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Tag: Democrats

  • Trump Regards Millions of Americans As Enemies of the People

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    Russ Vought’s coming for you!
    Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

    There are a lot of developments that can be cited to illuminate the crucial differences between the first and second Trump administrations, ranging from the simple idea that “practice makes perfect” to the observation that the president has carefully ensured no one around him will exercise a restraining influence over his darker impulses. But the government shutdown has brought to light one very specific change that is especially ominous, as Toluse Olorunnipa and Jonathan Lemire explain at The Atlantic:

    Thirty-four days into the previous government shutdown, in 2019, reporters asked President Donald Trump if he had a message for the thousands of federal employees who were about to miss another paycheck. “I love them. I respect them. I really appreciate the great job they’re doing,” he said at the time. The following day, caving after weeks of punishing cable-news coverage, he signed legislation to reopen the government, lauding furloughed employees as “incredible patriots,” pledging to quickly restore their back pay, and calling the moment “an opportunity for all parties to work together for the benefit of our whole beautiful, wonderful nation.”

    Doesn’t really sound like the same guy, does it?

    It sure doesn’t. Trump has greeted the 2025 shutdown as a heaven-sent opportunity to fire hundreds of thousands of employees at what he calls “Democrat Agencies” at the behest of his budget director, Russell Vought, the government-hating religious zealot whose nihilistic suggestions in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 were considered so politically radioactive that Trump claimed to know nothing about the initiative. Now he’s posting AI video of Vought as the Grim Reaper come to life to get rid of bureaucrats who aren’t engaged in the holy MAGA trinity of killing, jailing, or deporting people.

    Yes, the president loves trolling people, and Vought swears by the value of “traumatizing” the denizens of the “deep state” who resist or simply get in the way of the administration’s agenda. But this is by no means an isolated incident of the vastly expanded list of Americans Trump now considers his current enemies and future victims. If you want to understand the most crucial difference between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0, look to the targets of his wrath.

    Coming out of the 2024 election, there were many justifiable fears that Trump would act on his frequent threats of vengeance against highly placed “enemies” ranging from Republican “traitors” such as Liz Cheney, to the federal prosecutors who tried and failed to hold him accountable, to “fake news” media executives, to conspiracy-theory suspects like vaccine scientists. Likely targets included whole institutions thought to have betrayed him (like the FBI) and “radical left” policies like DEI and climate change that were campaign-trail hobgoblins.

    True to his malicious word, Trump has urged prosecutors and investigators and his social-media bullies to “go after” all these prominent symbols of the hated opposition. But now the ranks of “enemies of the people” has expanded far beyond the liberal elites and Never Trumpers who were objects of so much presidential ire in the past. Enemies now include whole categories of Americans deemed guilty by association with institutions and causes deemed inimical to the mission of “saving America.” Trump has signaled that entire cities will become “training grounds” for the U.S. military, denied self-governance and basic civil liberties because of their inherently perfidious nature as “the enemy within.” Major sectors of civil society, most obviously higher education, have been declared presumptively hostile and subject to shakedowns and forced takeovers. Anyone voicing opposition to the administration’s mass-deportation program is being treated as consciously treasonous and the ally of “invaders.” And most recently, in the wake of the assassination of MAGA and Christian-nationalist icon Charlie Kirk, the president, the vice-president, the top White House policy adviser, and the attorney general have all suggested that any strongly worded criticism of the administration might be treated as illegal incitement to violence or “terrorism.”

    Looking at all these phenomena, it should be clear that we are witnessing not just a rhetorical escalation of MAGA attacks on Trump enemies now that a supine Republican Party controls the federal government. The battleground is widening dramatically even as Trump wins more and more turf. Perhaps the president’s threats to lay waste to his own executive branch reflect a hitherto-unknown fidelity to old-school small-government conservatism of the sort that Vought and his friends in the House Freedom Caucus have fused with MAGA culture-war preoccupations into a radical ideology of maximum destruction. But more likely he understands that he has just three years left to consummate his lifelong war against those who opposed or underestimated him, and wants to leave as high a body count as possible. The “enemy within” could grow to encompass half the nation.


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    Ed Kilgore

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  • Government shutdown threatens to drag on through weekend with lawmakers deadlocked

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    As the Senate meets Friday for another vote to reopen the federal government, Democrats are refusing to yield without a deal from President Donald Trump — likely extending the government shutdown into next week.Democrats say not even the threat of mass firings and canceled federal projects will force them to accept the GOP short-term funding proposal without major policy concessions on health care.A top White House official warned Thursday that the number of federal workers who could be fired because of the shutdown is “likely going to be in the thousands.” Trump hasn’t made public his exact targets yet, though he met with White House budget chief Russ Vought on Thursday to discuss the plan.The White House already has a list – put together by Vought’s Office of Management and Budget in coordination with federal agencies – of the agencies they are targeting with the firings, according to two White House officials. While details are still being sorted, according to the officials, announcements could come in the coming days on which are on the chopping block for not aligning with the president’s priorities.Speaking on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries skewered the president and his team for what he called their “retribution effort” against Democrats, but made clear his party would not relent. He added that neither he nor Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have received a call from Trump or GOP leaders for negotiations since the group met at the White House Monday.“Democrats are in this fight until we win this fight,” Jeffries said when asked if Democrats could accept a deal without an extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies that his party has been seeking. “This is the first week of the shutdown but we’ve had months of chaos and cruelty unleashed on the American people.”With the two parties still bitterly divided, the deadlocked Senate is expected to leave town for the weekend, which means neither chamber will vote again until at least Monday. With no ongoing talks between the two parties, many Senate Republicans plan to decamp to Sea Island, Georgia, this weekend for a major weekend fundraiser. The National Republican Senatorial Committee informed attendees in an email this week that the event was non-refundable and contracted years in advance — long before the current organization’s leadership, according to two people familiar with the matter.Democrats, too, have a scheduled fundraiser later this month. That event in Napa, California, is set to take place on Oct. 13. A spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said they did not have information about whether the event was still on, though one of the featured attendees, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, has already informed organizers that she won’t be attending if there is a shutdown, according to a person familiar with the planning.Inside the Capitol, lawmakers and their staff are bracing for a lapse that could last into mid-October, with fears rising that government workers will miss a paycheck next week.GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota described Friday’s vote as “crucial,” warning that “things go south real quick” if the government isn’t reopened before the weekend.Rounds is one of the few Republicans publicly anxious about the potential harms of an extended shutdown on the federal workforce, and has worked behind the scenes with some Democrats to find a way out of it. The end needs to come as quickly as possible, he warned, suggesting that Democrats could soon see the White House take an ax to programs that they heavily favor if the shutdown doesn’t end.“I think it’s gonna bite them harder than it does us,” Rounds told reporters Thursday. “There’s a whole lot of things out there that the Democrats care about that are not consistent with the president’s policies, and those are the first things at risk.”Senate Majority Leader John Thune remained firm Thursday when asked about how the shutdown would end. He said Democrats would have a fourth chance on Friday to vote to open the government: “If that fails, then they can have the weekend to think about it, we’ll come back, we’ll vote again on Monday.”“My Democrat colleagues are facing pressure from members of their far-left base, but they’re playing a losing game here,” he added.

    WASHINGTON —

    As the Senate meets Friday for another vote to reopen the federal government, Democrats are refusing to yield without a deal from President Donald Trump — likely extending the government shutdown into next week.

    Democrats say not even the threat of mass firings and canceled federal projects will force them to accept the GOP short-term funding proposal without major policy concessions on health care.

    A top White House official warned Thursday that the number of federal workers who could be fired because of the shutdown is “likely going to be in the thousands.” Trump hasn’t made public his exact targets yet, though he met with White House budget chief Russ Vought on Thursday to discuss the plan.

    The White House already has a list – put together by Vought’s Office of Management and Budget in coordination with federal agencies – of the agencies they are targeting with the firings, according to two White House officials. While details are still being sorted, according to the officials, announcements could come in the coming days on which are on the chopping block for not aligning with the president’s priorities.

    Speaking on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries skewered the president and his team for what he called their “retribution effort” against Democrats, but made clear his party would not relent. He added that neither he nor Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have received a call from Trump or GOP leaders for negotiations since the group met at the White House Monday.

    “Democrats are in this fight until we win this fight,” Jeffries said when asked if Democrats could accept a deal without an extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies that his party has been seeking. “This is the first week of the shutdown but we’ve had months of chaos and cruelty unleashed on the American people.”

    With the two parties still bitterly divided, the deadlocked Senate is expected to leave town for the weekend, which means neither chamber will vote again until at least Monday. With no ongoing talks between the two parties, many Senate Republicans plan to decamp to Sea Island, Georgia, this weekend for a major weekend fundraiser. The National Republican Senatorial Committee informed attendees in an email this week that the event was non-refundable and contracted years in advance — long before the current organization’s leadership, according to two people familiar with the matter.

