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  • Shutdown nears as lawmakers brace for next round of ICE negotiations

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    WASHINGTON — A budget impasse in Congress is poised to halt large swaths of federal operations early Saturday as lawmakers in Capitol Hill turn to the next flashpoint in negotiations to reopen the government: whether to impose new limits on federal immigration authorities carrying out President Trump’s deportation campaign.

    Over the next two weeks, Democrats and Republicans will weigh competing demands on how the Department of Homeland Security should carry out arrests, detention and deportations after the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents this month in Minnesota.

    Seeking to rein in the federal agency, Senate Democrats late on Thursday were able to strike a deal with the White House that would temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security but fund the Pentagon, the State Department, as well as the health, education, labor and transportation agencies through Sept. 30.

    The agreement is intended to give lawmakers more time to address Democratic demands to curb ICE tactics while averting a partial government shutdown.

    The Senate finalized the deal Friday evening on a 71-29 vote, hours before a midnight deadline to avert a government shutdown. Passage of the deal was delayed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who objected to parts of the package.

    The House expected to take up the legislation as early as Monday. The partial government shutdown will occur until the measure clears the House and Trump signs it into law.

    The president supports the deal, which came after Senate Democrats said they would not vote to fund Homeland Security unless reforms for the agency were approved. Among the demands: banning federal agents from wearing masks, requiring use of body cameras and requiring use of judicial warrants prior to searching homes and making arrests.

    Democrats have also demanded that local and state law enforcement officials be given the ability to conduct independent investigations in cases where federal agents are accused of wrongdoing.

    The deal, however, does not include any of those reforms; it includes only the promise of more time to negotiate with no guarantee that the new restrictions will be agreed to.

    Both of California’s Democratic senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, voted against the Senate deal. They both opposed giving more funding to Homeland Security without reforms in a vote Thursday.

    Schiff voted no because he said he promised to not “give another dime for ICE until we saw real reforms — and not just promised reforms but statutory requirements.”

    “I want to see those reforms before I am prepared to support any more funding for these agencies,” Schiff said in a video message posted on X, and added that he did not see the White House acting in “good faith. “I want it in writing and statute.”

    After voting against the measure, Padilla said in a statement: “I’ve been clear from the beginning: No more money for ICE and CBP without real oversight and accountability.”

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters Friday morning that Democrats will find out whether two weeks is enough time to reach a compromise.

    “We will evaluate whether that is sufficient time,” Jeffries said. “But there is urgency to dealing with this issue because ICE as we have seen is out of control.”

    Meanwhile, the absence of reforms in the Senate deal has already drawn concerns from some progressives, who argue the deal falls short of what is needed to rein in federal immigration enforcement.

    “First of all, I’m actually disappointed that Senate leadership is not right now demanding more,” Rep. Robert Garcia, a top-ranking House Democrat from Long Beach, told reporters Friday. “This idea that we’re somehow going to continue to fund this agency and somehow just extend the pain, I think is absolutely wrong.”

    Garcia said it was “outrageous” that the Senate deal would extend funding for Homeland Security for two weeks without any new requirements.

    “This idea that we’re somehow not demanding immediately the removal of masks and body cameras and all the other reforms while eliminating this agency that’s causing harm, I think, is outrageous,” Garcia said.

    Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of Pasadena said in a statement that she had not yet decided whether to support the Senate deal once it reaches the House floor.

    But, Chu added: “I cannot support legislation that increases funding to this agency while delivering no accountability measures.”

    Rep. Kevin Calvert (R-Corona) said in a statement that it is “critical” for lawmakers to pass the bipartisan spending package, in part because it included funding for the U.S. military.

    “As Chairman of the [House] Defense Appropriation Subcommittee, I’m especially concerned about the negative impacts of a shutdown at a time when we have a buildup of American military assets in the Middle East,” Calvert said.

    Calvert added that Homeland Security operations will continue even in the shutdown because lawmakers provided an influx of funding for the agency in last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” But he said he worried that any lapse in funding would affect other operations by the agency, including disaster funding and security assistance for major events, such as the upcoming World Cup.

    “We need to get these priorities funded,” he said.

    Other Republican lawmakers have already signaled the possible hurdles Democrats will face as they try to rein in ICE.

    Graham held up consideration of the Senate deal, in part because he wanted the Senate to vote to criminalize local and state officials in sanctuary cities — a term that has no strict definition but that generally describes local jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

    “You can convince me that ICE can be better, but I don’t think I will ever convince you to abandon sanctuary cities because you’re wedded to it on the Democratic side,” Graham said.

    Graham also delayed passage of the deal because it included a repeal of a law that would have allowed senators — including himself — to sue the government if federal investigators gained access to their phones without notifying them. The law required senators to be notified if that were to happen and sue for up to $50,000 in damages per incident.

