$15 billion
The estimated weekly cost of the federal government shutdown to the U.S. economy, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Now in its 20th day, the shutdown has stalled negotiations over renewing the Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year. Democrats are pushing to extend the credits, while Republicans oppose adding them to the funding bill.
7 million
The estimated number of people who attended the Oct. 18 No Kings protests, according to organizers, who said demonstrators rallied against what they describe as President Donald Trump’s “crackdowns on First Amendment rights.” Rallies took place in more than 2,700 towns and cities across all 50 states.
57
Superhot days the world is expected to add each year by 2100, if temperatures rise by 2.6 degrees Celsius, according to a new report by World Weather Attribution and Climate Central. That’s about half the 114 days projected in a no-Paris-Agreement scenario, which would have pushed global warming to roughly 4 degrees Celsius.
$1.775 trillion
The United States budget deficit for fiscal year 2025, down $41 billion from the previous year, according to the Treasury Department. It’s the first decline since 2022, driven by a record-high of $195 billion in revenue from tariffs and a $233 billion cut in spending by the Department of Education.
136
Newspapers, mostly independently owned, have closed across the U.S. in the past year, according to Northwestern’s Medill 2025 State of Local News report. These closures have added to the rise in news deserts, areas “with extremely limited access to local news,” where about 50 million Americans now live, according to the report.