    Democrats, too, have a scheduled fundraiser later this month. That event in Napa, California, is set to take place on Oct. 13. A spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said they did not have information about whether the event was still on, though one of the featured attendees, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, has already informed organizers that she won’t be attending if there is a shutdown, according to a person familiar with the planning.

    Inside the Capitol, lawmakers and their staff are bracing for a lapse that could last into mid-October, with fears rising that government workers will miss a paycheck next week.

    GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota described Friday’s vote as “crucial,” warning that “things go south real quick” if the government isn’t reopened before the weekend.

    Rounds is one of the few Republicans publicly anxious about the potential harms of an extended shutdown on the federal workforce, and has worked behind the scenes with some Democrats to find a way out of it. The end needs to come as quickly as possible, he warned, suggesting that Democrats could soon see the White House take an ax to programs that they heavily favor if the shutdown doesn’t end.

    “I think it’s gonna bite them harder than it does us,” Rounds told reporters Thursday. “There’s a whole lot of things out there that the Democrats care about that are not consistent with the president’s policies, and those are the first things at risk.”

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune remained firm Thursday when asked about how the shutdown would end. He said Democrats would have a fourth chance on Friday to vote to open the government: “If that fails, then they can have the weekend to think about it, we’ll come back, we’ll vote again on Monday.”

    “My Democrat colleagues are facing pressure from members of their far-left base, but they’re playing a losing game here,” he added.

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  • Can the Democrats Take Free Speech Back from the Right?

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    This is my first column since going on book leave in May. (Thank you to Jon Allsop for filling in admirably and expanding the mission of Fault Lines while he was at it.) Every restart comes with a bit of looking back, and, this week, I want to revisit a series of columns from the past few years which concern the First Amendment. I am a free-speech absolutist—an admittedly mostly useless and conditional term that tends to fall apart at the gentlest touch. What it means, in my case, is that I believe that all forms of nonviolent speech should be protected; that the government should not have any power to regulate media outlets, individual speakers, or online platforms; and that, on a broader, nonlegal, and even spiritual level, people should regard any type of censorship, even when done by private actors operating within their rights, with skepticism and worry. I’m convinced that most Americans agree with this view, at least in theory, and one of the arguments that I’ve made during the past few years is that the Democratic Party and people on the left should return to their historical position as the defenders of the First Amendment, not only because it’s the right thing to do—and utterly essential in a moment when the Trump Administration seems to be gearing up for a crackdown on dissent in the government, the media, and the academy—but also because it’s one of those things, like football and underdog stories, that fill Americans with warm, familiar feelings.

    Needless to say, this writing campaign has been almost entirely in vain. The liberal side of American politics has, in the past few decades, essentially ceded the cause of free speech to the right. Pick any losing battle you want: the debate about trigger warnings and safe spaces, which became popular on college campuses and elsewhere in the early twenty-tens; or the fights over deplatforming allegedly harmful speakers about ten years ago; or the shutting down of “disinformation” on social media during the early Biden Administration. These little acts of censorship had the net effect of helping people on the right make the case that they were and are having their speech suppressed. The rise of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, for example, depended on his correct assessment that there were conservative students on every campus who felt like they couldn’t speak their minds in class without facing social consequences. He also understood that the emotional unrest among these kids could be harnessed with just a little prodding and organizing.

    Can liberals do something similar now? Free speech, for obvious reasons, has always been an opposition-party issue—it’s a lot harder to claim that the government is suppressing you when your preferred party is in power. Two weeks ago, Democratic Representative Jason Crow, of Colorado, talked about the No Political Enemies Act, which, in its own words, reaffirms “the constitutionally protected right to free speech and establishes clear and enforceable protections to deter abuse, empower individuals and organizations to defend themselves, and create meaningful accountability.” The bill is known by the rather unfortunate acronym NOPE. In practice, NOPE would “prohibit the use of federal funds for any investigations or regulatory action that would suppress protected speech” and provide “tools” for people who find themselves on the wrong side of censors. A companion measure was introduced in the Senate, by Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, and Chris Van Hollen, of Maryland, with support from the Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer. The chances that the Republican-controlled House or the Republican-controlled Senate bring the bill to the floor are basically zero. Still, NOPE allowed Democrats, in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s brief suspension from the air, to do a little First Amendment sabre-rattling and to show that they, too, care about free speech.

    Will it work? If you believe that politics obeys a kind of thermodynamics, it would stand to reason that the Democrats, now expressing growing concerns over censorship—especially with this past week’s unveiling of National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, which would effectively classify many speech acts as domestic terrorism—would be able to seize the mantle of free speech and build up a degree of activist energy, particularly at colleges and universities, where cuts to federal funding and threats from the Trump Administration have led to the dissolution of entire fields of study.

    But I don’t think this will happen. For one thing, the cultural shift that led to safe spaces and trigger warnings was more powerful than some of us may want to admit. It’s true that we are in the waning days of the concept that speech is violence—due in part to a marked algorithmic shift in social media, from peak woke to peak reactionary, as well as the plummeting faith the public has in the academy, the crucible for this idea. But people who had adopted that position and supported what was broadly labelled “cancel culture” still occupy roles in the infrastructure of the Democratic Party, of major nonprofits, and of academia. It’s hard to imagine that the individuals who mostly rolled their eyes at free-speech claims just a few years ago will suddenly transform into Mario Savio-style culture warriors, urging their audiences to throw themselves onto the gears of government. These same people, for better or worse, are the gears. Crow, Van Hollen, and Murphy should be applauded for introducing NOPE and at least trying to reclaim free speech, but I suspect even they know that their party currently has little standing on the issue.

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    Jay Caspian Kang

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  • The revolt of Marjorie Taylor Greene, now Donald Trump’s fiercest critic

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    When Marjorie Taylor Greene first came to Congress, it is fair to say, she was viewed as something of a kook.

    She indulged in conspiracy theories and repeated Q’Anon quackery, which she later acknowledged was a mistake.

    But now MTG has evolved into President Trump’s most vociferous critic – which is especially noticeable in a party that follows their leader at almost every turn.

    DON LEMON, PROGRESSIVE ACTIVISTS HAVE TENSE ENCOUNTER WITH MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE STAFFER, GET BOOTED OUT

    The Georgia congresswoman, an ultra-conservative, still says she likes Trump, but she’s largely in the business of denouncing him on various issues. And that hasn’t exactly gone unnoticed.

    When you spend a little time with Marjorie, you quickly realize that she’s smarter than her media image and a shrewd practitioner of the political game.

    After she was elected, Greene faced a censure vote for having “repeatedly fanned the flames of racism, antisemitism, LGBTQ hate speech, Islamophobia, anti-Asian hate, xenophobia, and other forms of hatred.” She also “mocked the Holocaust” and said “Joe Biden is Hitler.”

     Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) speaks alongside former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump at a campaign event in Rome, Georgia, on March 9, 2024. (ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

    But the Democratic member pushing the resolution withdrew it at the last minute. Greene, though, was not put on any committees.

    The media and political community started taking her more seriously when she became a key ally of Kevin McCarthy and helped get him elected House speaker, despite rumors that he might quit the race.

    “That was something that the media kept spinning around,” she told me on “Media Buzz.” “They were trying to say that Kevin McCarthy would drop out or that the conference was going to pull away. Absolutely not. And President Trump really helped with that.”

    TRUMP SEES ‘UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY’ TO CUT GOVERNMENT DURING SHUTDOWN

    She held up the phone when Trump said he wanted to talk with another Republican, Matt Rosedale, who refused to take the call.

    Trump “was angry,” Greene told me. “He yelled at me on the House floor, telling me, don’t you ever do this. I was so surprised. I couldn’t understand. I was holding out my phone, saying, it’s President Trump, he wants to speak with you.”

    Greene couldn’t save McCarthy when he was deposed, and she was on her own again.

    Now the New York Times is portraying her as part of a growing MAGA divide.

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) gestures while speaking as United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee during a hearing at the Rayburn House Office Building on July 22, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

    Greene has been pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. And a Trump official made it known that would be viewed as a hostile act.

    MTG told the Times that she called a top White House aide.

    “I told them, ‘You didn’t get me elected. I do not work for you; I work for my district.’ We aren’t supposed to just be whipped on our votes because they’re telling us what to do with this scary threat, or saying ‘We’ll primary you,’ or that we won’t get invited to the White House events.”

    MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SOUNDS ALARM OVER AI PROVISION IN ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT: ‘I WOULD HAVE VOTED NO IF I HAD KNOWN’

    Her attitude: “[Expletive] you.”

    Greene has also challenged the president on foreign policy, saying she still believes in the concept of America First. Proudly proclaiming herself to be a Christian nationalist, she was the first Hill Republican to accuse Israel of genocide: “You can’t un-see dead children. That’s not fake. It’s not war propaganda.”