    “We’ll fix the $500,000 — count me in — but you took the notification out,” Graham said. “I am demanding a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

    Other Senate Republicans also expressed concern with Democrats’ demands, even as Trump seemed to try appease them.

    Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said the demand for federal agents to remove their masks during operations was a “clear and obvious attempt to intimidate and put our federal agents in harm’s way.”

    “When enforcement becomes dangerous for enforcers, enforcement does not survive,” Schmitt said in a Senate floor speech. “What emerges is not reform, it is amnesty by default.”

    Despite the GOP opposition, most Senate Republicans were poised to join Democrats on Friday and vote for the deal. But there is no certainty that they will join the minority party when negotiations resume in the coming weeks.

    Recent history suggests that bipartisan support at the outset does not guarantee a lasting deal, particularly when unresolved policy disputes remain. The last government shutdown tied to a debate over healthcare exposed how quickly negotiations can collapse when no agreement is reached.

    In November, a small group of Democrats voted with Republicans to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history with the promise of negotiating an extension to healthcare tax credits that were set to expire in the new year.

    Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Franciso), a former House speaker, reminded the public on Friday that Democrats were unable to get Republican support for extending the tax credits, resulting in increasing healthcare costs for millions of Americans.

    “House Democrats passed a bipartisan fix, yet Senate Republicans continue to block this critical relief for millions of Americans,” Pelosi wrote in a post on X.

    Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.

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  • Border czar says ICE could drawdown in Minnesota as shutdown deadline looms

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    *** partial government shutdown is not inevitable at this point. Lawmakers are still negotiating. Immigration enforcement, however, has emerged as the flashpoint in these talks with Minnesota driving the standoff. White House border czar Tom Homan spoke for the first time since taking over immigration operations in Minnesota after federal agents killed two Americans. I’m not here because of The federal government has carried its mission out perfectly, Homan said. The administration will continue its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, but also said federal immigration authorities are working on *** plan that would remove agents from the state if local officials agree to cooperate with immigration enforcement. This is common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down. On the number of people we have here. Following those remarks, Minneapolis’ mayor pressed for the immigration operation to end immediately. It is less safe when we have roving bands of agents marching down the street just looking for somebody who might be concerned, and I’ve got to tell you, everybody is concerned when you have that kind of occupation on Capitol Hill, *** partial government shutdown inches closer, and Senate Democrats are making their own demands of immigration enforcement. What ICE is doing. Outside the law is state sanctioned thuggery, and it must stop. The Senate has until Friday to pass 6 spending bills, including for Homeland Security. The motion is not agreed to. *** failed vote on the package Thursday sets up *** potential last minute effort before the weekend. The president says his administration is speaking with lawmakers. Hopefully we won’t have *** shutdown. We’re working on that right now. I think we’re getting close. The Democrats, I don’t believe, want to see it either. Senator Schumer says they may vote to pass the other appropriations bills that do not include funding for Homeland Security. In Washington, I’m Christopher Sales.

    Border czar says ICE could drawdown in Minnesota as shutdown deadline looms

    Immigration enforcement in Minnesota has become a focal point in the ongoing negotiations to prevent a partial government shutdown, with Democrats demanding changes following recent deaths.

    Updated: 3:41 PM PST Jan 29, 2026

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    White House Correspondent

    White House border czar Tom Homan spoke for the first time since taking over immigration operations in Minnesota after two Americans were killed by federal agents.”I’m not here because the federal government has carried its mission out perfectly,” Homan said. “I do not want to hear that everything that’s been done here has been perfect. Nothing’s ever perfect.”He stated that the administration will continue its immigration crackdown in Minnesota but is working on a plan to remove agents if state and local officials agree to cooperate with immigration enforcement.”This is common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down on the number of people we have here,” Homan said.Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called for an immediate end to the immigration operation. “It is less safe when we have roving bands of agents marching down the street just looking for somebody who might be concerned. And I got to tell you, everybody is concerned when you have that kind of occupation,” Frey said.On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats are making demands regarding immigration enforcement. “What ICE is doing, outside the law, is state-sanctioned thuggery and it must stop,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader. As Congress faces a deadline to pass six appropriations bills, including funding for Homeland Security, immigration enforcement in Minnesota has become a central issue in the negotiations to prevent a partial government shutdown.The Senate has until Friday to pass six spending bills, including one for Homeland Security. A failed vote on the package Thursday sets up a potential last-minute vote before the weekend.Democrats have stated they will not support Homeland Security funding unless immigration enforcement changes, including requiring agents to identify themselves, obtain warrants for arrests, coordinate more closely with local law enforcement, and face stricter accountability when rules are violated. They argue these changes are necessary following the deaths in Minnesota.President Donald Trump expressed optimism about avoiding a shutdown. “Hopefully we won’t have a shutdown. We’re working on that right now, I think we’re getting close,” Trump said.Even a partial shutdown could have immediate impacts, with travelers potentially facing airport delays, hundreds of thousands of federal workers missing paychecks or working without pay, some federal loans being delayed, and key economic data like the monthly jobs report being put on hold.

