WASHINGTON — The White House asked federal agencies on Wednesday to prepare plans for mass firings during a possible government shutdown next week, marking a sharp departure from the temporary furloughs of workers typically seen during past shutdowns.

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent the memo on Wednesday to federal agencies and asked them to identify programs, projects and activities where discretionary funding will lapse on Oct. 1 if the US Congress does not pass legislation to keep the federal government open.

“Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown,” the OMB said in the memo, which the White House provided.

It was not immediately clear whether the White House was trying to take advantage of the shutdown to advance President Donald J. Trump’s push to slash the federal workforce, or whether it was a high stakes negotiating tactic to force Democrats to agree to pass the Republicans’ funding legislation.

Agencies were told to submit their proposed reduction-in-force plans to the OMB and to issue notices to employees even if they would otherwise be excepted or furloughed during a lapse in funding.

The OMB memo was earlier reported by Politico.

Mr. Trump on Tuesday scrapped a meeting with top congressional Democratic leaders to discuss government funding, raising the risk of a partial government shutdown beginning next week. Both Republicans and Democrats have blamed each other for the impasse.

Upon taking office in January, Mr. Trump launched a campaign to downsize the 2.4-million-strong federal civilian workforce, which he says is bloated and inefficient.

Roughly 300,000 federal civilian workers will have left their jobs by the end of 2025, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Reuters in August.

About 154,000 of those employees accepted a buyout and are slated to drop off the US government’s payroll on Sept. 30, the last day of the federal government’s fiscal year. That date is also the deadline for Mr. Trump and Congress to reach an agreement on federal spending to avert a shutdown. — Reuters

WASHINGTON — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on all countries that are party to the Paris climate agreement to set new climate plans for the year 2035 that achieve faster and deeper emission reduction cuts than they’ve already pledged.

Guterres is hosting a climate leaders summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, where he has asked countries to announce their new climate targets to drum up momentum for the global COP30 climate negotiations in November in Brazil.

The summit comes a day after US President Donald Trump used his UNGA speech to blast climate change as a “con job” and criticize countries like EU member states and China for embracing renewable energy technologies.

The world’s biggest historical emitter and second biggest greenhouse gas emitter behind China, the U.S. is currently withdrawing from the Paris agreement, the 10-year-old climate pact that aimed to prevent global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius through national climate plans.

“The Paris Agreement has made a difference,” Guterres said in prepared remarks, adding that since it was adopted in 2015, projected global temperature rise has dropped from four degrees C to 2.6 — if current national climate plans are fully implemented.

“Now, we need new plans for 2035 that go much further, much faster,” he said.

The European Union has not reached agreement on its new UN-mandated climate target in time for Wednesday’s summit, and has instead drafted plans to submit a temporary goal, which could change later, an EU negotiating document seen by Reuters showed.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on China, which has previously pledged to achieve net-zero before 2060, which would require a roughly 30% emissions reduction by 2035 below peak 2024 levels, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. — Reuters

Ratings agency Fitch on Wednesday revised Thailand’s outlook to “negative” from “stable”, citing increasing risks to public finances amid ongoing political uncertainty.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court recently removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office over a leaked telephone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen, which was seen as a violation of ethics amidst heightened border tensions.

Anutin Charnvirakul took over as prime minister earlier this month after striking a deal with the opposition People’s Party to hold general elections within four months in exchange for its support.

Fitch said political uncertainty could drive short-term spending and deepen policy unpredictability in Thailand, while delayed tourism recovery and high household debts are adding to increasing fiscal risks.

Thailand’s tourism ministry said that foreign tourist arrivals from January 1 to September 21 fell 7.44% from the same period a year earlier.

A sharp drop in Chinese visitors, in particular, compared to 2019, raises concerns about the pace of Thailand’s tourism recovery, according to Fitch.

Fitch affirmed Thailand’s rating at ‘BBB+’ on the back of strong capacity to finance its government debt. — Reuters

WASHINGTON – The US Commerce Department said on Wednesday it has opened new national security investigations into the import of personal protective equipment, medical items, robotics and industrial machinery.

The “Section 232” investigations, which were opened on September 2 but not publicly disclosed previously, could be used as a basis for even higher tariffs on a wide swath of medical and industrial goods including imported face masks, syringes, and infusion pumps as well as for robotics and industrial machinery like programmable computer-controlled mechanical systems and industrial stamping and pressing machines.

The probe asks companies to detail projected demand for robotics and industrial machinery and the extent to which “domestic production of robotics and industrial machinery, and their parts and components can meet domestic demand” as well as the role of foreign supply chains in meeting US demand.

The tariffs could also cover surgical masks, N95 respirators, gloves, gowns and other medical and surgical instruments and supplies including IV bags, gauze/bandages, sutures, wheelchairs, crutches and hospital beds.

The US Commerce Department wants companies to detail projected demand for personal protection and medical equipment and devices and the extent that domestic production can meet US demand, as well as the role of foreign supply chains, particularly of major exporters like China in meeting US medical needs and the “impact of foreign government subsidies and predatory trade practices.”

The probe also covers pacemakers, insulin pumps, coronary stents, heart valves, hearing aids, prosthetics, blood glucose monitors, orthopedic appliances, computed tomography scanners and magnetic resonance imaging machines.

Pharmaceuticals including prescription drugs as well as drones are part of separate 232 probes.

The robotics probe includes machine tools for cutting, welding, and handling workpieces, autoclaves and industrial ovens. Laser and water-cutting tools and machinery are also included.

The department has opened numerous probes into the national security ramifications of imports of wind turbines, airplanes, semiconductors, heavy trucks, polysilicon, copper, timber and lumber and critical minerals. — Reuters