    She is also an ardent critic of federal funding for Ukraine and voted against aid packages, despite Trump’s new support for the sovereign country invaded by Russia. Greene not only says taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be used to fund foreign wars, but she has clashed with Speaker Mike Johnson, attempting to oust him for depending on Democratic votes to pass Ukrainian aid.

    Greene, who has also opposed the White House on artificial intelligence, is clearly enjoying her newfound independence. She posted this: “If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of The People.”

    Marjorie Taylor Greene during Biden State of the Union address

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., talks as President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address on March 1, 2022. (J. Scott Applewhite, Pool, File/AP Photo)

    Otherwise, “the base will turn and there’s no going back.”

    It’s not that MTG still doesn’t say wacky things. After the murder of Charlie Kirk, she called for a “national divorce” in which the country’s red states would secede from the blue states. How exactly would that work?

    “There is nothing left to talk about with the left. They hate us,” she said.

    MTG’s boyfriend is Brian Glenn, chief White House correspondent for Real America’s Voice, who usually asks the president friendly questions (and chided Volodymyr Zelensky for not wearing a suit). She was married to her ex-husband for 27 years before he filed for divorce.

    Whatever her ambitions, she recently passed up potential runs for governor and the Senate. 

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    “One day,” she says, “I might just run without the blessing from the good ole boys club or the out-of-state consulting leeches or even without the blessing of my favorite president.”

    In the meantime, a lower profile is not exactly in the cards.

    Howard Kurtz is a media and political analyst and the former host of FOX News Channel’s MediaBuzz. Based in Washington, D.C., he joined the network in 2013 and regularly appears on Special Report with Bret Baier and The Story with Martha MacCallum among other programs.

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  • Government Workers Say Their Out-of-Office Replies Were Forcibly Changed to Blame Democrats for Shutdown

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    On Wednesday, the first day of the US government shutdown, employees at the Department of Education (DOE) set their automatic out-of-office email responses to inform recipients that they would be unable to respond until after the shutdown. Hours later, many DOE employees realized their response message had been altered to contain partisan language without their consent. The automatic reply now blamed Senate Democrats for the entire shutdown.

    It’s not clear who made the change to email accounts, which was first posted about on Bluesky by journalist Marisa Kabas. “It’s disturbing,” says a DOE employee who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Some employees changed their responses back to the more neutral language, only to have it changed yet again to the partisan response, multiple sources tell WIRED.

    As government employees began to log off in preparation for a shutdown, many agencies sent out guidance, including suggested language for their out-of-office message. While some agencies offered employees neutral language, simply explaining they would not be able to reply until the shutdown concluded, employees at the Small Business Administration and, according to sources and screenshots reviewed by WIRED, the Department of Labor, received suggested language that blamed Democrats for the shutdown.

    At the DOE, human resources sent employees standard language ahead of the shutdown, and many employees used this as their OOO text. Originally, the suggested language given to DOE employees read, “Thank you for your email. There is a temporary shutdown of the US government due to a lapse in appropriations. I will respond to your message as soon as possible after the temporary shutdown ends. Please visit Ed.gov for the latest information on the Department’s operational status.” Many employees set this neutral language as their OOO status.

    The new, changed message reads:

    “Thank you for contacting me. On September 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed HR 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of HR 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations. Due to the lapse in appropriations I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume.”

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    Leah Feiger, Vittoria Elliott

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  • Government shutdown: Top Republican gives update on next Senate vote

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    Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that the Senate will return Friday for another vote to reopen the government but cautioned that lawmakers are unlikely to hold additional votes over the weekend if the measure fails.

    “If that fails, then we’ll give them the weekend to think about it. We’ll come back and we’ll go again on Monday,” the South Dakota Republican told reporters.

    Thune said he welcomed bipartisan discussions among senators seeking a compromise but stressed that any solution must begin with reopening the government. Some lawmakers have floated a short-term funding bill tied to extending Affordable Care Act tax credits, but Thune voiced doubts about both ideas.

    He said Republicans would resist plans that fund the government for less than seven weeks and would oppose extending ACA credits without reforms to curb “waste, fraud and abuse.”

    This is a breaking news article. Updates to follow.

    This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.

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  • With shutdown, Democrats take a perilous risk at a precarious party moment

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    WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers took a significant risk this week by choosing to fight the Trump administration over the extension of healthcare credits.

    A stalemate over the matter led to the federal shutdown on Tuesday night, when Democrats denied Republicans the votes needed to continue funding the government, forcing hundreds of thousands of federal workers into furloughs or to work without pay.

    It’s a gamble for a party facing its lowest approval numbers since the Reagan era — and a calculated risk Democratic leaders felt feel compelled to take.

    “I am proud to be fighting to preserve healthcare for millions of people, ” Sen. Adam Schiff of California said in an interview Wednesday. “I think this is a very necessary fight.”

    The healthcare tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year, and if Democrats are unsuccessful in securing an extension as part of a shutdown deal, then premiums for millions of Americans are expected to skyrocket, Schiff said.

    “There’s really not much that can be done to mitigate these dramatic health premium increases people are going to see unless the president and Republicans are willing to work with us on it,” he said.

    Entering the shutdown, polls indicated the country was split over who would be to blame, with 19% of Americans faulting Democrats and 26% charging Republicans, according to a New York Times poll. A plurality of respondents — 33% — said both parties were responsible.

    Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, a Democrat and the Senate minority leader, is leading the charge with his worst favorability numbers among his home state residents in over 20 years — and with the highest disapproval ratings of any congressional leader, according a recent Pew survey.

    Schumer faced widespread ridicule from within his party in March after reversing course during the last government funding deadline, choosing then to support the Trump administration’s continuing resolution proposal.

    That showdown came at the height of an aggressive purge by President Trump of the federal workforce. A government shutdown would only enable more mass firings, Schumer said at the time.

    But the current shutdown is already giving Trump administration officials license to resume mass layoffs, this time specifically targeting Democratic states and priorities.

    “We’d be laying off a lot of people who are going to be very affected,” Trump said in the hours before the shutdown, adding: “They’re going to be Democrats.”

    On Wednesday, Russ Vought, Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget and a longtime advocate of concentrated presidential power, wrote on social media that $8 billion in “Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda” would be canceled to 16 Democratic-majority states, including California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii.

    Hours earlier, the Trump administration had frozen roughly $18 billion for infrastructure projects in New York City pending a review that Vought said would “ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles.”

    House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans at a news conference Wednesday discussing the shutdown.

    (Mariam Zuhaib / Associated Press)

    Seeing these actions, Schiff worries about further punitive measures against California.

    “California, I’m sure, won’t be far behind in the kind of vindictive actions of the president,” he said.

    At a White House press briefing Wednesday afternoon, Vice President JD Vance denied that the administration was planning to structure layoffs based on politics.

    “We’re going to have to make things work, and that means that we’re going to have to triage some certain things,” he said. “That means certain people are going to have to get laid off, and we’re going to try to make sure that the American people suffer as little as possible from the shutdown.”

    Vance placed the blame squarely on Schumer and other Democrats, saying repeatedly that Democrats had shut down the government because Republicans refused to give billions of dollars in healthcare funding to immigrants in the country illegally. Immigrants without legal status are not eligible for any federal healthcare programs, including Medicaid and health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

    “To the American people who are watching: The reason your government is shut down at this very minute is because, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of congressional Republicans — and even a few moderate Democrats — supported opening the government, the Chuck Schumer-AOC wing of the Democratic Party shut down the government,” the vice president said.

    Vance said policy disagreements should not serve as the basis for keeping hostage essential services that Americans need. But before those discussions can happen, the government must be reopened.

    “I’d invite Chuck Schumer to join the moderate Democrats and 52 Senate Republicans. Do the right thing, open up the People’s Government, and then let’s fix healthcare policy for the American people,” he said.

    Some senators, including Democrat Ruben Gallego of Arizona, are exploring a bipartisan offramp from the crisis, including a potential continuing resolution that would reopen the government for roughly a week to provide room for negotiations.

    While that option is on the table, less than 24 hours into the shutdown, some Democrats think a short-term solution is contingent on Trump being willing to negotiate with Democrats in good faith.

    “It really just depends on whether the president decides he’s going to try to resolve this conflict and negotiate,” Schiff said. “Until he makes that decision that he wants the shutdown to end, it will continue.”

    Vance described two categories of demands from congressional Democrats: those acting in good faith who want to make sure the administration engages in a conversation about critical issues such as healthcare, and those who refuse to reopen the government until every demand is met.

    “We just write those people off because they’re not negotiating in good faith — and frankly, we don’t need it,” he said, noting that three senators who vote Democratic — John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Angus King (I-Maine) — had already broken ranks to vote to fund the government.

    “Three moderate Democrats joined 52 Republicans last night,” he said, adding: “We need five more in order to reopen the government, and that’s really where we’re going to focus.”

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    Michael Wilner, Ana Ceballos, Andrea Castillo

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  • Do Democrats want health care for ‘illegal aliens’?