    WASHINGTON —

    White House border czar Tom Homan spoke for the first time since taking over immigration operations in Minnesota after two Americans were killed by federal agents.

    “I’m not here because the federal government has carried its mission out perfectly,” Homan said. “I do not want to hear that everything that’s been done here has been perfect. Nothing’s ever perfect.”

    He stated that the administration will continue its immigration crackdown in Minnesota but is working on a plan to remove agents if state and local officials agree to cooperate with immigration enforcement.

    “This is common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down on the number of people we have here,” Homan said.

    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called for an immediate end to the immigration operation. “It is less safe when we have roving bands of agents marching down the street just looking for somebody who might be concerned. And I got to tell you, everybody is concerned when you have that kind of occupation,” Frey said.

    On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats are making demands regarding immigration enforcement. “What ICE is doing, outside the law, is state-sanctioned thuggery and it must stop,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader.

    As Congress faces a deadline to pass six appropriations bills, including funding for Homeland Security, immigration enforcement in Minnesota has become a central issue in the negotiations to prevent a partial government shutdown.

    The Senate has until Friday to pass six spending bills, including one for Homeland Security. A failed vote on the package Thursday sets up a potential last-minute vote before the weekend.

    Democrats have stated they will not support Homeland Security funding unless immigration enforcement changes, including requiring agents to identify themselves, obtain warrants for arrests, coordinate more closely with local law enforcement, and face stricter accountability when rules are violated. They argue these changes are necessary following the deaths in Minnesota.

    President Donald Trump expressed optimism about avoiding a shutdown. “Hopefully we won’t have a shutdown. We’re working on that right now, I think we’re getting close,” Trump said.

    Even a partial shutdown could have immediate impacts, with travelers potentially facing airport delays, hundreds of thousands of federal workers missing paychecks or working without pay, some federal loans being delayed, and key economic data like the monthly jobs report being put on hold.

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  • Democrats poised to trigger government shutdown if White House won’t meet demands for ICE reform

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    Senate Democrats are threatening to block legislation that would fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies Thursday, potentially bringing the government a step closer to a partial shutdown if Republicans and the White House do not agree to new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement.As the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, irate Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands ahead of a Thursday morning test vote, including that officers take off their masks and identify themselves and obtain warrants for arrest. If those are not met, Democrats say they are prepared to block the wide-ranging spending bill, denying Republicans the votes they need to pass it and triggering a shutdown at midnight on Friday.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Democrats won’t provide needed votes until U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “reined in and overhauled.”“The American people support law enforcement, they support border security, they do not support ICE terrorizing our streets and killing American citizens,” Schumer said.There were some signs of possible progress as the White House has appeared open to trying to strike a deal with Democrats to avert a shutdown. The two sides were talking as of Wednesday evening, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who requested anonymity to speak about the private talks. One possible option discussed would be to strip the funding for the Homeland Security Department from the larger bill, as Schumer has requested, and extend it for a short period to allow time for negotiations, the person said. The rest of the bill would fund government agencies until September.Still, with no agreement yet and an uncertain path ahead, the standoff threatened to plunge the country into another shutdown just two months after Democrats blocked a spending bill over expiring federal health care subsidies, a dispute that closed the government for 43 days as Republicans refused to negotiate.That shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats broke away to strike a deal with Republicans, but Democrats are more unified this time after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents.Democrats lay out their demandsThere’s a lot of “unanimity and shared purpose” within the Democratic caucus, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said after a lunch meeting Wednesday.“Boil it all down, what we are talking about is that these lawless ICE agents should be following the same rules that your local police department does,” Smith said. “There has to be accountability.”Amid the administration’s immigration crackdown, Schumer said Democrats are asking the White House to “end roving patrols” in cities and coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests, including requiring tighter rules for warrants.Democrats also want an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held accountable when they violate rules. Schumer said agents should be required to have “masks off, body cameras on” and carry proper identification, as is common practice in most law enforcement agencies.The Democratic caucus is united in those “common sense reforms” and the burden is on Republicans to accept them, Schumer said, as he has pushed for the Homeland spending to be separated out to avoid a broader shutdown.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has indicated that he might be open to considering some of the Democrats’ demands, but he encouraged Democrats and the White House to talk and find agreement.Many obstacles to a dealAs the two sides negotiated, it was still unclear whether they could agree on anything that would satisfy Democrats who want Trump’s aggressive crackdown to end.The White House had invited some Democrats for a discussion to better understand their positions and avoid a partial government shutdown, a senior White House official said, but the meeting did not happen. The official requested anonymity to discuss the private invitation.The House passed the six remaining funding bills last week and sent them to the Senate as a package, making it more difficult to strip out the homeland security portion as Democrats have demanded. Republicans could break the package apart with the consent of all 100 senators or through a series of votes that would extend past the Friday deadline.Even if the Senate can resolve the issue, House Republicans have said they do not want any changes to the bill they have passed. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the president and ICE.“The package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,” according to the letter.Republican oppositionSeveral Republican senators have said they would be fine with Democrats’ request to separate the Homeland Security funds for further debate and pass the other bills in the package. But it might be more difficult to for Democrats to find broad GOP support for their demands on ICE.North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he’s OK with separating the bills, but is opposed to the Democrats’ proposal to require the immigration enforcement officers to unmask and show their faces, even as he blamed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for decisions that he said are “tarnishing” the agency’s reputation.“You know, there’s a lot of vicious people out there, and they’ll take a picture of your face, and the next thing you know, your children or your wife or your husband are being threatened at home,” Tillis said. “And that’s just the reality of the world that we’re in.”Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said that “what happened over the weekend is a tragedy,” but Democrats shouldn’t punish Americans with a shutdown and a “political stunt.”Democrats say they won’t back down.“It is truly a moral moment,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I think we need to take a stand.”___Associated Press writer Michelle Price in Washington contributed to this report.

