A group of pilot unions is urging lawmakers to pass a continuing resolution that would end the government shutdown, Breitbart reported. Republicans have put forth a so-called clean continuing resolution that would fund priorities such as air traffic controllers through the end of the year, but Democrats stubbornly refuse to support it.
Nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers continue to go without pay as the Democrats drag their feet. Due to this crisis, statements this week came from unions such as the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots, and the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations (CAPA), calling on lawmakers to act.
"We have seen the stress and tension this year on the National Airspace System due to short-staffed air traffic controllers. This shutdown only compounds the pressures they face as they now report to work without a paycheck," a statement from CAPA said.
The Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations went on to say that they were urging "Congress to end the government shutdown by passing a clean Continuing Resolution." However, Democrats simply won't budge.
Other unions also made impassioned pleas for the Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to end the shutdown. SWAPA president, Captain Jody Even, said in a statement that the union "strongly urges Congress to pass a clean Continuing Resolution to fund the government."
First Officer Nick Silva of the APA shared similar sentiments in a statement. "Congress should reconvene and work in a bipartisan manner to pass a clean Continuing Resolution to fund and reopen the government,"
“We stand with our brothers and sisters in air traffic control and TSA who continue to show up to work every day without a paycheck. These men and women take their oath seriously to guarantee a safe National Airspace System so we, the pilots, can ensure the flying public reaches their destinations in a timely manner and without harm," Silva added.
Airlines for America, which bills itself as a "trade association for the leading U.S. airlines," said in a news release that paychecks being withheld from air traffic controllers and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) cause unnecessary risk. "Missed paychecks for the federal employees charged with the safe and efficient facilitation of our national airspace unnecessarily increases stress for the thousands of air traffic controllers, TSA officers and CBP employees who work every day to keep aviation safe and secure," the news release said.
The association added that it would "urge elected leaders to act with an appropriate sense of urgency to solve this problem and immediately reopen the federal government." They said the "quickest and simplest way to ensure those critical employees are paid is by passing a clean CR."
According to Fox News, Schumer and the Senate Democrats once again shot down the 13th Republican attempt to pass the clean resolution on Tuesday. The shutdown is in its 28th day, and Tuesday marked the first day that the air traffic controllers went without pay.
The U.S. military passed that milestone on Friday, and the federal nutrition program was unable to fund benefits on Saturday, which also marked the first day of open enrollment for Obamacare. Following the Democrats' downvote, GOP Rep. Tom Keane of New Jersey slammed Democratic lawmakers for holding out.
"Today, Senate Democrats voted for the 13th time against funding our government — after already rejecting a bill last week to pay air traffic controllers and other essential workers. This is outrageous. 13,000 air traffic controllers won't receive their paychecks today because of these political games," Keane posted to X, formerly Twitter, before concluding, "It's time to reopen the government."
Today, Senate Democrats voted for the 13th time against funding our government — after already rejecting a bill last week to pay air traffic controllers and other essential workers.
This is outrageous. 13,000 air traffic controllers won't receive their paychecks today because… pic.twitter.com/v1r4qK5kof
— Congressman Tom Kean (@CongressmanKean) October 28, 2025
The Democrats are digging themselves into a hole from which they have little chance of emerging any time soon. Hardworking Americans are going without pay because Schumer and his ilk are playing politics with the government shutdown, and that's not something voters are going to forget.
The FBI announced on Monday that they had arrested 29-year-old Tyler Maxon Avalos, an alleged Minnesota anarchist who went by the nickname "Wacko," on October 16 after he posted a hit on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi using the social media platform TikTok.
The post featured an image of Bondi with a red sniper dot on her forehead with the caption, "“WANTED: Pam Bondi / REWARD: 45,000 ‘ DEAD OR ALIVE / (PREFERABLY DEAD)."
Avalos added under the photo, "Cough cough. When they don’t serve us, then what?”
His TikTok account had a link to “An Anarchist FAQ book,” according to authorities.
