The Associated Press | ARLnow

What happens now that a government shutdown is underway?

Published October 1, 2025 at 8:30AM

Capitol Police officers adjust security barriers around the East Plaza at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. With just days to go before federal money runs out with the end of the fiscal year on Tuesday, Sept. 30, Congress has failed to pass legislation to keep the government running after becoming deadlocked during votes late last week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington is bracing for what could be a prolonged federal shutdown after lawmakers deadlocked and missed the deadline for funding the government.

Republicans supported a short-term measure to fund the government generally at current levels through Nov. 21, but Democrats blocked it, insisting the measure address their concerns on health care. They want to reverse the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s mega-bill passed this summer and extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable for millions of people who purchase through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act.

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JUST IN: Government shutdown begins, with federal layoffs and economic impacts expected

By The Associated Press

Published October 1, 2025 at 12:05AM

The sunset is seen from the Capitol before Republican and Democratic news conferences about the government shutdown, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, on Capitol Hill, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.

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Here are some effects of a government shutdown if Congress, Trump don’t reach a deal

By The Associated Press

Published September 30, 2025 at 1:45PM

A partisan standoff over health care and spending is threatening to trigger the first U.S. government shutdown in almost seven years, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The federal government is nearing a partial shutdown, with a range of effects on public services and the broader U.S. economy.

Employee furloughs and potential layoffs would halt some government activities. Other functions — like NASA’s space missions, Trump’s immigration crackdown and certain public health work at FDA and the USDA — would continue.

News

Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicted in N. Va. federal court

By The Associated Press and ARLnow.com

Published September 25, 2025 at 9:15PM

FILE - Former FBI director James Comey is sworn via videoconference before testifying during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, to examine the FBI "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation. (Ken Cedeno/Pool via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.

The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump’s chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution. Trump has for years derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution.

News

White House budget office tells agencies to draft mass firing plans ahead of potential shutdown

By The Associated Press

Published September 25, 2025 at 8:30AM

Capitol Police officers adjust security barriers around the East Plaza at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. With just days to go before federal money runs out with the end of the fiscal year on Tuesday, Sept. 30, Congress has failed to pass legislation to keep the government running after becoming deadlocked during votes late last week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is telling agencies to prepare large-scale firings of federal workers if the government shuts down next week.

News

Family of crash victim sues FAA, Army and American Airlines

By The Associated Press and ARLnow.com

Published September 24, 2025 at 1:45PM

FILE - Crews pull up a part of a plane from the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

By JOSH FUNK AP Transportation Writer

The family of one of the 67 people killed when an airliner collided with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River is suing the government and the airlines involved.

News

Pentagon steps up media restrictions, now requiring approval before reporting even unclassified info

By The Associated Press

Published September 21, 2025 at 10:45PM

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during the POW/MIA National Recognition Day Ceremony at the Pentagon, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press

The Pentagon says it will require credentialed journalists at the military headquarters to sign a pledge to refrain from reporting information that has not been authorized for release — including unclassified information.

News

Northern Virginia’s top federal prosecutor resigns amid pressure from White House

By The Associated Press

Published September 20, 2025 at 8:30AM

FILE - Erik Siebert, interim U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, speaks as Attorney General Pam Bondi, right, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, left, listen during a news conference at the Manassas FBI Field Office, March 27, 2025, in Manassas, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor in Virginia whose monthslong mortgage fraud investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James has not resulted in criminal charges resigned Friday under pressure from the Trump administration.

News

Arlington, NYC and nation mark 24th anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks

By The Associated Press and ARLnow.com

Published September 11, 2025 at 9:30AM | Updated September 11, 2025 at 2:06PM

Armed Forces and first responders, including members of the Arlington County Fire Department, attend a ceremony to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Pentagon (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are marking 24 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with solemn ceremonies, volunteer work and other tributes honoring the victims.

Many loved ones of the nearly 3,000 people killed were joining dignitaries and politicians at commemorations Thursday in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

News

Arlington pharmacies requiring prescriptions for new Covid-19 vaccine

By Dan Egitto and The Associated Press

Published September 8, 2025 at 10:00AM

A vaccine recipient at Arlington County's vaccine clinic (via Arlington County/YouTube)

Federal restrictions on the latest Covid-19 vaccine are affecting pharmacies across Virginia, including in Arlington.

Virginia is one of almost a dozen states where, at least for the time being, the Food and Drug Administration is requiring many patients to have a prescription in order to receive updated Covid-19 shots.

News

JUST IN: Trump will seek ‘Department of War’ rebrand for Pentagon

By The Associated Press

Published September 4, 2025 at 7:30PM | Updated September 5, 2025 at 12:16AM

Aerial view of the Pentagon (staff photo)

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, his latest effort to project an image of toughness for America’s military.

Poll: Are you buying a Powerball ticket for tonight’s $1.4 billion jackpot?

By ARLnow.com and The Associated Press

Published September 3, 2025 at 9:15AM | Updated September 3, 2025 at 10:47AM

Roslyn Jefferson makes her lottery ticket selections on a self-serve terminal inside a gas station ahead of Saturday's Powerball drawing offering of $1 billion, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Summer is ending but lottery fever is heating up.

The Powerball jackpot is now well above the $1 billion mark, with another drawing set for tonight.

From the Associated Press:

An estimated $1.4 billion lottery jackpot will be up for grabs Wednesday night thanks to dozens of drawings without a big winner.

The massive Powerball prize is the sixth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot. It’s a result of 40 consecutive drawings stretching over the summer without anyone matching all of the game’s six numbers.

No one has won the grand prize since May 31, and the 41st drawing on Wednesday will be just one fewer than the record set last year.

All of that losing stems from Powerball’s abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million, though lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game’s many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.

The $1.4 billion jackpot is for a winner who opts to receive 30 payments over 29 years through an annuity. Winners almost always choose the game’s cash option, which for this drawing would be an estimated $634.3 million.

Powerball tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

ARLnow has conducted (unscientific) polls for previous billion-dollar plus jackpots, finding…

37% of people would continue to live in Arlington after winning
The top thing people would spend their winning on first is a new local house (a vacation and a vacation house were other top answers)
A $1 billion or higher jackpot gets 37% of locals who don’t regularly play the lottery to buy a ticket

Today we’re simply wondering whether you’ve bought or are planning to buy a ticket for tonight’s big drawing.