Meanwhile, Affordable Care Act insurance premiums are expected to see big increases due in part to expiring subsidies at the center of the shutdown fight.
The FBI arrested multiple suspects who were allegedly plotting a foiled “potential terrorist attack” in Michigan over the Halloween weekend, Director Kash Patel said today.
“This morning the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend,” Patel wrote in a statement on X.
Patel offered no further information on the plot or the suspects. The case involves federal charges and arrests, but the court documents are sealed as of this morning.
Read the full story here.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China has agreed to buy at least 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, a key agricultural product, for the next three years, which would mark a return to normal levels after months of trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
As part of that agreement, China will buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans during the current season through January, Bessent told Fox Business yesterday.
China, the largest market for U.S. soybeans, had not made any purchases since May, sourcing instead from South American countries such as Argentina and Brazil. The boycott has caused billions in lost sales for American farmers, who had pressured the Trump administration to resolve the issue.
The new purchase agreement is about the same as the 22.5 million metric tons of soybeans China bought during the 2024-25 marketing year, which ended Aug. 31. The year before, China bought 24.3 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, according to data from the Agriculture Department.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth voiced concerns in his first meeting with his Chinese counterpart about Beijing’s activities around the South China Sea and Taiwan.
Hegseth said he had a “good and constructive” meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun today on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Malaysia, during which he stressed the need for power balance in the Indo-Pacific.
The United States “does not seek conflict,” Hegseth said in a post on X after the meeting, noting that Washington will continue to “stoutly defend its interests” in the region.
Dong said China hopes to work with the U.S. in promoting peace, but that it will “firmly safeguard national security interests” and is “fully capable of calmly responding to acts of infringement and provocation.”
“The U.S. should act with caution on the Taiwan issue and take a clear stance against ‘Taiwan independence,’” Dong told Hegseth, according to a statement released by the Chinese National Defense Ministry.
Hegseth also met with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, with whom he signed a 10-year military agreement he hailed as a “cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence.”
Affordable Care Act open enrollment kicks off tomorrow, and this year’s enrollment period is expected to see the largest increase in costs since the law went into effect more than a decade ago.
More than 24 million Americans get their health insurance through the ACA, also known as Obamacare. In 2026, a perfect storm of rising premiums and the expiration of enhanced subsidies that kept costs lower for middle-class families mean many people will face higher bills or be forced to shop around for cheaper plans. Some plan to go uninsured as a result.
“It’s a high risk situation for people,” said Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. “If it comes down to paying for food, power and heat versus health insurance that you don’t know if you’ll need or not, it’s hard to continue to pay for that given how much of your budget it takes today.”
Whether you’re renewing coverage or signing up for the first time, here’s what you need to know as open enrollment begins.
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Trump is calling for the removal of the Senate’s filibuster rule, to bypass a Democratic roadblock during a government shutdown now in its 30th day.
The filibuster is the Senate rule for agreement by 60 of its 100 members to pass most legislation. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate and a 219-213 majority in the House of Representatives.
“It is now time for the Republicans to play their “TRUMP CARD,” and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW,” Trump wrote on social media last night.
There was no end in sight yesterday to the partial shutdown, as Senate Republicans urged Democrats to support a stopgap funding measure through Nov. 21, while the latter demanded negotiations to extend expiring federal tax credits.
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More than 25 labor unions — including United Auto Workers and the National Education Association — have sent Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins a letter requesting her department release $5 billion in contingency funds to bankroll the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“SNAP creates union jobs along the food supply chain,” reads the letter, first shared with NBC News. “Union members are on meat-cutting floors, delivering and processing food, processing SNAP benefits, picking and harvesting the food that ends up on dinner tables, working in America’s forests, and checking out your constituents at the grocery store. SNAP is vital to creating good jobs for hundreds of thousands of American families.”
The government shutdown has put SNAP benefits, which serve millions of people in the U.S., under threat. The USDA has said the program will stop Nov. 1.
Additionally, the unions want the USDA to “cover the remaining amount needed to fully fund SNAP in November in the absence of appropriations.”
“There’s nothing ‘fun’ about hungry children and seniors, veterans losing benefits, or seeing droves of working people forced to spend their mornings in line at the food bank,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a news release. “The administration could continue SNAP without a hitch. Instead, they’re leaning into cruelty to punish perceived political enemies and double down on treating this crisis as some sick political game.”
NBC News has reached out to the USDA for comment.
The Trump administration plans to pay military members today by using a mix of legislative and Defense Department funds, according to an official with the White House Office of Management and Budget.
It would be the second time the White House has been able to avoid missing a pay period for troops during the government shutdown, now in its 30th day. Service members are considered essential federal employees and are required to work during funding lapses, but essential workers typically aren’t paid during shutdowns.
That would bring the total to about $5.3 billion, which is still less than the $6.5 billion that was drawn upon to pay for troops’ paychecks earlier this month. It’s unclear why there’s a difference in the amounts, and the OMB official didn’t respond to a request for comment on that particular point.
Axios first reported on the administration’s paycheck plan for tomorrow.
Read the full story here.
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