Avalos also has a long rap sheet, including a stalking conviction in 2022 and a domestic battery conviction in Florida in 2016, when Bondi was state attorney general there.
The specific charge Avalos faces from the feds is interstate transmission of a threat to injure another person.
The investigation into Avalos started on October 9 when a user from Detroit "submitted a report to the FBI National Threat Operations Center" about his TikTok profile, including the pic of Bondi with a sniper dot.
The tipster also flagged the suspect's TikTok feed. TikTok, Google and Comcast helped the FBI track Avalos down.
Avalos's profile contained an anarchy symbol.
According to the court affidavit, anarchism "advocates for the replacement of the state with stateless societies and voluntary free associations."
When Avalos appeared in court Wednesday morning, he waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
He was released on his own recognizance but ordered to wear a GPS monitor.
That means a man who said online that he wanted to reward someone if they killed a member of the President of the United States's cabinet is out on the street again.
I will definitely sleep better knowing that, said no one ever. So glad our court system is taking this threat seriously.
In a heartbreaking turn of events, a Texas woman’s life was cut short, with fingers pointing squarely at border security failures under the previous administration, Breitbart reported.
The devastating loss of Mary Gonzales, a 43-year-old from North Austin, has ignited fierce debate after her body was discovered in a field on Oct. 6, with three unauthorized migrants from Mexico now in custody for her alleged murder.
Let’s rewind to the night before her tragic discovery, when surveillance footage captured a suspicious blue vehicle creeping through the area without headlights, eerily close to where Gonzales would soon be found.
Within an hour of that chilling video, authorities pulled over a matching 2007 Toyota Camry just a mile away, driven by Enrique Gomez-Urbina, an individual confirmed to be in the U.S. without legal status.
Inside the vehicle, police uncovered a Glock .40-caliber handgun, raising immediate red flags about the driver’s intentions.
Though Gomez-Urbina initially fled, the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force tracked him down later that day after a warrant for first-degree murder was issued, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) promptly lodged a detainer for his removal following the criminal proceedings.
Two days later, on Oct. 8, ICE apprehended two more suspects, Jesus Llamas-Yanez and Javier Roman Hernandez, both also identified as unauthorized migrants from Mexico with ties to the crime.
Llamas-Yanez carries a troubling history of arrests for assault and driving under the influence, while Hernandez entered the U.S. on foot through Hidalgo, Texas, on July 23, 2023, using a controversial smartphone application promoted by the Biden administration.
That app, known as CBP One, reportedly allowed over 1,400 migrants daily to cross into the U.S. with minimal vetting—a policy that critics argue opened the door to unchecked risks.
Homeland Security officials have not minced words, connecting this tragic murder directly to what they see as reckless border management under the prior administration.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin declared, “These alleged cold-blooded murderers should have never been in our country in the first place, and Mary Gonzales should still be alive.”
Her words cut deep, and it’s hard to argue when a life has been lost—yet some might counter that individual crimes shouldn’t paint entire policies, though the timing and tools of entry here are tough to ignore.
McLaughlin didn’t stop there, adding, “One of these criminals came into our country using Biden’s disastrous CBP One app. Open border policies have deadly consequences.”
That app, now shuttered following President Trump’s inauguration, has become a lightning rod for those who believe lax border controls sacrifice American safety for misguided ideals—though defenders might claim it was meant to streamline, not endanger.
This case, however, isn’t about abstract debates; it’s about Mary Gonzales, whose family now mourns a preventable loss, and a community left questioning if stronger borders could have saved her.
Hillary Clinton is still wishing herself happy birthday on social media, nine years after she posted what many regard as one of the worst-aged tweets in history.
The twice-failed presidential candidate celebrated turning 78 with an old photograph of herself as a child and a message reflecting on her personal growth.
"I’m 78 today, and thinking of all the people who helped this young girl grow and thrive along the way. Today I’d love to hear about how you’re showing up, in ways large or small, for the next generation. Maybe someone will be inspired by your comment to be a part of a child’s village in the same way,” she wrote on Facebook.
