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Judge blocks Trump's plan to cut 10,000 federal jobs
Plans to slash thousands of federal positions during the government shutdown were temporarily blocked Wednesday when U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston issued a restraining order halting the layoffs. "The activities that are being undertaken here are contrary to the laws," Illston told White House lawyers during the October 15 hearing. "You can't do this in a nation of laws." The White House contends Democrats bear responsibility by refusing to reopen government operations. Hours earlier, Budget Director Russell Vought had projected cuts exceeding 10,000 positions as the funding lapse entered its third week. Vought is widely regarded as a key architect of Project 2025's federal workforce reduction strategy, which aims to cut more than 1 million government positions.Over 4,200 notices deliveredMore than 4,200 reduction-in-force notices have already reached employees across eight agencies, according to court filings. Treasury and Health and Human Services comprised over half the total. Vought outlined targets including Green New Deal initiatives at Energy, Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. He pledged to shutter the Consumer Financia
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Trump urges arrest of Chicago, Illinois leaders
United States President Donald Trump has called for the arrest of two Democratic politicians who have opposed the military presence of National Guard troops in the city of Chicago. The mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, have both firmly opposed the increasing immigration crackdown tactics from the Trump administration, as well as the deployment of the National Guard to typically Democrat-leaning cities, such as Los Angeles. On Monday this week, both the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit looking to block the federalisation and deployment of the National Guard. Johnson also signed an “ICE Free Zone” executive order earlier this week, prohibiting agents from “using any City-owned property in their ongoing operations in Chicago”. Vashon Jordan Jr / Office of the MayorHowever, just two days later, approximately 500 National Guard troops were deployed near Chicago, on Trump's orders, to help protect federal property and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, in response to protests over the administration's immigration policies and tactics. Trump also took to social media and called for both Johnson and Pritzker to be jailed for “failing to protect ICE off
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IRS employees to be furloughed amid shutdown
The IRS will furlough nearly half of its workforce as the government shutdown continues. The tax agency said around 34,000 IRS workers will be furloughed, while another 39,870 employees, representing 53.6% of the workforce, will remain on the job. Thai comes as the federal government shutdown enters its eighth day, as Democrats and Republicans still can’t come to an agreement. “An IRS-wide furlough began on October 8, 2025, for everyone except already-identified excepted and exempt employees,” the message said. “Employees who are not exempt or excepted are furloughed and placed in a non-pay and non-duty status until further notice; however, all employees should plan to report to work for their next tour of duty.” Forloughed IRS employees have been informed that they will receive back pay when the shutdown ends in a letter. The letter came a day after the internal draft memo that suggested the Trump administration might question its obligation to give back pay to some furloughed employees. The IRS was already dealing with mass layoffs implemented when Trump entered the White House in January, which reduced its workforce by about 25%. From around 100,000 to 75,000.
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US workers furloughed in shutdown may not get back pay
United States federal workers furloughed during the ongoing government shutdown may not receive back pay, President Donald Trump has said. A draft memo from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget argues that previous policies requiring federal workers to be paid retroactively after a shutdown should not apply, Axios reported. “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” Trump said when asked about back pay for furloughed federal workers. “For the most part, we’re going to take care of our people,” he said. “There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.” The draft memo could reportedly deny back pay to as many as 750,000 workers. The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, a law signed in 2019 after the last government shutdown, is generally interpreted to require retroactive pay. The Office of Management and Budget’s memo said the law would not automatically cover all furloughed employees. “The frivolous argument that federal employees are not guaranteed backpay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act is an obvious misinterpretation of the law. It is also inconsistent with the Trump administration’s own guidance fro
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Trump mulls extra US$12bn clean energy funding cut
United States President Donald Trump is reportedly considering an additional US$12 billion (A$18.21 billion) clean energy funding cut as the government shutdown continues to drag on. Reuters also cited a list of projects set to be targeted by the Trump administration, which includes two major direct capture hubs that received billion-dollar awards from the administration of former President Joe Biden. This comes days after the Trump administration cancelled $7.6 billion in grants that supported clean energy projects in 16 democratic states. According to the Energy Department, 321 financial awards and 223 projects were terminated. Of the 321 that were terminated, 26% were awarded between election day and Trump’s inauguration and were valued at over $3.1 billion. This comes as Trump continues to mount pressure on Democratic leaders to end the shutdown. Following the shutdown, Trump froze $26 billion in funds for Democratic-leaning states and has threatened to lay off government staff. Trump was supposed to meet with Democratic leaders before the shutdown to come up with a plan to avoid it, but later cancelled.

