State Of The Shutdown, SCOTUS Tariff Arguments, Chicago ICE Ruling

Summary

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Up First – November 6, 2025

State Of The Shutdown, SCOTUS Tariff Arguments, Chicago ICE Ruling

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Episode Overview

This episode of NPR's Up First examines the fallout and ongoing developments from a record-setting government shutdown, high-stakes Supreme Court arguments over President Trump's tariff authority, and significant court victories for Chicago in the face of aggressive federal immigration enforcement. The hosts break down the latest news, offering expert commentary and on-the-ground reporting.

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1. Government Shutdown: Political Fallout and Stalemate

[02:08 – 05:57]

• The Political Impact of Prolonged Shutdown:

  • The government shutdown reaches its 37th day, now the longest in U.S. history, with widespread effects on federal workers and the public.
  • President Trump acknowledges, for the first time, that the shutdown hurt Republicans in recent elections.
  • Democrats feel emboldened by their electoral victories and show less willingness to compromise.

• Inside Republican Tensions Over the Filibuster:

  • President Trump urges Senate Republicans to end the filibuster to pass a funding bill, but GOP senators, including Mike Rounds (SD), refuse:
    • Quote:

      "The Senate was designed to really be a place where consensus is brought about to making decisions that could stand the test of time. Simply going to make the Senate a mini version of the House is not what any of us really want to do."
      — Mike Rounds (03:22)

• Bipartisan Negotiations?

  • Discussions of a short-term funding bill into December and reauthorizing Obamacare subsidies underway, but no real progress.
  • Senator Jon Ossoff (GA) emphasizes urgency but no breakthroughs:
    • Quote:

      "There's real urgency to prevent this huge spike in health care costs and to reopen the government."
      — Jon Ossoff (04:20)

  • Democrats insist any deal must guarantee extension of Obamacare subsidies.
  • Senator Bernie Sanders calls for concrete assurances, not vague votes:
    • Quote:

      "If you simply had a nebulous vote that wasn't going to go anyplace, I think we gotta continue the fight."
      — Bernie Sanders (05:11)

  • Senate and House Minority Leaders Schumer and Jeffries seek a direct meeting with the President. Trump continues to hold out, demanding Democrats back down.

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2. Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Trump's Tariff Authority

[06:09 – 09:45]

• Background of the Case:

  • At question is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 and whether it gives the president authority to unilaterally impose tariffs.
  • Businesses and states argue the statute doesn't grant this power—the word "tariff" is absent from the law.

• Government’s Argument:

  • Solicitor General John Sauer contends regulating imports includes the authority to levy tariffs.

• Courtroom Dynamics and Skepticism:

  • Justices, including conservatives, express skepticism; central issue becomes whether Congress can delegate its core power to tax to the executive.

  • Justice Kavanaugh uses a food analogy to probe the boundaries:

    • Quote:

      "He didn’t think they meant to allow a president to regulate imports using, say, sweeping embargoes, but not to impose even a minimal tariff."
      (08:06 paraphrased)

    • Banter in the courtroom lightens the mood:

      "It's not a doughnut hole. It's a different kind of pastry."
      — Daniel Kurtzleben and Laila Faulden (08:09)

  • Justice Gorsuch presses hard on constitutional limits:

    • Quote:

      "What would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce, for that matter, declare war to the president?"
      — Justice Gorsuch (08:49) "I'm asking for your theory of the Constitution."
      — Justice Gorsuch (09:03)

• Potential Impact:

  • If the court rules against Trump, the tariffs in question would be deemed illegal, but some could remain under other legal authorities. A ruling is anticipated by July.

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3. Chicago’s Legal Victories Against Federal Immigration Crackdown

[09:55 – 13:08]

• City’s Courtroom Wins:

  • Chicago prevails in several legal challenges against Trump administration immigration policy, including a ban on deploying National Guard and limits on federal agents' use of force.

• Notable Testimonies and Incidents:

  • Judge Sarah Ellis hears dramatic accounts:
    • A woman describes being held at gunpoint for filming arrests.
    • A pastor testifies he was shot with pepper balls while praying.
    • Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino claims force was “more than exemplary,” but under questioning, admits to using tear gas unprovoked.

