Today’s Headlines: The government is officially shut down, and OMB apparently spent its last working hours ordering at least 16 federal agencies to send out a pre-written email blaming Democrats for it—an illegal little parting gift to federal workers. With the shutdown, you can forget about getting jobs or inflation data for now (except from payroll firm ADP, which says companies shed 32,000 jobs in September—so, yeah, not great). Meanwhile, the Supreme Court told Trump he can’t just boot Fed Governor Lisa Cook on the spot, kicking that fight to January. At the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth is rolling out strict NDAs and even random polygraphs for thousands of staffers, including top brass, in his ongoing war against leakers. And in actual science news, researchers in Nature Communications announced they’ve managed to create functional human eggs from skin cells in a lab—early proof-of-concept that could eventually transform fertility treatments, though no babies are being made from them anytime soon.

Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode:

The Handbasket: Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems for potential gov’t shutdown 

Yahoo: While the government is closed, jobs and inflation data go unreported

NBC News: U.S. companies shed 32,000 jobs in September in latest sign of labor market weakness

NYT: Supreme Court Allows Lisa Cook to Remain at Fed, for Now

WaPo: Pentagon plans widespread random polygraphs, NDAs to stanch leaks

Wired: Scientists Made Human Eggs From Skin Cells and Used Them to Form Embryos

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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