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    As the U.S. headed for a government shutdown, Republicans repeatedly accused Democrats of forcing the closure because they want to give health care access to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

    “Democrats are threatening to shut down the entire government because they want to give hundreds of billions of dollars of healthcare benefits to illegal aliens,” Vice President JD Vance said Sept. 28 on “Fox News Sunday.”

    President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican members of Congress have repeated this line.

    It’s wrong.

    Democrats have refused to vote for Republicans’ resolution to extend the federal spending deadline, and their position does, in part, hinge on health care spending. Democrats want to extend pandemic-era Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year and roll back Medicaid cuts in the tax and spending bill that Trump signed into law this summer. 

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    The Democrats’ proposal wouldn’t give health care to immigrants illegally in the U.S. — they are already largely ineligible for federally funded health care. Instead, the proposal would restore access to certain health care programs for legal immigrants who will lose access under the Republican law.

    The White House did not respond to PolitiFact’s request for comment for this fact-check. Vance addressed criticism of his talking point in another interview by saying it was included in the Democrats’ spending proposal; it’s not.

    A White House X account followed up with screenshots of the Democratic proposal repealing a section of the Republican law labeled “alien Medicaid eligibility.” It’s important to know that these changes would not give Medicaid access to immigrants illegally in the U.S.

    Vance defended his statement again in an Oct. 1 White House press conference, saying former President Joe Biden “waived away illegal immigration status” that helped migrants access federal assistance. It’s important to note that many people granted lawful status through humanitarian parole or Temporary Protected Status programs don’t automatically qualify for Medicaid; TPS  recipients aren’t eligible, and many people who entered the U.S. on humanitarian parole are required to wait five years before accessing it.

    The Trump administration has ended humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status for many people, rendering them ineligible for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

    We did not find evidence that Democrats want to spend “hundreds of billions” in costs for insuring migrants with unlawful presence. 

    Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are ineligible for federally funded health care

    The vast majority of federal health care dollars cannot be spent on health care for people in the U.S. illegally. They cannot enroll in Medicaid or Medicare, and they are ineligible to purchase health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. A small Medicaid program reimburses hospitals for uninsured emergency care, which can include immigrants in the country illegally but is not exclusive to them.

    Some states including California and Illinois expanded Medicaid coverage for people regardless of their immigration status, and the states pay for that. Federal law already banned states from using federal money for these programs. An earlier version of the Republican spending law would have penalized such states by withholding funding, but that provision didn’t last.

    People in the country illegally might receive some federally funded health care in emergency cases; in those situations, hospitals must provide care even if a person is uninsured or in the country illegally. Emergency Medicaid covers hospital care for immigrants who would be eligible for Medicaid if not for their immigration status. The Republican tax and spending law reduced the amount hospitals can receive for emergency immigrant care.

    Most of the Emergency Medicaid spending is used on childbirth. In all, it represented less than 1% of total Medicaid spending in fiscal year 2023, according to KFF, a health think tank.

    Republican law limited health care access for immigrants with legal status

    The Republican tax and spending law made several changes to health care eligibility for immigrants in the country with legal permission. An estimated 1.4 million legal immigrants are expected to lose their health insurance, according to KFF’s analysis of Congressional Budget Office projections. 

    Starting October 2026, the law will restrict eligibility for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to lawfully permanent residents, people from the Marshall Islands, Micronesia or Palau who lawfully reside in the U.S. under an international agreement, and certain Cubans and Haitians.

    Previously, a broad group described as “qualified noncitizens” were eligible for Medicaid and CHIP, including refugees and people granted asylum.

    Some immigrants who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP, such as lawful permanent residents, are required to wait five years before accessing the benefits. 

    The law also limited Affordable Care Act marketplace eligibility to the same group eligible for Medicaid and CHIP beginning Jan. 1, 2027. Previously, people who were described as “lawfully present” were eligible. That group included the “qualified noncitizens” eligible for Medicaid and people with short-term statuses, such as Temporary Protected Status or international students.

    Beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, for immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children were previously eligible for Affordable Care Act coverage and its subsidies. They are ineligible after an August Trump administration rule.

    Democrats’ proposal would restore legal immigrants’ access to federally funded health care

    The Democrats’ Sept. 17 budget proposal would, in part, permanently extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies and roll back billions in Republican cuts to Medicaid and other health programs. 

    The change would make Medicaid, CHIP and Affordable Care Act coverage available to all legal immigrants who were previously eligible for it, such as refugees and people granted asylum.

    The Democratic proposal would not broaden eligibility to federally funded health care programs to immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

    Vance said the Democratic policies would “give hundreds of billions of dollars of health care benefits to illegal aliens,” and the White House did not offer its source for that figure. When Johnson was pressed to support a similar talking point, he referenced the Congressional Budget Office. An August KFF analysis of CBO estimates found that the Republican law’s provisions related to legal immigrants would reduce federal spending by $131 billion; this projection did not include an estimate for people without legal status.

    Our ruling

    Vance said, “Democrats are threatening to shut down the entire government because they want to give hundreds of billions of dollars of health care benefits to illegal aliens.”

    Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are largely ineligible for federally funded health care programs Medicare and Medicaid, and they cannot seek coverage in the Affordable Care Act marketplace or apply for subsidies.

    The Democrats’ budget proposal would not change that.

    The Democrats want to restore access to certain health care programs to legal immigrants who will lose access under the Republican tax and spending law — among other measures aimed at making Medicaid and Affordable Care Act insurance plans easier to keep. 

    Their proposal would not grant federally supported health care benefits to people in the U.S. illegally, because they did not have access to them in the first place. The small amount of funding designated for Emergency Medicaid reimburses hospitals that provide emergency care to immigrants who would be eligible for Medicaid if not for their immigration status. Finally, we did not find evidence for Vance’s assertion that Democrats want “hundreds of billions” in health benefits for migrants in the country illegally. 

    We rate the statement False.

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  • JD Vance, White House Reacts To Democrats Blocking Vote To End Government Shutdown

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    Vice President JD Vance has slammed Senate Democrats for voting to block a Republican-backed stopgap funding bill aimed at keeping the government open through November 21.

    Vance claimed that the “Chuck Schumer-AOC wing” of the Democrats were taking critical services “hostage” unless the Trump administration agreed to everything they wanted.

    However, Vance said he did not believe the shut down would be lengthy, as he said he believed moderate Democrats are already “cracking.”

    The GOP-bill failed to advance on Wednesday morning in a 55–45 vote, falling short of the 60 votes required to move forward.

    The rejection marks another setback in negotiations as the shutdown continues.

    This is breaking news, updates to follow.

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  • Fact-check: GOP, Dem government shutdown talking points

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    In 2013, then-businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump shared his vision on Fox News about the role a president should play in a shutdown: “You have to be nice and be angry and be wild and cajole and do all sorts of things, but you have to get a deal.”

    Now as president, Trump has taken a different approach. After failing to reach a bipartisan agreement, he mocked Democrats by posting an expletive-laced video generated by artificial intelligence and set to mariachi music falsely showing U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer saying that “nobody likes Democrats anymore,” so the party is seeking favor with “illegal aliens.”

    Welcome to the 2025 government shutdown. 

    At PolitiFact, we have fact-checked lawmakers’ and pundits’ statements about government shutdowns for more than a decade. When Congress can’t reach a funding agreement, both sides of the political aisle whip up talking points about what a shutdown means for the economy, immigration, worker paychecks, disaster response and services for low-income families. The blame is nearly always placed on the other party.

    PolitiFact is here to help you cut through the spin.

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    A reminder: Republicans control the presidency and both chambers of Congress. But passing legislation to extend government funding at current levels would require, under longstanding rules, more than a half dozen Democrats to side with Republicans in order to reach the 60-vote threshold to advance to a vote. This gives Democrats some negotiating leverage, which they are seeking to use in the spending fight.

    It’s Day 1 of the shutdown, and here’s our round-up of fact-checks. Spot a statement about the shutdown you want fact-checked? Email [email protected].

    Social services

    Women, Infant and Children program will “not be funded.”— House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in Sept. 29 remarks to reporters.

    Johnson omits that enrollees will still likely get services, at least initially. But much depends on how long the shutdown lasts.

    The Agriculture Department’s shutdown plan said its Women, Infants and Children program, which provides food to low-income families, shall continue operations “subject to the availability of funding.”  WIC has 6.9 million participants. 

    WIC should be able to continue for at least one week, said Alison Hard, National WIC Association policy director. After that, operations will vary by state, depending on their funds.

    During a shutdown, state WIC programs have options to temporarily fill the funding gap including various USDA sources, state money and requesting early rebate payments from their contracted infant formula manufacturers.

    Past shutdowns

    “Back in 2013, Trump said it was the President’s job to negotiate and avoid a shutdown.” — Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., in a Sept. 29 X post

    That’s an accurate paraphrase of Trump’s remarks. 

