INTERNACIONAL
IRS workforce slashed in half as government shutdown showdown stretches into second week
Senate fails again to end shutdown
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., joins ‘America Reports’ to discuss the sixth failed vote to re-open the government and the fundamental issues being debated that are keeping it closed.
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Nearly half of the IRS workforce — nearly 34,000 employees — faces furloughs as the government shutdown enters its second week, with the agency rolling out a contingency plan to keep key tax enforcement, data security, and filing-season operations running despite the lapse in congressional funding.
In a letter to staff Wednesday, the agency said most operations would shut down. The contingency plan, which takes effect Wednesday and runs through April 30, 2026, details how the IRS will operate without new congressional funding.
As of July 24, 2025, the IRS employed 74,299 people. During the shutdown, only 39,870 — about 54% — will stay on duty, though it’s unclear which positions will be retained.
Key operations that will continue to include tax processing to safeguard government revenue, IT and data-protection systems, criminal investigations, case work involving bankruptcies and liens, and disaster-relief support. However, taxpayer services — including call centers and most administrative functions not tied to life or property protection — will be suspended.
ICE VOWS ‘NO CHANGE’ TO IMMIGRATION, BORDER POLICY AMID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
A sign for the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, DC. ( Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
The IRS’s Lapse Appropriations Contingency Plan outlined operations for the first five business days of the shutdown and said the agency would continue limited operations using Inflation Reduction Act funding.
The furloughs stem from a funding impasse between President Donald Trump and Congress that has forced a government shutdown with no clear resolution.
HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN
Nearly half of the IRS workforce — nearly 34,000 employees — faces furloughs as the government shutdown enters its second week. (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead)
National Treasury Employees Union President Doreen Greenwald said the shutdown has cut off Americans from vital IRS services.
«Expect increased wait times, backlogs and delays implementing tax law changes as the shutdown continues,» she said. «Taxpayers around the country will now have a much harder time getting the assistance they need, just as they get ready to file their extension returns due next week. Every day these employees are locked out of work is another day of frustration for taxpayers and a growing backlog of work that sits and waits for the shutdown to end.
SEN RICK SCOTT, REP BYRON DONALDS: TRUMP AND BESSENT’S IRS REFORM: LET’S END JOB-KILLING POLICIES
A sign outside the National Gallery of Art informs visitors of its closure due to the government shutdown in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
«For frontline employees, the complete lack of planning left them in the dark about their work status until their supervisor informed them today,» Greenwald added. «This is not the way our government should treat its dedicated, nonpartisan public servants. We urge the administration and Congress to reach an agreement that reopens government and restores the services that Americans need and deserve.»
According to The Associated Press, the IRS told employees they would receive back pay once the shutdown ends. The Trump administration warned Tuesday that back pay for furloughed federal employees is not guaranteed.
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Earlier this year, the IRS began a series of workforce reductions that brought total employment down from about 100,000 at the end of 2024 to roughly 75,000 before the shutdown.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
government shutdown,congress,donald trump,taxes,politics
INTERNACIONAL
Europa, entre la guerra de Ucrania, el acoso ruso y la crisis política en Francia, que amenaza al euro
Francia, un caso sistémico
Júpiter se esfumó
¿Y ucrania?
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New satellite images reveal the extent of the destruction in the Gaza Strip after enduring more than two years of Israeli strikes during the war with Hamas.
Planet Labs PBC released the images on Tuesday, showing the Palestinian enclave before the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, and after the war began.
An estimated 192,812 – about 78% – of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a United Nations Satellite Center report from July.
Where homes, buildings and fields once stood in the southern city of Rafah, there were now craters and barren wastelands.
NETANYAHU, ON 2-YEAR MARK OF OCT. 7 HAMAS TERROR ATTACK, SAYS ISRAEL ‘NOT BROKEN,’ VOWS TO BRING HOSTAGES HOME
In Jabaliya, a city north of Gaza City, areas once green were turned to dust and dirt around decimated structures.
In northeast Gaza, the city Beit Hanoun appeared leveled. Before the war, tens of thousands of people were estimated to have lived in the city.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of some 2 million, often multiple times, and restrictions on humanitarian aid have contributed to a severe hunger crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.
The war has already killed over 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: ISRAELI HOSTAGE FAMILIES PLEAD, PEACE FALTERS, AND WAR GRINDS ON IN GAZA
The Israel-Hamas war began after Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, storming army bases, farming communities and an outdoor music festival, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, including women, children and older adults.
Hamas abducted 251 others, most of whom have since been released in ceasefires or other deals. Forty-eight hostages remain inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive.
Hamas has said it will release them only in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all the captives are returned and Hamas has been removed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
middle east,israel,conflicts,world
INTERNACIONAL
Final faceoff: Democrat, Republican nominees in key race for governor blast each other on debate stage
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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — With under one month to go until Election Day in New Jersey’s competitive and combustible race for governor, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli battled over Sherrill’s military record, Ciattarelli’s business career, and support for President Donald Trump during their second and final debate.
The showdown in New Jersey in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, which turned increasingly bitter in recent weeks, played out at Wednesday’s acrimonious debate.
In one heated exchange, Sherrill accused Ciattarelli of profiting off the opioid crisis, claiming that he «killed tens of thousands of people» through his ties to pharmaceutical industry-backed training materials.
And Ciattarelli fired back that Sherrill «broke the law,» as he pointed to a fine she paid four years ago for failing to timely disclose stock trades, as members of Congress are required to do under federal conflict-of-interest law.
TRUMP LOOMS LARGE OVER 2025 ELECTIONS
New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, right, and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli on the stage at the start of their second and final debate on Oct. 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, N.J. (Fox News Digital/Paul Steinhauser )
New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial contests the year after a presidential election, which means the races traditionally grab outsized national attention.
