Day 1728: "A new beginning."

1/ The Trump administration fired more than 4,000 employees across at least seven agencies on Friday as the government shutdown entered its second week. A Justice Department filing confirmed cuts at Treasury, Health and Human Services, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Energy, and Homeland Security. Trump told reporters the layoffs would target “people that the Democrats want,” adding, “It’ll be Democrat-oriented because we figure, you know, they started this thing.” Unions, meanwhile, sued to block the firings, calling them illegal under shutdown law, while even some Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins, said the layoffs were “arbitrary” and harmful to government operations. (The Hill / Washington Post / NPR / Axios / Politico / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press / Axios)

2/ House Speaker Mike Johnson called the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced subsidies a “boondoggle” and warned the U.S. is “barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” saying he won’t negotiate until Democrats “drop their partisan demands.” He said the subsidies, set to expire Dec. 31, should be reformed because, he claimed, the ACA “failed the American people” and was “created to implode upon itself.” More than 23 million Americans are enrolled in ACA plans, and nearly will all face higher costs if extra federal subsidies expire. Enrollment has doubled since Congress expanded the subsidies in 2021, with 57% of enrollees living in Republican congressional districts – mostly in states that didn’t expand Medicaid. Coverage has more than tripled in six red states and nearly half of enrollees earn less than 150% of the poverty level and currently pay no premiums. Without the subsidies, they would owe $27 to $82 a month. The Congressional Budget Office also estimates that up to 2 million people could lose coverage next year without renewal of the aid. Democrats, meanwhile, insist any funding bill must extend the subsidies, which caps premiums at 8.5% of income. They accused Johnson of “choosing vacation over fixing this healthcare crisis.” The Senate returns this week, while the House remains in recess and 1.4 million federal workers remain unpaid as the shutdown continues. (NBC News / CNN / New York Times / Associated Press / The Hill / Axios / Washington Post / Politico / New York Times)

3/ On Friday, Trump said he would impose an additional 100% tariff on all Chinese goods starting Nov. 1 in response to Beijing’s restrictions on rare earth exports used in advanced technologies. Trump accused China of becoming “very hostile” and warned there was “no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month. The announcement erased about $2 trillion in U.S. market value. Two days later, Trump tried to calm investors, saying “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment.” China, however, warned it would “resolutely take corresponding measures” if the U.S. “insists on its own way.” (Bloomberg / Washington Post / Associated Press / New York Times / Politico / CBS News / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / CNN / CNBC)

✨ Well, that’s fantastic. Trump declared “the war is over” after Hamas freed all 20 surviving hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, calling the U.S.-brokered ceasefire “a new beginning for the Middle East.” Addressing Israel’s parliament, Trump said it marked “the end of an age of terror and death” and “the historic dawn of a new Middle East,” as lawmakers chanted “Trump! Trump! Trump!” He told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “Now you can be a little nicer, Bibi, because you’re not at war anymore.” In Egypt, Trump signed the ceasefire document with the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. Netanyahu, however, skipped the summit and later said Israel’s campaign “is not over.” Israel’s defense minister, meanwhile, warned Hamas had failed to return all hostage remains, while Trump urged Israel to “translate these victories into peace and prosperity” and promised “a lot of money” for Gaza’s rebuilding. (NBC News / CNN / New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press / Politico / NPR / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Axios)

⏭️ Notably Next: Your government has been shut down for 13 days; “No Kings Day” is Oct. 18; the 2026 midterms are in 386 days.

✏️ Notables.

• The Interior Department canceled a Nevada solar project that would have powered nearly two million homes. The Bureau of Land Management marked Esmeralda 7’s environmental review as “cancelled,” saying the developers of North America’s largest solar project and the agency had “agreed to change their approach” so each company could file separate proposals. The 118,000-acre, 6.2-gigawatt project had advanced through permitting before the Trump administration stopped final approval. (New York Times / Politico / The Guardian / Bloomberg / PV Magazine)

• JD Vance said Trump was “looking at all his options,” including using the Insurrection Act to send troops into U.S. cities despite multiple court rulings blocking the deployments. Vance claimed crime was “out of control” and accused critics of making it “OK to tee off on American law enforcement.” Judges, however, have found “no credible evidence” of rebellion, and police data show crime has fallen in Chicago and Portland. Vance, meanwhile, said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker “should suffer some consequences” for crime in Chicago, prompting Pritzker to reply, “Come and get me.” (The Guardian / New York Times / NBC News / ABC News)

• JD Vance denied that Trump directed the Justice Department to prosecute his political opponents, saying, “Him having opinions doesn’t mean that we prosecute people unless we have the legal justification.” Vance defended the federal indictments of Letitia James and James Comey after Trump publicly demanded their prosecution, calling criticism of the DOJ “ridiculous.” (Axios)

• Lindsey Halligan secured a grand jury indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James without coordinating with Attorney General Pam Bondi or other Justice Department leaders. Bondi and her deputies had viewed the case as weak, citing prior prosecutors who warned against pursuing it. The indictment accuses James of misrepresenting a Virginia home as a second residence rather than an investment property, though a witness told the grand jury she lived there rent-free. Trump had publicly pressed Bondi to act and later installed Halligan to “get things moving.” (ABC News / CNN / New York Times)

• Melania Trump said she has been in “direct communication” with Putin for months. She claimed eight Ukrainian children were reunited with their families after “back-channel meetings and calls” with Putin’s team. She offered no details on U.S. oversight of the talks and left the White House podium without taking questions. (CBS News / Politico / The Hill / Reuters / Daily Beast)

• Trump’s doctor said that the president remains in “exceptional health” after his second checkup in six months. The memo claimed Trump’s “cardiac age” is 14 years younger than his 79 years and noted he received flu and COVID-19 booster shots. The report didn’t explain his earlier diagnosis of venous insufficiency or the hand bruising the White House blamed on handshakes. (Axios / Reuters / The Hill / Washington Post)

• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that “children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism” because they’r “given Tylenol.” Medical experts and major health organizations, however, said the claim is unfounded and warned that acetaminophen remains the safest pain reliever for pregnant women. Tylenol maker Kenvue said “independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism,” and doctors called Kennedy’s remarks “dangerous anti-science.” (Snopes / USA Today / Washington Post / CBS News)

• María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” the committee said. Machado, who has lived in hiding since Venezuela’s courts barred her from challenging President Nicolás Maduro, wrote that “I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” Trump, who openly campaigned for the award and has denounced Maduro as a “narco-terrorist,” didn’t win. The White House, meanwhile, said the Nobel Committee had “proved they place politics over peace,” saying Trump has “the heart of a humanitarian.” (Associated Press / Politico / New York Times / Axios)