President Donald Trump's administration has moved to cut thousands of employees from the Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with his promise to do so if a government shutdown ensued, Breitbart reported. The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 after Democrats failed to agree to a deal that would have kept the government open through the end of the year.
While the EPA does the vital work of keeping America's skies and waterways clean, it is also a bastion of leftist activism. Furthermore, it is also a bloated bureaucracy that consumes taxpayer dollars while returning relatively little in return.
Trump had recommended that the agency reduce its workforce of 16,421 full-time employees to approximately 12,500 by the end of this year. The agency also reduced or canceled grants and other spending by $29 billion, thanks to Trump.
Of course, any time the government is asked to reduce its spending, some make catastrophic predictions. The same applies to this, as some believe that permanently laying off employees who were furloughed during the shutdown is a risky move. However, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has assured the public that a contingency plan is in place.
Even with the government shutdown dragging on into its fourth week, Zeldin said that the agency will still be able to meet its core objectives even if the Democrats continue to play games. "The Trump EPA is committed to protecting the environment and ensuring America has the cleanest air, land and water in the world while growing our economy, but Democrats are content to allow our funding to run out," Zeldin said.
"They are preventing us from securing funding needed to continue these important programs and impeding our ability to deliver clean air, land, and water for Americans. They are prioritizing their own radical policy agenda that could undermine both environmental progress and economic stability in pursuit of their $1.5 trillion poison-packed wish list at the expense of the American people," he went on.
"Congressional Democrats can end this shutdown right now by voting for our clean, bipartisan funding extension instead of playing political games," Zeldin concluded. The agency has promised to continue with its operations, including "Protection of EPA land, buildings, equipment, and protection of research; Law enforcement and criminal investigations; Emergency and disaster assistance; Superfund response work; EPA’s emergency response readiness operations," the news outlet noted.
What won't be carried on are functions like "Issuing new grants or interagency agreements; Civil enforcement inspections; Approvals of pending state requests, such as authorized/delegated state-issued EPA permits, SIPs, TMDLs, Water Quality Standards." Nevertheless, the agency has continued to operate despite Democrats' unwillingness to vote to keep the lights on.
Some of the functions successfully carried out include remediation of several "superfund" sites that are tainted with hazardous waste, including Glycerin Traders in La Porte, Indiana, and Berry’s Creek in Bergen County, New Jersey. It has also continued to play an advisory role in wildfire prevention and cleanup.
It appears that the EPA is performing well, despite having to reduce some services due to the shutdown that Democrats continue to perpetuate. Still, many employees are worried about their jobs, especially since they may be on the chopping block due to Trump.
One employee is concerned about seeing reduction-in-force orders come through for those temporarily out of a job due to the shutdown. "I’m worried that I and other furloughed employees will be RIFed," an unidentified staffer said.
"I’d rather go hungry than lose our democracy. I refuse to stay quiet and let them use us feds as an excuse to accept a bad deal," another employee said, clearly showing the leftist bent that many share in government and the EPA, particularly.
Meanwhile, Trump's EPA spokesperson, Brigit Hirsch, said that they've "been intentional and aggressive in establishing a structure to ensure EPA is focused on statutory obligations & Presidential priorities, not the overreach of the previous administration," she told E&E News. "There is zero uncertainty at EPA about what we are working on and who is advancing these priorities," Hirsch added.
Regardless of how it gets done, it's always good news for taxpayers when the government workforce is cut in a significant way. The Democrats have decided to play this game of chicken with Trump, and it appears that once again, he has gotten the best of them.
Chess great Daniel Naroditsky, who gained fame by offering online lessons and livestreams, has passed away at the age of 29, according to Fox News. The former World Junior Champion's family said that his death was "unexpected" and that no cause of death has been released to date.
The announcement came from his family on Oct. 20 that Naroditsky had died. The Charlotte Chess Center, where Naroditsky worked as an instructor, shared the statement from his family on X, formerly Twitter.
"The Naroditsky family shares the sad news of Daniel’s unexpected passing. Daniel was a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community. We ask for privacy as the family grieves," the organization posted.
