The Stack: Shutdown Standoff, Filibuster Math, and Border Drop
Todd breaks down why a simple majority isn’t enough to advance the House‑passed “clean CR” in the Senate: filibuster rules demand 60 votes for cloture, which keeps the shutdown alive despite 55 votes in favor at one point. He outlines why a short extension of current spending could be the pragmatic next step—and where he parts ways with Rand Paul on tactics—before turning to the breaking indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James on alleged mortgage fraud. Todd stresses that equal justice—not political revenge—must guide prosecutions. Finally, he highlights newly released DHS/CBP data showing a steep year‑over‑year decline in unlawful crossings and the lowest Border Patrol apprehensions in decades, undercutting years of media spin. Catch the full context, the Senate math, and what it means for your wallet and the border—all in today’s Stack.
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📝 Transcript: Shutdown Standoff, TPUSA Pushback, and Katie Porter Walkout (Almost)
The Todd Huff Show – October 10, 2025
Host: Todd Huff
Todd Huff:
Yes, my friends. Oz is out today. Oz is out today. I know some of you think I can't do anything without Oz here. We're going to find that out today, my friends. Oz is out with her sister-in-law in New York City for a couple of days, doing some things that the two of them are just wanting to do.
Todd Huff:
And they're having a good old time, so she'll be back on Monday. My friends, it's Friday here in the studio. Friday everywhere and it's my pleasure to be here today. If you want to be part of the conversation—as always—you're welcome. Todd@toddhuffshow.com, that's my email address. You can also text us 317-210-2830.
Todd Huff:
Thoughts, questions, feedback. Look, I always say the appropriate amounts of adoration and praise, and I tell you it's ten to fifteen percent more than you might think that I need, but the truth is, if I'm being candid, I'm not worthy of any adoration or praise.
Todd Huff:
I just do that—you know why I do that? I do that because the Left, I'd say journalists or a lot of personalities in general, they do the fake-humility sort of thing when in reality that’s how they want you to treat them. They think they’re doing you a favor by giving you information and their opinion on stuff.
Todd Huff:
I just kind of mock that a little bit. I'm a guy with the microphone who has ideas that I want to talk about and share with you folks, and it's a pleasure to connect with you, no matter what you believe. I used to say I don't care what you believe. I do care what you believe.
Todd Huff:
In the sense that I want to persuade—well, I want you to receive and hear truth, just like I want the same thing for myself. I want to believe what is true, what is accurate. And I want to help people the best I can, my friends—help them to hear and receive that truth.
Todd Huff:
How are they going to know it if we don't proclaim it? My friends, truth is too often not spoken. And then that void—that void that's found in the silence—is filled by lies. And so that’s why we do what we do here on the program.
Todd Huff:
I want to talk about a couple of things here today. I want to talk about the government shutdown. What are we on, day number ten of the government shutdown? No imminent end in sight. We'll see—things can change quickly—but there's no end in sight.
Todd Huff:
I want to talk about that. I want to talk about Letitia James and her indictment. I want to talk about that. And then in the final segment, time permitting, I want to talk about illegal immigration—the population of illegal aliens living in this country has dropped dramatically.
Todd Huff:
Dropped dramatically since January, since Trump’s inauguration. So that's where we're headed today, my friends. Before we get down that path, folks, there's a lot of companies—we've got to face this—a lot of folks out there, a lot of companies that do not share your Christian values, your conservative beliefs.
Todd Huff (Sponsor):
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Todd Huff (Sponsor):
They’ll also handle all that heavy lifting for you. You don’t have to go through and decide, “Does this company support my values?” And it’s one thing if they don’t support them, right? It’s one thing if they’re not out there giving money for the cause—it’s another thing if they’re giving money against it.
Todd Huff (Sponsor):
From the profits generated in part by you doing business with them or investing in them, and then taking it and funding those things that you’re fighting against. And that’s what’s happening out there, my friends.
Todd Huff (Sponsor):
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Todd Huff (Sponsor):
It’s quick. It’s easy. I did the assessment, you can as well. 48 Financial, my friends—because values matter. And so does your money.
Todd Huff:
All right, let’s talk here about the government shutdown. We’re on day ten, as I mentioned here off the top. And let me explain what’s going on, because there are people out there—and when I say people out there, I don’t necessarily mean in this listening audience.
