Leaders at the Pentagon have significantly altered how military officials will speak with Congress after a pair of new memos issued last week.

In an Oct. 15 memo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, Steve Feinberg, ordered Pentagon officials — including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — to obtain permission from the department’s main legislative affairs office before they have any communication with Capitol Hill.

The memo was issued the same day the vast majority of Pentagon reporters exited the building rather than agree to the Defense Department’s new restrictions on their work, and it appears to be part of a broader effort by Hegseth to exert tighter control over what the department communicates to the outside world.

According to the memo, a copy of which was authenticated by a Pentagon official, “unauthorized engagements with Congress by (Pentagon) personnel acting in their official capacity, no matter how well-intentioned, may undermine Department-wide priorities critical to achieving our legislative objectives.”

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White House uses USDA funds to open offices during shutdown

The administration is tapping into the Commodity Credit Corporation, an agency within the Agriculture Department, to re-open key offices nationwide that help farmers and ranchers access federal aid.

The USDA says about 2,100 Farm Service Agency offices will be open, with two workers at each office, even though the government shutdown continues and no federal workers are getting paid, unless the administration finds an alternate way to do so.

A White House official says the money to re-open the offices is coming from the CCC, which is allowed to borrow money from Treasury to help stabilize prices. The person was granted anonymity to speak about the administration’s plans that were not yet publicized.

— Seung Min Kim

Trump administration preparing for visit to US by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next month

That’s according to several people familiar with the planning.

Work is underway to prepare a package of agreements President Trump and the crown prince could sign or witness during the visit, U.S. officials familiar with the plans for the trip said. The trip is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 17-19, but the timing and status of the visit could change, according to two people familiar with the planning.

Those people and the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the trip before it has been announced. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment, and the Saudi Embassy declined to comment.

Details of the agreements to be signed weren’t immediately clear, but many are expected to be commercial and trade deals under the framework of a Strategic Economic Partnership that Trump signed with the crown prince during the Republican president’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May.

— Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Darlene Superville

▶ Read more about relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia

Man taken into custody after driving car into security gate outside White House, authorities say

The U. S. Secret Service said the man crashed into the security gate at a White House entrance at 10:37 p.m. on Tuesday. The man was immediately arrested by officers from the Secret Service’s uniformed division, the agency said.

Investigators searched his car and deemed it to be safe, Secret Service officials said in a statement.

The man, whose name wasn’t immediately released, was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, according to a Secret Service spokesperson. He’s expected to be charged with unlawful entry and destruction of government property, the spokesperson said.

Why Treasury doesn’t want you to see White House demolition photos

The U.S. Treasury Department sent an email to agency employees this week, telling them not to share photos of East Wing demolition, making way for a new White House ballroom.

“As construction proceeds on the White House grounds, employees should refrain from taking and sharing photographs of the grounds, to include the East Wing,” the email states. The contents of the email, viewed by The Associated Press, directs employees to contact the Treasury press office for any prior approvals.

A Treasury official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said sharing photographs of the White House complex during the demolition could potentially reveal sensitive items, including security features or confidential structural details.

— Seung Min Kim and Fatima Hussein

Agriculture Department is reopening some 2,100 offices to help farmers access $3B in aid

That’s despite the ongoing government shutdown.

The USDA said each Farm Service Agency office will have two workers, but didn’t explain where the money will come from to pay those workers during the shutdown. These offices help farmers apply for farm loans, crop insurance, disaster aid and other programs.

A USDA spokesperson said this move reflects President Trump’s commitment to helping farmers and ranchers, who are traditionally some of his strongest supporters. Recently, some of them have been unhappy with Trump’s latest moves although his support remains strong across rural America.

Just this week, ranchers were unhappy with Trump’s idea to import more beef from Argentina because that could hurt their profits, and earlier this month soybean farmers complained that a $20 billion aid package for Argentina allowed that country to sell soybeans to China. Farmers are also still waiting on details of an aid package Trump promised to help them survive his trade war with China, but that aid has been put on hold because of the shutdown.

House Speaker Mike Johnson welcomes Trump’s ‘glorious’ White House ballroom

The GOP speaker said other presidents have also renovated the White House and didn’t face as much criticism as Trump.

