Public access to the White House has been suspended for about two months because tours started at the East Wing, and the demolition of parts of that wing and construction of the new ballroom have made the visits impossible, officials told CBS News.

White House officials said that although the tours are still paused, they expect to accommodate an updated tour route in coming days, as well as other public events, such as Halloween trick-or-treating.

Members of Congress, who receive White House tour requests from their constituents, told CBS News that bookings were suspended in late August.

The tours included public rooms in the East Wing as well as the Vermeil Room, Library, China Room, Blue Room, Red Room, Green Room and State Dining Room in the White House residence.

A message on the tour website, posted over the summer, says: "The White House Ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time, it's theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical. The site of the new ballroom will be where the small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits."

During construction, first lady Melania Trump's office has moved to the ground floor of the White House. East Wing staffers' desks have been set up in the China Room, and aides now gather in the map room.

Staff from the calligraphy office, White House Military Office, legislative affairs and the visitors office have decamped to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for now.

The White House Historical Association, a nonprofit organization that aims to protect, preserve and provide public access to the White House, confirmed that it took steps to document the White House East Wing this summer, prior to demolition.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ballroom-construction-white-house-tours/

This is day 24 of daily coverage of the 2025 Democrat Shutdown of the US Government

Day 24 Updates:
- (NBC) Everyone expected Democrats to relent on the shutdown by now. That isn't happening, Democrats have only hardened their position as the government shutdown enters its 24th day, leaving Republican majorities in Congress with few answers https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-expected-democrats-cave-shutdown-not-happening-rcna239457
- (NYT) The Pentagon is accepting private donations to keep the military funded amidst the Democrat Shutdown https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/24/us/trump-canada-news
- (Politico) “This Administration will not allow Democrats to jeopardize funding for school meals and infant formula in order to prolong their shutdown,” USDA wrote in a memo https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/24/snap-food-aid-shutdown-usda-00622690

Some have asked "Why are the Democrats shutting down the US Government?"
The answer is simple, in 2021 they passed emergency corporate subsidies for COVID, and decided they would expire on Jan 1, 2026. But now, this makes them angry that these corporate subsidies are expiring as planned, and so they are shutting down the government.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/us/politics/elon-musk-duffy-nasa.html

Elon Musk lashed out this week at Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the latest sign of the billionaire’s willingness to take aim at the administration he once served, particularly when it potentially affects his bottom line.

Over the past few days, Mr. Musk has lobbed insults at Mr. Duffy, who has been serving as the acting administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, accusing him of lacking intelligence, trying to dismantle NASA and putting astronauts in danger of being killed.

The tirade, which he issued in a series of posts on his social media platform, X, was prompted by Mr. Duffy’s announcement on Monday that NASA would reopen the bidding process for its next moon landing mission, Artemis III, the contract for which currently is held by the Musk-owned SpaceX.

“SpaceX, an amazing company, they do remarkable things. But they’re behind schedule,” Mr. Duffy said on Fox News, explaining that President Trump wanted to “beat the Chinese” and make another moon landing before the end of his term in the White House.

“We’re going to have a space race in regard to American companies competing to see who can actually get us back to the moon first,” he added.

Senate Republicans have introduced a bill to fund snap food benefits during the Schumer Shutdown. Heartless Democrats are expected to vote against it and let the American public starve to death or force them into food riots
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5572105-snap-funding-government-shutdown/
Bill to fund SNAP in shutdown introduced in House

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) on Friday introduced a bill to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as the government shutdown threatens payments of the food aid in some states.

The Keep SNAP Funded Act of 2025 would keep the food aid program funded during the government lapse until the Department of Agriculture is funded through regular appropriations or stopgap measures.

The bill is the companion to a SNAP-funding bill in the Senate being led by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), which Senate Republicans are reportedly considering for a floor vote. Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) is a co-sponsor of the House bill.

SNAP benefits are funded by the federal government while states operate and share the cost of administering the program and distributing the benefits. Since funding is sent to states monthly, October benefits were not impacted — but November payments could be at risk. The Department of Agriculture has warned there will be insufficient funds to pay full SNAP benefits in November if the shutdown continues.