Some Facebook users who saw the post likely experienced a feeling of déjà vu:
Happy birthday to this future president. pic.twitter.com/JT3HiBjYdj
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 26, 2016
Within days of Clinton sharing her notorious 2016 prediction, President Trump pulled off one of the greatest political upsets of modern history. Some would even argue that Trump's extraordinary comeback in 2024 still doesn't compare to the shock of his 2016 win, which came as a complete surprise to half the country.
Nobody felt more blindsided than Clinton, who was widely predicted to be a shoo-in for the White House. That sense of complacency led to Clinton's downfall.
Clinton's birthday message has proven ageless, especially on the right. On Clinton's birthday in 2019, Trump's social media team spoked fun at her with a video montage of Election Night coverage from 2016.
Nine years on, many still find amusement in Clinton's birthday message to herself.
Some conservatives on X have even given her credit for never deleting the post, which stands as a constant reminder of the pitfalls of pride, but also as a testament to Clinton's emotional resiliency, if we are being fair.
Since her devastating defeat in 2016, Clinton has continued to criticize Trump vocally, recently expressing outrage over Trump's demolition of the East Wing to make space for a ballroom.
It’s not his house.
It’s your house.
And he’s destroying it. pic.twitter.com/YchFF5U1nO
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 21, 2025
Trump allies have dismissed the outrage from Clinton and others by citing her husband's infamous affair with a White House intern.
While Hilary Clinton is still floated as a presidential candidate from time to time, it is safe to say that Clinton's moment has passed. Her defeat to Trump was too traumatic for most Democrats to view her as anything but damaged goods.
The Supreme Court is likely to limit the scope of a landmark civil rights law that has long boosted Democratic representation in the House of Representatives, with Republicans set to gain potentially 12 seats or more, the Hill reported.
The case centers on a map in Louisiana that was redrawn to create an additional district where black voters can elect their preferred candidate. White voters in the state say the new map illegally discriminates on the basis of race, an argument that the conservative majority appears to be receptive towards.
When the Supreme Court teed up a rare second round of arguments, it was widely seen as a signal that big changes were forthcoming.
The case centers on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires states to devise majority-minority districts to protect the voting power of racial minorities.
During the second round of arguments this month, Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested that race-based redistricting should eventually be phased out, echoing the court's reasoning for striking down affirmative action in college admissions.
“This Court’s cases in a variety of contexts have said that race-based remedies are permissible for a period of time, sometimes for a long period of time, decades in some cases,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said. "But that they should not be indefinite and should have a end point.”
Similarly, Justice Neil Gorsuch sounded skeptical that states may “intentionally discriminate on the basis of race" to fulfill Voting Rights Act requirements.
The Supreme Court has limited the Voting Rights Act before, previously striking down a federal preclearance requirement limiting the freedom of states and localities to change voting practices.
Two of the court's conservatives, Justice Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, seemed to breathe new life into the Voting Rights Act two years ago when they sided with the liberal wing in a controversy out of Alabama. But Roberts has also signaled that his decision-making in that case does not control how he will vote on the matter in Louisiana.
Long seen as the court's swing vote, Roberts has been a skeptic of racial formulas for years, writing in a 2006 case, “It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race."
While the Voting Rights Act's advocates say it is critical to an inclusive democracy, critics of the law argue it has resulted in new forms of discrimination with no end in sight, leaving courts with a complicated legal mess to sort through. There is a sense that the justices would like to be rid of the "sordid business" once and for all.
Following this month's arguments, Louisiana's attorney general Liz Murrill (R) said the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on the Voting Rights Act is confusing even to the justices themselves.
The court, she said, has to “make some sense” of its own Section 2 precedents.
"And what we heard today is that that’s really hard — even for them,” she added.
To many, the question seems to be not whether the conservative majority will rein in race-based redistricting, but how far they will go.
