Talk of the Town
(WASHINGTON) — The House Judiciary Committee wants former special counsel Jack Smith to testify before the panel behind closed doors about his investigations into President Donald Trump.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Tuesday requested an interview by Oct. 28 and is demanding documents and communications as well.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats on Wednesday said they are attempting to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files through a little-known, decades-old law.
All seven Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee invoked a law that requires federal agencies provide information about “any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee” if at least five members request it.
“This letter demands that the Justice Department produce documents that Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have publicly already confirmed they have in their possession,” Sen. Gary Peters, the panel’s top Democrat, said at a press conference.
“We all know in fact that the attorney general said, quote, she said they’re sitting on her desk. It should be pretty easy to turn over documents that are sitting on the attorney general’s desk,” Peters added.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Peters was joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Richard Blumenthal at the press conference, during which they touted their move as a turning point in their quest for transparency over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein matter.
“Today’s letter matters. It’s not a stunt, it’s not symbolic, it’s a formal exercise of congressional power under federal law, and we expect an answer from DOJ by August the 15, that’s what accountability looks like,” Schumer said. “This is what oversight looks like, and this is what keeping your promises to the American people look like.”
Blumenthal agreed that this measure was invoked as a powerful oversight tool.
“This letter has some force of law,” Blumenthal said. “This letter invokes a statute that has been little used because it has been unnecessary in the past to enforce transparency. It’s necessary now because this administration is stonewalling and stalling and concealing, and the American people are rightly asking where they have to hide. What’s at stake here is not just the president’s promises.”
The Democrats, who said their urging of a release of the Epstein files was also done as a way of seeking justice for Epstein’s victims, were asked at the news conference whether Democratic senators would be comfortable with redactions in their release.
Schumer said lawmakers “wouldn’t force any agreements that have been broken,” but added that he believes “almost everything can come out.”
Schumer also said that they’ve been “talking” to their Republican colleagues to get these files public but would eventually seek “recourse in the courts” if cooperation isn’t achieved.
“We have talked to some of our lawyers, and we will — this can be challenged in the courts, yes,” Schumer said.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(WASHINGTON) — As the first government shutdown in seven years got underway on Wednesday, tens of thousands of federal workers face the risk of missing paychecks as broader America braces for the absence of some key services.
Starting on Wednesday, 750,000 federal employees are expected to be furloughed, and essential employees will have to work without pay for the duration of the shutdown, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The workers will be placed on leave without pay and will get paid retroactively once the shutdown is over.
“The number of furloughed employees could vary because some agencies might furlough more employees the longer a shutdown persists and others might recall some initially furloughed employees,” the CBO said in a statement.
While Oct. 1 paychecks have already gone out to some 2 million U.S. military troops, they may miss their next payday on the fifteenth of this month if lawmakers can’t reach a compromise to end the shutdown.
Jaime Billert of New York, whose husband serves in the U.S. Coast Guard, told ABC News that she’s already spoken to her children about setting priorities and cutting back on expenses, including dining out.
Billert said she told her children, “Your dad’s not getting paid right now. That’s our sole source of income.”
Other federal employees deemed essential — including Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers, air traffic control workers and U.S. Border Patrol agents — will be required to continue working without pay.
Jon Zumkehr — a corrections officer at a federal prison in Thomson, Illinois, and president of Local 4070 of the American Federation of Government Employees — said he and his co-workers are concerned about how long the shutdown will last.
The federal government stoppage in December of 2018 lasted 35 days and cost the U.S. economy $11 billion, according to the CBO.
Meanwhile, members of Congress, whose average annual salary is around $174,000, will still collect their paychecks during the shutdown as mandated under Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution.
Other impacts of the shutdown could also affect national parks, which remain partially open but could face staff shortages during the shutdown.
In previous government shutdowns, national parks that remained open but unstaffed experienced vandalism and destruction of wildlife habitats, according to a recent letter signed by 40 former park superintendents and sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
In a statement on its website on Wednesday, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., announced that its museums, research centers and the National Zoo will use prior-year funds to remain open to the public during the shutdown at least through Oct. 6.
If the shutdown goes beyond a week, other government services could be cut off.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which assists 7 million low-income mothers and their children, is expected to run out of funding in about a week.
Some key federal agencies are expected to continue running during the shutdown, including the U.S. Postal Service.
Social Security payments are not expected to be affected by the shutdown. Federal financial aid for students is also expected to keep flowing and and student loan payments will still be due, according to the Department of Education.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(CHICAGO) — The Illinois National Guard has received an official notification from the Pentagon authorizing a mission in Chicago, according to an Illinois official.
The official confirmed the mission will involve 300 Guardsmen tasked with protecting federal property under Title 10 authorities.
The Guard has not received mobilization orders, which means it will take a number of days to process and muster soldiers — and train them for the mission, according to the official.
At the very earliest, Guardsmen would be deployed in Chicago at the end of this week, the official said.
“The Governor did not receive any calls from any federal officials. The Illinois National Guard communicated to the Department of War that the situation in Illinois does not require the use of the military and, as a result, the Governor opposes the deployment of the National Guard under any status,” a spokesperson for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement.
The authorization comes amid escalating tensions in Chicago over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents on Saturday shot and wounded a woman they alleged was part of a convoy of protesters that rammed their vehicles during an “ambush.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Border Patrol agents opened fire on the woman in self-defense, alleging she was armed with a semiautomatic weapon and was driving one of three vehicles that “cornered” and rammed the CBP agents’ vehicles.
Describing the incident as “really strange,” Noem alleged that before the shooting, a caravan of 10 vehicles was following the CBP agents and officers through the streets of Chicago.
“They had followed them and gotten them cornered, pinned them down and then our agents, when getting out of their cars, they tried to run them over and had semiautomatic handguns on them to where our agents had to protect themselves and shots were fired and an individual ended up in the hospital that was attacking these officers,” Noem said in a statement on Sunday.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.