The Naroditsky family shares the sad news of Daniel’s unexpected passing. Daniel was a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community. We ask for privacy as the family grieves. pic.twitter.com/otNdUxDKtL
— Charlotte Chess Center (@CLTchesscenter) October 20, 2025
The statement from Naroditsky's family expressed the depth of their grief and briefly eulogized him. "It is with great sadness that we share the unexpected passing of Daniel Naroditsky," the family wrote.
"Daniel was a talented chess player, commentator, and educator, and a cherished member of the chess community, admired and respected by fans and players around the world. He was also a loving son and brother, and a loyal friend to many," his family added.
The family then asked for privacy to grieve. Naroditsky, whose parents are Jewish immigrants from Azerbaijan and Ukraine, grew up in San Mateo County, California. He was a child chess prodigy, winning the Under-12 World Championship before eventually earning the title of Grandmaster at the age of 18.
At just 14 years old, Naroditsky penned Mastering Positional Chess, a book of game strategies, and was the youngest person to author such a chess manual. The young man would go on to bring chess into the online sphere and amassed a sizeable following on YouTube and Twitch with his popular livestreams.
His most recent accolades include clinching the top spot at the U.S. National Blitz Championship in August. He also notched a notable win in 2021 when he bested the World No. 2 and then-reigning U.S. Champion Fabiano Caruana.
According to People, Naroditsky's death came after the chess great was away from his streaming channels for a bit. In his final stream before his death, the chess great explained the reason for the hiatus and promised more content would be coming.
"You thought I was gone forever, but little do you know, I'm actually back and better than ever. I know that the episodes have been few and far between," Naroditsky told his more than half a million viewers.
"I've been sort of taking a kind of creative break, deciding future avenues of content. I won't delve too much into it now because I know everybody's excited for some chess games," he added.
Naroditsky didn't open up about the nature of the struggles he was having, but he did "like" several comments on the stream that encouraged him. One commenter wrote, "Look after yourself, mate, there is so much love for you out in the world!"
While there is still much unknown about Naroditsky's demise, the last stream perhaps gives a glimpse of what his frame of mind was. Regardless of the manner of his death, Naroditsky's fans and the entire chess world will grieve such a massive loss.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) refused to answer a direct question from a reporter on Saturday about whether Democrats would win a majority in the Senate or the House in the midterm elections in 2026.
Schiff spoke to a crowd with a megaphone at the "No Kings" protest in Washington, D.C., but wouldn't answer when a reporter from Breitbart News asked him, “Do you think that Democrats will take the House and Senate?”
“I’m gonna join the march, I’m sorry,” he told the reporter.
When asked a second time, a man standing in front of Schiff intervened and said, “We’re not doing interviews right now, thank you.”
Republicans have a level of hope that they can hold on to their majorities, based on some redistricting efforts and another fact Majority Whip Tom Emmer pointed out earlier this month.
"Democrats… have 13 of their members in seats that Donald Trump won in the last presidential election. We only have three,” he said.
Emmer said he expects "we’ll not only hold onto it, but we will expand it to some extent."
It would be unusual for Republicans to hold onto the House with the very slim margin they currently have there, since the party in power generally loses seats in the midterm.
President Donald Trump said he may hold a Republican National Convention before the midterms similar to the one held during a presidential election year.
He expressed confidence in August about how his party was doing so far:
The Republican Party is doing really well. Millions of people have joined us in our quest to MAKE AMERICA, GREAT AGAIN. We won every aspect of the Presidential Election and, based on the great success we are having, are poised to WIN BIG IN THE MIDTERMS. We have raised far more money than the Democrats, and are having a great time fixing all of the Country Destroying mistakes made by the Biden Administration, and watching the USA heal and prosper. The results are incredible, a record pace!!!
It would be a feat for the GOP to maintain majorities in both houses of Congress after the midterms, but Democrats have been busy shooting themselves in the foot left and right since Trump was elected, so you never know.
Another thing that helps Republicans' chances of maintaining their majorities in Congress is a recent Supreme Court ruling that reversed a part of the Voting Rights Act aimed at stopping states from redistricting in such a way that a minority group loses the majority in that district.