    WASHINGTON —

    Senate Democrats are threatening to block legislation that would fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies Thursday, potentially bringing the government a step closer to a partial shutdown if Republicans and the White House do not agree to new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement.

    As the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, irate Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands ahead of a Thursday morning test vote, including that officers take off their masks and identify themselves and obtain warrants for arrest. If those are not met, Democrats say they are prepared to block the wide-ranging spending bill, denying Republicans the votes they need to pass it and triggering a shutdown at midnight on Friday.

    Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Democrats won’t provide needed votes until U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “reined in and overhauled.”

    “The American people support law enforcement, they support border security, they do not support ICE terrorizing our streets and killing American citizens,” Schumer said.

    There were some signs of possible progress as the White House has appeared open to trying to strike a deal with Democrats to avert a shutdown. The two sides were talking as of Wednesday evening, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who requested anonymity to speak about the private talks. One possible option discussed would be to strip the funding for the Homeland Security Department from the larger bill, as Schumer has requested, and extend it for a short period to allow time for negotiations, the person said. The rest of the bill would fund government agencies until September.

    Still, with no agreement yet and an uncertain path ahead, the standoff threatened to plunge the country into another shutdown just two months after Democrats blocked a spending bill over expiring federal health care subsidies, a dispute that closed the government for 43 days as Republicans refused to negotiate.

    That shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats broke away to strike a deal with Republicans, but Democrats are more unified this time after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents.

    Democrats lay out their demands

    There’s a lot of “unanimity and shared purpose” within the Democratic caucus, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said after a lunch meeting Wednesday.

    “Boil it all down, what we are talking about is that these lawless ICE agents should be following the same rules that your local police department does,” Smith said. “There has to be accountability.”

    Amid the administration’s immigration crackdown, Schumer said Democrats are asking the White House to “end roving patrols” in cities and coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests, including requiring tighter rules for warrants.

    Democrats also want an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held accountable when they violate rules. Schumer said agents should be required to have “masks off, body cameras on” and carry proper identification, as is common practice in most law enforcement agencies.

    The Democratic caucus is united in those “common sense reforms” and the burden is on Republicans to accept them, Schumer said, as he has pushed for the Homeland spending to be separated out to avoid a broader shutdown.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has indicated that he might be open to considering some of the Democrats’ demands, but he encouraged Democrats and the White House to talk and find agreement.

    Many obstacles to a deal

    As the two sides negotiated, it was still unclear whether they could agree on anything that would satisfy Democrats who want Trump’s aggressive crackdown to end.

    The White House had invited some Democrats for a discussion to better understand their positions and avoid a partial government shutdown, a senior White House official said, but the meeting did not happen. The official requested anonymity to discuss the private invitation.

    The House passed the six remaining funding bills last week and sent them to the Senate as a package, making it more difficult to strip out the homeland security portion as Democrats have demanded. Republicans could break the package apart with the consent of all 100 senators or through a series of votes that would extend past the Friday deadline.