Todd Huff:
There certainly could be. But I’m saying people that I’ve encountered in other places, typically on social media, or I’ll read things—read articles—where people have just completely incorrect assessments of reality. And that’s what’s going on here.
Todd Huff:
So the Senate has voted. In the most recent—at the time I’m speaking right now—the most recent vote on the clean continuing resolution, which basically means it’s a resolution that would fund the government at levels that went into shutdown mode on October 1.
Todd Huff:
At midnight—midnight that morning of October 1—whatever those levels were, the Republicans have put forth bills. A “clean CR,” so there’s nothing else to it. There’s no other cuts to anything. There are no other additions.
Todd Huff:
It’s just basically to keep the government running as it was on September 30. The funding is the same and so forth. That’s been voted down most recently—55 to 45. Now, 55 voted in favor of it, and 45 voted against that continuing resolution.
Todd Huff:
So some folks out there might think, “Well, what’s the problem?” Well, because in the U.S. Senate there’s something called the filibuster. And we’ve talked about this before—many of you know this, some may not, and that’s okay.
Todd Huff:
We’re all at different spots. We’ve got seasoned professionals—the hardened vets who can see these things coming. They know how to read—as Rush used to say—the stitches on the fastball. They can tell if it’s going to curve, if it’s a slider, if it’s a fastball.
Todd Huff:
They can tell if it’s going to break at the last second—whatever. They can read the stitches and see it coming. They’ve followed this for a long time, and they kind of understand the game of politics.
Todd Huff:
Then there are people who have been following it for a while, who have a pretty good understanding, but still are learning. To some extent, we’re all learning. But then there are the people who are brand spanking new—maybe younger, or just haven’t had much exposure to it.
Todd Huff:
Or maybe they’ve just been living their life and have been forced to face the reality of the political scene in 2025. And you don’t know—and that’s okay. That’s part of the reason why we do this program.
Todd Huff:
So you might think, how does the majority in the Senate not get something out of the Senate? Well, the filibuster is a rule. It’s not in the Constitution—it’s just a rule that’s employed by the Senate.
Todd Huff:
Every new Congress, every two years when new leadership is elected, they go through and create new rules. And sometimes there’s a fight about discontinuing the filibuster. It’s a contentious topic.
Todd Huff:
But the filibuster is a rule in the Senate specifically. The House does not have this. That’s why the bill passed the House, even though they have tight margins there as well. In fact, by percentage, it’s tighter in the House.
Todd Huff:
I believe—haven’t done the math—but it stands to reason, given that the House is bigger and it’s still a tight margin. The House has a smaller percentage of Republicans than the Senate does currently.
Todd Huff:
And so the Senate is 53–47, by the way. Fifty-three Republicans. There’s actually forty-five Democrats, two independents, but the two independents caucus with the Democrats. They are effectively Democrats in the U.S. Senate.
Todd Huff:
So you might wonder, “Well, what is this filibuster?” The idea is that the Senate is supposed to be the more learned and measured, more methodical chamber of our Congress. The House of Representatives is designed to be the people’s house.
Todd Huff:
Every two years, every single member in that body is up for election or re-election. So we could, in theory—although it won’t happen—have 435 new congresspeople elected next midterm. Again, that’s not going to happen, but you get the point.
Todd Huff:
The Senate is a different type of animal. In fact, the U.S. Senate, as I’ve shared on here before, when the Constitution was framed by our founders, senators were not directly elected by the people. They were elected by the state legislature.
Todd Huff:
So originally, for example, I’m in the state of Indiana—Indiana’s legislature would elect two U.S. senators. Those were six-year terms. Since they’re six-year terms and since we have federal elections every two years, about one-third of senators are up for re-election every two years.
Todd Huff:
It’s roughly thirty-three or thirty-four of them, sometimes more if there’s a special election, but you get the idea. There are longer terms. Initially they were selected differently, which I think is actually a brilliant way to do it.
Todd Huff:
Because you’ve got the people represented by the representatives, and you’ve got the state represented by senators who were selected by the legislature—still by proxy representing the people, but with a different accountability.
Todd Huff:
It’s a different type of accountability to a smaller legislative body who has a more intimate understanding of the interests of the state, and how it affects the operation of the state. That was a good design to balance governance.