“More than 262,000 Iowans, including over 100,000 children rely on SNAP to put food on the table. They cannot afford to be ‘leverage’ in the Democrats’ political games. That’s why I’m introducing legislation to ensure SNAP remains funded throughout the shutdown. Access to food is not negotiable,” Miller-Meeks said in a statement.

Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked a House-passed, GOP-crafted “clean” stopgap to fund the government through Nov. 21 as they demand that Republicans negotiate on health care issues like enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits.

This is the 23rd daily thread covering The 2025 Democrat Shutdown

Day 23 Updates:
- (The Hill) Democrats block bill to pay military, essential workers during shutdown. The bill would have paid U.S. Capitol Police, air traffic controllers, park rangers, federal law enforcement, TSA agents, active-duty military and other essential federal workers: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5569779-bill-pay-military-essential-workers-shutdown/
- (NYT) Democrats Block Federal Worker Pay Bill as Shutdown Drags On https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/us/politics/democrats-shutdown-federal-employee-pay.html
- (Politico) The shutdown cliff that could hit Democrats hard - The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps feed more than 40 million people, will start to run out of funds Nov. 1. (https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/23/shutdown-snap-food-aid-democrats-00619100)
- (Politico) Republicans already drafting plans for extending health care and are willing to implement them as soon as Democrats stop holding the US Government hostage. Republicans proposing extending healthcare credits with the stipulation that individuals are not "auto-enrolled" to reduce misuse of public heatlhcare funds: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/10/23/congress/brett-guthrie-obamacare-auto-enrollees-00620622

Why did Democrats shutdown the US government? In 2021 they passed emergency corporate subsidies for COVID, and decided they would expire on Jan 1, 2026. But now, this makes them angry that these corporate subsidies are expiring as planned, and so they are shutting down the government.

https://reclaimthenet.org/arizona-enacts-law-mandating-biometric-digital-id-age-checks-on-adult-sites

Arizona is set to activate a controversial law that requires adult websites to implement digital ID age checks for users, including biometric verification.

Starting Friday, any site with more than one-third of its content labeled as "harmful" to minors must restrict access to adults who can verify their age through systems that may involve uploading selfies and matching them to government-issued ID.

Under House Bill 2112, parents gain the power to take legal action against platforms that fail to comply.

They can seek $10,000 in damages for each day a site remains accessible to minors without proper screening. Courts may also issue fines of up to $250,000 if a lack of verification leads to a minor accessing the content.

While supporters frame the measure as a necessary step to keep children away from adult material, privacy concerns remain front and center.

The process of submitting personal identification data raises the risk of surveillance, identity theft, and misuse of sensitive information.

Lawmakers attempted to address those issues by adding a clause that prohibits verification providers from storing user data. The legislation also imposes $10,000 penalties for any instance of sharing information with federal, state, or local authorities.

One of the strongest responses has come from Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub. The company has stated it will block access to its services in Arizona, mirroring its actions in 21 other states where similar laws have taken effect.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/05/business/farmer-bailout-trump-tariffs
Washington — American farmers are having a tough year, in no small part because of President Donald Trump’s trade war. Now, the White House is gearing up to extend them a multi-billion-dollar bailout, sources tell CNN.

Surging costs and foreign retaliation from tariffs have hurt the US agriculture industry — as have immigration-related labor shortages and plummeting commodity prices. Farm production expenses are estimated to reach $467.4 billion in 2025, according to the Agriculture Department, up $12 billion from last year.

Farm bankruptcies rose in the first half of the year to the highest level since 2021, according to US courts data.

Trump’s policies have exacerbated those woes, from the deportation of the industry’s key migrant workforce to renewed trade tensions between the United States and China. And for traditional American crops, such as soybeans, the situation has grown particularly precarious.

“There’s no doubt that the farm economy is in a significant challenge right now, especially our row croppers,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters Tuesday. “So not just soybeans, although I think they’re probably the top of the list, but corn, wheat, sorghum, cotton, et cetera.”