    Even if the Senate can resolve the issue, House Republicans have said they do not want any changes to the bill they have passed. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the president and ICE.

    “The package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,” according to the letter.

    Republican opposition

    Several Republican senators have said they would be fine with Democrats’ request to separate the Homeland Security funds for further debate and pass the other bills in the package. But it might be more difficult to for Democrats to find broad GOP support for their demands on ICE.

    North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he’s OK with separating the bills, but is opposed to the Democrats’ proposal to require the immigration enforcement officers to unmask and show their faces, even as he blamed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for decisions that he said are “tarnishing” the agency’s reputation.

    “You know, there’s a lot of vicious people out there, and they’ll take a picture of your face, and the next thing you know, your children or your wife or your husband are being threatened at home,” Tillis said. “And that’s just the reality of the world that we’re in.”

    Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said that “what happened over the weekend is a tragedy,” but Democrats shouldn’t punish Americans with a shutdown and a “political stunt.”

    Democrats say they won’t back down.

    “It is truly a moral moment,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I think we need to take a stand.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Michelle Price in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • President Trump signs bill to reopen government, ending longest shutdown in US history

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    (CNN) — President Donald Trump late Wednesday signed a funding package to reopen the federal government, officially bringing a close to the longest shutdown in history.

    The final approval came hours after the House voted 222 to 209 to pass a deal struck between Republicans and centrist Senate Democrats that keeps the government running through January and ensures some key agencies will be funded for the remainder of fiscal year 2026.

    The agreement, which ended a record 43-day stalemate in Congress, will also reverse the mass federal layoffs carried out by Trump during the shutdown. It paves the way for paychecks to flow to government employees, as well as the resumption of critical food and nutrition services relied on by tens of millions of Americans.

    Trump on Wednesday night cast the legislation as a victory over Democrats, calling it “a clear message that we will never give in to extortion, because that’s what it was, they tried to extort.”

    “They didn’t want to do it the easy way,” he said from the Oval Office, attacking what he called “the extremists” in the Democratic Party. “They had to do it the hard way, and they look very bad.”

    The White House signing ceremony was attended by a range of Republican lawmakers and capped a four-day sprint to pass the funding bill, after eight Senate Democrats broke ranks to compromise with Republicans amid worries about the shutdown’s widening economic consequences.

    The deal guarantees an early December vote in the Senate on the expiring Obamacare subsidies that Democrats made the focus of their demands during the shutdown fight. But a vote to extend the subsidies is unlikely to succeed, a likelihood that’s driven intense blowback across the Democratic Party.

    Most congressional Democrats loudly protested the bill in the run-up to Wednesday’s vote over concerns Americans’ health care premiums will skyrocket without the subsidies, with only six House Democrats voting in favor of the package.

    “This fight is not over. We’re just getting started,” top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said ahead of the vote. “Tens of millions of Americans are at risk of being unable to afford to go see a doctor when they need it.”

    Back in Washington for the first time since mid-September, Speaker Mike Johnson corralled almost all Republicans behind the bill, despite sharp complaints from some of his members over a contentious provision added by Senate Republicans that allowed senators to retroactively sue the Department of Justice for obtaining phone records during a Biden-era probe – potentially amounting to a major financial windfall for those lawmakers.

    Johnson himself said he was blindsided by the language, and he said he didn’t know about it until the Senate had already passed the package.

    “I was shocked by it, I was angry about it,” the speaker said, though he added that he did not believe Senate Majority Leader John Thune added it in a nefarious manner. “I think it was a really bad look, and we’re going to fix it in the House.”

    To win over conservative holdouts, Johnson vowed that the House would take a future vote to strip that language — though it’s unclear if the Senate would take it up. Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas ultimately agreed not to amend the language in the current stopgap bill, since it would require the Senate to return to Washington to vote again and delay the end of the shutdown.

    Conservatives like Roy had blasted that provision as “self-dealing,” since it would award senators $500,000 or more in damages for each violation by the government if their lawsuit is successful. The amendment appeared to benefit eight senators in particular who had been subpoenaed by the previous administration into investigations into Trump’s first term.

    Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations panel, accused those eight senators of voting “to shove taxpayer dollars into their own pockets – $500,000 for each time their records were inspected.”

    The House Democrats who voted in favor of the compromise bill to reopen the government were: Reps. Jared Golden, Adam Gray, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Henry Cuellar, Tom Suozzi and Don Davis. GOP Reps. Thomas Massie voted and Greg Steube against the bill.

    The end of the government shutdown will usher in a frenetic few weeks of work for the House, which has been largely shuttered since late September. As part of the GOP’s pressure campaign on Democrats, Johnson had decided to keep all members out of Washington until Senate Democrats agreed to back the GOP’s existing funding plan.