A New York Times analysis predicts that Republicans across the South could gain over a dozen congressional seats if Section 2 is curtailed. Some liberal groups estimate as many as 19 new Republican districts.
“This case will test whether the arc of our universe still bends toward justice — or whether it has bent back upon itself,” Alanah Odoms, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, said in a statement.
President Trump oversaw the signing of a cease-fire between Cambodia and Thailand as he began a whirlwind five-day tour of Asia.
The leaders of Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia all thanked the president for his leadership at a summit in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, NBC News reported.
"On behalf of the United States, I’m proud to help settle this conflict and forge a future for the region,” Trump said.
The Thailand-Cambodia peace deal was formalized Sunday as Trump arrived in Malaysia, whose prime minister Anwar Ibrahim helped mediate the deal.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, while Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul also offered his “sincere appreciation” for the president's efforts.
Trump used the threat of higher tariffs against Cambodia and Thailand, both export-dependent nations, to end their five-day border conflict after it erupted in July, killing dozens and displacing hundreds of thousands.
“Millions of people are alive today because of this peace treaty,” Trump declared Sunday.
Speaking weeks after he brokered peace in Gaza, Trump quipped that ending wars has become a "hobby" of his as he claimed to end eight different conflicts and teased another for him to solve, as border clashes heat up between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“I shouldn’t say it’s a hobby, because it’s so much more serious than a hobby, but it’s something that I’m good at, and it’s something I love to do,” Trump said.
“I heard that Pakistan and Afghanistan have started up. But I’ll get that solved very quickly,” he said.
While Trump has found success as a peacemaker in his second term, his efforts to end the war in Ukraine have proven fruitless, so far.
As Trump left for Japan on Monday, he slammed Vladimir Putin for testing nuclear weapons and accused the Russian leader of prolonging the conflict.
“I don’t think it’s an appropriate thing for Putin to be saying. By the way, he ought to get the war ended. A war that should have taken one week is now in its, soon, fourth year. That’s what he ought to do instead of testing missiles,” Trump said.
Before leaving Malaysia, Trump also signed trade deals to open up Southeast Asia to American imports and expand American access to key minerals.
The flurry of dealmaking is expected to culminate in an agreement to end the China trade war, which has placed significant pressure on American farmers. Trump will meet with President Xi of China in South Korea on Thursday.
“I have a lot of respect for President Xi, and we are going to come away with the deal,” Trump said.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has adopted new rules to ban illegal immigrant students from receiving in-state tuition rates, a move that was taken to comply with a court ruling compelling it to do so.
The Trump administration sued Texas to get the change, saying that parts of its education law conflicted with federal law pertaining to illegal immigrants.
“In direct and express conflict with federal law, Texas education law specifically allows an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States to qualify for in-state tuition based on residence within the state, while explicitly denying resident-based tuition rates to U.S. citizens that do not qualify as Texas residents,” the administration argued.
“No matter what a state says, if a state did not make U.S. citizens eligible, illegal aliens cannot be eligible,” the administration argued. The court agreed.
The state entered into a consent agreement in June to end in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and the rule change will implement that agreement.
“Institutions are responsible for charging a person nonresident tuition beginning with the first academic term that begins after the date the institution discovers that the institution erroneously classified a person as a Texas resident,” the rule stated.
In some cases, it could mean that students will be retroactively charged out of state tuition rates on the Fall 2025 semester.
Immigration groups are, of course, largely opposed to the rule, particularly as it applies to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students, who have existed in a gray area between legal and illegal status for years.
But the board said it is “legally bound by the judgment, as an agency of the State of Texas” and “does not have the authority to permit any other person or institution that may be separately and independently bound by federal law and the Federal Order to delay or avoid compliance.”
The federal order repeatedly said that the Barack Obama-era DACA program is illegal, and can't be the basis for any relief from the new rules.
According to the board, "DACA recipients are not lawfully present and thus ineligible to receive the benefit of Texas resident tuition on that basis.”
