(upbeat music) - From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Brianna Vannozzi.

- Hello and thanks for joining us on this Wednesday.

I'm Brianna Vannozzi.

Tonight a few stories we'll get into later in the broadcast.

The federal government is officially shut down and the blame game between Democrats and Republicans rages on.

We talk to Senator Andy Kim about whether a breakthrough is in sight.

Then Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciatarelli weighs in on his Democratic opponent Mikey Sherrill's military records release.

And later, Ciatarelli and Sherrill's running mates squared off in their first and only debate of the campaign.

We'll take a look at the top issues they covered.

But first, a few of today's top headlines.

The Trump administration is freezing billions of dollars in funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project and is blaming Democratic leadership for forcing their hand.

A White House official with the Office of Management and Budget wrote on social media today that they're in the process of reviewing the Gateway Tunnel and Second Avenue Subway Projects, two of the largest in the region, for "unconstitutional DEI principles," putting nearly $18 billion on hold.

Now, officials at the U.S.

Department of Transportation say due to the government shutdown, the administrative review will take even more time because the agency was forced to furlough staff, calling it a "unfortunate casualty of radical Democrats' reckless decision to hold the federal government hostage."

Democrats like Congressman Frank Pallone and Governor Murphy are accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing the government to settle a political score.

Legal challenges are expected.

Also tonight, two New Jersey public school teachers are suing the state's largest teachers union, accusing it of illegally funneling $40 million in member dues to support a failed gubernatorial run by its former union president, Sean Spiller.

The teachers claim the New Jersey Education Association, an underwriter of NJ Spotlight News, misused dues that were promised not to fund political campaigns.

Instead, the suit argues the money ended up fueling independent groups backing Spiller's bid for the Democratic nomination, where he placed fifth.

The plaintiffs allege the NJEA directed funds through its Super PAC, that's Garden State Forward, to a group called Working New Jersey, which was Spiller's largest backer.

That's a breach, according to the lawsuit, because the teachers opted out of voluntary political contributions when they signed their union membership cards.

The NJEA is defending its endorsement process, saying it's both member-led and Democratic.

Meanwhile, watchdog groups have filed complaints with the IRS and state election regulators, calling for investigations into campaign finance and non-profit disclosures.

And a major shift in public broadcasting begins tonight.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is the federal agency that's quietly supported public radio and TV for half a century, has effectively shut down most of its operations.

The move comes after Congress eliminated all federal funding as part of a rescissions package passed in July, backed by President Trump.

Most of the CPB staff was officially let go yesterday, but a small team will stay on through January to manage the closure.

National networks like NPR and PBS will continue.

The real impact will hit small and rural stations hardest, because they relied heavily on CPB money to stay afloat.

Just before today's deadline, NPR filed a lawsuit to block the corporation from transferring nearly $58 million to a newly created non-profit, a move the CPB says was aimed at preserving radio distribution post-shutdown.

PBS member stations across the country, including this one, today went dark for ten seconds to thank the corporation for its years of support.

And coming up, Senator Andy Kim on the federal government shutdown.

Where are Democrats digging in their heels, and is there a resolution in sight?

That's next.

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The federal government is shut down tonight after a deadlocked Congress failed to strike a last-minute deal on funding, with another Senate vote earlier today to end the stalemate failing just hours into the closure.

Democrats and Republicans are at odds over expiring health care subsidies with leaders of both parties lobbing the blame at each other.

Roughly 750,000 federal workers will bear the brunt of the shutdown, with services from food safety to environmental protections grinding to a halt.

People who work military or security jobs, like airport personnel, will remain on the job.

It's the first government shutdown since 2018, during President Trump's first term, but with a more bitter partisan divide.

I spoke with U.S.

Senator Andy Kim earlier today about whether a breakthrough is in sight.

Senator Kim, good to talk to you.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of this, can you just walk us through what's happening here?

You're being pulled in and out of votes, as I understand it.

What's taking place?

Yeah, right now, you know, right now, leadership on the Republican side's trying to make us just vote on the same thing that we voted on yesterday.

We're really not seeing advancements in terms of negotiations, in part because while I am here at the United States Capitol right now, just down the hall, the House of Representatives is not even in session.

Speaker Johnson has given the Republicans there a free vacation.

They're continuing to get paid, even though federal workers and our military are not.

And they're not showing up to work, and they're not here to negotiate.

And I just really want to shine a light on that, because the American people deserve their leaders in Congress here negotiating, trying to find an end to this, rather than just going off and continuing to get a paycheck while you just sit at home.

Well, what's non-negotiable for you to change your vote and for the party?