    Now, Republicans and Democrats have just four weeks in session before the end of the year — when those Obamacare tax credits expire. Trump has called for revamping the law rather than extending the existing subsidies, setting up a high-stakes showdown over health care that could carry political ramifications for next year’s midterm elections.

    “Obamacare was a disaster,” Trump said Wednesday night. “We’ll work on something having to do with health care. We can do a lot better.”

    But there are plenty of other deadlines, including Congress’ farm bill and a slew of expiring energy credits.

    House Republicans are also eager to pass as many spending bills as possible to improve their negotiating stance with the Senate ahead of that next deadline on January 30.

    Johnson also faces another hot-button issue: the question of how Congress should handle the Jeffrey Epstein files.

    Not long before the votes to reopen the government got underway, a newly elected Democrat — Rep. Adelita Grijalva — became the critical 218th signature to force a vote to compel the Justice Department to release all of its case files related to Epstein.

    Johnson announced to reporters soon after Grijalva signed the petition that he will put a bill compelling the Department of Justice to release all of its Epstein case files on the House floor next week – earlier than expected, and after an extraordinary White House pressure campaign earlier Wednesday failed to convince any Republicans to remove their name from the petition.

    The effort coincided with intensifying scrutiny over the Epstein files in the House. Earlier Wednesday, House Democrats on the Oversight panel released new emails that showed Epstein had repeatedly mentioned Trump by name in private correspondence, and then the GOP-led committee released 200,000 pages of documents the panel received from Epstein’s estate.

    This headline and story have been updated with additional details.

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    Sarah Ferris and CNN

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  • Senate votes to end government shutdown, sending funding bill to the House

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    (CNN) — A small band of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans on Monday night to approve a funding measure to reopen the federal government — without securing their party’s demand to guarantee an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which help millions of Americans afford insurance.

    The funding compromise will now go to the House, where GOP leaders are hopeful it could pass as soon as Wednesday and end the longest-ever US shutdown. The recently struck deal, which President Donald Trump is expected to sign, would restore critical services like federal food aid, as well as pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

    Eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus crossed the aisle to join with Republicans in the 60 to 40 vote. One Republican voted in opposition: Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

    That shutdown has been politically painful on Capitol Hill. Republicans have repeatedly shouldered blame in recent polling for the funding lapse. And the deal, struck by Democratic centrists in the Senate, has ignited a fight within the party about its strategy in the already 41-day funding fight — and where they go next.

    Most Democrats were eager to keep fighting even as centrists declared that with Trump dug in, there was no real chance of securing policy wins on health care. Instead, those centrists secured the promise of a future vote on a health care bill of their choosing, which Democrats are determined to win GOP support on. It is far from guaranteed, however, that the bill will survive the Senate, let alone the House.

    The vote late Monday night caps a frenetic few days of negotiations inside the US Capitol, with quiet negotiations between the Senate centrists, GOP leaders and the White House throughout the weekend before formally unveiling their deal on Sunday. A bloc of eight members of the Democratic caucus took a critical first step to support that measure Sunday night, and all eight gave it final approval on Monday night.

    Those eight lawmakers were: Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jeanne Shaheen, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, Jacky Rosen and Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

    While he did not vote for the final deal, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has drawn fury from the party’s left for allowing those centrists to strike the deal without any real wins on the Affordable Care Act subsidies that will soon expire and hike premiums for millions of Americans.

    Many Democrats in both chambers believe the party will be forced to relive the fight again on January 30, when the next tranche of funding runs out. The broader legislative package, however, would fund several key agencies, including ones that run federal food aid, as well as the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program, and veterans programs, through the remainder of fiscal year 2026.

    The floor of the US Senate is seen here on November 10. Credit: Senate TV via CNN Newsource

    Now, attention will turn to House Speaker Mike Johnson and members of the House, who are making their way to Washington after being in their districts since mid-September.

    The House plans to vote on the Senate-passed bill to reopen the federal government as early as 4 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer. The notice forecasts multiple votes that day.

    The Republican speaker is likely to need the president’s help to muscle the package through his fractious conference in the coming days. But in an optimistic sign Monday, Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins “I would say so” when asked if he personally approved of the deal making its way through the process on Capitol Hill.

    “I think, based on everything I’m hearing, they haven’t changed anything, and we have support from enough Democrats, and we’re going to be opening up our country,” Trump said. “It’s too bad it was closed, but we’ll be opening up our country very quickly.”

    CNN’s Ellis Kim contributed to this report.

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    Sarah Ferris, Morgan Rimmer and CNN

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  • Senate advances deal to reopen government after centrist Democrats strike major deal to end shutdown

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    (CNN) — A critical bloc of eight Senate Democratic centrists on Sunday helped advance a funding deal to reopen the government in exchange for a future vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care subsidies, putting Congress on a path to end the longest shutdown in US history within days.