Texas has been trying for years to end DACA, and has been joined by 19 other states in doing so.
The closest they have come is the 2023 ruling that vacated DACA and put a nationwide injunction on it.
At any rate, illegal immigrants will no longer be a drain on federal higher education resources in Texas, which is as it should be, DACA or no.
Pennsylvania Sens. John Fetterman (D) and Dave McCormick (R) appeared together on Thursday to publicly denounce the federal government shutdown in a rare show of bipartisan unity that focused on how the shutdown was impacting Pennsylvanians, especially families and federal workers who aren't receiving paychecks while the government is shut down.
“Here we are in Washington, D.C., and it is shut down,” Fetterman said in a video posted to social media. “But now here it’s both Pennsylvania’s voice here in the U.S. Senate, even though we are in a different party, and we both want to talk about why we believe it’s so important to reopen this government.”
The shutdown is "really starting to hurt Pennsylvania," McCormick agreed.
“Twenty-three days, 12 votes,” he stated. “Senator Fetterman and I have both voted to open up the government. We agree on that 100%. We’ve got to get the government open. That’s our main responsibility. And I’d say that regardless of what party is in the majority.”
The pair noted that almost 2 million Pennsylvanians receive some sort of SNAP benefits for food, which will be cut off as of November 1 due to a lack of federal funding.
“Our votes are about country over party at this point,” he remarked. “Now we have two million Pennsylvanians that rely on SNAP. That’s going to stop, and we can now stop, reopen this government, and have an earnest conversation about extending those tax credits. We’re in a different party. We’re on the same team for Pennsylvania and our nation.”
McCormick concluded, “Pennsylvanians expect it. Pennsylvanians deserve it.”
Fetterman was one of three senators who voted with Republicans for the continuing resolution that would have kept things running until November 21, but the Senate was still a few votes short of the 60 needed to break the filibuster.
He told Fox News, “It’s wrong to shut our government down. And then if I lose some support within the base, well, I’m going to be honest, and I’ll be the Democrat to refuse to lie to the base and just say that it’s the right thing to shut the government down.”
While many independent voters and Republicans are finding Fetterman to be a breath of fresh air in a hyperpartisan environment, he is facing mounting opposition within the Democrat Party as he continues to stand up to it on a number of issues.
He isn't jumping on the Trump-hating train, but has said he wants to work with Trump and Republicans when it benefits Pennsylvanians.
Pennsylvania is also experiencing a shutdown at the state level, as the Democrat-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate have failed to agree on spending since July 1.
Currently, Pennsylvania is the only state without an operating budget, and the two parties are still about $3 billion apart in their respective spending bills.
Fetterman and McCormick don't have any influence on state politics, though, so there's not much they can do about it.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday that he won't meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin again until he knows they can make a deal to end the war in Ukraine, according to the New York Post.
“We’re going to have to know that we’re going to make a deal,” Trump said from Air Force One.
“I’m not going to be wasting my time. I’ve always had a great relationship with [Putin], but this has been very disappointing.”
Trump made it clear that he didn't think it would take as long as it has to end the fighting in Ukraine--something he said during the campaign he would do on "day one" of his return to office.
“I thought [the Hamas-Israel cease-fire deal] would have been more difficult than Russia and Ukraine, but it didn’t work out that way,” he said.
The comments followed an announcement last week that after a phone call between Trump and Putin, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the U.S. delegation in talks with counterparts in Russia.
The phone call was supposed to be a precursor to a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Trump, but that plan fell apart because Putin rejected a key part of the plan put forward by Trump: ending the war with the current battle lines in place.
That would mean that Russia keeps control of Crimea, but only holds parts of other areas where fighting has raged, including the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Russia has claimed all of these regions and seeks to annex them all.
Indeed, Putin has spent hundreds of billions of dollars and likely over one million Russian lives to accomplish his goal, and no doubt it would be humiliating for him to end the fighting without accomplishing everything he set out to do.
