Washington Today

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Washington Today episodes

October 30, 2025 Senate votes to overturn Pres. Trump's global tariffs; Pres. Trump touts trade deals he said he made with Chinese Pres. Xi; U.S. gov't shutdown Day 30
Senate votes to overturn President Donald Trump's global tariffs; President Trump touts trade deals he said he made in his meeting with
Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea; U.S government shutdown is now 30 days old. Saturday, federal funding will stop for the 42 million people on food aid program SNAP; nominee for head of U.S. Strategic Command is questioned at a Senate hearing about President Trump saying the U.S. is restarting nuclear weapons testing; Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) criticizes the Trump Administration and his Republican Senate colleagues after a briefing on the legality of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in
the Caribbean excluded Democrats; Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) calls for a Halloween pause on federal immigration enforcement operations in Chicago; Virginia Democrats move a step closer to drawing new congressional districts lines for partisan gain.

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58 min
October 29, 2025 Federal Reserve cuts interest rates a quarter point; Chair Powell says another rate cut in December is 'not a foregone conclusion'
Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by a quarter point for the second time this year, but Fed Chair Powell says another rate cut in December is not a foregone conclusion given concerns about the job market. We hear from the Fed chair and talk with Reuters Federal Reserve Correspondent Howard Schneider (5); Federal government shutdown is now at Day 29. Senate Democrats try and fail over Republican objections to pass a bill to extend funding only for the federal food aid program SNAP; Senate votes with the support of five Republicans to overturn President Donald Trump's emergency declaration to impose 50 percent tariffs on Brazil; President Trump promotes U.S. & Southeast Asia investment and development at a CEO's luncheon at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea and previews his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping; Food & Drug Administration says it is looking to reduce the number of human clinical studies required for approval of certain biosimilar drugs to speed approval and reduce costs; Senate Veterans Affairs Committee holds a hearing on allegations of fraud in the VA disability benefits program; Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Judiciary Committee chair, talks about the news that many more Republicans were targeted in the Biden Justice Department's "Arctic Frost" investigation after the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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53 min
October 28, 2025 Gov't Shutdown Day 28: Dem-led states sue USDA to release SNAP emergency funds; air traffic controllers miss first paycheck
On day 28 of the federal government shutdown, Senate fails to advance a temporary government bill to reopen the government for the 13th time. It is supported by most Republicans but opposed by most Democrats because it does not address expiring Affordable Care Act health insurance premium tax credits; two dozen states led by Democrats sue over the federal Agriculture Department's plans not to release emergency funding for federal food assistance starting this weekend; air traffic controllers, who must work without pay during the shutdown, miss their first paycheck. We will hear from Transportation Secretary & the president of the Air Traffic Controllers Union; President Donald Trump meets with Japan's new Prime Minister in his latest stop on his weeklong trip to Southeast Asia, calling her a "winner" and signing rare earth minerals deal; U.S. House Oversight Committee Republicans release a report on former President Joe Biden's mental fitness and use of an autopen, concluding that certain executive actions, including pardons, are void, and the Justice Department should investigate.

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53 min
October 27, 2025 Government Shutdown Day 27, POTUS Trump Travels Asia
The Senate returned to Washington today with no end to the government shutdown in sight. Meanwhile, the effects are piling up, and food assistance for more than 40 million low-income Americans is at risk. Major airports are seeing more flight delays because of the growing air traffic controller shortage, and the largest federal workers union is urging Congress to pass a “clean” funding bill. We'll hear the latest from Senators Thune and Schumer & Speaker Johnson, and Leader Jeffries about it coming up.
President Trump is in Japan today. It's the second stop of his Asia tour…He started the day with a visit to Emperor Naruhito at Tokyo’s Imperial Palace. Meanwhile, US trade negotiators are reporting progress on a potential trade deal with China ahead of the president's expected meeting with President Xi Jinping later this week. The president spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One.

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45 min
October 25, 2025 Weekend Edition: U.S. Military Strikes on Suspected Drug Boats in Venezuela, President Trump's Meeting with Xi Jinping, and PBS Frontline Film "The RFK Jr."
In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal.

First, a discussion with Ryan Berg of the Center for Strategic & International Studies, about the recent U-S military strikes on suspect drug boats off the coast of Venezuela.
Next – we turn our attention to the Trump administration's trade and tariffs agenda ahead of President Trump's high-stakes meeting next week with China's president Xi Jinping. That conversation with Wall Street Journal trade reporter Gavin Bade.
Finally – we speak with documentary writer and producer Michael Wiser about his latest PBS Frontline film "The Rise of RFK Jr."