    That deal would include a new stopgap measure to extend government funding until January and be tied to a larger package to fully fund several key agencies. It includes no guarantee from Republicans to extend the health care subsidies that have been at the heart of the funding fight.

    What Democrats did secure is a future vote on the matter. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the chamber floor Sunday that he will hold a vote on a measure to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits by the middle of next month. Democrats involved in the talks believe that will give enough time for House and Senate GOP leaders to negotiate a true compromise in the coming weeks, though it would be a major lift to get through a Republican-controlled Congress.

    Despite the outrage from the rest of the Senate Democratic Caucus, GOP leaders are determined to move the funding measure quickly through Congress and to President Donald Trump’s desk in the coming days. Once Trump has signed it into law, it’s still not clear how quickly agencies can restore services for the tens of millions of Americans facing shutdown pain, from the loss of federal food aid to child care closures to delayed paychecks. Senate GOP leaders have not yet scheduled a final passage vote.

    “I am optimistic that after almost six weeks of this shutdown, we’ll finally be able to end it,” Thune declared from the Senate floor on Day 40 of the funding lapse.

    An exasperated Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado voted no on the deal but argued that his colleagues who supported it did not “cave” and instead were doing “what they feel is helping the most number of people.”

    “There’s no good solution,” Hickenlooper said, adding that some of his colleagues believe Trump will “stop at nothing to prevent that subsidy from being restored.” He added: “I voted no just because … piss off, I’m just frustrated. We tried it and now we’re going to use every other tool. We’re not going to quit.”

    Once the Senate has given final approval to the funding measure, it heads to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson must muscle the deal through a fractious GOP conference — likely with help from Trump himself. It’s not yet clear how many House Democrats will help Johnson with that job.

    Behind the scenes, Senate Democrats who backed the deal to reopen the government say Trump’s increasing opposition in recent days to extending the Obamacare subsidies forced them to change their position and accept a compromise to end an indefinite government shutdown, according to sources familiar with their thinking.

    They believe that Democrats have an upper hand on the issue of health care and that a separate health care vote will spotlight the differences between the two parties, even though it has little chance of becoming law. And they’re not ruling out another shutdown showdown in January, when the next tranche of funding expires (though critical programs such as food aid and WIC will already be funded, to lessen the pain for millions of Americans).

    Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a retiring Democrat from New Hampshire, said Republicans made clear repeatedly over recent months that “this was the only deal on the table.”

    “Now I understand that not all of my Democratic colleagues are satisfied with this agreement, but waiting another week or another month wouldn’t deliver a better outcome.”

    Asked whether Democrats would willing to vote down the next funding measure on January 30 if Congress fails to deliver a health care fix by then, Shaheen said: “That’s certainly an option that everybody will consider.”

    The deal, which has been in the works for the last five weeks, came together between three former governors — Shaheen of New Hampshire, Angus King of Maine and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire — along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House. Details of the deal were first reported by CNN.

    One of those Democrats involved is Sen. Tim Kaine, who represents thousands of federal workers in Virginia and who said he supports the GOP’s promise for a future vote on the subsidies.

    “Lawmakers know their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will,” Kaine said of GOP senators who choose not to support extending the subsidies.

    And importantly for Kaine, Democrats also secured an agreement from the White House to reverse its mass firings of federal workers during the shutdown, as well as protections against them happening the rest of this fiscal year. It also guarantees all federal workers will be paid for time during the shutdown.

    But inside the Democratic Party, the funding deal has exposed a deep divide. Liberal senators were fuming at their colleagues for backing the deal, with House Democratic leaders vowing to “fight” the deal in the House.

    Senate Democratic leadership was split on the vote, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer opposing the deal while his No. 2, retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, supported it.

    But some liberal senators have fiercely opposed the plan, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

    “For me, it’s no deal without health care,” Blumenthal said, voicing a widespread sentiment in the Democratic caucus. “So far as I’m concerned, health care isn’t included, and so I’ll be a no.”

    Even some centrist-leaning Democrats, like Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, voiced concerns with the idea on Sunday night.

    “I was involved for many weeks, and then over the last couple of weeks, it changed — last week it changed,” Slotkin said, noting that she was no longer involved in talks in recent days. “But I always said, like, it’s got to do something concrete on health care, and it’s hard to see how that happened.”

    Across the Capitol, House Democratic leaders sharply condemned the deal. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his caucus “will not support spending legislation advanced by Senate Republicans that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” adding: “We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives.”

    One member, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, took to X on Sunday night calling for Schumer to be replaced. “Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” Khanna wrote.