Todd Huff:
Anyway, that was changed through an amendment, and now we directly elect these senators. But the point is still the same—the House is viewed as the more emotional chamber, and the Senate is the more reserved, statesmanlike chamber.
Todd Huff:
They have different rules, and one of those rules is the filibuster. The filibuster says there must be three-fifths of the Senate—effectively sixty votes—to say that the thing we’ve been debating, this piece of legislation, can be brought to the floor for a vote.
Todd Huff:
And so debate is not concluded on a matter. In today’s world it doesn’t mean they’re sitting there debating at the microphone. Back in the day, it meant they were literally at the podium, speaking, holding the floor.
Todd Huff:
And people could call for a vote of cloture. Cloture means you’ve got to have sixty votes—three-fifths—to say we’re ending debate and going to vote on this issue. So even though a majority of the senators have voted to call this bill to a final vote, they’re still five votes short.
Todd Huff:
There are fifty-three Republicans. One of those Republicans has not voted for this continuing resolution—that’s Rand Paul. A word about that quickly: Rand Paul—I like a lot about Rand Paul—but I think he’s wrong on this one.
Todd Huff:
I definitely connect with him on the thinking as far as what government spending needs to—what needs to happen there. We’ve got to cut it dramatically. I think the right thing to do—and I’ll get into this before the end of the segment—is to extend the status quo.
Todd Huff:
It’s not good, right? Extend the spending that we had on September 30. Have that run through whatever date—November 21 is what I’ve seen in legislation so far. That date may have to change because there needs to be time to negotiate.
Todd Huff:
The negotiations as to what needs to be cut can happen in between the new deadline, which might be November 21, and now. So you pass that, you reopen the government, and then you have your negotiations, and you set some hard lines.
Todd Huff:
I’ll get into that in a moment. So, fifty-two Republicans and three Democrats voted for this, by the way. I’ll tell you the three Democrats who voted for this: John Fetterman, Democrat from Pennsylvania; Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat from New Mexico; and Angus King, independent from Maine.
Todd Huff:
He caucuses with the Democrats. So the Democrats are the ones keeping this open—the government shut down—keeping this chaos ensuing because even though Republicans have control of the Senate, they cannot reach enough votes, sixty, to invoke cloture and call this bill to a final vote.
Todd Huff:
It’s gotten so bad, in fact, even the Washington Post editorial board has called out the Democrats for refusing to accept some spending cuts. The Washington Post editorial board basically said, “There’s so much fat here, there’s plenty we can trim.”
Todd Huff:
Of course there is. Of course there is, my friends. There’s plenty of fat that can be cut. A quick word on that—about a year ago, maybe a little more, I said that we had won the argument on illegal immigration.
Todd Huff:
We had won the argument on illegal immigration, but I said even though we had won the argument, we hadn’t yet won politically—meaning we hadn’t won an election to do anything about it. And we still have to get people with the political will to carry out what the people want.
Todd Huff:
And I would say that’s precisely what happened. I alluded off the top of the program that we’d talk in the third segment about how many fewer illegal aliens we have in this country today in October 2025 than we did when Trump came into office back in January—about ten months ago.
Todd Huff:
So the problem here is clear—what needs to happen. For those who say it’s the Republicans’ fault, that they’re wanting to cut things and make it hard on Americans—that’s incorrect. That’s not why the government is shut down.
Todd Huff:
They can continue with a continuing resolution as though how things were operating on September 30 could be allowed to happen now. There’s pain out there—you’ve heard me ask on this program. I think the average American is bothered not nearly as much as they used to be by these shutdowns.
Todd Huff:
There was a time when this bothered virtually everybody, but we’ve been through this before. We’ve had some intense political fights. I think the average American knows that the size and scope of government needs to be reduced dramatically.
Todd Huff:
What we’re spending is out of control and unsustainable. And I’d say we realize, too, that our lives don’t change that much. That’s for the general population. There are people who are absolutely impacted by this—people who aren’t getting paychecks, who are furloughed, who work for or do business with the federal government.
Todd Huff:
Different people that this absolutely impacts—and I want you to know that I recognize that. I’m not cheering for this. I’m saying I understand it impacts a small portion of people directly, while also understanding that the bulk of people are not impacted much.
Todd Huff:
And candidly, they’re not bothered by this. Chuck Schumer is out there saying that—what’s he say—he told Punchbowl News in an interview reportedly that every day this goes on, it gets better for them, for the Democrat Party.