    In an Oct. 7, 2013, interview with then-Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, Trump criticized then-President Barack Obama for not being a dealmaker during the shutdown. In full, he said:

    “You have to get everybody in a room. You have to be a leader. The president has to lead. He has to get (the Speaker of the House) and everybody else in a room, and they have to make a deal. You have to be nice and be angry and be wild and cajole and do all sorts of things, but you have to get a deal.”

    Trump made similar remarks in a September 2013 “Fox & Friends” phone interview: “Problems start from the top, and they have to get solved from the top, and the president’s the leader, and he’s got to get everybody in a room, and he’s got to lead.”

    A tourist photographs a sign announcing that the Library of Congress is closed, on the first day of a partial government shutdown, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

    Health care

    “Republicans are spiking health insurance premiums by 75% for everyday Americans” if they don’t extend enhanced ACA subsidies. — Rep Katherine Clark, D-Mass., in a Sept. 12 X post.

    Mostly True.

    If the Republican-controlled Congress does not extend Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies before they expire at the end of this year, enrollees will have to pay more.

    A KFF analysis of federal data found that the average increase in out-of-pocket coverage cost for enrollees would be 79%, with state-by-state average increases ranging from 49% to 195%.

    This cost increase would come from a combination of insurance premium increases and the disappearance of subsidies, rather than from “spiking health insurance premiums” alone.

    More than two weeks after Clark’s statement — and after we published the fact check — KFF produced a revised figure for average increases based on new data: 114%.

    “Democrats so-called proposal is a partisan wish list with a $1.5 trillion spending increase tacked onto a four-week funding bill.” — Johnson, in a Sept. 29 press release. 

    The Republican talking point misses context about the Democrats’ proposal.

    The Sept. 17 Democratic proposal latches government funding through Oct. 31, known as a continuing resolution, to some Democratic priorities, including health care assistance and limiting Trump’s ability to claw back funds previously approved by Congress.

    The bill calls for permanently extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that were passed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and extended in 2022. Those are set to expire Dec. 31. The Democratic bill would also reverse cuts to Medicaid and other health programs that Republicans enacted in their signature tax and spending legislation.

    The Democrats’ measure would restore funding for public broadcasting that Republicans nixed in July and includes over $320 million for security for lawmakers, the executive branch and the Supreme Court. (Republicans have proposed $88 million in security funding in their resolution bill.)

    The bill also contains mandates for how the Trump administration can spend money and would hinder the White House’s recent attempt to cancel almost $5 billion in foreign aid.

    The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that’s hawkish on the deficit, said in a Sept. 18 press release that Democrats’ proposal in its entirety would add $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

    “The (continuing resolution) itself — the part that funds the government — would not add $1.5 trillion to the debt, but the bill that Democrats have proposed includes other provisions that would,” Chris Towner, the group’s policy director, wrote in an email. “The bill repeals the health spending cuts that were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would cost about $1.1 trillion over a decade to repeal.” 

    Towner also said the Democrats’ provision to make the enhanced ACA subsidies permanent would cost about $350 billion over a decade.

    People take photos with a sign announcing that the Library of Congress is closed, on the first day of a partial government shutdown, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

    If enhanced subsidies are not extended, people with insurance through the Affordable Care Act will see their premiums rise “twice as much in the rural areas.” — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in a Sept. 28 interview on CBS “Face the Nation.” 

    Mostly True. 

    There are at least two ways to interpret Klobuchar’s statement: that she was comparing rural enrollees’ costs with people living elsewhere, or comparing their costs with what they paid before.

    Klobuchar’s office told PolitiFact that the senator was referring to rural enrollees seeing increases that were double what they had paid before, and that interpretation aligns with what Klobuchar has said in other settings.

    An analysis by the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, found that out-of-pocket insurance costs would increase on average in rural counties from $713 to $1,473 — a 107% increase, or slightly more than a doubling.

    Comparing rural enrollees’ cost increases with people elsewhere, amounts to a disproportionately large increase for rural areas, but it’s not twice as much.

    Enrollees in rural counties would see average out-of-pocket losses of $760 from expiring enhanced subsidies, compared with $624 for all counties and $593 for urban counties. That’s 22% more for rural enrollees compared to all others, and 28% more compared with urban enrollees. 

    Government workers

    “If the government shuts down, members of Congress still get paid. The janitors never get paid.” — Daniel Koh on The People’s Cabinet podcast episode Sept. 29. 

    Mostly True.

    Members of the House and Senate continue to get paid during a shutdown. Federal law says that federal employees get back pay, but the law does not extend that to contractors, a group that includes many janitors. Some private employers with federal contracts may find ways to pay their employees, but there is nothing in federal law that requires it.

    The U.S. Capitol dome and a traffic turn signal are seen from Pennsylvania Avenue, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

    “FEMA won’t be funded” during hurricane season because of the shutdown. — Johnson in Sept. 29 remarks to reporters.

    Johnson was correct that Congress had not agreed on FEMA funding, but a Department of Homeland Security shutdown procedures plan estimates that 84% of FEMA employees will continue working. (DHS oversees FEMA.)

    “Bottom line: hurricanes don’t care about politics. FEMA will still respond. But recovery will stall if Congress can’t do its job,” said Craig Fugate, who led FEMA during President Barack Obama’s administration after leading Florida’s emergency management under then-Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. “This isn’t new — both parties own the blame.”

    The agency’s recovery efforts are most at risk, Fugate said, because they depend on how much money remains in the Disaster Relief Fund. “Those dollars aren’t tied to the shutdown, but they usually run low this time of year. Normally Congress passes a continuing resolution to add money. A shutdown means that doesn’t happen. That slows recovery projects, not the immediate response.”

    The fund had about $2.3 billion at the end of August, which is considered low. 

    RELATED: Trump has defied norms on executive power. What actions could he take amid a government shutdown?

    RELATED: Fact-check: Past government shutdowns cost the U.S. economy billions

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  • The Post-Chuck Schumer Era

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    For a while, it seemed like McConnell was single-handedly blocking the entirety of the US government from his vantage as the minority leader, an arrangement Schumer just hasn’t been able to crack. It’s not impossible, however: Unlike in the House, which only requires a majority vote among its 435 members, the Senate has a 60-vote threshold for most items to pass its 100-member body. This gives the minority leverage. While Republicans may have a trifecta, they can’t pass a single piece of legislation without Democratic votes. With the Democrats out of power, it’s the only area of the government where they can exert any influence.

    Instead of wielding that power, my Senate source says, Schumer instructed members to not make any demands back in March, “because he wanted Republicans to take the blame when the government shut down.” At the time, Schumer was losing support from members to support keeping the government open, even though our reporting showed a frightening alternative.

    “You don’t get credit for things you prevent from happening,” Frank says of the averted shutdown.

    At the very least, Democrats would like Schumer, or Schumer’s successor, to take a page out of the Nancy Pelosi playbook, back from when she was House speaker. She was known to encourage candidates in competitive districts to run against her as Speaker—even pledging to vote against her for the role—if it gave them a better shot of winning, as long as she could count on them for tough votes once they arrived in Congress.

    “He doesn’t just need Michigan and Maine and Texas,” the campaign consultant says of Schumer. “He needs Missouri and Kansas and places where they should be running specifically against Schumer in ads.”

    Jentleson points to Reid, his former boss, as an example of how this can play out. Early in his tenure, Democratic candidates in red states would run against him as leader.

    The rub for Schumer, whose office did not return a request for comment, is that this would involve people saying mean things about him.

    “Again, this comes down to Schumer being congenitally incapable of being criticized by anyone,” the Senate aide says. “He wants everyone to love him all the time.”

    This is an edition of Jake Lahut’s Inner Loop newsletter. Read previous newsletters here.

