|
 |
The government is still in shutdown. Repercussions are beginning to hit. On Saturday, Trump said he had directed the Pentagon to make sure those serving in the military are paid on the 15th, the day they would otherwise miss their first paycheck. But that won’t apply to other government employees, and at best, it’s a short-term fix, even for the military. Trump blamed Democrats.
The administration is now reinterpreting a law passed during Trump’s first term that has always been construed as meaning government employees automatically get back pay when a shutdown ends. They say that’s not the case; that it’s up to Congress. Trump is trying to use the threat of missed paychecks to coerce Democrats into agreeing on a budget extension without any guarantees on health care, which Democrats insist is critical before insurance costs explode. The focus should be on the fact that it’s Trump who is changing the interpretation of the measure, the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 (GEFTA). His own administration has previously said employees would get paid. Now, in a moment where he finds it politically expedient, he’s changing that. There should be no mistaking who controls whether employees get paid at the end of the shutdown.
Or, when it will end, for that matter. Republicans control the White House, the Senate, and the House.
 |
Republicans refuse to find a fix that will keep healthcare premiums from skyrocketing beyond affordability for many Americans. To make the privilege line even clearer, Donald Trump got his COVID-19 and flu vaccinations last week. The rest of us may not be as lucky.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar captured the crazy in a tweet: “Not on my bingo card, but Jimmy Kimmel and Marjorie Taylor Greene are right. If the health care tax credits expire, health insurance premiums will double for millions of Americans. Republicans need to come to the table to end the shutdown and protect Americans’ health care.” She posted a video of Kimmel saying, “I know this sounds crazy, but I will say it for the second time in a month: Marjorie Taylor Green is right.” “What I am upset over is my party has no solution,” Green said.
Other senators joined in. Senator Michael Bennet: “If Republicans don’t work with Democrats to prevent health care premiums from skyrocketing: A couple in Bent County would pay over $1000 a month for health insurance. There are real costs to Republicans’ refusal to negotiate, and Coloradans cannot afford it.”
Senator Tim Kaine: “No parent should have to live in the fear that if their child becomes seriously hurt or sick, they won’t be able to afford treatment. But millions of people are now in limbo, as the GOP health care mess will cause premiums to double.”
On Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the House will remain in recess next week. They have not been in session since September 19. This means the shutdown, barring something unexpected, will go on at least until the week of October 20th. Are Republicans really that frightened of a vote to release the Epstein files?
Once the House goes back into session, Johnson will be out of excuses to refuse to swear in duly elected new Democratic member, Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, who won a special election to replace her late father. Once she is sworn in, Democrats and Republicans will have sufficient votes to work together to pass the discharge petition that would compel DOJ to release all unclassified records related to Jeffrey Epstein. The discharge petition is a way to bypass opposition from House leadership, who have blocked the bill to release the files from coming to the floor for a vote. Republican Representative Thomas Massie confirmed the stakes, “The government is in shutdown, but the House refuses to go back in session. Why are we in recess? Because the day we go back into session, I have 218 votes for the discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files.” Even the government shutdown must take a back seat to the need to protect whoever it is that will be impacted by releasing the files.
They’ve worked so hard to have us forget about the Epstein files and what they contain. Let’s make sure we don’t do that.
“House Democrats were here last week. House Democrats are here this week. House Democrats will be here next week,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries commented. “House Republicans are on vacation right now. That’s extraordinary.” Marjorie Taylor Greene said, “The House has so much work to do, why aren’t we coming back in session? We could be doing appropriations, passing important bills, and more.”
Democrats are ready to pass a budget. For them, it’s about the rise in health care premiums and if a solution can be found that works for everyday Americans, they’re willing to move forward. That’s what’s happening, even as Trump tells Americans that Democrats are at fault in the government shutdown. Americans should hear the truth and judge for themselves. Make sure you share what’s at stake—use Marjorie Taylor Green’s words—if you have friends and family who think this is about Democrats being stubborn for political reasons. We shouldn’t have to wait until American families are receiving letters showing how high their premiums are going to get for Trump’s base to be exposed to the facts that will help them understand that Trump is lying to them. Again.
If you love your coverage under the Affordable Care Act—and most of us do, Republicans included, as long as they’re not focused on the fact that it’s Obamacare—then the government shutdown doesn’t make any sense at all. Senator Chuck Schumer tweeted, “Russell Vought just fired thousands of Americans with a tweet. Let’s be blunt: Nobody’s forcing Trump and Vought to do this. They don’t have to do it. They want to.”
It's the implementation of Project 2025, using the shutdown as the excuse, as we’ve discussed from the beginning. Vought was one of the key architects of Project 2025, and now he is the head of the Office of Management and Budget, which primes him to bring it to fruition. The executive branch is well aware of its runaway exercise of power. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that, “Inside the White House, top advisers joke that they are ruling Congress with an ‘iron fist,’ … Steve Bannon, the influential Trump ally, likened Congress to the Duma, the Russian assembly that is largely ceremonial.”
The Trump White House also continues its efforts to dominate the courts and the justice system. Trump’s efforts to put U.S. Attorneys in place whom even the Republican-controlled Senate won’t confirm, bypassing the requirement of Senate confirmation, continue. On Monday, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals hears argument in the case arguing New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba should be disqualified.
The Senate declined to confirm Habba, who was in office as the “interim” U.S. Attorney for a set period of time. After that time elapses, the local district court is entitled to appoint a new U.S. Attorney if the Senate has not confirmed one, but the administration attempted a procedural move to keep her in office. In August, Federal Judge Matthew Brann ruled that Habba was unlawfully performing the duties of the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Judge Brann held that Habba’s actions since July 1 “may be declared void,” after her appointment was challenged by defendants in two criminal cases. Tomorrow, the Third Circuit will hear argument on whether the administration’s effort to circumvent the rules passes muster.
There is reporting that John Bolton may be indicted this week. That would increase the tally of Trump revenge prosecutions to three. There is no sign that his Justice Department will stop there. Like Bolton, California Senator Adam Schiff is under investigation in the District of Maryland.
There’s a key difference between the District of Maryland and the Eastern District of Virginia, where Jim Comey and Tish James were indicted. As of today, the U.S. Attorney in Maryland is Kelly O. Hayes. Hayes is an experienced prosecutor who rose through the ranks in her office before becoming U.S. Attorney. She was appointed on February 28, 2025, has been in the office since 2013, and has served in several supervisory roles.
The Maryland office’s website shares its mission and values with the public.
 |
We don’t know whether Hayes will assent to any of the D.C.-directed indictments or be replaced so the government can obtain one, like what happened in the Eastern District of Virginia. A third possibility would involve bypassing her office and sending in prosecutors from Main Justice to obtain an indictment, but that would be highly irregular, and the administration has canned the Public Integrity Section, the office that used to oversee public corruption prosecutions, which could make it hard to find someone to handle the cases from that direction.