Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump says troop withdrawal from Iraq ends a quagmire; and Nebraska mail ballots roll out amid fight over voting rules, and overcoming the health coverage enrollment dread.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily newscast, October the 1st, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Our U.S. military troops exited Iraq on Wednesday.

President Trump said it concluded a very expensive excursion into hell.

The AP notes the last U.S. troops left an air base in northern Iraq under a deal between Baghdad and Washington.

Trump in a social media post described the withdrawal as orderly.

He added, it's been a long time with very bad decision making that got us involved in this quagmire in the first place.

Meantime, mail ballots are landing in Nebraska voters' mailboxes.

It's happening as the national push seeks to protect voting by mail ahead of the November midterms.

The Deliver Our Ballots campaign is calling on the U.S. Postal Service leaders to permanently reject changes it says could interfere with established state election systems.

In September, the U.S. Supreme Court kept a block on a new Postal Service rule stemming from a presidential directive concerning mail-in ballot restrictions.

David Rose is president of the Omaha area Local 11 of the American Postal Workers Union.

He says Nebraska voters can feel confident using the mail.

Vote by mail is safe.

We want to expand it, protect it, and use it.

Right now, it's just one of those things that we want to educate the public that vote by mail is out there.

Ballots have gone out.

If you requested one in Nebraska, fill it out, get it sent in.

The Postal Service recommends mailing completed ballots at least a week before the deadline.

That's especially important in Nebraska, where mailed ballots must be received by county election officials by the time polls close on Election Day.

A postmark alone is not enough.

Crystal Blair reporting.

The Nebraska Secretary of State says voters can use the Voter Information Center to track when their ballot was sent and returned and check its status.

And issues about health care affordability might make the upcoming insurance enrollment even more stressful.

An advocate in Minnesota says it's understandable, but consumers can't let their fear overtake preparation.

Enrollment starts November 1st for people using MNsure, the state's online marketplace under the Affordable Care Act.

Megan Bremen helps lead free MNsure navigation services through Generations Healthcare Initiatives in Duluth.

She says currently there's information overload in healthcare spaces, but consumers still need to get ready.

That includes letting whoever handles your coverage know about recent changes.

Making sure they have your right mailing address because a lot of mail is going to go out. making sure that the income they have on file is correct.

Those are all things you can do right now to make sure you're prepared for open enrollment.

Gallup polling shows health care affordability for U.S. adults is at a five-year low.

I'm Mike Moen.

This is Public News Service.

As the midterm elections draw near, anti-corruption groups are calling attention to the actions of the Trump administration.

The kick-out corruption tour will stop in Baltimore today. where Maryland Governor Wes Moore will discuss how corruption impacts the cost of living for Marylanders.

Christina Harvey with Stand Up America says the president's budget known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, or H.R. 1, is a prime example of corruption.

She argues cutting social programs like supplemental food assistance, health insurance subsidies, and low-income health care is a service to massively wealthy individuals and corporations.

So at the end of that budget process, ultra wealthy people got a tax break so they could buy another yacht and kids ended up without school lunches and families unable to afford their health care premiums.

The tour comes as Marylanders reel from high gas prices spurred by the war in Iran.

Gas prices in the state are averaging more than four dollars and 30 cents a gallon, up from a little more than three dollars a year ago.

Republicans in some districts are trying to change the narrative around cuts from H.R.1 ahead of the midterms.

Some are running ads on health care and emphasizing their attempts to fight fraud as a pro-consumer move.

I'm Zamone Perez.

And looming cuts to Medicaid programs are threatening rural Iowa maternity wards.

And some clinics have already closed in anticipation.

One in five Iowans relies on Medicaid as their only source of health insurance.

That's more than 600,000 people, according to KFF Health, and about half of them are children.

Iowa ACES 360 Advocacy Network Director, Mary Nell Trev, says that changes will hit rural hospitals especially hard.

And that while the state can't make up the spending shortfall, lawmakers should focus on making sure those areas have the health care workforce they need, especially when it comes to making the state family friendly.

Maternity care access is a pretty good measure of whether a community is going to be a place Your families want to come and are able to come and stay and raise and grow their families.

I'm Mark Moran.

Finally, supporters of Washington's parent education programs are urging state leaders to restore funding and prevent permanent closures.

The programs partner with colleges to offer preschool while parents work in the school and take classes on parenting and child development.

Parent educator Tanya Hino of North Seattle College says it's time for Governor Ferguson to step in.

Why can't we make it real that parenting is valuable and important and give us plenty of skill and it should not be a void in our resume.

It should be part of our resume.

I believe our governor can step up and make this happen.

The closures came after the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges adopted a new funding model prioritizing workforce credentials.

I'm Isobel Charle.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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