Shutdown begins as Trump, Hegseth look to combat ‘woke’ military culture: Unbiased Updates, Oct. 1, 2025
Congress failed to secure funding on Tuesday, prompting the federal government to shut down. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are likely to face furloughs, with paychecks delayed, and the blame game will commence.
Plus, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told America’s top generals to ditch “woke” culture and get battle-ready.
And federal agents have seized a large cache of SIM cards — enough to send 30 million texts per minute.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025.
Government shutdown begins after Senate fails to pass funding bill
The federal government has officially shut down. Both Republican and Democratic proposals to keep the government running failed in the Senate, triggering the shutdown at 12:01 a.m.
Beginning Wednesday morning, federal agencies will begin closing procedures, meaning hundreds of thousands of non-essential workers will be furloughed.
Essential employees, such as TSA agents at airports and those funded through other sources, will stay on the job. However, no one will get paid until Congress strikes a deal.
Back pay will be issued when the shutdown ends.
As for who is to blame for the shutdown, both sides of the aisle have something to say.
“The Republicans are plunging America into a shutdown, rejecting bipartisan talks, pushing a partisan bill and risking America’s health care, worst of all,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-WY, blamed Democrats, saying, “Chuck Schumer is forcing a government shutdown, regardless of the cost, regardless of the consequences to the American people. This truly is a Democrat owned, Chuck Schumer-owned shutdown.”
Three Democrats did break ranks to support the Republican plan, but five more are needed to get to the 60-mark to pass it.
The Senate is expected to try again on Wednesday, voting on the same two bills that previously failed.
The Democratic plan would extend health care subsidies and reverse medicaid cuts. Meanwhile, the GOP’s proposal is a seven-week stopgap to buy time for bigger negotiations. It would keep the government running until Nov. 21.
Dozens killed as powerful earthquake strikes central Philippines
A powerful earthquake has left dozens dead in parts of the central Philippines.
The 6.9-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday night, sending shockwaves across Cebu Province and sparking panic.
CCTV footage captured buildings shaking, glass shattering and people running for cover in restaurants and homes.
At least 60 people are dead, including victims crushed when a sports complex collapsed during a basketball game.
Hundreds are injured, and some are still missing.
Rescue crews, with assistance from sniffer dogs and search teams, are digging through rubble as officials warn that the death toll could rise.
Aftermath images show collapsed buildings, cracked churches, body bags and even a shopping mall engulfed in flames.
The quake cut power, damaged infrastructure and triggered more than 800 aftershocks.
Hegseth unveils 10-point plan to revamp US military
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled a 10-point plan to “Rebuild” the U.S. Military on Tuesday. President Donald Trump took it a step further, floating the idea of using “high crime” American cities as training grounds for troops.
The two laid out their vision at a rare, short-notice meeting that brought hundreds of senior commanders from around the world to Quantico, Virginia.
Hegseth criticized prior administrations for promoting officers “for the wrong reasons,” including race, gender quotas and “historic firsts.” He said it’s made the Pentagon “less capable and less lethal.”
He said the new focus will be “warrior ethos” and “peace through strength.”
“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris,” Hegseth said when addressing military members.
Hegseth’s plan rolls back grooming waivers, tightens fitness requirements and restores “the highest male standard” for combat jobs regardless of gender.
“But when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral. If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is,” Hegseth said. “If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it.”
Trump then outlined his own controversial idea: sending troops into “dangerous” U.S. cities as part of their training, calling it a “war from within.”
“What they’ve done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They’re very unsafe places, and we’re going to straighten them out one by one,” Trump said. “And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.”
Following the meeting, critics voiced their own opinions on the speeches.
Retired Major General Paul Eaton, a veteran of the Iraq War, told The New York Times: “Pete Hegseth spent millions to fly in all of our generals and admirals to rant about facial hair and brag about how many pull-ups he can do, and have Donald Trump sleepwalk through a list of partisan gripes.”