• Quotes from Testimony:

  • John Seidel recounting courtroom stories:
    • "She heard from a woman who said she found herself staring down the barrel of a gun just for filming the arrest of day laborers." (10:55)
    • "The judge heard from a pastor who said he was shot in the head by pepper balls while praying outside a holding facility." (10:55)

• Conditions Inside ICE Detention:

  • Judge Robert Gettleman is appalled by the conditions at the Broadview holding center:
    • 100–150 people to a cell, sleeping on the floor near dirty toilets.
    • Orders issued: clean bedding for all, twice-daily cleaning, adequate hygiene supplies.
    • Quote:

      "Though it's long been considered a detention or processing center, Judge Gettleman said it seems more like a prison."
      — John Seidel (12:46)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Consensus and Senate Traditions:
  "Simply going to make the Senate a mini version of the House is not what any of us really want to do." — Senator Mike Rounds (03:22)

• Democratic Unyielding Stance:
  "The election results were not vague. They were not unclear." — Senator Schumer (05:27)

• Courtroom Humor on Power Boundaries:
  "It's not a doughnut hole. It's a different kind of pastry." — Daniel Kurtzleben and Laila Faulden (08:09)

• Constitutional Checks and Balances:
  "What would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce, for that matter, declare war to the president?" — Justice Gorsuch (08:49)

• Conditions in Detention:
  "Gettleman said it seems more like a prison." — John Seidel (12:46)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Shutdown Political Fallout: 02:08 – 05:57
• SCOTUS Tariff Arguments: 06:09 – 09:45
• Chicago ICE Ruling: 09:55 – 13:08

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Tone

The episode maintains NPR’s signature sober, fact-focused, and lightly conversational tone, with injections of humor (particularly in the Supreme Court segment) and moments of deep empathy, especially concerning testimony in the immigration story.

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This comprehensive summary captures the essential news, perspectives, and memorable moments from the November 6, 2025 episode of Up First, providing a clear understanding of the day’s top stories for listeners and non-listeners alike.

Transcript

[Ami Martinez]

A. Martinez.

[Laila Faulden]

Lefado. Le Lefado. Le Lafado. Le Lefado.

[Ami Martinez]

Are you gotta do that every morning now?

[Laila Faulden]

President Trump says the shutdown standoff hurt Republicans in Tuesday's elections. If you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans.

[Ami Martinez]

Democrats say those results show voters don't want them to back down.

[Laila Faulden]

I'm a. Martinez. That's Layla Foddle. And this is up first from n NPR News. A decades old law gives the president the power to regulate imports, but does he have the right to tax them? Even conservative Supreme Court justices are questioning Trump's authority to impose tariffs, a key piece of his economic agenda.

[Ami Martinez]

And Chicago is winning so far in court battles against the administration's immigration crackdown. In the city, a federal judge ordered cleaner detention centers and limits on the use of force. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

[John Seidel]

Foreign.

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[Laila Faulden]

Of a now record long government shutdown.

[Ami Martinez]

Yeah. And earlier this week, some Democrats suggested they were searching for a way out as Americans felt the intense pain of furloughs, travel delays and unpaid SNAP benefits. But Democratic victories at the ballot box on Tuesday have emboldened many to hold firm as President Trump acknowledges that the shutdown hurt Republicans on election night.

[Laila Faulden]

NPR congressional reporter Sam Greenglass is here. So. All right, Sam, let's start with the view from the White House. You just heard Layla talk about how Trump acknowledges that this shutdown hurt his party with voters and he met with Senate Republicans for breakfast yesterday. What was his message? What did he say to him?

[Sam Greenglass]

The president told Senate Republicans There was a lot to discuss, including what the party should do about their losses on election night and also about the shutdown.

[Laila Faulden]

How that relates to last night. I think if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor. Negative for the Republicans.

[Sam Greenglass]

Trump has been urging Republicans to end the shutdown by eliminating the Senate filibuster. That would lower the votes needed to pass bills. Congressional Republicans, you know, have mostly gone along with Trump's wishes. But Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota says getting rid of the filibuster is just not going to happen.

[John Seidel]

The Senate was designed to really be a place where consensus is brought about to making decisions that could stand the test of time. Simply going to make the Senate a mini version of the House is not what any of us really want to do.

[Sam Greenglass]

And there's another reason Republicans are hesitant to ditch the filibuster. They want to keep it in case they end up in the minority.

[Laila Faulden]

All right, so if most Republicans then are saying no to President Trump's desire to bust the filibuster, I mean, are we seeing a different solution emerge?

[Sam Greenglass]

So both sides have been pretty dug in here. But this week, some bipartisan talks did seem to pick up steam. Possibly a short term funding measure into December, along with votes on a small package of regular appropriations bills. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia has been involved in those talks, and I asked whether he'd accept anything short of a deal to preserve expiring Obamacare subsidies. That's an issue that's been at the heart of this shutdown debate.

