic challenger, Jay Jones, on the defensive in what has been a hard-hitting campaign. Early voting is well underway in Virginia ahead of the November general election.

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Justice Dept. fires key prosecutors in Eastern District of Va. office already beset by turmoil

By The Associated Press

Published October 3, 2025 at 2:15PM

The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department fired a top national security prosecutor amid criticism from a right-wing commentator over his work during the Biden administration, further roiling the prominent U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia after the ousting of other senior attorneys in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.

Michael Ben’Ary, who was chief of the office’s national security section, was fired Wednesday just 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, two people familiar with the matter said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

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Hopes fade for quick end to shutdown as Trump readies layoffs and cuts

By The Associated Press

Published October 3, 2025 at 1:30PM | Updated October 3, 2025 at 4:22PM

The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Capitol Building, as seen from near the Netherlands Carrollon in 2020 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hopes for a quick end to the government shutdown faded Friday as Democrats refused to budge in a Senate vote and President Donald Trump readied plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government.

On the third day of the shutdown, another Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would reopen the government failed on a 54-44 tally — well short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the chamber would not be open for legislative business next week, a move meant to force the Senate to work with the government funding bill that has been passed by the House.