Government Shutdown Begins, Impact Of Shutdown, Trump Hegseth Military Meeting

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1:08A government shutdown is underway and President Trump is threatening Democrats if they don't get in line. We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible. Is there a way out of this standoff? I'm Leila Faldil, that's A Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. The impacts of the shutdown are already being felt by more than 2 million federal employees. As a federal worker, I am here to tell you that every awful thing that would happen in a shutdown is already happening. How are workers and their unions responding to the threats of mass layoffs amid this shutdown aimed at pressuring Democrats?

1:47And President Trump says he'll use American cities as a, quote, training ground for the U.S. military to deal with what he calls enemies within. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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2:57Visit schwab.com to learn more. This message comes from Dell Technologies. The new Dell PC with Intel Core Ultra helps you fast forward through busy work, leaving more time for U-Time. Get a new Dell PC at dell.com slash ai dash pc. The government shutdown has begun. Federal agencies ran out of funding at midnight amid a political standoff. Yeah, this marks the first shutdown since 2019 when the government was closed for a record 35 days during Trump's first term. Now, President Trump has threatened mass firings, not just furloughs for federal workers. We can cut large numbers of people out. We don't want to do that, but we don't want fraud, waste and abuse.

3:43The administration has used government websites and agency-wide emails to blame Democrats for the shutdown. Some ethics experts say that goes too far and could violate the Hatch Act, which is meant to keep politics out of government work. NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales is following all this. So, Claudia, I mean, this This Republican-led Congress seemingly has been on a collision course for a shutdown most of the year. And you've seen a lot of last-minute saves on Capitol Hill before. How did we get here? Right. Good morning, A. What you're seeing is a culmination of bitter, extreme partisan divide hitting rock bottom in Washington.

4:19Democratic votes are needed to pass a stopgap measure in the Senate. And now they're pushing back, blaming Republicans. Here's Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Republicans are plunging America into a shutdown, rejecting bipartisan talks, pushing a partisan bill, and risking America's health care. Worst of all. Last night, competing GOP and Democratic bills in the Senate to keep the government open both failed. Yeah, but they're making a political calculation too, right? Because Democrats have been challenged from both their base and rank-and-file members to do more this year. Right. Earlier this year, Senate Democrats like Schumer helped Republicans keep the government funded, but that drew sharp backlash.

5:01And since that time, their lack of power in Washington has become even more stark. President Trump and Republicans passed a massive partisan spending and tax plan, dismantled government agencies, laid off workers and slashed public services by clawing back billions in spending. Now, Democrats are asking for an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. And where do Republicans stand on that? Well, most are pretty dug in. The Republican-led House remains on recess since last week. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune is blaming Democrats, but at the same time, he's hopeful more will join them.

5:38Democrats may have chosen to shut down the government tonight, but we can reopen it tomorrow. All it takes is a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to pass the clean, nonpartisan funding bill that's in front of us. All right, so what happens now? So we're going to see this blame game and spin continue. And the Senate's going to vote again. A few Democrats did break last night to join. Republicans are hoping to build on that. But the GOP could blink instead. They could hold bipartisan talks to reach a deal. But that seems out of reach. What we do know is that hundreds of thousands of federal workers are now furloughed.

6:14And as that scenario deteriorates, it will ramp up pressure on the president and Congress to find a way out. All right. That's NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right. Beyond the politics, the shutdown is already having real-world consequences. Yeah. For more than 2 million federal workers, it's creating uncertainty. Some are being told they might not get their jobs back at all. For more, we're joined by NPR's Andrea Hsu. So first off, what does the shutdown mean for the services people get from the government? Yeah. Well, even during a shutdown, some things do carry on. For example, your mail will still be delivered.

6:50Retirees will still get their Social Security checks. And if you go to the airport, you'll still see the TSA officers at the security checkpoints. And the Trump administration has made clear Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will remain on the job. But many, many more federal employees will not be working A. Typically, people are given up to half a day to close down their computers and do whatever else needs to be done for an orderly shutdown. And they're not getting paid. That's right. And even most essential workers who are working won't be paid during the shutdown.

7:21This became a problem last time in late 2018, early 2019, when the government was shut down for those 35 days. After a while, you had TSA officers calling out sick because, you know, some people just can't go that long without a paycheck. Now, Congress did pass a law in 2019 mandating that federal employees get back pay once a shutdown is over. But this time, as you said, there have been threats from the White House that many federal workers could be outright fired during this shutdown. Yeah, tell us more about that. Yeah, well, last week, the White House Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies they should consider issuing reduction in force or RIF notices to employees who are working on things that aren't consistent with the president's priorities, meaning they would not be brought back when the government reopens.