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    Jake Lahut

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  • Government shutdown begins as nation faces new period of uncertainty

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    Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.What we know: The Senate voted down two short-term spending bills on Tuesday: one Democratic proposal and one Republican proposal that passed in the House.The Senate has adjourned until Wednesday morning. The House is not in session this week.Senate Democrats are demanding that health care subsidies and Medicaid cuts be addressed before passing a funding bill.Thousands of federal workers are facing furloughs or layoffs.This is the first government shutdown in nearly seven years. Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.”We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline.But the president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome.This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, in a remarkable record that underscores the polarizing divide over budget priorities and a political climate that rewards hardline positions rather than more traditional compromises.Plenty of blame being thrown aroundThe Democrats picked this fight, which was unusual for the party that prefers to keep government running, but their voters are eager to challenge the president’s second-term agenda. Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that are expiring for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, spiking the costs of insurance premiums nationwide.Republicans have refused to negotiate for now and have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks. After the White House meeting, the president posted a cartoonish fake video mocking the Democratic leadership that was widely viewed as unserious and racist.What neither side has devised is an easy offramp to prevent what could become a protracted closure. The ramifications are certain to spread beyond the political arena, upending the lives of Americans who rely on the government for benefit payments, work contracts and the various services being thrown into turmoil.”What the government spends money on is a demonstration of our country’s priorities,” said Rachel Snyderman, a former White House budget official who is the managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington.Shutdowns, she said, “only inflict economic cost, fear and confusion across the country.” Economic fallout expected to ripple nationwideAn economic jolt could be felt in a matter of days. The government is expected Friday to produce its monthly jobs report, which may or may not be delivered.While the financial markets have generally “shrugged” during past shutdowns, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis, this one could be different partly because there are no signs of broader negotiations.”There are also few good analogies to this week’s potential shutdown,” the analysis said.Across the government, preparations have been underway. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, directed agencies to execute plans for not just furloughs, as are typical during a federal funding lapse, but mass firings of federal workers. It’s part of the Trump administration’s mission, including its Department of Government Efficiency, to shrink the federal government.What’s staying open and shutting downThe Medicare and Medicaid health care programs are expected to continue, though staffing shortages could mean delays for some services. The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security.But Trump has warned that the administration could focus on programs that are important to Democrats, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday. A group of former national park superintendents urged the Trump administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks in a shutdown are a danger to the public and put park resources at risk.Video below: House Speaker rejects Democrats’ calls for health care negotiations as government shuts downNo easy exit as health care costs soarAhead of Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year, House Republicans had approved a temporary funding bill, over opposition from Democrats, to keep government running into mid-November while broader negotiations continue.But that bill has failed repeatedly in the Senate, including late Tuesday. It takes a 60-vote threshold for approval, which requires cooperation between the two parties. A Democratic bill also failed. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Democrats are leveraging their votes to demand negotiation.Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said Republicans are happy to discuss the health care issue with Democrats — but not as part of talks to keep the government open. More votes are expected Wednesday.The standoff is a political test for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who has drawn scorn from a restive base of left-flank voters pushing the party to hold firm in its demands for health care funding.”Americans are hurting with higher costs,” Schumer said after the failed vote Tuesday.House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home nearly two weeks ago after having passed the GOP bill, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.”They want to fight Trump,” Johnson said Tuesday on CNBC. “A lot of good people are going to be hurt because of this.”Trump, during his meeting with the congressional leaders, expressed surprise at the scope of the rising costs of health care, but Democrats left with no path toward talks.During Trump’s first term, the nation endured its longest-ever shutdown, 35 days, over his demands for funds Congress refused to provide to build his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.In 2013, the government shut down for 16 days during the Obama presidency over GOP demands to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Other closures date back decades. ___Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Joey Cappelletti, Will Weissert, Fatima Hussein and other AP reporters nationwide contributed to this report.

    Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

    What we know:

    • The Senate voted down two short-term spending bills on Tuesday: one Democratic proposal and one Republican proposal that passed in the House.
    • The Senate has adjourned until Wednesday morning. The House is not in session this week.
    • Senate Democrats are demanding that health care subsidies and Medicaid cuts be addressed before passing a funding bill.
    • Thousands of federal workers are facing furloughs or layoffs.
    • This is the first government shutdown in nearly seven years.

    Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.

    “We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline.

    But the president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome.

    This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, in a remarkable record that underscores the polarizing divide over budget priorities and a political climate that rewards hardline positions rather than more traditional compromises.

    Plenty of blame being thrown around

    The Democrats picked this fight, which was unusual for the party that prefers to keep government running, but their voters are eager to challenge the president’s second-term agenda. Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that are expiring for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, spiking the costs of insurance premiums nationwide.

    Republicans have refused to negotiate for now and have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks. After the White House meeting, the president posted a cartoonish fake video mocking the Democratic leadership that was widely viewed as unserious and racist.

    What neither side has devised is an easy offramp to prevent what could become a protracted closure. The ramifications are certain to spread beyond the political arena, upending the lives of Americans who rely on the government for benefit payments, work contracts and the various services being thrown into turmoil.

    “What the government spends money on is a demonstration of our country’s priorities,” said Rachel Snyderman, a former White House budget official who is the managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington.

    Shutdowns, she said, “only inflict economic cost, fear and confusion across the country.”

    Economic fallout expected to ripple nationwide

    An economic jolt could be felt in a matter of days. The government is expected Friday to produce its monthly jobs report, which may or may not be delivered.

    While the financial markets have generally “shrugged” during past shutdowns, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis, this one could be different partly because there are no signs of broader negotiations.

    “There are also few good analogies to this week’s potential shutdown,” the analysis said.

    Across the government, preparations have been underway. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, directed agencies to execute plans for not just furloughs, as are typical during a federal funding lapse, but mass firings of federal workers. It’s part of the Trump administration’s mission, including its Department of Government Efficiency, to shrink the federal government.

    What’s staying open and shutting down

    The Medicare and Medicaid health care programs are expected to continue, though staffing shortages could mean delays for some services. The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security.

    But Trump has warned that the administration could focus on programs that are important to Democrats, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

    As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday. A group of former national park superintendents urged the Trump administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks in a shutdown are a danger to the public and put park resources at risk.

    Video below: House Speaker rejects Democrats’ calls for health care negotiations as government shuts down

    No easy exit as health care costs soar

    Ahead of Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year, House Republicans had approved a temporary funding bill, over opposition from Democrats, to keep government running into mid-November while broader negotiations continue.

    But that bill has failed repeatedly in the Senate, including late Tuesday. It takes a 60-vote threshold for approval, which requires cooperation between the two parties. A Democratic bill also failed. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Democrats are leveraging their votes to demand negotiation.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said Republicans are happy to discuss the health care issue with Democrats — but not as part of talks to keep the government open. More votes are expected Wednesday.

    The standoff is a political test for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who has drawn scorn from a restive base of left-flank voters pushing the party to hold firm in its demands for health care funding.

    “Americans are hurting with higher costs,” Schumer said after the failed vote Tuesday.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home nearly two weeks ago after having passed the GOP bill, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

    “They want to fight Trump,” Johnson said Tuesday on CNBC. “A lot of good people are going to be hurt because of this.”

    Trump, during his meeting with the congressional leaders, expressed surprise at the scope of the rising costs of health care, but Democrats left with no path toward talks.

    During Trump’s first term, the nation endured its longest-ever shutdown, 35 days, over his demands for funds Congress refused to provide to build his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

    In 2013, the government shut down for 16 days during the Obama presidency over GOP demands to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Other closures date back decades.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Joey Cappelletti, Will Weissert, Fatima Hussein and other AP reporters nationwide contributed to this report.

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  • Government shutdown begins after Congress fails to pass funding bill | Special Report

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    Government shutdown begins after Congress fails to pass funding bill | Special Report – CBS News










































    Watch CBS News



    The U.S. government has begun shutting down after Congress failed to reach a funding deal before a midnight deadline. Jessi Mitchell anchored CBS News’ special report.

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  • Government Shutdown Looms: Congress Faces Midnight Deadline

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    Courtesy kosoff via Adobe Stock
    Credit: Courtesy kosoff via Adobe Stock

    Congress is hoping to get the sign-off from President Trump by tonight or risk a government shutdown, drastically affecting institution operations across the country.

    If a bipartisan compromise can’t be reached tonight, many government offices will temporarily close, furloughing employees and ceasing function. The United States government is expected to run out of money at midnight Eastern Standard Time tonight, unless congressional leaders can reach a funding agreement that pleases all congressional lawmakers.

    Both parties met with the President at the White House yesterday as a last-ditch effort before tonight’s deadline, but no resolution was reached.

    “If it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down,” Trump said Friday, according to ABC News. “But they’re [Democrats] the ones that are shutting down government.”

    Congressional Democrats have, once again, blocked the Republicans’ plan for more federal funding over a dispute on healthcare. Republicans reportedly want to push off addressing Medicaid, tax credits and such until later this year, which Democrat lawmakers keep rejecting.

    Democratic votes have been continuously withheld from the Republicans’ push to keep the government open, with plans for an orderly shutdown underway, per The New York Times.

    “I think we’re headed to a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Vice President JD Vance said after the meeting Monday afternoon, according to ABC News.

    Scroll to continue reading

    The shutdown could directly impact as many as 4 million federal employees, who may be living without pay. Additionally, roughly 2 million military troops could be forced to work without pay, including the hundreds of National Guard employees currently deployed in major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles.

    Agencies like TSA, the FDA, the Labor Department, Medicare and Social Security may all be affected by nationwide slowdowns, meaning — of many calamitous aftereffects — food safety cannot be necessarily confirmed and certain life-saving payments could face distribution issues.

    This would be the first government shutdown since 2019, during Trump’s first term, which was the longest federal shutdown in history at 35 days.

