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Government shutdown updates: Leavitt says Trump exploring cutting aid to Portland

"We will not fund states that allow anarchy," she told reporters.

Last Updated: October 4, 2025, 8:50 AM EDT

The federal government remains closed amid a bitter impasse on Capitol Hill over competing congressional spending bills.

President Donald Trump and Republicans have cast blame for the shutdown on Democrats' health care demands, while Democrats insist Republicans need to negotiate.

The Trump administration has threatened mass layoffs of some federal workers during the shutdown.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Oct 03, 2025, 9:47 AM EDT

Trump posts more deep fake videos taunting federal cuts, Jeffries

President Donald Trump took to social media Friday to troll Democrats and critics with AI-generated videos.

In one post, the president posted an AI-generated video depicting OMB Director Russ Vought as the Grim Reaper as the administration threatens mass layoffs for federal workers.

President Donald Trump answers questions while childhood cancer survivors and their families gather in the Oval Office at the White House, September 30, 2025 in Washington.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

"Russ Vought is the Reaper. He wields the pen, the funds, and the brain. Here comes the Reaper," someone sings in the video as Vought is depicted walking through the Capitol as the character.

In another post, Trump posted another AI video of him hitting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries with a "TRUMP 2028" hat while they were seated in the White House.

Jeffries, who was the subject of a deep fake post by Trump earlier in the week, has not immediately responded.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa

Oct 03, 2025, 5:54 AM EDT

Senate to again vote Friday on stopgap-funding bills

The Senate is scheduled to reconvene Friday and take up two stopgap-funding bills -- one sponsored by each party -- that could end the government shutdown that began Wednesday.

Friday’s session is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. ET, with voting expected in the afternoon.

A view of the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, Oct. 2, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

Democrats on Wednesday blocked, for the third time, a stopgap funding bill offered by Republicans. Democrats are insisting that any solution address their demands on health care before they vote to advance it.

No votes were held on Thursday, as the Senate broke for Yom Kippur.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks during a news conference on the Upper West Terrace of U.S. Capitol Building on October 1, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Thursday again placed the blame for the shutdown on Democrats, saying they were "playing a losing game" by not supporting the House-passed Republican bill, which would provide government funding for seven weeks.

Oct 02, 2025, 7:34 PM EDT

Trumps and Vances have dinner together

Trump and first lady Melania Trump are having dinner at the Vice President’s Residence with Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, the White House confirmed.

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

Oct 02, 2025, 6:38 PM EDT

RFK Jr. says FDA approved abortion drug only 'because federal law requires' it

In an X post explaining the FDA’s decision to approve a new generic version of mifepristone, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the agency approved the new tablet only “because federal law requires approval when an application proves the generic is identical to the brand-name drug.”

Kennedy posted a copy of a letter he sent last month to Republican attorneys general in which he pledged the FDA would conduct a new review of abortion pills, a move abortion rights advocates say could lead to significant restrictions on the most common abortion method nationwide.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivers remarks on autism while President Donald Trump listens, at the White House, in Washington, September 22, 2025.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

In his post on Thursday, Kennedy doubled down on that pledge, and specifically access to mifepristone through telehealth appointments, which is how many women access abortion care in states with bans.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett and Will McDuffie

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