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29 min
October 24, 2025 Pres. Trump starts trip to Asia, will meet Chinese Pres. Xi on trade & tariffs; Day 24 of gov't shutdown; NY Atty Gen James pleads not guilty to mortgage fraud
President Donald Trump gets ready to fly to Southeast Asia for meetings with leaders of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and one-on-one with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. We will talk about it with Politico
trade reporter Ari Hawkins (3); President Trump ends trade negotiations with Canada after Ontario's government runs a TV ad with former President Ronald Reagan expressing opposition to tariffs; Inflation report from the Labor Department: Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose in September at an annual rate of 3 percent, highest since last January; U.S. government shutdown Day 24. House & Senate are not in session. Over 600,000 civilian federal workers miss their first full paychecks. We will talk with The Hill's Senior Staff Writer Mike Lillis about bipartisan warnings that SNAP food assistance that over 40 million Americans receive will soon be in jeopardy (31); New York Attorney General Letitia James pleads not guilty in federal court in Norfolk, Virginia to charges of mortgage fraud, saying outside the courthouse, she said, "There is no fear. This is not about me. This is about all of us and a weaponized justice system"; Pentagon says the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is being deployed to the Caribbean Sea to support military operations against drug traffickers and there was another strike today on small boat, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said "six male narco-terrorists" were killed; Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits the operations center in Israel that is the headquarters of the U.S.-led effort to maintain the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, and to plan for rebuilding and securing Gaza.

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54 min
October 23, 2025 On Day 23 of the federal government shutdown, Senate votes down bill to pay military & federal workers required to work
On Day 23 of the federal government shutdown, Senate votes down a bill offered by Republicans to pay the military and federal workers who required to work without pay. Senate Democrats offer an alternative
to pay all federal workers, even those on furlough, but that, too, is rejected; President Donald Trump pardons the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who was convicted of violating federal anti-money-laundering laws; President Trump holds a roundtable discussion at the White House on efforts to stop human trafficking by criminal cartels; San Francisco's mayor says the President has canceled a federal law enforcement & possible National Guard surge into his city; Secretary of
State Marco Rubio arrives in Israel as VP JD Vance is leaving. Both criticize a vote in the Israeli Knesset related to Israel's annexing the West Bank; In DC, Republican and Democratic Senators question President Trump's nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait Amer Ghalib over past online posts some see as antisemitic; FBI Director Kash Patel announces arrests in an NBA multi-million dollar gambling scandal, including a player and a coach. Charges include sports bets rigging and operating illegal rigged poker games in cooperation with the mafia.

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1 hr 2 min
October 22, 2025 Sen. Merkley (D-OR) speaks for 22 hrs 37 min on Senate floor on what he calls President Trump's 'growing authoritarianism'
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) speaks all night and all day on the Senate floor about what he calls President Donald Trump's "growing authoritarianism"; He is closing in on the record for the longest Senate floor speech in history; Day 22 of the federal government shutdown, and it appears Republican and Democratic positions have not moved and remain at odds, and the government will stay closed for now; less than two weeks until the closely-watched Virginia gubernatorial election between Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger; NATO
Secretary General Mark Rutte visits Washington for meetings with President Trump & Senators after the postponement of a summit between President Trump & Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hungary on Russia's war in Ukraine; Vice President JD Vance joins Israeli Prime Minister's Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Vice President says say he and other Trump Administration officials are not there to monitor the status of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza as one monitors a toddler but ensuring that "our people are doing what we need them to do.”

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55 min
October 21, 2025 Pardoned January 6th attack rioter charged with threatening to kill House Minority Leader Jeffries
A New York man who was convicted and sentenced to prison on charges related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, then pardoned by President Donald Trump, is arrested on charges he threatened to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (R-NY). We get reaction from Jeffries & Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA); President Donald Trump hosts Senate Republicans for a lunch at the White House on the patio near the West Wing that he calls the Rose Garden Club to tout the Republican agenda and what he sees as successes. This comes on Day 21 of the federal government shutdown, with little apparent movement towards a resolution of the standoff between the parties; House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) says his panel wants to hear from former President Bill Clinton in the investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and accuses Democrats of falsely linking Epstein to President Trump; Vice President JD Vance visits Israel and expresses optimism that ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza will hold, despite sporadic violence; Former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns talks about on the expected meeting between President
Trump & Chinese leader Xi Jinping; Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) on government safety net programs for children; White House celebration of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

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57 min
October 20, 2025 House Speaker Calls Government Shutdown a "Political Stunt"
It is Day 20 of the government shutdown…and there are few signs that lawmakers are close to a deal to end it….The House continues to hold only brief sessions…The Senate is in today….and they have an 11th vote scheduled on the Republicans short term funding bill…But it does not include the extension of federal health care tax credits…Meanwhile, federal workers continue to feel the shutdown's effects…As the federal agency overseeing the US nuclear stockpile began furloughing most of its workforce today….We'll hear what House and Senate leaders had to say about the shutdown coming up…

President Trump welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the White House today…The two signed an agreement on rare earth materials…The President also said he could meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month during a summit in South Korea…and he took questions on the cease fire in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war…You'll hear what he had to say coming up…

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45 min

About Washington Today

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Catch up on the biggest stories of the day from Washington with interviews and analysis from leading journalists. Posted weekdays at 6:30 pm ET. From C-SPAN, the network that brings you the "Q&A"…