The federal government has shut down — What services are affected?
Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline. Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by Trump’s Republican administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental, and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide. Today on AirTalk, we walk through what the government shutdown means. Joining us is Courtney Rozen, Reuters Federal Workforce Reporter.
With files from the Associated Press
U.S. Department of Justice sues LASD over alleged concealed carry weapon permit delays
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for allegedly violating the Constitution by too slowly issuing concealed carry weapon permits to L.A. County residents. According to the Department of Justice, LASD approved only two concealed carry weapon permits from a list of more than 8,000 applications and renewals from January 2024 to March 2025. The DOJ says the delay in permit processing violates the Second Amendment rights of L.A. County gun owners. Joining us on AirTalk to discuss the recent lawsuit is Connor Sheets, investigative reporter at the LA Times, and Chuck Michel, senior partner at Michel & Associates and the president and general counsel for the California Rifle & Pistol Associates (CRPA). We also want to hear from you! Have you tried to get a concealed carry permit? What has been your experience? Give us a call at 866-893-5722 or email us at atcomments@laist.com.
How are military families and personnel responding to Defense Secretary Hegseth’s speech?
Yesterday, President Donald Trump proposed using U.S. cities as training grounds for the armed forces and spoke of needing U.S. military might to combat what he called the “invasion from within.” In his address, Trump outlined a muscular and at times norm-shattering view of the military’s role in domestic affairs. He was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who declared an end to “woke” culture and announced new directives for troops that include “gender-neutral” or “male-level” standards for physical fitness. The dual messages underscored the Trump administration’s efforts not only to reshape contemporary Pentagon culture but to enlist military resources for the president’s priorities and for decidedly domestic purposes, including quelling unrest and violent crime. We want to hear from you. If you’re part of a military family or personnel, how did you feel about the speech? Call us at 866-893-5722 or email us at atcomments@laist.com.
With files from the Associated Press.
AirTalk Live at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana
AirTalk host Larry Mantle and an array of experts took the stage at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana to focus on California's third-largest county, just south of LA, the OC. A panel of journalists discussed some of the biggest news stories Orange County has had in recent years and the area's evolving journalism landscape. And political experts joined a conversation about politics in the OC, a region that's seen a significant shift from red to purple. The panel discusses how changes in the voting diaspora and redistricting have impacted politics and where things could be headed. Guests include Nick Gerda, LAist watchdog correspondent, Jill Replogle, LAist Orange County correspondent, Norberto Santana, founding publisher and editor-in-chief of the Voice of OC, Teri Sforza, watchdog and accountability columnist for the Orange County Register and Southern California News Group, Orrin Evans, partner at Armour Evans Media, a political advertising and campaign consultancy, Jon Gould, dean of the School of Social Ecology at UC Irvine and director of the UCI-OC Poll, Shawn Steel, California National Committeeman to the Republican National Committee, and Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Professor of History and Asian American Studies at UC Irvine.