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    Daisy Levine

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  • Senate adjourns after failed funding votes as government heads for shutdown at midnight

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    Senate Democrats have voted down a Republican bill to keep funding the government, putting it on a near-certain path to a shutdown after midnight Wednesday for the first time in nearly seven years.What we know: The Senate voted down two short-term spending bills — one Democratic proposal and one Republican proposal.The Senate has adjourned until tomorrow morning, all but guaranteeing the government will shut down.Senate Democrats are demanding that health care subsidies and Medicaid cuts be addressed before passing a funding bill.Thousands of federal workers face furloughs or layoffs if the government shuts down at midnight Wednesday.There are fewer than 2 hours before the government shuts down for the first time in nearly seven years. The Senate rejected the legislation as Democrats are making good on their threat to close the government if President Donald Trump and Republicans won’t accede to their health care demands. The 55-45 vote on a bill to extend federal funding for seven weeks fell short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation.Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Republicans are trying to “bully” Democrats by refusing to negotiate on an extension of expanded Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year.”We hope they sit down with us and talk,” Schumer said after the vote. “Otherwise, it’s the Republicans will be driving us straight towards a shutdown tonight at midnight. The American people will blame them for bringing the federal government to a halt.”The failure of Congress to keep the government open means that hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be furloughed or laid off. After the vote, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget issued a memo saying “affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”Threatening retribution to Democrats, Trump said Tuesday that a shutdown could include “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”Trump and his fellow Republicans said they won’t entertain any changes to the legislation, arguing that it’s a stripped-down, “clean” bill that should be noncontroversial. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said “we can reopen it tomorrow” if enough Democrats break party lines.The last shutdown was in Trump’s first term, from December 2018 to January 2019, when he demanded that Congress give him money for his U.S.-Mexico border wall. Trump retreated after 35 days — the longest shutdown ever — amid intensifying airport delays and missed paydays for federal workers. Democrats take a stand against Trump, with exceptionsWhile partisan stalemates over government spending are a frequent occurrence in Washington, the current impasse comes as Democrats see a rare opportunity to use their leverage to achieve policy goals and as their base voters are spoiling for a fight with Trump. Republicans who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate needed at least eight votes from Democrats after Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky opposed the bill.Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine voted with Republicans to keep the government open — giving Republicans hope that there might be five more who will eventually come around and help end a shutdown.After the vote, King warned against “permanent damage” as Trump and his administration have threatened mass layoffs.”Instead of fighting Trump we’re actually empowering him, which is what finally drove my decision,” King said.Thune predicted Democratic support for the GOP bill will increase “when they realize that this is playing a losing hand.”Shutdown preparations beginThe stakes are huge for federal workers across the country as the White House told agencies last week that they should consider “a reduction in force” for many federal programs if the government shuts down. That means that workers who are not deemed essential could be fired instead of just furloughed.Either way, most would not get paid. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated in a letter to Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst on Tuesday that around 750,000 federal workers could be furloughed each day once a shutdown begins.Federal agencies were already preparing. On the home page of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a large pop up ad reads, “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people.”Democrats’ health care asksDemocrats want to negotiate an extension of the health subsidies immediately as people are beginning to receive notices of premium increases for the next year. Millions of people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act could face higher costs as expanded subsidies first put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic expire.Democrats have also demanded that Republicans reverse the Medicaid cuts that were enacted as a part of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” this summer and for the White House to promise it will not move to rescind spending passed by Congress.”We are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of everyday Americans,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.Thune pressed Democrats to vote for the funding bill and take up the debate on tax credits later. Some Republicans are open to extending the tax credits, but many are strongly opposed to it.In rare, pointed back-and-forth with Schumer on the Senate floor Tuesday morning, Thune said Republicans “are happy to fix the ACA issue” and have offered to negotiate with Democrats — if they will vote to keep the government open until Nov. 21.A critical, and unusual, vote for DemocratsDemocrats are in an uncomfortable position for a party that has long denounced shutdowns as pointless and destructive, and it’s unclear how or when a shutdown will end. But party activists and lawmakers have argued that Democrats need to do something to stand up to Trump.”The level of appeasement that Trump demands never ends,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “We’ve seen that with universities, with law firms, with prosecutors. So is there a point where you just have to stand up to him? I think there is.”Some groups called for Schumer’s resignation in March after he and nine other Democrats voted to break a filibuster and allow a Republican-led funding bill to advance to a final vote.Schumer said then that he voted to keep the government open because a shutdown would have made things worse as Trump’s administration was slashing government jobs. He says things have now changed, including the passage this summer of the massive GOP tax cut bill that reduced Medicaid.Trump’s role in negotiationsA bipartisan meeting at the White House on Monday was Trump’s first with all four leaders in Congress since retaking the White House for his second term. Schumer said the group “had candid, frank discussions” about health care.But Trump did not appear to be ready for serious talks. Hours later, he posted a fake video of Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries taken from footage of their real press conference outside of the White House after the meeting. In the altered video, a voiceover that sounds like Schumer’s voice makes fun of Democrats and Jeffries stands beside him with a cartoon sombrero and mustache. Mexican music plays in the background.At a news conference on the Capitol steps Tuesday morning, Jeffries said it was a “racist and fake AI video.”Schumer said that less than a day before a shutdown, Trump was trolling on the internet “like a 10-year-old.””It’s only the president who can do this,” Schumer said. “We know he runs the show here.”___Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim, Kevin Freking, Matthew Brown, Darlene Superville and Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed to this report.

    Senate Democrats have voted down a Republican bill to keep funding the government, putting it on a near-certain path to a shutdown after midnight Wednesday for the first time in nearly seven years.

    What we know:

    • The Senate voted down two short-term spending bills — one Democratic proposal and one Republican proposal.
    • The Senate has adjourned until tomorrow morning, all but guaranteeing the government will shut down.
    • Senate Democrats are demanding that health care subsidies and Medicaid cuts be addressed before passing a funding bill.
    • Thousands of federal workers face furloughs or layoffs if the government shuts down at midnight Wednesday.
    • There are fewer than 2 hours before the government shuts down for the first time in nearly seven years.

    The Senate rejected the legislation as Democrats are making good on their threat to close the government if President Donald Trump and Republicans won’t accede to their health care demands. The 55-45 vote on a bill to extend federal funding for seven weeks fell short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation.

    Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Republicans are trying to “bully” Democrats by refusing to negotiate on an extension of expanded Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year.

    “We hope they sit down with us and talk,” Schumer said after the vote. “Otherwise, it’s the Republicans will be driving us straight towards a shutdown tonight at midnight. The American people will blame them for bringing the federal government to a halt.”

    The failure of Congress to keep the government open means that hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be furloughed or laid off. After the vote, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget issued a memo saying “affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”

    Threatening retribution to Democrats, Trump said Tuesday that a shutdown could include “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

    Trump and his fellow Republicans said they won’t entertain any changes to the legislation, arguing that it’s a stripped-down, “clean” bill that should be noncontroversial. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said “we can reopen it tomorrow” if enough Democrats break party lines.

    The last shutdown was in Trump’s first term, from December 2018 to January 2019, when he demanded that Congress give him money for his U.S.-Mexico border wall. Trump retreated after 35 days — the longest shutdown ever — amid intensifying airport delays and missed paydays for federal workers.

    Democrats take a stand against Trump, with exceptions

    While partisan stalemates over government spending are a frequent occurrence in Washington, the current impasse comes as Democrats see a rare opportunity to use their leverage to achieve policy goals and as their base voters are spoiling for a fight with Trump. Republicans who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate needed at least eight votes from Democrats after Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky opposed the bill.

    Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine voted with Republicans to keep the government open — giving Republicans hope that there might be five more who will eventually come around and help end a shutdown.

    After the vote, King warned against “permanent damage” as Trump and his administration have threatened mass layoffs.

    “Instead of fighting Trump we’re actually empowering him, which is what finally drove my decision,” King said.

    Thune predicted Democratic support for the GOP bill will increase “when they realize that this is playing a losing hand.”

    Shutdown preparations begin

    The stakes are huge for federal workers across the country as the White House told agencies last week that they should consider “a reduction in force” for many federal programs if the government shuts down. That means that workers who are not deemed essential could be fired instead of just furloughed.

    Either way, most would not get paid. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated in a letter to Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst on Tuesday that around 750,000 federal workers could be furloughed each day once a shutdown begins.

    Federal agencies were already preparing. On the home page of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a large pop up ad reads, “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people.”

    Democrats’ health care asks

    Democrats want to negotiate an extension of the health subsidies immediately as people are beginning to receive notices of premium increases for the next year. Millions of people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act could face higher costs as expanded subsidies first put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic expire.

    Democrats have also demanded that Republicans reverse the Medicaid cuts that were enacted as a part of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” this summer and for the White House to promise it will not move to rescind spending passed by Congress.

    “We are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of everyday Americans,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

    Thune pressed Democrats to vote for the funding bill and take up the debate on tax credits later. Some Republicans are open to extending the tax credits, but many are strongly opposed to it.