If Republican-led states redistrict affected districts as a result of this ruling, it could mean a net gain of 19 House seats, making it that much harder for Democrats to gain a majority.
These two factors are probably the reason Schiff isn't willing to declare victory now. Politics has become too unpredictable to get overconfident more than a year before a consequential election.
From the very first day of the current federal government shutdown, President Donald Trump warned Democrats that their foot-dragging on a continuing resolution would likely result in significant cuts to programs and agencies they hold dear.
Trump is making good on that promise, as the Daily Caller reports, now working to gut a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that critics blame for the entrenchment of far-left abortion and gender ideology policies within the federal ranks.
At issue is the Office of Population Affairs (OPA), the stated mission of which is to further “reproductive health outcomes and adolescent health and wellbeing by supporting high-quality clinical services, evidence-based and innovative programs, rigorous research and evaluation.”
However, critics of the office believe that the agency has been a conduit through which far-left policies have been advanced throughout various arms of the federal government.
Though the OPA is intended to facilitate Title X of the Public Health Service Act, providing grants to support a “broad range of acceptable and effective family planning methods and related preventive health services,” detractors suggest that the mission has been altered to suit more partisan aims.
Pregnancy prevention has been a top priority, it has been claimed, and while the statute that OPA is designed to implement prohibits federal funding of abortions, the Biden administration initiated something of a workaround that facilitated referrals for pregnancy termination services.
Adding to the controversy, according to the outlet, is the fact that staffers affiliated with pro-abortion groups were effectively embedded within the office, which also endorsed and published materials promoting “gender-affirming care” for minors and distributed sexually explicit content.
It was on Oct. 10 that approximately 30 employees at OPA received reduction-in-force (RIF) notifications, indicating that the job cuts they entailed were permanent in nature and not temporary measures stemming from the government shutdown.
Staffers inside the OPA were reportedly locked out of their email accounts and government laptops as of Friday evening.
The number of cuts implemented represents, practically speaking, the effective shuttering of the office, a scenario that has been met with praise from Republicans such as Illinois Rep. Mary Miller.
Speaking to the Daily Caller News Foundation, Miller stated, “The Office of Population Affairs has long used taxpayer dollars to advance the leftist agenda targeting children and the unborn.”
Miller continued, “I applaud the Trump Administration’s efforts to root out far-left programs in the federal government that undermine the very fabric of our country.”
Democrats upset by the effective end of the OPA may want to tread carefully in terms of prolonging the government shutdown, particularly in light of Trump’s recent warning that the stalemate gives his administration the chance to close “Democrat programs that we want to close up or we never wanted to happen.”
With the president pledging that such initiatives are “never going to come back in many cases,” it seems that Democrats in Congress would be wise to bring the shutdown to a rapid end lest they suffer even deeper cuts to departments and priorities they hold dear.
President Donald Trump encouraged Ed Gallrein on Friday to challenge Rep. Thomas Massie in the upcoming Kentucky Republican primary, the Washington Examiner reported. This comes after Massie has opposed Trump on several issues, including refusing to sign onto his signature legislation and breaking with the president over Israel.
Trump had threatened to back a challenge for Massie’s seat over their disagreements. Now it appears he’s ready to make good on that.
The Kentucky Republican, who has been in Congress since 2012, has also faced a challenge from a super PAC in June looking to stop his 2026 reelection. Massie has not only lost the president’s backing, but also faces opposition from House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Still, Gallrein has yet to announce his intention to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. He previously ran for Kentucky state senate and lost in a tight three-way race.
Trump posted about his disapproval for Massie on his Truth Social on Friday. “Third Rate Congressman Thomas Massie, a Weak and Pathetic RINO from the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, a place I love, and won big SIX TIMES, must be thrown out of office, ASAP!” Trump wrote.
The president then pivoted to his endorsement of Gallrein. “The incredible people of Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District gave us a mandate to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and the person that will help us do that is Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Fifth Generation Kentucky Farmer, Captain Ed Gallrein, a true America First Patriot,” Trump wrote.
