U.S.
Kurt Olsen Leaves DOJ's Florida 'Grand Conspiracy' Probe Weeks After Joseph diGenova Resigned; No Charges Filed So Far
Olsen, a Trump ally and former White House election-security adviser, left the Southern District of Florida team on Sept. 28. The Justice Department says the investigation of Obama- and Biden-era officials is continuing and its staff is growing.
Pentagon Declares End of 12-Year Anti-ISIS Mission in Iraq as Last U.S.-Led Coalition Forces Leave Erbil Air Base
Coalition forces left Erbil Air Base in Iraq's Kurdistan Region on Sept. 30, 2026, the final step of a withdrawal agreed in 2024. Some Marines stay to guard U.S. diplomats, and Baghdad has declared a four-day 'Sovereignty Days' holiday.
Doña Ana County Orders Five Hatch Valley Communities to Evacuate After Dam Failure Warning; Four Orders Lifted Same Night
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency on Sept. 29 after operators reported the 'imminent failure' of McLeod Dam; county officials later said a 'very small piping failure' had been fixed, and Rincon stayed under evacuation after a separate levee breach.
Supreme Court Lets DHS Resume Third-Country Deportations During Appeal, Sets December Argument; Three Justices Note Dissent
The Sept. 29 order pauses a Boston judge's ruling that required notice and a chance to raise fear of torture before removal to a third country; the justices will decide the policy's legality after arguments in December.
Justice Alito Recuses From Suncor v. Boulder Climate Case Without Giving a Reason, a Week Before Oral Argument
A one-sentence letter from the Supreme Court clerk said Alito will not continue in the case. He had declined to step aside in May, and ethics groups had pointed to his oil and gas stock holdings.
FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey Resigns Effective Oct. 2, Citing Family in Missouri
Bailey, a former Missouri attorney general, announced on Sept. 28 that he is leaving after about a year as one of two deputies to FBI Director Kash Patel; the FBI says he left for family reasons, while some news reports tied his exit to tensions inside the bureau.
No Shutdown Deadline on Sept. 30: Trump Signed a Stopgap on Sept. 2 That Funds the Government Through Dec. 11
The Sept. 29 White House meeting that ended without a deal took place in 2025, not 2026; this year Congress passed a bipartisan funding extension weeks early, and the next deadline is Dec. 11, 2026.
ICE Says Arrests of Immigrants Without Criminal Records Will Continue After Weekend Guidance Officials Call a 'Miscommunication'
The Daily Wire reported Saturday that ICE officers were told to stop arresting non-criminals. DHS called that report false. Fox News sources later said verbal guidance did go out and was withdrawn that evening.
Trump Administration Moves to Cancel $810 Million in Congress-Approved Spending Through a 'Pocket Rescission' Sent Five Days Before the Fiscal Year Ends; Sen. Collins, Citing GAO, Calls It Unlawful
The White House budget office sent Congress 11 spending cuts on Sept. 25, most aimed at HHS services for refugees and other noncitizens; it says a 1974 budget law allows the move, while the Government Accountability Office has said such late requests are illegal.
DHS Signs Contracts Worth Up to $7.3 Billion to Build ICE Detention Space at Government Sites in Five States
The contracts cover sites in New York, Texas, Arizona, Florida and California and are paid for from the $45 billion for detention that Congress approved in 2025. They were signed days before a federal watchdog reported that ICE's earlier warehouse-buying effort had wasted more than $20 million.
Federal Agents Pepper-Spray About 10 Protesters at Broadview ICE Site on Sept. 19; Portland 'Surge' Briefing in Assigned Story Dates to 2025
A year after clashes began at ICE sites near Chicago and in Portland, agents in Broadview, Illinois, sprayed protesters who were blocking a driveway, while the Portland emergency briefing described in the assigned story took place in September 2025, not this weekend.
FDA-Approved mRNA Flu Shot Has No CDC Recommendation While a Court Order Keeps the Vaccine Advisory Panel From Meeting
A federal judge's March order froze Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s reshaped vaccine advisory panel, and the CDC has kept last year's flu guidance in place instead of weighing in on Moderna's newly approved mFlusiva.