What are those conversations looking like at this hour?

Well look, right now, starting today, a lot of people across New Jersey, across the country are getting some really tough news, which is that their health care premiums are skyrocketing.

We're looking at about 4.5 million Americans likely to lose their health care, a lot of them in New Jersey, as well as over 20 million Americans going to see their health care potentially double in terms of their premiums.

This is crushing a lot of families.

We've been trying to address this.

The Republicans say, "Oh, we'll get to it later on this year."

No, the open enrollment starts on November 1st.

It needs to happen now to be able to give these families some relief.

And then also, look, as we're making this discussion about the budget, well, we're also seeing just like a lawlessness with President Trump and his administration.

They're not even following through on the budget that we have passed before.

They're saying that they don't have to spend it all, that it's just guidance to them.

That is against the Constitution of the United States.

That gives Congress the ability to set our national budget.

So those are things that we're going to continue to push for as we stand up against, again, this lawlessness that we see on so many fronts.

Let me ask you about that, because we are just finding out today that the White House is planning to hold billions of dollars from the Gateway Tunnel Project and also the Second Avenue Subway Project.

It appears anyway to be targeting these projects that are in the New York area, where you have your leaders, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, who represent that area.

How concerned are you about the level to which the White House might dismantle, as you've said, programs, but also withhold funding in this way?

And what powers of lever do you-- what levers of power do you have as a Congress to prevent that from going further?

Yeah.

Well, first and foremost, those types of actions, if meant for punishment of retribution, it's illegal.

And again, I hope it shines a light on this for the American people to see and be able to see across the board, all the cross the political spectrum, that this is not how a president should act.

We will take all legal action we can to be able to stand up against that while we are also pushing on the legislative front to be able to do so.

And I'll be honest with you, a lot of my colleagues, including those on the Republican side that I've talked to today, when expressing some of these actions that are taking, they are uncomfortable with it too, because they know that this is against the law, this is against our Constitution, that we have to have a separate but equal branch of government on the legislative side to be able to stand up.

And they don't want to see that kind of actions targeting their states under different administrations.

So yes, you know, this is something I hope the American people see when it comes to just their threats about firing federal workers, cutting programs.

This is what they're already doing.

So I mean, just I'll be honest with you, I think it's going to backfire on them when they just talk so openly about how much they despise the government and how they're trying to take it down.

This was a big reason why a lot of what Elon Musk did was so unpopular earlier this year.

Their efforts are already fired, hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

These threats to do more is really exposing just the recklessness of their actions.

I mean, all that being said, Democrats, they're framing this as Democrats being to blame for it.

In March, we should note Chuck Schumer, Senator Schumer, was criticized for making a deal, making that stopgap deal in order to keep the government open.

Is that part of the reason why the party's not willing to capitulate here?

How far are you all willing to go?

Yeah, look, I hope it shows that we are standing up to fight for our constitution and for the health and the safety of our own constituents.

This is important.

We cannot just continue to let this slide and continue to have a president feel emboldened to just trample our constitution on so many fronts, whether that's what we're seeing with free speech right now, or the attacks that this president is doing on that, or just he gave a speech yesterday talking about how they're deploying military troops to different cities and he told these generals that our cities in America should be a training ground for our military.

I mean, that is absolutely ridiculous and reckless.

One of the most dangerous things that I've heard a commander-in-chief say.

This cannot stand, and the American people, and certainly the people across New Jersey, don't agree with this.

And so, yes, we need to push back on this president that is clearly overreaching, clearly trying to denigrate our Constitution.

This is a president that does not believe in three separate and equal branches of government, and he's done everything that he can to try to dominate the legislature and the judiciary to bend to his own will and that is something I swore an oath to protect this Constitution and I will follow that oath and I will apply here in this case.

To get to the latter part of the question about how long you all are willing to last is there a scenario where the party would accept temporary funding even if it comes without those policy wins as you've outlined if it means getting the government opened faster getting those civil servants their paychecks again faster?

Yeah well first and foremost you know I used to be a federal civil servant you know I worked through multiple shutdowns and didn't get paid for the work that I had while I was doing it I mean it is hard so I recognize that and to the 750,000 that have been furloughed to the many more that aren't getting paid even though showing up to work you know I will say the fact that the president and members of Congress get paid during a shutdown is absurd especially when they're not even showing up to work from the House Republican side it's why I'm foregoing my pay during this shutdown and I think that we need to show that we're not playing with other people's chips and that we need to make sure we understand what's at stake.

When it comes to the negotiations look you know I'm not going to go into the nuts and bolts of what may come down the road.