Trump announces major drug pricing deal with Pfizer
President Trump is taking aim at America’s sky-high drug prices. He unveiled a sweeping deal with Pfizer that he says will slash costs for patients and taxpayers.
The announcement came just hours before the government shut down and included a promise to deliver discounts through a new website called Trump-RX.
Pfizer, one of the world’s biggest drugmakers, is now on board with Trump’s “most-favored-nation” pricing plan, committing to match the lowest price offered in any developed country.
“These drugs will be available for direct purchase online at a website operated by the federal government. We’re also announcing that, moving forward, all new medications introduced by Pfizer to the American market will be sold at the reduced most-favored-nation cost,” Trump said. “So we’ll be paying essentially what other countries are paying who have been much lower, much, much lower for many, many years.”
Pfizer says some drugs will be 50% cheaper through the site.
And while Medicaid recipients could see state savings, most consumers won’t see a price change until 2026, when the site goes live.
The deal also includes a $70 billion U.S. investment from Pfizer in exchange for a three-year tariff reprieve.
Trump’s goal? To pressure other pharma giants to follow suit or face the consequences.
Judge rules Trump administration violated student speech rights
A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by targeting pro-Palestinian international students for deportation solely because of their activism on U.S. campuses.
Judge William Young criticized the administration for attempting to “strike fear” into students and described the policy as a “truly scandalous and unconstitutional suppression of free speech.”
He said Homeland Security continued to unjustly suppress speech, targeting non-citizen Palestinian supporters for retribution.
The Trump administration, though, isn’t backing down.
A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. has “no obligation” to allow foreign nationals to “commit acts of anti-American, pro-terrorist or anti-Semitic hate,” and stated it will continue revoking visas for those considered a threat.
Agents seize 200K more SIM cards linked to foreign network: CBS
Federal agents have discovered an additional 200,000 SIM cards connected to a communication network in the New York Tri-State area. The network is so powerful that officials said it could have knocked out cell towers and jammed emergency services.
CBS News reported that Homeland Security agents made the latest discovery at a site in New Jersey — just days after the Secret Service exposed a large SIM farm connected to Chinese actors and organized crime.
The initial bust recovered over 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers, capable of sending 30 million messages per minute, enough to text every phone in the U.S. within 12 minutes.
Officials told CBS that no arrests have been made, but the encrypted network was used by foreign governments, drug cartels and human trafficking organizations.
“It would be unwise to think that there are no other networks out there being made in other cities in the United States, and that’s gonna be part of our investigation. We’re gonna run down every single lead,” Matt McCool, U.S. Secret Service special agent in charge of the New York field office, said.
Every SIM card is now being searched through for calls, texts and search history — each one containing the data footprint of a complete cellphone.
‘32 Chunk’ wins Fat Bear Week championship
A furry folk hero has won Alaska’s beloved Fat Bear Week. After three years as the runner-up, bear 32, also known as “Chunk,” is finally king of the Katmai.
Weighing in at a whopping 1,200 pounds — with a battle-scarred snout and a jaw that’s seen better days — Chunk beat out a dozen other jumbo-sized contenders to win the crown.
Second place went to bear 856, who may not have a catchy name, but put up a big fight.
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After the heady days, a sobering trend: More craft breweries close than open
The swoop of Jeff Handojo’s smile deepens as he talks about the early months of 2015 — those heady days when he and his friends-turned-business-partners first opened their Houston brewery, 11 Below. Their very first sale was a keg of 7-Iron — the 4.5% blonde ale that remains on his tap list to this day — to Mo’s Irish Pub that March.
A couple months later, the brewers opened the doors to the public for tours and pours. And Houston, a sprawling city with a rapidly growing Millennial contingent thirsty for their own version of the nationally nascent craft beer scene, met those open doors with open arms.
“It’s been a ride since then,” Handojo tells Straight Arrow News, his eyes twinkling and crinkling with nostalgia.
And that ride — like all the good ones — has balanced dips and twists with incredible highs. Until the crash. Read the full story now >
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