Indeed, the US soybean industry has become the poster child of the farm economy’s plight in the first year of Trump’s second term. The president recognizes these problems, White House officials tells CNN, and has increased pressure on his administration to address them urgently.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/subprime-lender-primalend-capital-partners-files-bankruptcy-protection-2025-10-22/
Oct 22 (Reuters) - Subprime lender PrimaLend Capital Partners filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, in another sign that low-income consumers in the United States are under strain.
The company's filings in a Texas court showed that it listed both assets and liabilities of less than $500 million.

PrimaLend provides financing to consumer and specialty lenders through asset-based credit facilities. It also serves the "buy-here-pay-here" auto financing market, where dealers sell and directly finance vehicles for customers with poor or limited credit.

"We want to be clear: there is no impact to our dealer-borrowers' loans or terms. No debt is being called due or accelerated as a result of this process," PrimaLend CEO Mark Jensen said. "We are pursuing a sale process to maximize value of the business and strengthen our balance sheet."

The company is operating as usual with no disruptions, it said in a statement, reiterating that it is not going out of business.
Bloomberg News first reported on the bankruptcy earlier in the day.

Subprime lenders provide loans to borrowers with weaker credit histories or lower credit scores.
Last month, Bloomberg News reported that PrimaLend's creditors were weighing pushing the firm into bankruptcy after going unpaid for months.

Many lower-income consumers, according to analysts, are finding it harder to keep up with payments, prompting an uptick in delinquencies across auto, personal loan and credit card portfolios.

The strain reflects the cumulative impact of high borrowing costs, rising living expenses and depleted savings, which have left subprime borrowers particularly vulnerable to financial shocks.

PrimaLend said despite industry-wide headwinds, including post-pandemic inflation and interest-rate pressure, its underlying business is "fundamentally strong."

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/18/the-king-of-the-shutdown-00614718

In an administration full of disruptors, Russ Vought is a different beast.

Vought, as head of the White House’s budget arm, has assembled one of the most powerful and exacting teams in Washington, all aimed at slashing the federal bureaucracy and ensuring what’s left bends to the administration’s will.

He has increased the number of policy lieutenants typically operating at the Office of Management and Budget and supercharged their mandate to ensure White House priorities are pushed into each agency.

That handiwork is now in motion as the Trump administration targets funding cuts to what it calls “Democrat agencies” and threatens more mass layoffs called “reductions in force,” or RIFs. On Friday, Vought said that $11 billion in Army Corps of Engineers projects in mostly blue states would be paused.

Vought’s expanded policy army, the nearly dozen “Program Associate Directors” or PADs, are charged with combing line-by-line through the nearly $7 trillion federal budget for programs to slash and helping him play what he’s called “budgetary twister” (finding money to blunt the most politically painful parts of the shutdown).

Beyond numbers, Vought’s lieutenants also are steeped-in-policy wonks who each lead an office composed of dozens of political and career servants. All of this positions Vought’s OMB as a potent political strike force.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5565121-treasury-warns-white-house-photos/amp/
The Treasury Department told employees not to share images of the White House demolition, as construction for President Trump’s $200 million ballroom kicked off in the East Wing on Monday.

Treasury employees have a front-seat view to the construction, since the department’s headquarters are located by the East Wing. As images of the facade’s dismantling went viral Monday night, the Treasury Department warned its staff of “security” issues related to sharing the photos.

“Carelessly shared photographs of the White House complex during this process could potentially reveal sensitive items, including security features or confidential structural details,” a Treasury spokesperson told The Hill in an email.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have urged our employees to avoid sharing these images,” the spokesperson added.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the Treasury Department sent out an email to its employees Monday evening urging restraint before disseminating photos of the construction.

“As construction proceeds on the White House grounds, employees should refrain from taking and sharing photographs of the grounds, to include the East Wing, without prior approval from the Office of Public Affairs,” the email read, according to the Journal.

Demolition crews started the process of tearing down part of the East Wing on Monday to begin construction on the planned ballroom.

“It just started today, so that’s good luck,” the president said during an event in the East Room hosting two national champion college baseball teams.

Trump noted there will be a knockout panel behind where he delivered the remarks in the East Room that will go into the new ballroom.