What we need to at least be in is actually in the room negotiating.

But as I said my colleagues on the Republican side they're not even in the building they're not even in DC doing this let alone in the room.

And I hope that the American people see that's an abdication of leadership.

I would go as far to say that Speaker Johnson is engaged in derelict and engaged in dereliction of duty of his responsibilities.

What are you hearing though from from constituents.

I know you had to tell a town hall last evening.

What are people telling you about what they want to see what what they're frustrated with.

Yeah.

No thanks for that.

Right after the vote I decided to to put together a town hall.

Over 6000 people across New Jersey dialed in at last minute and I think it shows just how much they're paying attention to this and I heard a lot of just absolutely difficult stories here.

Lucinda was telling me that she's somebody that won't be able to afford her health care if the premium subsidies go away.

She's alongside many others that are facing this and it's a real catastrophe in terms of the care that people need.

There is another woman who was talking about the challenges that her family faces when it comes to people and their family with disabilities.

But she along with others said you got to hold the line.

You know that we have to make sure that we're stepping up to be able to try to reassert stability and order in a country that feels so unmoored.

You know people were just talking about how scared they are.

They're filled with anxiety.

You know we're the richest most powerful country in the world.

Why do we have such unpredictability and uncertainty.

And the president is driving that fueling it.

And honestly he is feeding off of it.

He benefits from the chaos that he is sowing.

And people don't want that in their lives anymore.

Senator Andy Kim for us from Capitol Hill.

Thank you so much for taking the time.

We appreciate it.

Thanks for having me.

Meanwhile, the candidates for lieutenant governor took center stage Monday night in their only scheduled debate of the campaign.

It was a mostly polite but pointed discussion on taxes, immigration and the future of New Jersey.

A senior correspondent, Joanna Gagis, reports the hour-long event hosted by PIX11 News gave voters a clearer look at the Democratic and Republican running mates and what they'd bring to the table.

Two relative unknowns in the eyes of most New Jersey voters.

The candidates for Lieutenant Governor made their case last night for why they're qualified to be second in command.

The Republican candidate, James Gannon, is the Morris County Sheriff running with former State Assemblyman Jack Ciatarelli.

I've been involved in law enforcement my whole life so I've been from the local cop level to the major crime unit in the county to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

I was in corporate America obviously at Novartis, the drug company, so I've been in leadership roles for many of much of my life.

The Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor is Dale Caldwell, son of civil rights leader Reverend Gilbert Caldwell Jr.

who Martin Luther King.

He's running with Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill.

I'm president of Centenary University, but I'm also pastor of Covenant United Methodist Church in Plainfield, Centenary is in Hackettstown.

I spent two decades on the New Brunswick Board of Education and was the president of the largest special needs school district, the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey.

I spent four, 15 years at Deloitte Consulting and at Scholastic, as well as the Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

The candidates sounded off on several key issues that are top of mind for voters, from electricity costs to immigration policy, transportation issues to taxes, asked whether property taxes would decrease under their leadership.

That is our goal.

That is our goal and we're looking to do everything we can.

Unfortunately, the assault from the administration in Washington, the Trump administration, adding $5 billion to us makes that even harder.

And so we're trying to do that in a very, very difficult environment.

Throughout the campaign, Cittarelli has called the Anker property tax rebate program a gimmick.

broke from that position something their administ it is.

I think it is the only thing we have to be Okay, you can't put $1 in $5 out of his pocket.

But we have to stick with that to get on their feet to s have to do that.

Gannon r promise to undo the immig trust directive that limit cooperation with federal But he also said he suppo citizenship.

If there are been here and they've had like that, I have no prob of pathway so they could, Caldwell didn't give a cle or not a Cheryl administr immigrant trust directive we would make sure the people are safe.

We're going to make sure that the laws are followed, the constitution is followed, the laws of New Jersey.

We are going to, well, Mikey's going to hire an attorney general that's very strong that may have something even stronger than that.

Both candidates said their administrations would consider leaving the PJM energy grid to lower rising electricity costs.

As for how they'd make housing more affordable, Gannon said a Chittarelli administration would alter the Mount Laurel housing decision, which is a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that requires municipalities to build their, quote, "fair share" of affordable housing.

But he didn't offer specifics on how they'd undo that decision.

"Get together with people on all sides of the issue and come to some type of agreement of what we can do for the success of people."

Caldwell said they'd look to commercialize some NJ Transit operations to right-size the agency.

Gannon went so far as to say they'd stop NJ Transit's annual 3 percent fare hikes without saying how they'd close the financial gap.