Todd Huff:
So Chuck Schumer is out there celebrating this. He thinks it’s a good thing. For those people who are in pain, Chuck Schumer is apparently okay with that—to have his political wishes met. He doesn’t mind that you’re in pain.
Todd Huff:
The Democrats want to present themselves as this group of loving and caring people, but let me remind you—they say stuff like this, like Rahm Emanuel did all those years ago: “Never let a crisis go to waste.”
Todd Huff:
In other words, anytime there is a crisis—even though there’s real hurt in American families—look for a way to politically capitalize. It’s sick. It’s disgusting. But that’s what we’re up against, my friends.
Todd Huff:
We’ve got to recognize that and come to grips with that. Chuck Schumer thinks he’s winning—and every day gets better by keeping the government closed. So they own this. They admit it. They admit they think it’s in their favor.
Todd Huff:
I don’t think it’s going to be politically. But they have the power to put an end to this shutdown. And again—for some people this is a huge deal because it impacts them personally. For a lot of other people it doesn’t.
Todd Huff:
It’s not that big of a deal. But the right thing to do here—and I’ll tell you now—the right thing to do, I’ve alluded to this already, is to continue the current spending through some date—November 21, December 1, whatever.
Todd Huff:
Whatever the timing has to be for government—and then you say, and this is where we have to step in and listen—because that’s when Rand Paul is definitely right. We have to say, “Look.”
Todd Huff:
And I would go to the podium if I were the Speaker of the House, if I were the Senate Majority Leader—Trump, I’m sure, is going to be out there—and say, “Listen. Be advised. Be advised.”
Todd Huff:
“If the Democrats don’t negotiate in good faith here…” Right. And this goes back to my comment about how we’ve won the issue of budget cuts. I said we won the issue of illegal immigration last year; we’ve won the issue of reducing government spending this year.
Todd Huff:
There’s no doubt. The Washington Post is out there again, as I referenced, basically saying the Democrats can’t refuse all spending cuts because there’s plenty of fat to cut—and there absolutely is. That’s the takeaway here.
Todd Huff:
You say, “Listen, we’re going to extend this, but this is the last time.” And you’ve got to get all these guys in a room and say, “Listen, I know you all have elections coming up—we’ve got midterms next year.”
Todd Huff:
“There’s not going to be any negotiation about moving the line in the sand. We’re going to come up with a figure that needs to be cut.” Now is this going to happen? History tells me probably not—but it’s what needs to happen.
Todd Huff:
You sit down and you say, “We’re going to let everybody know leading up to this that the American people know we have to cut federal spending.” If we don’t cut X percent—whatever figure—that’s the line.
Todd Huff:
If that isn’t cut, then the people who refuse to negotiate and come to sensible decisions on this cut—they bear the next shutdown. And we’re not budging on that. If it’s shut down because these people refuse to make cuts, that’s on them.
Todd Huff:
And I know these folks squirm in their chair when they think about this sort of stuff. This is the right thing to do. We’re going to negotiate in good faith, and if people can come together—heck, I’d be fine if we said, “Let’s cut X percent across the board.”
Todd Huff:
Whatever has to be done to achieve this end, that’s exactly what has to be done. No more moving of the goalposts—because this has happened so many times before. This has to be set up properly and seen through.
Todd Huff:
The future of our republic hinges, my friends, upon this. The Left out there decrying Trump’s “danger to democracy”—but the real danger is what’s happening here with spending. It’s got to be addressed now.
Todd Huff (Sponsor):
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Todd Huff (Sponsor):
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Todd Huff:
Welcome back, my friends. Third and final segment of the week. I’ll tell you—listen, I know it’s tough. I know you look forward to this program every day. You’re not going to hear it for the next two days.
Todd Huff:
And by the way, we’ve made it through pretty smoothly without Oz. But if you’re looking to catch up on things you might have missed, you can always download the podcast wherever you listen, or go to the website and sign up for our free email newsletter.
Todd Huff:
We send out emails every day with additional content each weekday, by the way. You can catch up on those issues and look at our archives there. toddhuffshow.com/truth — that’s a good use of your time.
Todd Huff:
But we’ll be back on Monday as well. So I want to get to this final segment. We’re talking about Letitia James, Attorney General for New York, and of course she handled Trump atrociously. She was way out of control with what she did.