“A Brave Combat Veteran, Ed knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Defend our Country, Support our Military/Veterans, and Ensure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH. Additionally, as a very successful Businessman, Ed knows how to Create GREAT Jobs, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Support our Amazing Farmers and American Agriculture, Unleash American Energy Dominance, and Champion our Nation’s Golden Age,” Trump gushed.
”In Congress, he will fight tirelessly to Keep our now very Secure Border, SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment. I hope Ed gets into the Race against Massie, who is now polling at about 9% because the Great People of Kentucky are wise to him — He only votes against the Republican Party, making life very easy for the Radical Left,”Trump charged.
“Unlike ‘lightweight’ Massie, a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly, CAPTAIN ED GALLREIN IS A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN. Should he decide to challenge Massie, Captain Ed Gallrein has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, ED, RUN — MAGA!”
Despite these attacks, Massie has amassed an impressive war chest, raising more than three-quarters of a million dollars. This is a record for the Kentucky Republican.
Massie is a proven winner and received 76% of the vote in his 2024 primary. He’s also continued to support Trump, even if he disagrees with some of his recent policies and stances.
Meanwhile, Massie has pointed out that Gallrein is a supporter of establishment Republicans based on donation records. “We’ll look here. The hack Trump just endorsed to run against me is a Lindsay Graham donor,” Massie posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.
Well look 👀 here. The hack Trump just endorsed to run against me is a Lindsey Graham donor❗️ pic.twitter.com/pePwtiHszp
— Thomas Massie for Congress (@MassieforKY) October 18, 2025
Trump demands loyalty from his fellow Republicans, and he’s right to do so. There is so much opposition coming from the left already that the GOP needs to present a united front against them.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hinted that she may challenge Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for his seat in their state's Democratic primary, the New York Post reported. Ocasio-Cortez indicated this during a CNN town hall discussion on Wednesday with independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The moderator, Kaitlin Collins, asked the leftist politicians whether they thought Schumer had to go because of his role in the continued government shutdown. While both seemed to brush off the idea as absurd, what Ocasio-Cortez said next seemed to suggest that she believes it's time to challenge the 74-year-old senator.
Ocasio-Cortez said she is "sick of talking about these horse races" and "sick of leaders who only want to spend their time talking about that instead of talking about real issues that affect our lives." She then made a gaffe that is sure to become a classic. "Instead of talking about healthcare; Instead of talking about wages; Instead of talking about having air that is drinkable – I mean, air that is breathable and water that is drinkable."
Both were deflecting and attempting to take the heat off Schumer and the Democrats as the government shutdown drags on because of their unwillingness to budge. Sanders turned to his usual socialist arguments about inequality and economic issues, without really discussing Schumer and his positions.
"That's exactly what we're talking--we have a country that is falling apart. We had a housing crisis, a health care crisis, an education crisis, massive income and wealth inequality, corrupt campaign finances, and the media says, ‘Are you going to run? What are you going to run for?’ Nobody cares!" Sanders claimed.
Collins pushed back on Sanders that it is not just the media talking about challenging Schumer, noting that President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have been speculating whether Ocasio-Cortez would be the one to do unseat Schumer. Sanders said that the president and vice president are only doing this to "deflect attention away from the real issues" before launching into more of his default rhetoric.
"We're living in the richest country in the history of the world, right? All right, you tell me why we're the only nation not to guarantee health care to all people," Sanders bemoaned.
"The only nation not to guarantee paid family and medical leave, why we have a $7.25 an hour minimum wage, why we have 800,000 people sleeping out on the street," he added. "Let’s talk about that issue — not her political future. She’ll decide that," Sanders said.
This idea is not out of nowhere, as Fox News reported that others have hinted that Ocasio-Cortez may already be more powerful in the party and is striving for even more sway. During an appearance on MSNBC last month, Ocasio-Cortez made it seem like she was the one calling the shots.
"My office is open, and you are free to walk in and negotiate with me directly," she said to Republicans while speaking about the shutdown. When a reporter asked former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi whether there was any merit in Republicans's feelings that Ocasio-Cortez had bargaining power, Pelosi snapped back at the reporter who dared to breach the topic.
"Why are you saying such a ridiculous thing? She’s wonderful, she’s a real team player, and the rest of that," Pelosi said.
