12:30 Report is The Hill’s midday newsletter. Subscribe here.
It’s Tuesday. Today is the second anniversary of the attack on Israel by Hamas that started the Gaza war.
The president is meeting later today with an Israeli American who was freed after being held by Hamas for 19 months.
In today’s issue:
• Combative Pam Bondi testimony
• New White House shutdown threat
• Trump returns to TikTok
• Taylor Swift’s Jimmy Fallon takeover
ON CAPITOL HILL
Pam Bondi spars with Democrats in testy hearing:
Attorney General Pam Bondi is testifying on Capitol Hill today in a combative hearing that is so far producing few answers.
Bondi refused to divulge any discussions she’s had with the White House, including about whether she and President Trump have discussed the legal justification for National Guard deployments in Portland, Ore., and Chicago against local officials’ objections.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) snapped back at Bondi. “What’s the secret? Why do you want to keep this secret to the American people [who] don’t know the rationale behind the deployment of National Guard troops in my state?” Read more on the back and forth
And the Jeffrey Epstein files came up: Bondi also wouldn’t disclose who instructed the FBI to flag Trump’s name in the Epstein files.
Durbin asked: “So who gave the order to flag records related to President Trump? Any records which included his name?”
Bondi replied: “I’m not going to discuss anything about that with you, senator.”
Durbin shot back: “Eventually you’re going to have to answer for your conduct in this. You won’t do it today, but eventually you will.”
➤ ANOTHER KEY MOMENT
On the government shutdown — Bondi to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.): “The personnel issue I’m having right now is that all of my agents, all of my lawyers, are working … without a paycheck because your party voted to shut down the federal government,” Bondi said. Klobuchar pushed back: “Unfortunately, the House isn’t even back here. The 18 days off the job to even meet with us to come up with a resolution … about saving people’s health care.”
The shutdown is feeling real:
It’s Day 7 of the government shutdown, and Americans are beginning to feel the pain of the closures.
Multiple airports — including in Denver; Newark, N.J.; and Hollywood Burbank in California — reported a shortage of air traffic controllers on Monday.
Hollywood Burbank Airport had no air traffic controllers from 4:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. local time, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) posted on social media platform X, knocking Trump.
The airport posted just before 7 p.m. that “operations are continuing.”
Key dates to watch in the shutdown:
Oct. 10: Capitol Police will miss their paycheck (h/t The Hill’s Emily Brooks)
Oct. 15: Most members of the military will miss their first paychecks.
Oct. 24: Federal employees will miss their first full paycheck.
➤ WHITE HOUSE QUESTIONS BACK PAY FOR FEDERAL WORKERS:
A draft Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo suggests that furloughed federal workers may not get back pay from their time off during the government shutdown.
Why?: This draft memo, first obtained by Axios, suggests a new interpretation of a 2019 law signed by Trump dealing with back pay for workers. It cites a line that says furloughed workers will receive back pay “subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse.”
This would be a big deal: Hundreds of thousands of federal workers face furlough during the shutdown, and more staffers have been working without pay. But those workers have widely been expected to receive back pay based on the 2019 law.
This would start a big legal battle: If back pay is withheld, it would face legal challenges from employees’ unions. Plus, as The Hill’s Brett Samuels points out, “it would also be at odds with guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) last month ahead of the ongoing government shutdown.”
Excerpt from the OPM guidance ahead of this shutdown: “Yes. After the lapse in appropriations has ended, employees who were furloughed as the result of the lapse will receive retroactive pay for those furlough periods,” the guidance states.
GovExec also reported that a shutdown guidance document was quietly updated Friday to remove a line about the retroactive pay. Read the report
Trump and Johnson were both asked about this today: The president was asked whether furloughed workers should get backpay. “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” Trump said. Watch the clip
But when Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was asked about the same issue, he said he thinks furloughed workers should receive retroactive pay.
➤ WALK IT BACK, NOW WALK IT BACK:
Ears perked up across Washington on Monday after Trump suggested he was open to negotiating on health care with Democrats amid the weeklong government shutdown.
The president later walked back the remarks, reaffirming the GOP’s position that Democrats must first vote to reopen the government before any discussion over health care.
I’ll start from the beginning: Trump indicated he was open to making a deal with Democrats on health care subsidies to end the shutdown. He even claimed there were negotiations happening “right now with the Democrats.” Democratic leaders seemed confused by that claim, arguing there weren’t negotiations happening, but that they would be open to them.
Republicans have been saying all along that Democrats must agree to reopen the government before they would be willing to negotiate on health care. Then Trump publicly said he would play ball with Democrats.
^ Trump seems to have gotten that message: He walked back his statement last night, insisting Democrats must first reopen the government before health care negotiations could begin.
IN THE WHITE HOUSE
Trump is feeling chatty today:
The president is hosting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House as we speak. He opened the start of his meeting to reporters’ questions. Here are the top moments:
Trump on the U.S.-Canada relationship: “We have some natural conflict. We’ll probably work that out, but we have a very strong relationship.”
Trump joked about a U.S.-Canada merger: “A merger of Canada and the United States, Trump said, adding, “I’m only kidding!” Watch the clip
Carney praises Trump: “You are a transformative president.”
Watch Trump and Carney answer questions
Tbh, they should have returned by doing the ‘Fate of Ophelia’ TikTok dance:
Trump and Vice President Vance have returned to TikTok.
The president posted a video for the first time since Election Day, telling the “young people of TikTok” that he “saved TikTok, so you owe me big.” Watch Trump’s TikTok
The vice president also relaunched his TikTok account, posting his first video since January. “I got a little lazy the last few months. I was focused on the job of being VP, not enough on TikToks,” Vance said in the video. “That’s about to change, so follow along.” Watch Vance’s TikTok
➤ QUICK HITS:
— Gold prices topped $4,000 per ounce today for the first time.
— The Supreme Court heard arguments in the Colorado conversion therapy ban case. Listen
— Longtime Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema is stepping down after roughly 25 years of reviewing restaurants. I never knew what he looked like until today! Watch: ‘Tom Sietsema: Food critic, revealed’
➤ MORE READS:
Politico: What I Learned By Watching Every Pam Bondi Speech
The Washington Post: ICE kept most offices open in shutdown — but not the one inspecting detention centers
Axios: Mike Johnson faces bipartisan heat over delayed vote on Epstein files
The Hill: Hegseth’s ultimatum to generals sparks fears of departures
The New York Times: In 2020, Trump Intervened in Portland’s Protests. They Got Even Worse
COMING UP
The House is still out. The Senate is in. President Trump is at the White House. (All times EST)
12:15 p.m. Trump participates in a bilateral lunch with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
12:30 p.m. Senators meet for weekly caucus luncheons. Today’s agenda
3 p.m. Trump meets with Edan Alexander, an Israeli American who had been held hostage by Hamas for 19 months, in the Oval Office.
INTERNET BUZZ
Celebrate: Today is National Taco Day! Here’s a list of taco deals today.
Taylor’s Jimmy Fallon takeover: Taylor Swift appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Monday night. She even mentioned how the song “Wood” came to be. Watch the segment
Can you imagine sending a grieving family AI videos of their deceased loved one?: Robin Williams’s daughter asked fans to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her late father. She called it “gross” and “NOT what he’d want.”
AND FINALLY…
Because we’re all friends, I need your advice. Should I get a seal? I had never considered it until seeing this video.