And this year’s ballot box showdowns are viewed as crucial early tests of Trump’s popularity and second-term agenda, and are considered key barometers ahead of next year’s midterm elections for the U.S. House and Senate.
The two candidates took shots at each other over key issues, including New Jersey’s sky-high energy costs, property taxes, immigration, and the ongoing federal government shutdown.
HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS
And while he isn’t on the ballot, Trump loomed large over the debate.
Ciattarelli, who cruised to the GOP nomination earlier this year after landing Trump’s endorsement, was asked where he disagrees with the president.
«I disagree with the president on the Empire Wind Farm for Long Island,» the Republican nominee answered.
Moments later, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had «shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being that.»
New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, on the stage moments at the start of their second and final debate, on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Fox News Digital/Paul Steinhauser )
Ciattarelli shot back that «in times of need, it’s best to have a relationship with whoever occupies the White House, and I will.»
Asked to grade the president’s performance so far during his second term, Ciattarelli said, «I’d certainly give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything that he’s doing.»
«I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli’s supporting. I give him an F right now,» Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey’s high cost of living.
Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker and a certified public accountant who started a medical publishing company before getting into politics and winning election as a state lawmaker, is making his third straight run for New Jersey governor. And four years ago, he grabbed national attention as he came close to upsetting Murphy.
BLUE STATE REPUBLICAN RIPS DEMOCRATIC RIVAL FOR BLAMING ‘EVERYTHING ON TRUMP’
It was during the 2021 campaign that Ciattarelli’s connection to opioid manufacturers first surfaced. Ciattarelli sold his company, which published content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain, in 2017.
«You’re trying to divert from the fact you killed tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda,» Sherrill charged. «I think our kids deserve better. I think the people you got addicted and died deserve better than you.»
Ciattarelli responded, saying, «With regard to everything she just said about my professional career, which provided for my family, it’s a lie. I’m proud of my career.»
«Shame on you,» Ciattarelli added.
Sherrill shot back, «Shame on you, sir.»
Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli on the stage at the start of their second and final debate on Oct. 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, N.J. (Fox News Digital/Paul Steinhauser )
Cittarrelli then blamed the fentanyl crisis on former President Joe Biden’s «open border» policies.
And at a post-debate news conference, he claimed the attack by Sherrill was «a desperate tactic by a desperate campaign on behalf of a desperate candidate.»
Sherrill, asked after the debate if she had proof directly linking Ciattarelli to the opioid deaths, told reporters, «I guess he’s not really expressed anything about this. I think there’s a lot we don’t know. I think he continues to not be very transparent about it.»
Ciattarelli, during the debate, fired back at Sherrill, saying, «I got to walk at my college graduation,» as he referred to the controversy surrounding Sherrill’s military records.
The race was rocked two weeks ago after a New Jersey Globe report revealed that Sherrill’s military records indicated that the United States Naval Academy blocked her from taking part in her 1994 graduation amid the cheating scandal.
Sherrill has claimed that Ciattarelli was going on a «witch hunt» over her improperly released military records, which raised questions about her possible involvement in a cheating scandal that rocked the U.S. Naval Academy three decades ago.
Ciattarelli and his campaign have repeatedly called on Sherrill, who went on to pilot helicopters during her military career after graduating from the Naval Academy, to release her military records to explain why she was prevented from attending her graduation ceremony.
But a separate report from CBS News revealed that the National Personnel Records Center, which is a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, mistakenly released Sherrill’s improperly redacted military personnel files, which included private information like her Social Security number, to a Ciattarelli ally.
The National Archives, in a letter two weeks ago, apologized to Sherrill, saying the improper release was due to a government worker’s error over a legal records request.
Following the breach of the records, Sherrill’s campaign sent cease-and-desist letters to the National Archives and to Ciattarelli’s campaign, as well as to Russell and Nicholas De Gregorio, who is described by Sherrill’s team as «an agent of the campaign working at the direction of» Russell.
The Sherrill campaign also launched a digital ad taking aim at Ciattarelli.
«They broke the law to attack a veteran,» the narrator in the spot charged.
Sherrill, asked why she didn’t attend her graduation, said at the debate, «I didn’t turn in some of my classmates, so I didn’t walk at graduation because I come from an incredibly accountable place. But I went on to graduate. I was commissioned an officer in the United States Navy.»
And she reiterated that she does not want to give Ciattarelli and his campaign access to the records of her Naval Academy classmates.
And she asked, «Why my opponent still won’t take accountability for the release of those records. It’s under federal investigation that a member of his team, someone he vetted to be his lieutenant governor, actually got access to those records, said he was shocked and disgusted, and yet nevertheless shopped them out to reporters when he was asked about it, he acted as if he had no idea what his campaign was doing.»
«So either he’s really incompetent or he’s lying,» she argued.
Ciattarelli quickly responded, calling on Sherrill to release her records.
«We know for a fact that she wasn’t allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony. We know for a fact that her name was not listed in the commencement exercise program. She says it’s because she didn’t turn in classmates. That’s the honor code at West Point. That’s not the honor code at the Naval Academy. You don’t get punished for that. I think she was punished for something else,» he argued.
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While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past ten elections.
And in the 2025 race, political history favors both parties.
The party that wins the White House tends to lose the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections the following year, which favors the Democrats. But Democrats in New Jersey are also trying to buck history — it’s been over six decades since a party won three straight Garden State gubernatorial elections.
donald trump,jack ciattarelli,mikie sherrill,phil murphy,2025 2026 elections coverage,gubernatorial,new jersey,elections
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