Hegseth’s Sudden, Unprecedented Military Meeting; Foreign Cabinetry Is a ‘National Security’ Threat Now? Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Sept. 25, 2025

Indy Digest: Sept. 25, 2025

Two national news pieces—which are possibly related—show just how weird things are in this country

First is this piece, from The Washington Post:

While Hegseth and co. are trying to downplay this rather strange meeting, it has a lot of high-ranking military leaders, in the words of Politico, “floored”:

The sudden meeting has led to frantic travel plans and concerns from some defense officials, who worry about the disruption it will cause to their schedules and the security aspects of having most of the military’s top officers in one place.

“Whatever it is can be communicated through secure emails, phone calls and video links,” said one of the officials, who like others, was granted anonymity to discuss internal decisions.

The other two officials said they didn’t know what to expect from the meeting, which falls on the same day the government will shut down if Congress can’t reach an agreement to fund it. Any shutdown would put a stop to non-urgent travel.

The second news item involves that aforementioned possible government shutdown. Back to Politico:

The White House budget office is instructing federal agencies to prepare reduction-in-force plans for mass firings during a possible government shutdown, specifically targeting employees who work for programs that are not legally required to continue.

The Office of Management and Budget move to permanently reduce the government workforce if there is a shutdown … escalates the stakes of a potential shutdown next week.

In the memo, OMB told agencies to identify programs, projects and activities where discretionary funding will lapse Oct. 1 and no alternative funding source is available. For those areas, OMB directed agencies to begin drafting RIF plans that would go beyond standard furloughs, permanently eliminating jobs in programs not consistent with President Donald Trump’s priorities in the event of a shutdown.

So, yeah, it looks like next Tuesday could be a VERY interesting—and potentially bad—day. Stay tuned.

—Jimmy Boegle

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More News

• Daniel Dale, CNN’s excellent fact-checker, penned a piece on one of the more insane claims Trump keeps making: a pledge to cut drug prices by 1,000 percent: “Trump said in late August: ‘We have something coming up, favored nations, where I’m going to be reducing drug prices by 1,400 to 1,500%.’ He said Saturday: ‘We’re gonna be reducing drug prices down to a level that nobody—not by 20%, 30%—by like 1,000%. Because, you know, we’re paying sometimes 10 times more than other nations, and we’re not doing it anymore.’ He said Monday: ‘We have something else called “favored nations,” where I’m going to be reducing drug prices by 1,000%—by 900, 600, 500, 1,200.’ Trump’s numbers make no sense. Because of how math works. Even if Trump’s policy does produce a big decline in drug prices–and that is very much uncertain given that it relies on cooperation by reluctant pharmaceutical companies or hypothetical future regulatory action–he can’t actually cut the price of any product by 500% to 1,500%. If he magically got the companies to reduce the prices of all of their drugs to $0, that would be a 100% cut. Cutting drug prices by more than 100% would mean that Americans would get paid to acquire their medications rather than paying for them. Health economist Timothy McBride called Trump’s claims ‘just not logical,’ noting that a 500% price reduction would mean that a drug that now costs $100 would cost … negative $400.”

• More tariffs are coming. CBS News reports: “President Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. would impose a new round of tariffs, including a 100% tariff on pharmaceutical drugs, a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture, a 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, and a 30% tariff on heavy trucks. In social media posts to Truth Social, Mr. Trump said the new tariffs would take effect Oct. 1. … The prospect of prices doubling for some medicines could send shockwaves to voters as health care expenses, as well as the costs of Medicare and Medicaid, potentially increase. Trump argued that foreign manufacturers of furniture and cabinetry were ‘flooding’ the U.S. with their products and that tariffs must be applied ‘for National Security and other reasons.’” So foreign cabinetry is a national security concern now. OK then!

• Wired magazine just talked to more than 200 federal workers to find out the effects DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, has had on the government. The piece is a long but important read. One key quote: “‘I kept comparing it to a natural disaster,’ one worker at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told WIRED. ‘But it wasn’t natural. Just a stampede of wide-eyed, confused government employees moving files around and looking over their shoulders because they think maybe Elon was creeping behind them with a chain saw.’”

• The Los Angeles Times published a beautiful piece on Sallie Fiske. Like Jimmy Kimmel before her, she was removed from the TV airwaves because she said something certain people didn’t like. Unlike Jimmy Kimmel, she didn’t get her job back. The lede: “On a fateful day in 1977, Sallie Fiske faced the studio cameras for the last time. The pioneering woman of early L.A. television had hosted a fluffy afternoon show on KCOP-TV in the 1950s called ‘Strictly for Women’ and later served as an evening news producer. She later made her way back on the air at KCOP for another show. It was at the height of singer Anita Bryant’s antigay crusade, and Fiske felt compelled to tell her viewers that she was a lesbian. The station swiftly fired her, and Fiske’s career in television was over.”

• Axios’ bullet-point story format usually annoys me a little (bullets: good for briefs in newsletters; bad for well-written journalism), but for this piece, headlined “How and when you’ll get a refund from the Amazon Prime settlement,” it works. Some details (sans bullet points here): “Amazon will pay $2.5 billion in penalties and refunds to settle allegations that it enrolled its customers in Prime subscriptions without their consent and made it difficult for them to cancel, the FTC announced Thursday. … $1.5 billion of that will go directly to Prime subscribers, capped at $51 per person. … Driving the news: In addition to the penalties and refunds, Amazon agreed to have improved disclosures and a simple way to cancel subscriptions.” You may be eligible; read on to learn more.

• And finally … today’s recall news involves … countertop ovens! EatingWell explains: “A recall was just announced on various countertop and air fryer oven models, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. This follows multiple reports of burn injuries. Approximately 1,394,195 Oster French Door Countertop Ovens were recalled across the U.S. and Canada. … The recalled ovens were sold at Bed Bath and Beyond, Costco, Walmart and other stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com and Overstock.com from August 2015 through July 2025. This recall follows 95 reports of the oven doors unexpectedly closing on consumers, causing burn injuries as severe as second-degree burns. Seek medical attention if you are experiencing any injuries due to these recalled products.” Not sure if that last sentence there was necessary, but OK!

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