[John Seidel]

Conversations are ongoing. It's good that people are talking. There's real urgency to prevent this huge spike in health care costs and to reopen the government.

[Sam Greenglass]

Republicans would need eight Democrats to sign onto a deal to reopen the government. And Republicans have said that would become more doable as the shutdown pain got worse.

[Laila Faulden]

So how do you do the election results affect all that?

[Sam Greenglass]

Well, there has always been a camp of Democrats who say any deal has to include an ironclad extension of those Obamacare subsidies. And many of them think their performance on Tuesday validates that position. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says he needs not just a Senate vote on extending the subsidies, but also assurance that the measure would pass in the House and that Trump would sign it into law.

[Laila Faulden]

If you simply had a nebulous vote that wasn't going to go anyplace, I think we got to continue the fight.

[Sam Greenglass]

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was kind of vague about what he could live with. On Wednesday, he made it Sound like his caucus was not going to relent.

[John Seidel]

The election results were not vague. They were not unclear.

[Laila Faulden]

They were a lightning bolt. So, Sam, where does this leave things?

[Sam Greenglass]

Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are calling for a meeting with Trump on Air Force One. On Sunday, I asked Trump whether he was interested in negotiating with Democrats, but he reiterated that they were the ones who needed to back down. The question is, will Tuesday change that calculus, or will this shutdown stretch into a sixth week?

[Laila Faulden]

That's NPR congressional reporter Sam Greenglust. Thanks, Sam.

[Sam Greenglass]

Thank you.

[Ami Martinez]

The Supreme Court has not yet issued a major ruling against President Trump in his second term.

[Laila Faulden]

They heard arguments yesterday in a case about Trump's tariffs. We don't know yet what the opinion will say, but the justices questions yesterday, including from conservatives, were skeptical of Trump's positions.

[Ami Martinez]

NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben was listening. Good morning, Danielle.

[Advertisement Voice]

Good morning.

[Ami Martinez]

Okay, so just recap for us. What were these arguments about?

[Daniel Kurtzleben]

Well, they were about the law that Trump used to impose those tariffs you mentioned. It's a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers act, or IPA, and it gives the president broad economic powers during an emergency. So in this case, you had a group of businesses and states arguing that that law does not give the president the power to impose these tariffs. In fact, they noted that IPA doesn't even contain the word tariffs.

[Ami Martinez]

Okay, so what was the administration arguing here?

[Daniel Kurtzleben]

There's a key phrase in IPA that was central to the arguments. That law says a president can regulate imports. Solicitor General John Sauer said that allows a president to tariff because he argued tariffs are simply a basic way to regulate imports. But that connected then to a bigger constitutional question, whether in the process of regulating imports, the president is allowed to tax because the Constitution gives Congress the power to raise revenue. And, and this led to a lot of questions about what the president can and can't do. Justice Kavanaugh at one point suggested that he didn't think that Congress intended to create what he called a donut hole. That is, he didn't think they meant to allow a president to regulate imports using, say, sweeping embargoes, but not to impose even a minimal tariff. And here we're going to hear him talking to Benjamin Gutman, one of the lawyers challenging the tariffs.

[John Seidel]

That doesn't seem, but I want to get your answer to have a lot of common sense behind it. I think it absolutely does because it's.

[Sam Greenglass]

A fundamentally different power.

[Laila Faulden]

It's not a doughnut hole.

[Sam Greenglass]

It's a different kind of pastry that.

[Daniel Kurtzleben]

Got laughter in the courtroom and even got a chuckle out of Kavanaugh. But what Gutman was saying was that this is about types of powers, that the law gives the president broad powers, but that that simply doesn't include tariffs.

[Ami Martinez]

So not about pastries, then, Daniel.

[Daniel Kurtzleben]

Right.

[Ami Martinez]

What sense did you get? I mean, you watch this a lot more closely than I did of how the justices felt about these arguments.

[Daniel Kurtzleben]

Well, as you said, there was some skepticism. The more liberal justices were definitely more open to the arguments against the tariffs. But even some more conservative justices seemed skeptical of the government's arguments. Justice Gorsuch was especially concerned about whether Congress was delegating one of its core jobs to the president here and whether that's even allowed.

[John Seidel]

What would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce, for that matter, declare war to the president? We don't contend that he could do.

[Laila Faulden]

That if it did.

[John Seidel]

Why not?

[Laila Faulden]

Well, because we're dealing with a statute.

[John Seidel]

Again, that has a whole substitute. I'm not asking about the statute, general. I'm not asking about the statute. I'm asking for your theory of the Constitution.

[Daniel Kurtzleben]

And there were a few exchanges like that with Gorsuch really poking at Sauer's rationale.

