On the second day of the government shutdown, Republican and Democrat lawmakers continued to fight and both sides said the shutdown could continue for two weeks or more. Soon, continuing the shutdown would lead to a lapse in the government’s ability to borrow money. Republicans introduced a bill to reopen national parks, the National Institutes of Health and veterans’ programs, among other closed programs, but Democrats rejected it because it was not a full reopening of the government.

Author Tom Clancy, who wrote popular military novels such as “The Hunt for Red October” and “Patriot Games,” died Wednesday. Some of Clancy’s books were made into popular movies starring actors such as Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck and Harrison Ford, and another movie, “Jack Ryan,” will be released this December with Chris Pine in the title role. Clancy was respected in the intelligence community because of his attention to accuracy; he used information from officers and unclassified documents. His cause of death was not released; he was 66 years old.

The National Security Administration said Wednesday it once tested whether it could track Americans’ cellphone locations in addition to its existing ability to track broad information about calls. Chief James Alexander said at a Senate hearing that the NSA has uncovered about 12 unsanctioned missions in which the employees spied on spouses or significant others; all of those employees were caught, and nearly all were disciplined. The agency denied a New York Times report from Saturday saying it monitored social networks for Americans’ terror connections.

The bomb threat that shut down, evacuated and cleared the runways of the airport in Jacksonville, Fla., on Tuesday was revealed late Tuesday night to be a hoax. Witnesses said a man tried to skip a checkpoint and told agents he had a bomb, but he did not. Zeljko Causevic, 39, was charged with making a false report of planting a bomb and possessing a hoax bomb; he was being held on $1 million bail Wednesday.

Contact Carrie Blazina at [email protected].