Washington Roundup: Shutdown continues; Hamas agrees to hostage release after Trump Gaza proposal

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The federal government shutdown stretched into its third day with indications it would continue after lawmakers once again failed to pass a spending bill.

The same week, Hamas agreed to release its Israeli hostages in a statement issued before a deadline President Donald Trump set for his proposal for a peace plan for Gaza, and Trump declared drug cartels are unlawful combatants, telling Congress the U.S. is now in an “armed conflict” with them.

Shutdown continues

The U.S. Senate on Oct. 3 again rejected both Republican and Democratic measures to fund the federal government, as both failed to advance during procedural votes, meaning the federal government shutdown will stretch into the following week.

The federal government shut down Oct. 1 after congressional lawmakers failed to pass funding legislation by the end of September. Catholic groups that serve the poor urged lawmakers to end gridlock.

A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass a budget or if that budget is not signed into law by the president. Some types of essential government services are exempt, including Social Security payments to older adults. But many other functions of government are suspended during shutdowns, such as paychecks for government workers, including members of the armed services. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are subject to furloughs, meaning they must stop working and will not be paid until the federal government reopens.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, directed all priests in service to the U.S. military “to continue exercising their religious liberty and offer Mass at military installations during the ongoing government shutdown,” the archdiocese said.

Trump sets deadline for Hamas on Gaza peace proposal

Hamas said Oct. 3 it agreed to release all of its Israeli hostages, living or dead, and expressed willingness to negotiate through mediators on Trump’s proposal for a peace plan in Gaza.

The group’s statement came ahead of a deadline previously set by Trump, who said Hamas must accept his peace proposal for Gaza or face retribution in an Oct. 3 post on his social media website Truth Social.

“An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time,” Trump wrote. “Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.”

Trump’s post also said, “I am asking that all innocent Palestinians immediately leave this area of potentially great future death for safer parts of Gaza.”

Prior to the post, during a White House visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump released a 20-point peace plan to end the Israel-Hamas war Sept. 29. The proposal itself was met with cautious optimism from some world leaders — including Pope Leo XIV — and skepticism from others as it remained to be seen whether Hamas would accept the agreement amid increasing international concern about humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.

In comments to reporters Sept. 30 at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo said, “It seems that it is a realistic proposal.”

“There are elements that I think are very interesting, and I hope Hamas accepts it in the established timeframe,” he said.

Hamas is officially designated a terrorist entity by the U.S. government.

Trump tells Congress U.S. is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels

Trump has determined that the U.S. is engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels, which the administration has deemed “unlawful combatants,” according to a notice sent to congressional committees and first reported by The New York Times.

The memo came after the Trump administration carried out strikes on boats in the Caribbean that have raised questions about its legal authority to do so. But the memo itself also raised questions about Trump’s claim that cartels should be treated as military combatants by law, rather than as criminals, and his use of ??wartime powers.

White House press secretary weighs in on Pope Leo comments

A controversy over an award the Archdiocese of Chicago previously planned to present Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., prompted responses from both the White House and Pope Leo.

Durbin ultimately decided not to accept a “Lifetime Achievement Award,” which was previously scheduled to be presented in November by Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the cardinal said Sept. 30. The award, Cardinal Cupich said, was intended for his work on immigration issues, but was met with opposition from several U.S. bishops due to the Catholic senator’s longstanding public position in favor of abortion access.

Pope Leo said in comments to reporters the same day that “someone who says I’m against abortion but says ‘I’m in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life,” the pope continued. “Someone who says that ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro life.”

Asked about the pope’s comments, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is Catholic, said at a press briefing Oct. 1, she “would reject there was inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the United States under this administration.”

“This administration is trying to enforce our nation’s laws in the most humane way possible, and we are upholding the law,” she said. “We are doing that on behalf of the people of our country who live here.”

Pope Leo also said in his comments about the controversy that “church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.”

Letter from faith leaders denounces political violence

More than 100 faith leaders across multiple faith traditions denounced political violence in a letter distributed through the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown University.

“Just this year alone, our country mourned the horrific assassinations of Charlie Kirk in Utah, Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman in Minnesota, and just last week, the shooting at the ICE facility in Dallas, TX,” the signatories said in an Oct. 1 letter. “Our hearts break for the victims and their families.”

They said they were “deeply concerned by the escalating frequency of acts of violence and threats, and the growing acceptance of violence as an appropriate response to political disagreement.”

“As faith leaders, we are also concerned by any effort to undermine the protections of the First Amendment, including the targeting of faith-based organizations for living out the commitments of their faith,” the letter said. “The First Amendment ensures that all individuals and organizations are protected from unlawful targeting by the government for exercising their beliefs, even those organizations with whom we disagree. Targeting organizations is an attack on free speech and the First Amendment and sets a dangerous precedent that undermines democratic norms in our country.”

Signatories on the letter included Sister Bridget Bearss, a sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart, of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; Laurie Carafone of Network; and Marie Dennis of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Institute for Nonviolence.

“As people of faith, we believe that every person is made in the image and likeness of God and has inalienable dignity and worth,” it added. “It is because of this that we believe that free speech is fundamental to our democracy, and it must be protected.”

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