"You started by saying Republicans say that she’s directing this. She is not, Hakeem Jeffries is," Pelosi said, referring to the House Minority Leader.
The Democratic Party is having a hard time pulling out of this tailspin, and perhaps it is time for new leaders to step up. Still, even if Ocasio-Cortez is downplaying it and others are sidestepping it, it's time for new leadership before they get to a point where they'll never politically recover.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Trump administration will withhold $40 million in funding to California over its failure to enforce minimum English comprehension standards for truck drivers, Fox News reported. This issue has come to the forefront following a devastating crash caused by an illegal immigrant truck driver that killed three people.
While traveling on a Florida road in August, driver Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn, causing a vehicle to crash into the tractor-trailer he was operating. The driver, a citizen of India, held a commercial license issued in California despite several factors that should have precluded him from receiving one.
Singh had entered illegally through Mexico in 2018, and despite being in the country illegally, California claims he was issued a license because he had a valid work permit. The truck driver reportedly failed the required English proficiency exam but was given a commercial license in California and Washington state.
The crash happened after President Donald Trump issued an executive order mandating minimum English proficiency standards for commercial truck drivers. Duffy blames California's failure to enforce the standard for this crash and others like it, and has now threatened to withhold funding.
The transportation secretary posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the policy change on Wednesday. "I’m withholding 40 MILLION DOLLARS in funding for California because they can’t get their priorities straight," Duffy announced.
"The Golden State thinks it’s OK to ignore @USDOT English language requirements for truckers. You can play all the games you want, but not at the expense of American lives," he added.
The post was accompanied by photos showing the aftermath of some of the crashes as well as the alleged perpetrators. Many others who shared the post noted that it was Duffy's moment to get tough with California, a state which has openly given aid and comfort tp illegal immigrants.
🚨💸I’m withholding 40 MILLION DOLLARS in funding for California because they can’t get their priorities straight.
The Golden State thinks it’s OK to ignore @USDOT English language requirements for truckers.
You can play all the games you want, but not at the expense of… pic.twitter.com/0fl8gfURXB
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) October 15, 2025
A Department of Transportation memo issued on Wednesday outlined plans for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to hold back $40,685,225 from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program. In it, Duffy specifically blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom's unwillingness to follow the law, which surely has Democrats raging.
States like California use the grants to "conduct roadside inspections, traffic enforcement, safety audits of trucking companies, and public education campaigns." Duffy said that since California failed to comply with the English language requirement, it would not receive the funds, and the Golden State only has its leaders to blame.
"I put states on notice this summer: enforce the Trump Administration’s English language requirements or the checks stop coming. California is the only state in the nation that refuses to ensure big rig drivers can read our road signs and communicate with law enforcement," Duffy noted.
"This is a fundamental safety issue that impacts you and your family on America’s roads," he added. Duffy blamed Newsom for forcing him to take action by flouting the federal standards. "Let me be clear – this is valuable money that should be going to the great men and women in California law enforcement, who we support," Duffy said.
"Gov. Newsom’s insistence on obstructing federal law has tied my hands," he added. The memo stated that the only way for California to get out of this is to begin immediately conducting English language proficiency stops and enforcing the law if they don't pass.
The American people deserve to be safe on the road, knowing that the people driving heavy commercial vehicles have been properly vetted and trained. California is purposefully putting lives at risk for the sake of protecting illegal immigrants, and it's about time someone put a stop to it.
President Donald Trump's administration has revoked the visas of six foreigners who made disparaging remarks about the death of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, The Hill reported. The State Department said it has "no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans" as the left panics about the chilling effect on free speech.
The individuals singled out include an Argentine national, a Brazilian national, a German national, a Mexican national, a Paraguayan national, and a South African national. The statement department made it clear in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday that it was completely within its rights to do so before presenting a thread with the statements from each.
"The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans. The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk. Here are just a few examples of aliens who are no longer welcome in the U.S.," it said before sharing each statement in a thread.
The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.
