Fetterman breaks with Democrats to support stopgap spending bill
For the second time in less than 24 hours, the U.S. Senate blocked a stopgap spending bill that would fund the government through late November. The proposal needed support from 60 senators to end a filibuster and advance to a final vote, but it fell short Wednesday with just 55...
Gallery: Photos from Oct. 1, 2025
Take a trip through Western Pennsylvania — and beyond! Join TribLive’s Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, photo adventure, where every snapshot tells a story. From the rolling hills and rustic charm of Western Pa. to far-flung corners of the world, this collection captures the little sparks of humanity that connect us...
What happens to student loans when the government shuts down?
The Department of Education, alongside other agencies, is preparing for a possible government shutdown as Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked over the 2026 federal budget. Democrats want to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, while Republicans aim to block undocumented immigrants from receiving federal health benefits and require 80 hours of...
Will Social Security payments still go out, get delayed during the government shutdown?
With the government shutdown in effect, many federal agencies and services are shut down or are greatly restricted. Americans who rely on federal programs like Social Security could be impacted. National parks or the military are not funded the same way as Social Security. Trump’s administration warned of mass firings...
How the government shutdown could impact flights, trains and cruises
A partial government shutdown is underway after Congress failed to pass legislation extending funding for operations past Sept. 30. That means hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed and non-essential duties will be suspended until a deal is reached. Federal workers who are deemed essential must continue working...
UnitedHealth to exit Medicare Advantage plans in 16 U.S. counties
NEW YORK — UnitedHealth said it will stop offering Medicare Advantage plans in 16 U.S. counties in 2026, impacting 180,000 members, as the company balances higher costs with reimbursement pressure in the insurance program. “The combination of (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) funding cuts, rising healthcare costs and increased utilization...
Trump sets tough path for Palestinian Authority’s return to Gaza
RAMALLAH — Driven out of Gaza two decades ago by Hamas, strapped for cash and headquartered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority’s hopes of running a future Palestinian state have long seemed bleak. Its prospects, however, appeared to brighten briefly Monday when President Donald Trump announced a plan to...
White House withdraws E.J. Antoni’s nomination to lead BLS
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has withdrawn its nomination of conservative economist E.J. Antoni as head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the White House said on Tuesday. President Donald Trump nominated Antoni last month to lead the bureau, which is part of the Department of Labor and produces statistics...
New York governor criticizes ICE officers who she says shoved and injured journalistsVideo
NEW YORK — New York Governor Kathy Hochul criticized federal immigration officers who she said shoved and injured journalists at a New York City courthouse on Tuesday, the latest in a series of violent confrontations as tensions rise over President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Hochul...
Government shutdown begins with no end in sight, Trump and Democrats at stalemate
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal, setting off what could be a long, grueling standoff that could lead to the loss of thousands of federal jobs. There was...
Ukraine warns of critical situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Tuesday the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station had become critical, with Russian shelling preventing restoration of a power line needed to cool the reactors and prevent a meltdown. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said it...
Rescuers hunt for survivors after Philippines’ deadliest quake in over a decade kills at least 69Video
BOGO, Philippines — Rescue teams in the Philippines searched for survivors in mud and rubble on Wednesday and authorities urged help for hospitals inundated with the injured after the deadliest earthquake in more than a decade killed at least 69 people. Authorities said they feared the eventual toll would be...
NASA’s Webb telescope gets never-before-seen look at how moons form on exoplanets
Scientists have gotten a never-before-seen look at an area around a large exoplanet 625 light-years away where moons like the one orbiting Earth could potentially form. Using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a team of researchers were able to study the chemistry surrounding a world called CT Cha...
Immigration arrests, deportations likely to continue under government shutdown
Immigration arrests, hearings and deportations would likely continue through a government shutdown this week, pressing forward President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda even as other federal operations come to a halt. Federal immigration officers are considered essential employees and are required to work unpaid through a temporary funding shutdown. Congressional...
Who gets blamed for a shutdown? Polls show nation is divided
With a government shutdown on the horizon, a series of polls released a day before the lights are set to go dark offer a divided picture of how Americans are viewing the crisis — and who they think is most to blame. In two national surveys released Tuesday, Americans were...
When was the last U.S. government shutdown? Here is a list
The federal government has entered a shutdown. TribLive has put together a collection of some of the federal government’s most recent shutdowns over the past 35 years. 2018-2019 The last shutdown happened during President Donald Trump’s first term when he insisted he would not sign any spending bill that did...
Trump executive order aims to use AI to boost childhood cancer research
CHICAGO — U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to bolster the use of artificial intelligence and provide an additional $50 million in research grants aimed at finding cures for childhood cancers, according to a White House official. The order builds on the National Cancer Institute’s Childhood...
Trump says Harvard to pay $500 million in deal with administration
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration had reached a deal with Harvard University after months of negotiations and that the Ivy League school will pay $500 million. “Linda is finishing up the final details,” Trump told reporters at an event in the Oval Office, referring...
Trump posts deepfake video of Jeffries, Schumer with racist tropes as shutdown loomsVideo
President Donald Trump posted an expletive-laden, deepfake video with racist tropes about immigrants after talks with Democrats did not end in agreement to keep the federal government open. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Trump and Republican leaders on Sept. 29, just over...
Not quite Jurassic Park: Gettysburg vandal tries, and fails, to nab dinosaur track fossil
An attempted theft of a Jurassic dinosaur fossil from a battlefield may sound like the plot of a Nicolas Cage movie, but one such incident has led park officials in Gettysburg to ask for the public’s help in solving the crime. In the second act of vandalism in two weeks...
Judge rules Trump’s deportation moves against pro-Palestinian students unconstitutional
BOSTON — A U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration had acted unconstitutionally by adopting a policy of revoking visas, arresting, detaining and deporting foreign students and faculty engaged in pro-Palestinian advocacy. In a scathing 161-page ruling, U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston sided with groups...
Florida approves plan to donate $66 million property for Trump’s presidential library
WASHINGTON - The state of Florida has approved a plan to donate a property near downtown Miami for the site of the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library, Governor Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday. The lot has an appraised value of about $66 million, according to media reports, but it could...
What would it take to avoid a U.S. government shutdown?
WASHINGTON — The Congress and President Donald Trump have little time and few options remaining to reach a funding deal to avoid triggering disruptions in a range of U.S. government services and the furlough of hundreds of thousands of civil servants beginning on Wednesday. What could stave off a government shutdown?...
Court suspends Trump layoff of hundreds at Voice of America
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration on Monday to pause the layoffs of hundreds of employees from the agency that owns the U.S. news service Voice of America, adding that government officials had shown “concerning disrespect” for the court’s directives. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth halted...
U.S. begins deporting hundreds of Iranians after rare deal with Tehran
The first group of about 400 Iranians expected to be deported from the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown were due to land in Qatar on Tuesday before flying to Tehran, a U.S. and an Iranian official said. The group included both convicted criminals and people who had entered...
