Today’s recap Talks over ending the record-breaking partial government shutdown remain at an impasse, as congress is on its scheduled two-week recess. TSA employees began to get some backpay on Monday, but their union said it’s not enough and is calling on lawmakers to return to Washington DC and end the shutdown.
Here’s what else happened today:
Allegations swirl that a broker for Pete Hegseth inquired into an investment in key defense companies before the Iran war began. The Morgan Stanley broker allegedly made an inquiry with BlackRock regarding an investment into a defense-focused equity fund. The Pentagon denied the allegations calling them “entirely false and fabricated”.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill to rename the Palm Beach International Airport after Donald Trump. This would make the airport the latest in a long list of institutions, government programs, buildings and even money named after the president.
The US government has directed all of its embassies and consulates to launch coordinated campaigns against foreign propaganda. Marco Rubio signed a cable on Monday directing the embassies to coordinate with the US military’s psychological operations unit to address disinformation. It suggested using Elon Musk’s social media platform X to carry out the campaign.
José Guadalupe Ramos, a Mexican national, becomes the 14th known person to die in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since the beginning of the year. He was found unconscious in his bunk last week at the Adelanto detention center in California and pronounced dead after being taken to a nearby medical center.
The army is investigating a helicopter fly-by at Kid Rock’s hillside swimming pool in Tennessee on Saturday. Two army choppers on a training run visited and hovered by the rocker’s house as he saluted them. According to the army, there was no official request for the fly-by, which triggered the administrative review.
A two-year-old detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement family detention center in Dilley, Texas, is said to be sick and not getting adequate help. Joaquin Castro, a democratic congressman from San Antonio, raised alarms on X on Monday saying that the boy has a fever and isn’t eating. He called on ICE to provide proper medical care to the child and release him and his month immediately.
Senate Republicans did not use the pro forma session today to try to pass a stopgap funding bill advanced by House GOP leaders on Friday. John Hoeven, the Republican senator from North Dakota, told reporters that the continuing resolution could not pass by unanimous consent because Democratic senator Chris Coons objected.
Karoline Leavitt continued to blame Democratic lawmakers for the ongoing funding lapse to reopen a portion of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The press secretary said today that the president is encouraging lawmakers to return to Capitol Hill and secure a deal, after negotiations broke down last week.
While Donald Trump has signed an executive order to pay TSA employees as the shutdown continues, Leavitt offered no more information as to how they administration is securing these funds to issue paychecks. Airport security officers were expected to see their first full paycheck today, after the president directed the DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin, to issue payments immediately on Friday.
The Department of Justice sued Minnesota’s education department and the state’s school athletics body for allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports. In a lawsuit, the DoJ claims that by making against female student athletes compete against transgender girls, as well as share locker rooms and bathrooms with them, Minnesota is violating Title IX – the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination for any programs that receive federal funding.
The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the US is about to hit $4, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). This is up 33% from a month ago, when the average price was $2.98 per gallon, and is the highest national average since 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The spike in the price at the pump is the most tangible hit Americans have felt since the US‑Israel war on Iran began almost five weeks ago.