At a morning news conference at the Capitol, Johnson listed off past renovations — from the swimming to the basketball court — and said Trump’s “glorious” new ballroom will be paid for by private donors.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee advances sanctions bills against Russia and China

A bipartisan group of senators is putting support behind a number of bills that would designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism for abducting Ukrainian children, as well as threaten sanctions against China for any aggression towards Taiwan.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s approval of the bills was a small step forward in the U.S. taking action, but represented a show of bipartisan progress at a time when Congress has often struggled to act on foreign policy. NATO Secretary NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was also on Capitol Hill visiting with lawmakers and some are taking the opportunity to rally support for U.S. involvement in Europe and Asia.

Sen. Jim Risch, the Republican chair of the committee, said he’s hoping the legislation also enables the U.S. to seize Russian assets, “get them forfeited and get them into the fight in Ukraine.”

Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon is still speaking on the Senate floor after 15 hours

Merkley held the chamber open all night to protest President Trump’s “tightening authoritarian grip on the country” amid the government shutdown.

Merkley started speaking at 6:21 p.m. Tuesday evening and has been talking for more than 15 hours, with occasional breaks for questions from other Democratic senators who’ve joined him on the floor.

Merkley’s lengthy speech comes after Democratic Sen. Cory Booker broke the all-time record for longest continuous floor speech in April. Booker, who was also protesting Trump, broke the record set 68 years ago by then-Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.

By holding the floor open all night, Merkley forced Senate floor staff, security and other support workers who are currently unpaid to work overtime hours. The government has been shut down since Oct. 1 as Democrats have demanded an extension of federal health care subsidies and Republicans have refused to negotiate until the government is reopened.

Final report on US hunger blocked during the government shutdown

The U.S. Agriculture Department in September said it would scrap the annual household food security report after 30 years, stating that it had become “overly politicized” and “rife with inaccuracies.”

The final report, for 2024, was scheduled for release Thursday, but all reports and data releases have ceased, an agency spokesperson said in a statement.

Ending the report will make it difficult to gauge the extent of hunger in the U.S. amid deep cuts in federal food assistance programs and the effect of tariffs and immigration crackdowns on rising food prices, said Joseph Llobrera, of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank.

“If USDA read its own reports, they would realize it’s apolitical,” he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet with Israel’s Netanyahu amid Gaza ceasefire efforts

Rubio will travel to Israel to meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, the Israeli government announced Wednesday.

The announcement comes as the Trump administration works to shore up the Gaza ceasefire deal.

▶ Read more about Mideast tensions

Vice President JD Vance meets privately with hostage families during his second day in Israel

The meeting was private and closed to press coverage.

But according to Vance’s office, other participants included his wife, Usha Vance; Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel; hostages who were returned alive under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas; and family members of deceased hostages whose remains have yet to be returned by Hamas.

Relatives of victims of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, also attended the meeting.

Vance also met separately Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Putin directs drills of Russian nuclear forces as his summit with Trump is put on hold

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday directed drills of the country’s strategic nuclear forces that featured practice missile launches, an exercise that came as his planned summit on Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump was put on hold.

The Kremlin said that as part of the maneuvers involving all parts of Moscow’s nuclear triad, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was test-fired from the Plesetsk launch facility in northwestern Russia, and a Sineva ICBM was launched by a submarine in the Barents Sea. The drills also involved Tu-95 strategic bombers firing long-range cruise missiles.

The exercise tested the skills of military command structures, the Kremlin said in a statement.

▶ Read more about Russia’s nuclear drills

North Korea test-fires ballistic missiles ahead of Trump’s Asia trip

North Korea performed its first ballistic missile tests in five months Wednesday, days before President Trump and other leaders are expected to meet in South Korea.

South Korea’s military said it detected multiple short-range ballistic missiles that were launched from an area south of Pyongyang and flew about 350 kilometers (220 miles) toward the northeast. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t release more specific flight details but said the missiles didn’t land in the sea.

Trump is to leave for Asia at the end of the week in the first trip to the region of his second term. He plans to go to Malaysia first for a regional summit, and then head to Japan before traveling on to South Korea for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, an annual summit meant to promote economic integration and trade.

▶ Read more about tensions between North Korea and South Korea

Japan says it plans to tell Trump it will build up military and upgrade security strategy

Japan’s new foreign minister said Wednesday his country plans to show its determination to further build up its defense to rapidly adapt to changing warfare realities and growing tension in the region when U.S. President Donald Trump visits Tokyo next week.

Trump is expected to hold talks next Tuesday with Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office Tuesday after being elected Japan’s first female leader.

Takaichi, who had spent much of past few weeks embroiled in internal political wrangling, has to face major diplomatic tests within days of taking office — Trump’s visit and two regional summits.

“We are firmly preparing for President Trump’s visit,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said.

▶ Read more about U.S. relations with Japan