On today's podcast:
1) Vice President JD Vance said he believes the US government is on track to shut down, seeking to pin the blame on Democrats one day before federal funding is set to lapse. President Trump met with top Democratic and Republican congressional leaders less than 36 hours before an October 1st shutdown deadline. The two sides left no closer to resolving Democrats’ demands to extend health-care subsidies and reverse Medicaid funding cuts included in Trump’s signature tax legislation passed earlier this year.
2) Federal agencies are preparing for a possible government shutdown with detailed plans that call for temporary furloughs but not permanent mass firings — even after the White House pressed departments to consider reductions in force as part of their contingency planning. At least eight cabinet departments comprising more than two-thirds of the federal workforce had detailed their shutdown plans as of Monday afternoon. Together they call for more than 400,000 employees to be sent home as nonessential.
3) President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have agreed to a 20-point plan designed to end the war in Gaza, though the prospects for peace remain unclear without the direct involvement of Hamas. Trump said he had the support of other leaders from the Middle East and Muslim-majority nations. Still, the proposal — which mandates Hamas have no role in the future of Gaza — must be accepted by the militant group.