But watching this debate, you wouldn't know that tension at the top of the ticket is reaching a heightened pitch.

These two remained respectful, even cordial, throughout the debate.

One of the things I really love about the sheriff is he says it's not about Democrat or Republican, it's real about us coming together.

First of all, God bless your father and God bless Dr.

Martin Luther King.

Tremendous men.

You can expect a very different tone when Sheryl and Cittarelli debate again on Friday.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Joanna Gagas.

A federal watchdog is launching an investigation into the release of Congresswoman Mikey Sheryl's military records, an issue that's jolted New Jersey's race for governor.

The National Archives Inspector General says he's looking into how the mostly unredacted file, including her Social Security number, got into the hands of an ally to her Republican opponent, Jack Ciatarelli.

It comes after the agency admitted to and apologized for improperly giving out the records, which the Sheryl campaign has alleged was collusion with the Trump administration to meddle in the election.

The issue became wrapped up with a separate but related story about how Sheryl wasn't allowed to walk at her U.S.

Naval Academy graduation because of a cheating scandal in which she says she was punished for not ratting out classmates.

Senior political correspondent David Cruz asked Cittarelli about the ordeal for this week's episode of Chat Box.

Take a listen.

So, are you comfortable with how all this went down, leaked to your campaign, then to a news site that put out the other part of the story that worked to your advantage?

David, it's unfortunate that the National Archives screwed up when they fulfilled a Freedom of Information Act request.

Perfectly legal to ask for a freedom of information.

In New Jersey, we call that OPRA.

It's unfortunate that when they did, they didn't redact certain information.

And so, and they've apologized.

They took responsibility for what they did and they apologized.

Nothing illegal has been done.

But this is all a smokescreen and spin.

Here's the bottom line.

There was a cheating scandal at the Naval Academy in 1994.

My opponent was involved in it, and she was punished.

She wasn't allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony.

Her name did not appear in the commencement exercise program.

She says it's because she didn't want to turn in her classmates.

I don't think that's true.

But the way to prove that it is true and what the truth really is, all she has to do is approve the release of her disciplinary records.

And if what she is saying is true, why the hesitancy in releasing the records?

And by the way, she didn't want to turn in her fellow mates who were cheating.

What is she going to do when she gets to Trenton as governor and finds people who are gaming the system or doing wrong by New Jersey taxpayers?

>> You said she was involved.

What does that mean?

She was punished for a reason.

Why was she punished?

She says it's because she wasn't going to turn to her classmates.

Then the story took a little bit of a pivot, and she said it was because she knew that there was a test that was circulating prior to the actual test being taken.

All she has to do is approve the release of her disciplinary records.

Don't know what the big deal is.

If she's telling the truth, those records will say exactly what she's saying, and it's over and done with.

So what does it doesn't change the fact that she was punished.

What did she do that was so wrong that that we know of that disqualifies her for the governor's job?

Are you saying that what's in these records may be what disqualifies her for the governor's job?

I think if you're not being transparent about a time that you were punished, particularly at one of our military academies, I think the people of New Jersey deserve the right to know exactly why you were punished.

And the release of her disciplinary records would reveal that.

You can catch more of David's conversation with Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciatarelli on chat box streaming Thursday at 6 p.m.

on our NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel and on NJ PBS Saturday at 6 30 p.m.

and Sunday morning at 10 30.

In our spotlight on business report tonight, there's more help for residents struggling to pay rising energy bills.

The State Board of Public Utilities is expanding the amount low income customers can get as a credit on their electricity and gas bills to ensure eligible residents pay no more than 6% of their income toward energy costs.

The minimum credit available will quadruple from $5 up to $20 a month and the cap on how much a household can get is doubling from $100 to $200 each month.

According to the state, more than 200,000 households enrolled last year but more than a million are likely eligible.

The expansion is in addition to other efforts the BPU has put in place recently to help with rising costs.

Support for the business report is provided by the Newark Alliance presents the 2025 Halsey Fest featuring the vibrancy of Newark's arts and education district and Halsey Street.

A neighborhood built on hustle and heart.

The 2025 Halsey Fest schedule is available at HalseyNWK.com.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

But a reminder, you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch us anytime by subscribing to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

Plus, you can always follow us on Instagram and Blue Sky to stay up to date on all the state's big headlines.

And with Election Day just around the corner, check out our voter guide to get up to speed on the candidates and races on the ballot this year.

Head to the NJ Decides 2025 tab on our home page.

I'm Brianna Vannozzi.

For the entire team at NJ Spotlight News, thanks for being with us.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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