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Posted by Matt Kiser

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2025/10/23/day-1738/

Today in one sentence: The Senate rejected two bills to pay federal workers during the shutdown, which is now in its 23rd day; at least 25 states warned that food aid benefits will stop in November if the federal government shutdown continues; Trump called off a planned “surge” of federal immigration agents in San Francisco after a late-night calls with Mayor Daniel Lurie and tech executives; Virginia Democrats plan to call a special legislative session to redraw the state’s congressional map in an effort to add up to three Democratic seats; House Democrats opened an investigation into Trump’s demand that the Justice Department pay him $230 million for past criminal investigations; the U.S. national debt surpassed $38 trillion, the fastest $1 trillion increase in history outside the pandemic; Trump pardoned the Binance founder who promoted the Trump family’s meme coin and crypto venture; and Russia denounced Trump’s sanctions on its top oil companies, calling them “an unfriendly act” and warning that they would damage U.S.-Russia relations.

1/ The Senate rejected two bills to pay federal workers during the shutdown, which is now in its 23rd day. Workers are set to miss their first full paycheck this week. Democrats insist on negotiating Affordable Care Act subsidy extensions before reopening, while Republicans have maintained that talks could only start after funding passes. Trump, meanwhile, 57 cumulative shutdown days across his two terms set a new record surpassing Jimmy Carter’s 56 days. (Washington Post / Politico / Associated Press / Axios)

2/ At least 25 states warned that food aid benefits will stop in November if the federal government shutdown continues. The Agriculture Department ordered states to suspend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments “until further notice,” affecting over 42 million recipients. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that without a deal to reopen the government, benefits will “go away” by Nov. 1. (Politico / Reuters / CBS News)

3/ Trump called off a planned “surge” of federal immigration agents in San Francisco after a late-night calls with Mayor Daniel Lurie and tech executives. Trump said that “friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward” and said Lurie “asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around.” Lurie confirmed that Trump “told me clearly that he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment in San Francisco.” The reversal came hours after agents began stagging at a Coast Guard base in Alameda, where police used flash-bang grenades on protesters blocking the entrance. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Trump had “finally, for once, listened to reason.” (CalMatters / San Francisco Standard / Politico / Axios / The Guardian / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / NBC News)

4/ Virginia Democrats plan to call a special legislative session to redraw the state’s congressional map in an effort to add up to three Democratic seats. The move would make Virginia the second state, after California, where Democrats are attempting to counter Trump’s redistricting effort before the 2026 midterm elections. “We are coming back to address actions by the Trump administration,” Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell said. The proposed changes would take the form of a constitutional amendment, requiring approval in consecutive legislative sessions and a voter referendum. Republicans called the plan “a desperate move.” (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post)

5/ House Democrats opened an investigation into Trump’s demand that the Justice Department pay him $230 million for past criminal investigations, including the Russia probe and the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search. Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin and Oversight ranking member Robert Garcia requested all related Justice Department records, correspondence, and internal analyses by Oct. 30. The lawmakers wrote that Trump’s plan to direct Treasury funds to himself was “an outrageous and shocking attempt to shake down the American people,” and cited the Constitution’s ban on presidential payments beyond salary. (CBS News / Axios)

6/ The U.S. national debt surpassed $38 trillion, the fastest $1 trillion increase in history outside the pandemic. Interest payments are now the fastest-growing part of the federal budget, projected to hit $14 trillion in the next decade. While the Trump administration claims it cut the deficit by $350 billion this year, economists say shutdown costs and rising interest rates are worsening the country’s finances. (Associated Press / Fortune / CBS News)

7/ Trump pardoned the Binance founder who promoted the Trump family’s meme coin and crypto venture, World Liberty Financial. Earlier this year, Changpeng Zhao and Binance promoted the Trumps’ USD1 token and facilitated a $2 billion investment in the coin. Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to money-laundering and served four months in prison, while Binance paid a $4.3 billion penalty. The White House, nevertheless, said Trump “exercised his constitutional authority” and declared, “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.” (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / New York Times / New Republic)

• Meteora executives were accused of running a “pump-and-dump” scheme tied to Melania Trump’s $MELANIA coin, which spiked to $13.73 before crashing to 10 cents. Investors said the defendants used her name as “window dressing” while secretly buying and reselling the coin for profit. Melania Trump wasn’t named in the lawsuit. (The Guardian)

8/ Russia denounced Trump’s sanctions on its top oil companies, calling them “an unfriendly act” and warning that they would damage U.S.-Russia relations. Putin said the penalties on Rosneft and Lukoil were “serious,” but claimed they wouldn’t “significantly impact our economic well-being.” Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, called the move “an act of war,” while Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had built “strong immunity” to Western pressure. The Trump administration imposed the sanctions after canceling a planned summit with Putin and demanding an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Wall Street Journal / CNBC)

⏭️ Notably Next: Your government has been shut down for 23 days; the 2026 midterms are in 376 days.

• Today last year: Day 1373: "What do the American people want?"
• Two years ago today: Day 1007: "Embarrassing for the Republican Party."
• Five years ago today: Day 1373: "A dark winter."
• Six years ago today: Day 1007: "This whole thing is about corruption."
• Seven years ago today: Day 642: Cover-up.
• Eight years ago today: Day 277: Outdated, unnecessary, ineffective.

