President Trump celebrated Hamas' statement on his Gaza peace proposal and called on Israel to halt its offensive.

"Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" Trump posted on Truth Social.

"Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East."

House Republican leadership has officially announced no votes are scheduled for next week amid the ongoing government shutdown.

The lower chamber of Congress is next scheduled to meet in a pro forma session at 3 p.m. Monday. Members are then due to return to their districts through the Oct. 13 Columbus Day holiday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is insisting that the Senate pass a House-approved stopgap spending bill to reopen the government through Nov. 21.

US Treasurer Brandon Beach confirmed the authenticity of a planned silver dollar marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — depicting President Trump on both sides of the coin

"No fake news here. These first drafts honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real," Beach tweeted Friday afternoon.

"Looking forward to sharing more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over."

One side of the mock-up shows Trump's face above the words "In God We Trust" and the date 1776-2026. The reverse shows Trump's iconic fist-pump after surviving an assassination attempt last year, and the words "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT."

It's extremely uncommon for US currency to feature a living person and it was not immediately clear how many of the coins are likely to be made.

Once again, Senate Democrats have blocked a House-passed bill to fund the government through Nov. 21.

The measure got 54 votes this time, six short of clearing the 60-vote legislative filibuster.

As before, Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, along with Angus King of Maine, voted to advance the bill, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only GOP "no" vote.

Republican Jerry Moran of Kansas and Chris Coons of Delaware did not vote.

The Senate has just rejected a plan put foward by Democrats to reopen the federal government.

The upper chamber voted down the proposal 52-46 along party lines, with two senators -- Republican Jerry Moran of Kansas and Democrat Chris Coons of Delaware -- not voing.

The Democratic proposal includes provisions to restore funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as well as hospital reimbursements for emergency care of illegal immigrants.

President Trump still plans to mandate that insurance companies cover in vitro fertilization treatment for couples struggling to conceive a child, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

"No," the press secretary answered a reporter who asked if the president had "abandoned" his campaign promise, without providing additional details.

The Trump administration is looking to lay off thousands of government workers due to a desire for "fiscal sanity" and gutting the government of "waste, fraud and abuse," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

"We have an administration and we have a president who are wholeheartedly focused on restoring fiscal sanity to our government and doing the right thing by the American taxpayer," she said.

"We are $37 trillion in debt, and the federal government is currently shut down. There is no more money coming into the federal government's coffers.

"And as you've also seen since the beginning in January, this administration is focusing on waste, fraud and abuse, and so Democrats have given this administration an unenviable choice to have to take a look at the balance sheet and identify where these cuts and layoffs can be made."

More from the White House press secretary about the possibility of federal layoffs.

"The Office of Management and Budget is in constant communication and contact right now with our cabinet secretaries and agencies across the board to identify, unfortunately, where layoffs have to be made and where cuts have to happen.

"But again, the Democrats have an opportunity to prevent this if they vote to reopen the government."

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought is still in talks with cabinet secretaries to work out which agencies to target for layoffs, Leavitt said.

"I think this administration has been very clear ... that we're not going to tolerate waste, fraud and abuse in our government, and we've also been very clear to point out when agencies or when programs do not align with this administration's values of putting our country first," Leavitt said when asked what agencies could possibly be hit.

President Trump has directed his administration to look into what federal funds could be cut off in Portland, Ore., amid ongoing anti-ICE protests, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced during a rare Friday briefing.

"I just spoke with the president about this, and he has directed his team here at the White House to begin reviewing aid that can potentially be cut in Portland," she said.

"We will not fund states that allow anarchy."

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WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has just reiterated that he is in no mood to revamp a bill his chamber passed last month to end the ongoing government shutdown.

"I don't have anything to negotiate," Johnson noted, saying that the seven-week, stopgap spending measure contained no "poison pills" that would prevent Democratic votes.

"No policy riders, no gimmicks, nothing in here that benefits Republicans," added Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

Both GOP leaders suggested that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was keeping the shutdown going to pacify the far-left flank of his party, led by messaging from figures like "Squad" Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that law enforcement has made more than 150 arrests as part of a federal crackdown on crime in Memphis, Tennessee.

On Thursday night alone, the so-called Memphis Safe Task Force apprehended 60 suspects -- one of whom was wanted for rape of a minor -- and made 21 seizures of illegal firearms.