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Trump authorises National Guard deployment in Chicago
United States President Donald Trump has authorised the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago to address what he calls out-of-control crime. The 300 troops have been deployed after immigration officials confronted protestors in the Democrat-run city. Officials said an “armed woman” was shot after she and others allegedly rammed their cars into law enforcement vehicles. Following this, Illinois launched a legal challenge to block the deployment of the National Guard in the streets of Chicago. Officials in Illinois and Oregon stated that military intervention is not necessary and would only escalate the situation. "The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president's favour," the lawsuit says. The legal battle comes hours after a judge blocked the California Guard’s deployment in Portland, Oregon, as the number of court battles over the president's power to deploy military forces domestically increases. However, Trump has filed a notice indicating he will appeal the judge's decision. He said he would consider invoking the Insurrection
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US Government at stand-still for a second week
United States President Donald Trump continues to threaten mass layoffs as the government shutdown enters a second week. As closure entered its fifth day, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNN he believed there was a chance the Democrats would yield to avoid a costly political and economic crisis. The shutdown came as Democrats and Republicans were at an impasse about how to spend government funds. Trump has continually blamed Democrats for the shutdown. “It’s taking place right now and it’s all because of the Democrats,” Trump told reporters. “The Democrats are causing the loss of a lot of jobs.” Democrats are fighting to renew subsidies to cover health insurance costs for millions of households, while Trump wants to preserve government spending and thinks the Democrats will stand down to avoid putting federal jobs and projects at risk. Leaders on both sides are hoping public sentiment will swing their way to give them leverage. However, a recent survey found that only 28% of democrats and 23% of republicans believe their party’s positions are worth shutting down the government. The shutdown could lead to the U.S. losing around US$7 billion in economic activity for each week
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Trump hails shutdown as 'unprecedented opportunity'
The United States government shutdown entered its second day on Thursday, with President Donald Trump calling the impasse an “unprecedented opportunity” to accelerate his plans to fire federal workers and downsize government agencies. Trump announced on social media that he would meet with Russell Vought, the White House budget director and architect of the mass federal layoffs and buyouts. “I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.” The shutdown began at midnight on Wednesday after Democrats refused to back a Republican funding plan that demanded healthcare-related concessions. Since then, Vought has signalled that the administration will use the lapse to enforce layoffs and cut spending. On Wednesday, he announced the cancellation of around US$18 billion in federal funding for projects linked to Democrats, citing “unconstitutional DEI principles”. The suspended projects include New York’s Second Avenue
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Trump cuts federal funding to Democratic-led states
The Trump administration has frozen US$26 billion in funds for Democratic-leaning states as a follow-through on its threats to use the government shutdown to target Democratic priorities. Targeted programs include $18 billion for transit projects in New York, home to two of Congress’s top democrats and $8 billion for green-energy in 16 Democratic states, including California and Illinois. These moves have made it clear that President Donald Trump would follow through on threats to use the shutdown to punish his political opponents and extend his control over the $7 trillion federal budget. During a White House briefing, Vice President JD Vance said the administration would also be forced to resort to layoffs if the shutdown lasts more than a few days. This would add to the 300,000 who will be pushed out by December and make this the first shutdown to result in permanent layoffs. Vance has denied that layoffs have anything to do with political affiliation, while at the same time blaming democrats for the shutdown. “The Chuck Schumer-AOC wing of the Democratic party shut down the government because they said to us, we will open the government only if you give billions of dollars of funding to healthcare for illegal al