Support today’s essential newsletter and resist the daily shock and awe: Become a member

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https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2025/10/23/day-1738/

Posted by Matt Kiser

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2025/10/21/day-1736/

Today in one sentence: A man pardoned by Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries; Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel “is not going to pass” following reports that Paul Ingrassia sent text messages that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell” and admitted he has “a Nazi streak”; Trump demanded that the Justice Department he now oversees pay him about $230 million for federal investigations into him, including probes of Russian election interference and the 2022 Mar-a-Lago search; Republican lawmakers in North Carolina approved a new congressional map designed to give the Republicans an additional U.S. House seat; Republican farm-state senators and major rancher groups called Trump’s idea to import more Argentine beef to lower U.S. prices a “betrayal of America first principles”; White House said there are “no plans” for Trump to meet Putin “in the immediate future”; and the Treasury Department told employees not to share photos of the White House East Wing demolition or construction on Trump’s ballroom.

1/ A man pardoned by Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Authorities said Christopher Moynihan sent text messages stating, “I cannot allow this terrorist to live” and “I will kill him for the future,” referring to an event Jeffries was scheduled to attend in New York City. Police said the FBI received an anonymous tip warning of Moynihan’s “homicidal ideations” and drug abuse before his arrest. Jeffries called Moynihan “a dangerous individual” and blamed Trump’s “reckless blanket pardon” for forcing police “to keep our communities safe from violent individuals who should never have been pardoned.” Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, called the threat “terrible” but repeated that “violence on the left is far more prevalent than the violence on the right,” even though federal and academic data show right-wing violence has been more frequent and more lethal since 2001. (Politico / New York Times / NPR / Associated Press / CNBC / Axios / Washington Post / Reuters / NBC News / CNN)

2/ Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel “is not going to pass” following reports that Paul Ingrassia sent text messages that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell” and admitted he has “a Nazi streak.” Thune suggested that the White House should withdraw him with Republican Sens. Rick Scott, Ron Johnson, and James Lankford saying they would vote no, short of the votes needed to advance. Ingrassia’s attorney, meanwhile, questioned the messages’ authenticity and called them “self-deprecating and satirical humor.” (NBC News / Semafor / Politico / Wall Street Journal / Axios / New York Times / Associated Press)

• The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions plans to hold a confirmation hearing next Thursday for Trump’s nominee for surgeon general. Trump said he nominated Casey Means in May after withdrawing his first pick, Janette Nesheiwat, because “Bobby thought she was fantastic,” referring to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. While Means earned an MD from Stanford, she dropped out of her residency after becoming “disillusioned” with the health care system and instead persued a career as a “wellness influencer.” (Bloomberg / ABC News)

3/ Trump demanded that the Justice Department he now oversees pay him about $230 million for federal investigations into him, including probes of Russian election interference and the 2022 Mar-a-Lago search. Trump claimed he “was damaged very greatly” by “malicious prosecution” and that “any money I would get, I would give to charity.” The claims are being reviewed by department officials who previously served as his defense lawyers, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “I’m sort of suing myself,” Trump said, adding that “it sort of looks bad” because approving the payout “would have to go across my desk.” (New York Times)

• Trump fired the inspector general of the Export-Import Bank, making Parisa Salehi the latest of roughly two dozen watchdogs he has dismissed or sidelined. Senator Charles Grassley said Trump “hasn’t told Congress he was firing the Ex-Im Inspector General,” calling the move a violation of federal law. (New York Times)

4/ Republican lawmakers in North Carolina approved a new congressional map designed to give the Republicans an additional U.S. House seat. The plan would likely give Republicans control of 11 of the state’s 14 seats. Democrats called the move “beyond the pale” and said it dismantled Black communities for partisan gain. The state House is expected to approve the map later this week, and Governor Josh Stein cannot veto redistricting, leaving legal challenges as the only recourse. (Washington Post / New York Times / Associated Press / CNN / Democracy Docket)

5/ Republican farm-state senators and major rancher groups called Trump’s idea to import more Argentine beef to lower U.S. prices a “betrayal of America first principles,” warning it would hurt producers. “Bottom line: if the goal is addressing beef prices at the grocery store, this isn’t the way,” Sen. Deb Fischer said. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the goal is to cut grocery costs, while ranch groups including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said the plan “does nothing to lower prices.” Argentina supplies about 2% of U.S. beef imports. Trump defended the idea, saying, “We would buy some beef from Argentina […] that will bring our beef prices down,” and argued, “Argentina is fighting for its life.” (Politico / Associated Press / CNBC / New York Times / Bloomberg)

6/ The White House said there are “no plans” for Trump to meet Putin “in the immediate future,” reversing last week’s announcement of a Budapest summit would happen “within two weeks or so.” Trump said he didn’t want “a wasted meeting” and would “see what happens.” White House claimed that a “productive” call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made an in-person meeting “not necessary.” The Kremlin, however, said “you can’t postpone what was not scheduled” and called for “serious preparation.” (ABC News / Politico / Bloomberg / Axios / CNN / Washington Post / Associated Press / New York Times)

7/ The Treasury Department told employees not to share photos of the White House East Wing demolition or construction on Trump’s ballroom. A Treasury spokesman said photos could “potentially reveal sensitive items, including security features or confidential structural details.” Demolition started Monday, and the White House has said the new ballroom will be about 90,000 square feet with seating for more than 650 and funded by private donors. (Wall Street Journal)

⏭️ Notably Next: Your government has been shut down for 21 days; the 2026 midterms are in 378 days.

• Today last year: Day 1371: "Exhausted."
• Five years ago today: Day 1371: "A distressing trend."
• Six years ago today: Day 1005: "We prefer peace to war."

Support today’s essential newsletter and resist the daily shock and awe: Become a member

Subscribe: Get the Daily Update in your inbox for free

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2025/10/21/day-1736/