The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk. Here are just a few examples of aliens who are no longer welcome in the U.S.:
— Department of State (@StateDept) October 14, 2025
As the State Department made clear, the U.S. does not have to admit people who don't align with the values of this nation. Whereas Freedom of Speech protections in the First Amendment of the Constitution apply to Americans, those in the U.S. on visas are in the nation as a privilege rather than a right.
One of the objectionable remarks included in the State Department's thread came from an Argentine claiming that the late conservative icon "devoted his entire life spreading racist, xenophobic, misogynistic rhetoric" and therefore deserves eternal hellfire. The German national said that "when fascists die, democrats don’t complain" in celebration of Kirk's murder.
The Paraguayan national wrote that "Charlie Kirk was a son of a b**** and he died by his own rules," but the Mexican national got particularly nasty. The individual wrote that Kirk "died being a racist, he died being a misogynist" and determined that "there are people who deserve to die," implying that Kirk was one of them.
"There are people who would make the world better off dead," the Mexican national wrote. The South African individual wrote that the people grieving Kirk's death are "hurt that the racist rally ended in attempted martyrdom," and that Kirk "was used to astroturf a movement of white nationalist trailer trash."
The State Department said that these statements led to the revocation of their visas as the only option. "@POTUS and @SecRubio will defend our borders, our culture, and our citizens by enforcing our immigration laws. Aliens who take advantage of America’s hospitality while celebrating the assassination of our citizens will be removed," a post at the end of the lengthy thread said.
While foreign-born detractors had horrible things to say about Kirk, Trump honored his legacy on Tuesday by posthumously awarding him the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. "Charlie Kirk was a martyr for truth and for freedom," Trump said from the Rose Garden ceremony, the New York Post reported.
Charlie Kirk's wife, Erika Kirk, was in attendance to accept the award on her husband's behalf. "And from Socrates to Saint Peter, from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King, those who change history the most — and he really did — have always risked their lives for causes they were put on Earth to defend," Trump went on about the deceased honoree.
“We’ve watched legions of far-left radicals resort to desperate acts of violence and terror because they know that their ideas and arguments are persuading no one. They know that they’re failing,” Trump added, alluding to the suspected killer. "They have the devil’s ideology, and they’re failing. And they know it. They feel it, and they become violent."
The president, who only returned from Egypt at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, said he "raced back halfway around the globe" to present the medal on Charlie Kirk's birthday. "He should have been turning 32 years old," Trump noted.
Charlie Kirk was an American hero, and he deserves to be treated as such. While Americans have Freedom of Speech rights, guests in this nation do not, and those who choose to say objectionable things about Charlie Kirk absolutely should be shown the door. It's the least we as a nation can do for his grieving family.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to secure the positions of 1,000 employees laid off in error in emails sent Friday, the UK Daily Mail reported. The erroneous emails attributed the firings to President Donald Trump's cuts during the ongoing shutdown of the federal government.
President Donald Trump promised that a government shutdown would give him the opportunity to scale back the size of government permanently. What wasn't expected was the largest single layoff event in the agency's history, which was later deemed an error.
Some of those who received notices that they would be losing their jobs included top scientists and disease experts, some of whom were currently working on outbreaks of Ebola and measles. The emails also effectively cut through entire sectors of the agency, including the Global Health Center, which leads in immunizations, and the Epidemic Intelligence Services, which are known as the "disease detectives" that track and anticipate outbreaks.
The mix-up became apparent quickly, and by Saturday, health officials were rolling back their "erroneous" dismissal notices. Nevertheless, the CDC is left to sort out the mishap and track down affected personnel to set the record straight.
The Trump administration sent warnings to at least 4,200 federal employees on Friday from at least seven different agencies, indicating that pink slips were forthcoming, The Hill reported. Of those, approximately 1,100 to 1,200 were from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The notices were sent via email just before 9 p.m. as the Columbus Day weekend began. Even before this happened, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2883, representing employees at the CDC's Atlanta, Georgia, headquarters, had charged that firings during the government shutdown were punitive.
This sentiment was echoed by Debra Houry, who served as chief medical officer at the CDC before resigning in August over the so-called "politicization of science" that Trump was engaging in. "Some of the best-trained epidemiologists in the world were told they no longer had a job," she complained about the same agency that got so much wrong during the pandemic.
