It’s been almost twenty-five years. You’d think the news cycle would have moved on by now, but honestly, 9/11 news is hitting a weirdly intense peak right now. If you feel like you’re seeing more updates about the attacks today than you did five years ago, you aren't imagining things. Between massive legal reversals at Guantánamo Bay and a frantic race against the clock for health funding, there is a lot happening.
Most people think of September 11 as a settled piece of history. A tragedy we remember once a year. But for thousands of families and survivors, the "event" never actually ended. It just shifted into a long, grueling marathon of courtrooms and doctors' offices.
The Guantánamo Plea Deal Mess
The biggest thing happening right now—and it is a total mess—is the legal saga of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants.
Back in the summer of 2024, it looked like the government finally had a way out of the "trial of the century" that never happens. They reached a plea deal. The deal was simple: the defendants plead guilty, they get life in prison, and the death penalty is off the table. Then, in a move that shocked basically everyone, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin swooped in two days later and tried to cancel the whole thing.
He wanted a trial. He wanted the death penalty to stay an option.
Fast forward to July 2025, and a federal appeals court actually sided with Austin. They ruled that he had the "indisputable legal authority" to kill those plea deals. This was a huge blow to the defense teams who argued the deals were already legally binding. Now, as we move through 2026, the case is back in the mud. Some families, like Brett Eagleson (who lost his father in the towers), called the court's decision a win. They want a full trial to get the "full truth" out. Others are just exhausted. They see a trial as an impossibility because of how much evidence was "tainted" by CIA torture years ago.
✨ Don't miss: Why Every Tornado Warning MN Now Live Alert Demands Your Immediate Attention
DNA Breakthroughs: Finding Names in the Dust
While the lawyers are arguing in D.C., scientists in New York are doing something that feels like science fiction.
In late 2025, the New York City Medical Examiner’s office identified three more victims. Think about that. Twenty-four years later, they are still finding names. One was Barbara Keating, a 72-year-old from California. Another was Ryan Fitzgerald, who was only 26 when he died.
How are they doing this now? Advanced DNA sequencing. In the early 2000s, forensic experts told families not to expect much. The heat and the pressure of the collapse destroyed so much genetic material. But now, using new automated extraction techniques, they can pull DNA from tiny bone fragments that were once considered "untestable." There are still about 1,100 victims who haven't been identified. The city is literally re-testing 22,000 body parts stored in a specialized repository. It’s a grim, quiet kind of devotion.
The 2026 Health Funding Crisis
Then there’s the World Trade Center Health Program. This is the one that actually affects the most people today.
Basically, the program is running out of money. Again.
🔗 Read more: Brian Walshe Trial Date: What Really Happened with the Verdict
The number of people getting sick is actually rising as they age. We're seeing "late-onset" cancers and respiratory issues that didn't show up in 2005 but are hitting hard now. In early 2026, advocates like 9/11 Health Watch have been shouting at Congress to fill a massive funding gap. If they don't, the program might have to start cutting services or turning people away.
What most people get wrong is thinking the health crisis was just for the firefighters who were there on day one. It wasn't. The CDC recently expanded eligibility for responders in Shanksville and the Pentagon. They’ve even launched a "Youth Research Cohort" because they’re realizing that kids who were in Lower Manhattan schools in 2001 are now showing up with weirdly high rates of specific illnesses.
The Saudi Litigation: The "28 Pages" and Beyond
You might remember the "28 pages" of the 9/11 Commission Report that were declassified years ago. Well, the legal battle over Saudi Arabia’s alleged involvement is still very much alive.
There’s a massive civil lawsuit—Thomas Burnett Sr. et al. v. Al Baraka Banking and Investment—representing over 6,600 survivors and family members. They’re using the Anti-Terrorism Act to try and "bankrupt" the entities they believe funded Al-Qaeda.
What’s new? In late 2025, a bunch of previously secret "memcons" (memorandums of conversation) between George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin from 2001 were released. While they don't give a "smoking gun" for the Saudi case, they show just how chaotic the international intelligence-sharing was in the weeks following the attacks. It adds another layer of "what did they know and when" to a story that keeps getting deeper.
💡 You might also like: How Old is CHRR? What People Get Wrong About the Ohio State Research Giant
Why this matters to you right now
It’s easy to tune out 9/11 news because it feels like "old news." But the current developments are setting massive legal precedents for how the U.S. handles terrorism and evidence.
If you’re a survivor or a family member, here is what you need to keep an eye on:
- Check your WTC Health eligibility: If you were a student or worker in Lower Manhattan, or at the Pentagon/Shanksville sites, the rules for coverage have changed recently. You might be eligible for monitoring now even if you weren't before.
- Monitor the "Justice for 9/11 Act": There is new legislation in the Senate right now (reintroduced in 2025) that aims to permanently block any future plea deals for the 9/11 plotters. This will determine if we ever actually see a trial.
- DNA Samples: The Medical Examiner’s office is still asking family members who haven't provided DNA—or who haven't updated their contact info—to reach out.
The story of September 11 isn't a closed book; it’s a living document that gets new pages every week. Whether it's a scientist in a lab or a lawyer in Guantánamo, the search for "closure" is clearly going to take a lot longer than anyone predicted back in 2001.
To stay ahead, make sure you're following the WTC Health Program newsletter updates, as they just released their 2026 member handbook with updated rules on "maximum time intervals" for cancer and digestive disorder claims. Understanding these windows is the difference between getting your medical bills paid or being left on the hook for thousands.