    In rare, pointed back-and-forth with Schumer on the Senate floor Tuesday morning, Thune said Republicans “are happy to fix the ACA issue” and have offered to negotiate with Democrats — if they will vote to keep the government open until Nov. 21.

    A critical, and unusual, vote for Democrats

    Democrats are in an uncomfortable position for a party that has long denounced shutdowns as pointless and destructive, and it’s unclear how or when a shutdown will end. But party activists and lawmakers have argued that Democrats need to do something to stand up to Trump.

    “The level of appeasement that Trump demands never ends,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “We’ve seen that with universities, with law firms, with prosecutors. So is there a point where you just have to stand up to him? I think there is.”

    Some groups called for Schumer’s resignation in March after he and nine other Democrats voted to break a filibuster and allow a Republican-led funding bill to advance to a final vote.

    Schumer said then that he voted to keep the government open because a shutdown would have made things worse as Trump’s administration was slashing government jobs. He says things have now changed, including the passage this summer of the massive GOP tax cut bill that reduced Medicaid.

    Trump’s role in negotiations

    A bipartisan meeting at the White House on Monday was Trump’s first with all four leaders in Congress since retaking the White House for his second term. Schumer said the group “had candid, frank discussions” about health care.

    But Trump did not appear to be ready for serious talks. Hours later, he posted a fake video of Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries taken from footage of their real press conference outside of the White House after the meeting. In the altered video, a voiceover that sounds like Schumer’s voice makes fun of Democrats and Jeffries stands beside him with a cartoon sombrero and mustache. Mexican music plays in the background.

    At a news conference on the Capitol steps Tuesday morning, Jeffries said it was a “racist and fake AI video.”

    Schumer said that less than a day before a shutdown, Trump was trolling on the internet “like a 10-year-old.”

    “It’s only the president who can do this,” Schumer said. “We know he runs the show here.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim, Kevin Freking, Matthew Brown, Darlene Superville and Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • HUD accuses the ‘Radical Left’ of driving government shutdown, vows to ‘support our most vulnerable’

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) accused congressional Democrats on Tuesday of forcing a government shutdown, warning that the “Radical Left” is putting vulnerable families at risk while pledging to keep critical housing services operating.

    “The Far Left is barreling our country toward a shutdown, which will hurt all Americans,” a HUD spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

    “At HUD, we are working to keep critical services online and support our most vulnerable. Why is the media more focused on a banner than reporting on the impact of a shutdown on the American people?”

    HUD is led by Secretary Scott Turner, a former NFL player and member of the Texas legislature.

    HOUSE DEMOCRATS’ GOVERNMENT FUNDING PROPOSAL GOES DOWN IN FLAMES WITH SHUTDOWN DEADLINE IN HOURS

    In this screenshot of a banner posted to the HUD website on Tuesday, the “Radical Left” is blamed for the upcoming government shutdown. (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)

    In a memorandum circulated to all federal agencies late Tuesday, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought confirmed that government funding expires at 11:59 p.m. and instructed departments to execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.

    “President Trump supports passage of H.R. 5371, but it is now clear that Democrats will prevent passage of this clean CR prior to 11:59 p.m. tonight and force a government shutdown,” Vought wrote. 

    The OMB director said Democrats were blocking the House-passed measure over “insane policy demands,” including $1 trillion in new spending, and warned that the length of the shutdown is “difficult to predict.” 

    Employees were told to report for duty to begin shutdown activities until a new appropriations bill is signed into law.

    SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS, WHO DOESN’T AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS

    Scott Turner

    Scott Turner appears before the Senate ahead of his confirmation vote to serve as HUD secretary.  (Getty Images)

    HUD’s official website displayed a pop-up message on Tuesday stating, “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.” 

    Reuters also reported on the banner earlier in the day, which prompted pushback from Democrats.

    Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, said, “We should not be putting political messages on government webpages. I have never seen that kind of message. I don’t think that would be acceptable with any other prior administration.” 

    Jeffries and Schumer at the White House

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., right, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., walk to speak to members of the media outside the West Wing at the White House in Washington Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

    Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said, “Unfortunately, it’s become normal under the Trump administration, but it’s a radical departure from American history, and it is the use of public taxpayer funds for overtly political and polemical reasons.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    At midnight, parts of the federal government will shutter after Democrats rejected the Republican-backed seven-week continuing resolution that passed the House of Representatives Sept. 19. 

    Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.

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  • Retired U.S. Army major on Trump and Hegseth’s meeting with military leaders

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    Retired U.S. Army major on Trump and Hegseth’s meeting with military leaders – CBS News










































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    Military analyst and Ret. U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons joins CBS News to discuss the rare meeting President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held Tuesday with American military leaders from around the globe.

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  • Donald Trump Shitposts AI Slop Amid Shutdown Impasse

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    If Democrats had any misguided hope about their shutdown negotiations with Donald Trump, the president extinguished it Monday evening with an AI-generated video of Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer bad-mouthing his own party as House counterpart Hakeem Jeffries looked on while sporting a sombrero and handlebar mustache. “If we give all these illegal aliens free health care, we might be able to get ’em on our side so they can vote for us,” the AI Schumer said in the video Trump posted to Truth Social. “They can’t even speak English, so they won’t realize we’re just a bunch of woke pieces of shit.”

    The fake Schumer-Jeffries video wasn’t the only wild AI content pushed by Trump in the past week. On Saturday, the president posted another fake video, this one promoting the “medbed” conspiracy theory that there are cure-all beds being kept from the public by the government, an oldie that has found new life among some in the QAnon set. “This is the beginning of a new era in American health care,” Trump said in the fake video, meant to look like a Fox News segment hosted by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

    He has since deleted that video. But take a spin through the president’s Truth Social page, and among the various threats to tariff foreign-made movies or attack American cities, you’ll find a library of AI-generated memes and videos, the most outrageous of which have generated their own news cycles. The one implying he would declare war on Chicago. The one depicting Barack Obama being handcuffed in the Oval Office and then stewing in a jail cell. And who can forget the February fever dream in which war-torn Gaza became a gaudy Trump resort where Elon Musk could enjoy hummus and the president could lounge by the pool with Benjamin Netanyahu?

    If Trump’s dominant online output in his first term was rage posts, then in his second, it is slop: ugly nonsense meant to simultaneously provoke, menace, distract, and say nothing at all. Such posts mark an acceleration of Steve Bannon’s nihilistic “flood the zone with shit” strategy, deployed—literally—without humanity. And though, in Trump’s first term, there was at least some delineation between his online and real-world projects, there is no similar line in his second. The scenes playing out on the streets of this country—a gang of mostly masked ICE agents fruitlessly chasing a bicyclist in downtown Chicago, say—seem like the kinds of things an LLM might hallucinate. Musk, a former top Trump adviser, even declared onstage in February: “I am become meme…. I’m just living the meme.” Aren’t we all these days?

    Schumer and Jeffries both condemned Trump’s fake video. “If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate,” Schumer wrote in response to the video Monday night. “You can only throw tantrums.” But Republicans made clear that they have no issue with such outbursts: “I think sometimes the president plays with the press like a little boy and a flashlight and a dog,” GOP senator Roger Marshall said on CNN Monday. “And he’s shining the flashlight here, and he’s shining it there.”

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  • Trump announces drug-pricing deal with Pfizer

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    Trump announces drug-pricing deal with Pfizer – CBS News










































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    President Trump on Tuesday announced a new partnership with Pfizer to sell its medication through Medicaid at lower prices. CBS News White House reporter Olivia Rinaldi has more.

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  • The Government Shutdown Is Hours Away: Live Updates

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    NOTUS published a vibe check this morning, and it contained a lot of ugh:

    “Every day is like a dog year. It’s exhausting,” Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a California Democrat, told NOTUS. “And I’m sure the American people are as exhausted as I am with theater and disingenuousness.”

    “I think the level of acrimony and the violence has made people more wary of this work,” she added.

    When NOTUS asked dozens of lawmakers returning to Congress on Monday how they were feeling, the most common response was a deep, weary sigh. Multiple senators, including Democrat Amy Klobuchar, laughed at the premise of the question. After all, it’s become almost a given on Capitol Hill that the vast majority of lawmakers are utterly miserable.

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, had a single word to describe her mood: “Crappy.”

    “I used to say that public service, when I was in the state senate, was a joy most days,” Rep. Emily Randall, a Washington state Democrat, told NOTUS. “I definitely don’t say that anymore. There are highs and lows, and the lows are really low.”

    “I’m not 40 yet, but I feel very old,” she added.

    The impending government shutdown has been a particularly trying affair. Republicans are attempting to extend current funding levels through Nov. 21. Democrats — seizing on a rare moment of leverage in the minority — are demanding that Republicans attach an extension for expiring Affordable Care Act tax subsidies, as well as language that would restrict Republicans from turning around and rescinding the congressionally approved funding. Neither side has budged for weeks. The conversations on Capitol Hill have turned from whether a government shutdown will happen to how long it might last.

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