[Ami Martinez]

And what happens if they decide against the president?

[Daniel Kurtzleben]

Well, on tariffs, the ultimate effect is unclear. I mean, a bunch of his tariffs would then be illegal. But other tariffs, like the ones he's imposed on particular goods like steel and aluminum, those would remain, and he could use other laws to impose more. Now, as for Trump himself, he has called this the most important Supreme Court case ever. So, yeah, he'd be upset. But also importantly, we would be seeing this court trying to meaningfully reign in his power. So we would see what comes of that. And a ruling is expected by July.

[Ami Martinez]

NPR's Daniel Kurtzleben, thank you so much.

[Daniel Kurtzleben]

Thank you.

[Ami Martinez]

Chicagoans opposed to President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration campaign are taking his administration to court and winning.

[Laila Faulden]

So far this week, there's been hours of testimony as one federal judge listened to accounts about citizens jarring encounters with federal agents. And another judge ordered the administration to improve the conditions at an immigration holding facility in a Chicago suburb.

[Ami Martinez]

Jon Seidel with Chicago Public Media and the Chicago Sun Times has been covering this and is with me now. Good morning.

[John Seidel]

Good morning.

[Ami Martinez]

So these legal fights have been going on for over a month. In what ways has the city prevailed?

[John Seidel]

Well, last month, a federal judge in Chicago ruled against Trump's efforts to deploy National Guard troops here, and another judge limited federal agents Use of force against protesters and required a senior official to actually sit for a lengthy deposition. And now that Judge Sarah Ellis is preparing to rule on what's called a preliminary injunction, it would basically extend the order she issued last month that governs agents use of force here.

[Ami Martinez]

Judge Ellis held a hearing yesterday in order to make that decision. What was the testimony like?

[John Seidel]

Yeah, she presented over an eight hour hearing Wednesday. She heard from a woman who said she found herself staring down the barrel of a gun just for filming the arrest of day laborers. The judge heard from a pastor who said he was shot in the head by pepper balls while praying outside a holding facility. And the judge heard the video Testimony of U.S. border Patrol commander Greg Bevino, who's become the public face of this campaign. He said the use of force here has been, quote, more than exemplary. And now Judge Ellis says she plans to hand down her ruling today.

[Ami Martinez]

Oh, tell us more about Bovino.

[John Seidel]

Bovino came here from California where he led operation at large that led to a very controversial ruling by the Supreme Court which allowed agents in that operation to continue stopping people based on factors like race and language. Bovino was accused last month of throwing tear gas into a crowd in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood without justification. Federal authorities say he did so while being confronted by a hostile mob. They even said he'd been hit in the head with a rock. But attorneys told Judge Ellis yesterday that Bevino finally admitted he threw the tear gas before the rock entered the picture. Pavino's deposition was conducted privately, and we're waiting to see how much of it becomes public.

[Ami Martinez]

Now, we mentioned the ruling about an immigration facility. What is happening in that one?

[John Seidel]

That's right. Judge Robert Gettleman presided over a similar hearing Tuesday. That one revolved around the conditions inside this holding center in suburban Broadview. It's where most people arrested by immigration agents find themselves being held, at least for a short while. Until this summer, the facility hadn't been intended as a long term holding center. But Gettleman heard that people are being held there for days at a time. 100 to 150 people to a cell. They often have nowhere to sleep but the floor, he was told, and many are sleeping near a dirty toilet. Though it's long been considered a detention or processing center, Judge Gettleman said it seems more like a prison. And Wednesday he ordered that people held there should all be given clean bedding in a mat, that each holding room should be cleaned at least twice a day, and that everyone should be given adequate supplies of soap, towels, toilet paper, and other hygiene products.

[Ami Martinez]

John Seidel with Chicago Public Media and the Chicago Sun Times. John, thank you for your reporting.

[John Seidel]

You're welcome.

[Ami Martinez]

And that's up first for Thursday, November 6th.

[Laila Faulden]

I'm Laila Faulden and Ami Martinez. If you enjoy starting your day with up first, and I know that you do, please consider donating to your local NPR station. When you give to your local NPR station, you help keep journalists on the ground in your community, keep the NPR network strong. Visit donate.NPR.org upfirst to contribute and for more news and conversations, listen to our radio show, Morning Edition. You can find it on your local NPR station [e-mail] or on your app.

[Ami Martinez]

Today's episode of Up first was edited by Jason Breslow, Christian, Dov Kalamer, Cheryl Corley, Mohamed Del Bardisi and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Buch, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is David Greenberg. Join us again tomorrow.

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