Todd Huff:
In regards to the way she pursued Trump—in fact, she campaigned basically saying she was going to “get him.” So this is not about retribution though—this is about following the law. When we left off, we explained what she is alleged to have done.
Todd Huff:
The sentence for this—now this is what got me—the sentence if she’s found guilty of misrepresenting what she’s using the property for, defrauding the mortgage company, whatever the legal term here is—she could serve a maximum of thirty years.
Todd Huff:
But in reality, first-time sort of situation, the sentence would be much less—potentially just probation. But this cannot be a get-even thing or an “I want you to pay the price” thing because of how she handled Trump. That’s not what she’s being charged for.
Todd Huff:
In fact, I’ll go back to this. When I was on a jury—I’ve talked about this back in 2018—it’s hard to believe, seven years ago—but I remember we were dealing with a guy whose defense attorney knew we’d read his texts and think he was a terrible person.
Todd Huff:
That was the conclusion that most people would make if they read some of his text messages. He and his girlfriend were ultimately responsible for the death of their five-year-old son. It was terrible—it wasn’t a murder trial; it was a conspiracy trial.
Todd Huff:
It was tough. But the point here is, the defense attorney told us—and it’s the same thing that applies here—you’re going to find out that my client has done bad things, but he’s not on trial for those things. He’s on trial for these specific charges.
Todd Huff:
And you have to be able to be fair. And he’s right. We can’t say, “This person’s just bad—they need to go to jail for something.” Letitia James handled Trump inappropriately, so whatever she gets here is justice. That’s not justice, my friends.
Todd Huff:
That’s not justice at all. But what is justice? Again, this seems to be pretty black and white to me. There’s a gray area if it was a secondary residence and she was renting it out occasionally—that’s a bit gray.
Todd Huff:
But if she said it was a second residence, it shouldn’t be hard to prove. I wouldn’t think. And again, what else about this case is true that’s not true in the Trump case—it’s easy to understand. I just explained it.
Todd Huff:
I still can’t explain what they allege Trump to have done with those so-called thirty-four felonies. It doesn’t make sense. They never proved an underlying felony was being covered up. It was upgraded from a misdemeanor to a felony on speculation.
Todd Huff:
All this sort of stuff—the first example of all sorts of nonsense in Trump’s legal issues. But this case is very cut and dry. Did she tell the mortgage company this was a second residence, and then use it as a rental? If so, she defrauded the bank.
Todd Huff:
Banks charge more because of the risk factors I talked about last segment. That’s what’s at stake here. I want justice—I don’t want retribution. I don’t want a political witch hunt. I want justice for this case, same as for any other.
Todd Huff:
Again, we shouldn’t target people because they’re in the political opposition, or because they’re in the minority party. That should be universally condemned. But you also can’t behave however you want and think you’re shielded by your political class.
Todd Huff:
And then, when the opposition actually pursues justice and goes after you for legitimate charges, you can’t say, “Well, they’re targeting me because of political differences.” That’s effectively what Letitia James is out here saying.
Todd Huff:
That’s all I’ll say about that, because I promised you one more thing—and this is something I can get to quickly. DHS has announced—the government has announced—that over two million illegal immigrants have reportedly been removed voluntarily and forcibly since January.
Todd Huff:
According to a CIS analysis of CPS data, the foreign-born population dropped 2.2 million from January through July of 2025. Noncitizens down 2.6 million. Illegal immigrant estimates fell about 1.6 million.
Todd Huff:
Border crossings are sharply down. U.S. Border Patrol encounters have reached the lowest level since 1970. We’re talking about reductions year over year—if you look August 2025 compared to August 2024—it’s down over ninety percent.
Todd Huff:
And remember what we were lied to about. We were lied to—lied to by the media, by the Democrat Party, by the Biden administration—saying he could not do anything without a piece of legislation. Remember that?
Todd Huff:
As we tie this back into what we talked about at the top with this government shutdown—they are deceitful. They are lying. They’re looking for a political advantage. And I’m out of time, folks.
Todd Huff:
Thanks so much for listening. Have a wonderful weekend. I made it without Oz. SDG.
Please note that transcript are generated automatically with transcribing tools and AI. While fairly accurate, it is not perfect. 