MONDAY
The second Monday in October is Columbus Day, or Indigenous Peoples Day, depending on where you live. Columbus Day is a federal holiday, so most banks will be closed and there will be no mail service. Federal employees would normally get the day off, but due to the ongoing government shutdown, many offices are already closed. In 2021, then-President Joe Biden issued a proclamation recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day while preserving Columbus Day as a federal holiday. Last week, however, President Donald Trump issued his own proclamation to honor the explorer, declaring during a Cabinet meeting: “Columbus Day. We're back, Italians.”
The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund will kick off their annual meetings in Washington, DC, with a focus on global issues related to “poverty reduction, international economic development and finance, building human capital, and strengthening resilience.”
And it's also Thanksgiving Day in Canada.
TUESDAY
The Senate is scheduled to return to Capitol Hill as Democrats and Republicans remain gridlocked over resolving the government shutdown. The chamber failed to advance rival Democratic and Republican stopgap spending bills, and on Friday, the government started firing federal workers. President Trump has vowed to target “Democrat programs” for cuts if the shutdown continues.
WEDNESDAY
October 15 is payday for members of the US military, and President Trump said Saturday that “we have identified funds” to pay them if the government remains shut down. Service members were last paid on October 1, and since that time, military families have faced sharp disruptions to lives already burdened with the significant sacrifice that comes with serving. Also on Wednesday, CNN hosts a live town hall with progressive lawmakers Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 9 p.m. ET.
THURSDAY
October 16 is International ShakeOut Day, when millions of people worldwide will participate in earthquake drills at 10:16 a.m. local time. In 2024, nearly 20 million people in the US and approximately 57 million worldwide participated in the drills, according to ShakeOut.org.