On the other hand, though, the U.S. and other allies have determined that letting Ukraine fall to Russia is not in the world's best interest.
Putin could realistically say that he has been fighting not just Ukraine, but the entire Western world in the war.
It may yet come to that, since the U.S. is now preparing to give Patriot missiles to Ukraine to stave off the Russian aggression. Trump is also putting new sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil producers, hoping to starve the Russian war machine further.
“There’s a lot of hatred between the two, between [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky and Putin,” Trump told the press corps. “There’s tremendous hatred.”
Picture this: two Pennsylvania senators, from opposite political camps, standing together in Washington, D.C., pleading for an end to a crippling government shutdown.
Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat, and Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican, made this striking display on Thursday, cutting through partisan noise with a unified call for action, Breitbart reported. It’s a rare moment of sanity in a capital often paralyzed by division.
As the shutdown stretches into its 23rd day, its impact on Pennsylvania families has become impossible to ignore, prompting this bipartisan stand.
Earlier this week, Fetterman didn’t mince words on Fox News, declaring, “It’s wrong to shut our government down.” He’s spot-on—shutdowns are a reckless political stunt that punish everyday folks like federal workers and SNAP recipients. When a Democrat risks party backlash to speak this truth, the crisis is clearly severe.
The seeds of this joint effort were sown as the shutdown’s damage grew undeniable. Fetterman had already cautioned on CNN in September that such gridlock sparks “massive chaos” for no valid purpose. His outspokenness has drawn ire from some Pennsylvania Democrats, who are even whispering about a 2028 primary challenge, yet he remains steadfast.
McCormick, the first-term Republican, is equally resolute in highlighting the human toll. He pointed to struggling air traffic controllers, border patrol agents, and two million Pennsylvanians dependent on SNAP benefits. These aren’t just numbers; they’re real lives disrupted by D.C. dysfunction.
The duo amplified their message through a joint social media video, a direct appeal for common sense. McCormick noted they’ve each voted 12 times to reopen the government, proving they’re not just posturing. This transcends party lines—it’s about delivering for their state.
In their video, Fetterman emphasized, “Our votes are about country over party at this point.” He stressed the plight of two million SNAP recipients facing uncertainty if this persists. That’s not a minor issue; it’s a lifeline for countless households.
McCormick reinforced the urgency, stating, “Pennsylvanians expect it. Pennsylvanians deserve it.” If only more leaders could shelve ideological battles for the sake of constituents’ basic needs.
Let’s face it—bipartisanship shouldn’t be shocking news, but in today’s hyper-polarized climate, it’s a breath of fresh air. When progressive policies or rigid party loyalty derail governance, seeing Fetterman and McCormick align feels like a quiet rebellion against the status quo.
Fetterman’s recent actions have stirred debate within his own ranks. He’s supported some Republican initiatives since the new administration began, including the Laken Riley Act, arguing it’s all for Pennsylvania’s benefit. While this has frustrated some Democrats, prioritizing state over party seems like a defensible choice.
Shouldn’t we applaud leaders who bridge divides rather than vilify them? Shutdowns expose the folly of inflexible partisanship, especially for federal employees left without paychecks through no fault of their own.
McCormick, too, refuses to play party games on this issue. His push to reopen the government before debating tax credits reflects a practical mindset missing in much of Washington. Pennsylvanians aren’t clamoring for drama; they want results.
The senators’ plea is straightforward: end the shutdown first, then tackle other debates. It’s a logical stance in a city often allergic to reason. If two opposing voices can sync on this, surely others in Congress can follow suit.
The stakes for Pennsylvania couldn’t be higher as this crisis drags on. Families don’t care about political point-scoring; they need stability and a government that functions. Fetterman and McCormick grasp this, even if too many in D.C. seem oblivious.
Ultimately, this bipartisan push is a reminder of what governance should be. It’s not about left or right; it’s about right and wrong—and leaving the government shuttered is simply wrong. Let’s hope Congress takes note before more damage is done.