The layoff notices were issued to a pair about to deploy to the Democratic Republic of Congo to respond to an Ebola outbreak. At the same time, another was an official with nearly 30 years of experience who had been working on outbreaks of Marburg virus, mpox, and Ebola in Africa. The Global Health Center's director and half-dozen regional global offices were also "wiped out" before the correction was made to the cuts.
The Trump administration was quick to correct the record, but that hasn't stopped detractors from slamming the very idea of making personnel cuts. Meanwhile, they're blaming Trump for retaliatory action against the agencies rather than sticking to the facts.
The work that the CDC does is certainly worthwhile, but the amount of caterwauling about the firings is overkill. Like any government agency, even those on the frontline of disease prevention can afford to trim the fat. However, those who were impacted act like every individual on the payroll is equally vital. "This Administration continues to destroy critical pillars of America’s already wounded public health system," Richard Besser, who was previously acting director of the CDC, claimed.
"Using a government shutdown as a pretense to fire hundreds of critically important health officials and thousands of additional government staffers is the height of cruelty and recklessness. The damage this will do to our nation is incalculable," Besser added.
Meanwhile, the Infectious Disease Society of America and other infection control organizations complained that any cuts "will cripple the agency that keeps our country safe by monitoring and preventing disease and saving lives in every community across the country,” a joint statement said. "Uncertainty around which staff have been fired or rehired leaves health professionals and the public in a state of complete confusion about which longstanding public health services they can rely upon," it added.
Still, Dr. Robert Malone, an outspoken critic of the CDC's pandemic response, recognized the bureaucracy likely needed the cuts regardless of how it ended up. "CDC has had decades of mission creep, and has lost focus in core mission. It is now being restructured, redirected, and dismantled," Malone posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.
My opinion, not speaking on behalf of USG, CDC leadership, or ACIP.
CDC has had decades of mission creep, and has lost focus in core mission. It is now being restructured, redirected and dismantled. The international component is being transferred to the State department.…
— Robert W Malone, MD (@RWMaloneMD) October 12, 2025
These government organizations need a shakeup every now and then, even if it unsettles some of the employees who believe they are essential. The administration corrected its error, but it's a good thing for these lifelong government employees to be on notice that their jobs could always be in jeopardy.
President Donald Trump talked about his son Barron on his granddaughter's vlog, 1 on 1 with Kai, which was posted to YouTube on Saturday but was filmed in August on a day the president spent golfing with her.
When Kai asked how her uncle was doing at NYU, Trump said, “Good, he’s doing good. He’s a good boy. He loves you. He said, ‘Say hello to Kai, dad.'"
“I said, ‘Barron, why don’t you come out and watch?’ … he’s so cute.”
It's no secret that Barron doesn't share his dad's love of golf. He prefers tennis, and also played soccer in his younger years.
The vlog was filmed a few days before Barron started his sophomore year at NYU's Stern School of Business, but he is attending the smaller D.C. campus this year after spending his freshman year on the New York City campus while living in Trump Tower with his mom Melania.
According to a security officer at NYU's main campus, Barron would be spending a "semester" at the D.C. campus, but it wasn't confirmed whether it would be just a semester or longer than that.
The D.C. campus offers opportunities to do "experiential learning" and to apply for internships. Only 60 to 100 students are at that campus, compared with the 26,000 at the New York City campus.
In addition to attending school, Barron is already pursuing business interests including real estate and cryptocurrency.
The New York Post speculated that he "could have" earned $40 million from the sale of digital assets by World Liberty Financial, his family's crypto company.
Barron was the one who encouraged the family to get into the crypto business--something his dad admitted he didn't know much about.
“Barron knows so much about this,” Trump said after the launch in September. “Barron’s a young guy, but he knows it — he talks about his wallet. He’s got four wallets or something, and I’m saying, ‘What is a wallet?’”
The company has already sold $550 million in tokens, according to reports.
Barron is a co-founder of the company, and Forbes estimated that he would have a 7.5% stake in it.
That's certainly enough money to pay the estimated $32,000 in annual tuition for his studies, although at this point he could probably teach some of his professors a thing or two, it seems.