8:06But even if some agencies opt to do this, it doesn't mean people are going to be fired today or tomorrow, necessarily. There are really complicated procedures for conducting RIFs. Federal statute requires that the government workers be given 60 days notice for one thing. The White House has said that the staff handling rifts are allowed to work through the shutdown, so it's possible we could see some notices go out. Now, what are you hearing from federal employees about possibly being fired and then not brought back to work? Yeah, well, yesterday, unions representing federal employees filed a lawsuit over this.

8:38They called the threats of mass layoffs during the shutdown an unlawful abuse of power by the Trump administration. They said it was aimed at punishing workers and pressuring Democrats in Congress to essentially cave. The White House did not respond to our request for comment about this lawsuit. Meanwhile, you have some federal employees saying this threat of being laid off at any moment, that this is nothing new. Jenna Norton, a scientist with the National Institutes of Health, talked about this at a press conference on Monday. She was among several feds who spoke in their personal capacity. And here's what she said.

9:10As a federal worker, I am here to tell you that every awful thing that would happen in a shutdown, shuttering programs that Americans rely on, damaging our economy, firing federal workers, all of this is already happening. And A, there have been numerous lawsuits challenging all those things, you know, firings, dismantling of programs and whole agencies. And while lower courts have temporarily paused many of those actions, the Supreme Court has in multiple instances allowed the Trump administration to move forward, at least for now. How will we know if there are indeed mass firings? Well, I suspect we'd hear from employees themselves, but also federal agencies are required to notify labor unions and states ahead of mass layoffs.

9:52The Trump administration has not always followed these rules, but they might do so this time. All right. That's NPR's Andrea Hsu. Thanks a lot, Andrea. You're welcome.

10:10President Trump told his top military commanders that the U.S. military would be used against what he calls the enemy within, pointing to Democratic-run cities that he has long said have high crime rates. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also spoke at the unusual gathering in Quantico, Virginia, and he reiterated to the generals that the purpose of the department would exclusively be, quote, warfighting. Joining us now to talk about all this is NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Tom, before we get to the president, what stood out to you about Hegseth's remarks? Well, you know, what he said about toughening physical fitness standards for those in combat jobs, so we're talking armor, artillery, and infantry, you know, he said he wants both men and women to achieve, quote, the highest male standard in such things as lifting weights, carrying an ammo box, running.

10:59So in general, more weight, more pull-ups, faster at times. Now, there were some 600 female Marines in those jobs in the Army, 3 ,000 or 4 ,000 women in combat positions. And I'm told you could lose more than 20 % of those women in those jobs if they have to meet the highest male standard. Now, Heggs has said that wasn't the goal. Let's listen. If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result. So be it. Hegseth also said it may mean weak men don't qualify. All right. So Hegseth has long criticized what he calls the Pentagon's woke culture.

11:45What did he have to say about it yesterday? Right. He said the Pentagon was the Department of Woke and now it's the Department of War. He said he's ending the war on warriors and saying that some were promoted for their race or gender. Of course, he fired the Joint Chiefs Chairman General C.Q. Brown, the second African-American to hold that job, indicating that he got the job not on merit, even though Brown was a key figure in the defeat of the Islamic State. You know, Hegseth also thinks overall the military has not been tough enough. Too many lawyers, second-guessing troops on rules of engagement in war or bullying or hazing of troops.

12:23He also wants drill sergeants to be much more tough on recruits. You know, the president has defended the use of U.S. troops in American cities. He specifically mentioned Democratic cities, Democratic-led cities such as Chicago, describing it as overrun with crime. NPR reporting, though, shows that crime is falling there and also in many other cities. So what exactly did he say about the use of the military domestically? Well, Trump said the U.S. should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, saying mostly Democrat-run cities have crime rates. As you mentioned, the crime rates have been dropping.

12:58Now, Trump's comments were denounced by Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a top Democrat in armed services and an Army veteran. He called it dangerous. He said treating our own communities as war zones and our own citizens as enemies. Tom, you spent some two decades embedding with U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. What's your reaction to Trump and Hegseth talking about a, quote, woke military? Well, it's kind of a caricature. People I spend time with in combat zones, they say we've always had a warrior ethos. And it's important to note, A, that women have received medals for valor, and more than 150 women passed the grueling Army Ranger Corps at the same standards as men.

13:38Hagseth has neither a valor medal nor a Ranger tab. All right, that's NPR's Tom Bowman. Tom, as always, thanks. You're welcome.

13:50And that's Up First for Wednesday, October 1st. I'm E. Martinez. And I'm Leila Faldin. Thank you for waking up with NPR. Your NPR station makes Up First possible each morning. Support their work and ours at donate.npr.org slash Up First. That support is more important than ever today on the first day that we at NPR are no longer receiving federal funds. And today's episode of Up First was edited by Kelsey Snell, Emily Kopp, Krishnadev Kallamore, Mohamed Elbardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Zia Butch, Nia Dumas, and Lindsay Totti. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carly Strange.

14:27Join us again tomorrow.

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