    House Democrats plan to have their own caucus huddle on Monday, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

    The broader legislative package would include three full-year appropriations bills that deal with military construction and veterans affairs, the legislative branch and the Department of Agriculture. That includes $203.5 million in new funding to enhance security measures and protection for members of Congress in addition to $852 million for US Capitol Police, per a summary of the bill to fund the legislative branch provided by top Democratic appropriator Sen. Patty Murray.

    The next step after Sunday night’s vote is a vote on the full measure, which includes the larger funding package negotiated between the two parties and a stopgap through January 30.

    The Senate would first vote to take up the House-passed stopgap measure, which means eight Democrats would need to support it for it to advance. Then, the Senate would amend that bill with the larger funding package negotiated between the two parties.

    Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who has voted on the GOP funding plan throughout the shutdown and criticized his own party’s stance, said Sunday that it is time to ”take the win.”

    Vote yes, he said, “and then we can find a way to lower our costs about health care.”

    This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

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    Manu Raju, Ted Barrett, Alison Main, Sarah Ferris and CNN

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  • Vance says troops will be paid as pressure builds on Congress to end the shutdown

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    Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday he believes U.S. military members will be paid at the end of the week, though he did not specify how the Trump administration will reconfigure funding as pain from the second-longest shutdown spreads nationwide.The funding fight in Washington gained new urgency this week as millions of Americans face the prospect of losing food assistance, more federal workers miss their first full paycheck and recurring delays at airports snarl travel plans.“We do think that we can continue paying the troops, at least for now,” Vance told reporters after lunch with Senate Republicans at the Capitol. “We’ve got food stamp benefits that are set to run out in a week. We’re trying to keep as much open as possible. We just need the Democrats to actually help us out.”The vice president reaffirmed Republicans’ strategy of trying to pick off a handful of Senate Democrats to vote for stopgap funding to reopen the government. But nearly a month into the shutdown, it hasn’t worked. Just before Vance’s visit, a Senate vote on legislation to reopen the government failed for the 13th time.Federal employee union calls for end to shutdownThe strain is building on Democratic lawmakers to end the impasse. That was magnified by the nation’s largest federal employee union, which on Monday called on Congress to immediately pass a funding bill and ensure workers receive full pay. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the two political parties have made their point.”It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship,” said Kelley, whose union carries considerable political weight with Democratic lawmakers.Still, Democratic senators, including those representing states with many federal workers, did not appear ready to back down. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said he was insisting on commitments from the White House to prevent the administration from mass firing more workers. Democrats also want Congress to extend subsidies for health plans under the Affordable Care Act.“We’ve got to get a deal with Donald Trump,” Kaine said.But shutdowns grow more painful the longer they go. Soon, with closures lasting a fourth full week as of Tuesday, millions of Americans are likely to experience the difficulties firsthand.“This week, more than any other week, the consequences become impossible to ignore,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, chair of the House Republican Conference.How will Trump administration reconfigure funds?The nation’s 1.3 million active duty service members were at risk of missing a paycheck on Friday. Earlier this month, the Trump administration ensured they were paid by shifting $8 billion from military research and development funds to make payroll. Vance did not say Tuesday how the Department of Defense will cover troop pay this time.Larger still, the Trump administration says funding will run out Friday for the food assistance program that is relied upon by 42 million Americans to supplement their grocery bills. The administration has rejected the use of more than $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits flowing into November. And it says states won’t be reimbursed if they temporarily cover the cost of benefits next month.A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Massachusetts that aims to keep SNAP benefits flowing by compelling the Agriculture Department to use the SNAP contingency funds.Vance said that reconfiguring funds for various programs such as SNAP was like “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with the budget.”The Agriculture Department says the contingency fund is intended to help respond to emergencies such as natural disasters. Democrats say the decision concerning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, goes against the department’s previous guidance concerning its operations during a shutdown.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the administration made an intentional choice not to the fund SNAP in November, calling it an “act of cruelty.”Another program endangered by the shutdown is Head Start, with more than 130 preschool programs not getting federal grants on Saturday if the shutdown continues, according to the National Head Start Association. All told, more than 65,000 seats at Head Start programs across the country could be affected.Judge blocks firingsA federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying that labor unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated.U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction that bars the firings while a lawsuit challenging them plays out. She had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the job cuts that was set to expire Wednesday.Federal agencies are enjoined from issuing layoff notices or acting on notices issued since the government shut down Oct. 1. Illston said that her order does not apply to notices sent before the shutdown.Will lawmakers find a solution?At the Capitol, congressional leaders mostly highlighted the challenges many Americans are facing as a result of the shutdown. But there was no movement toward negotiations as they attempted to lay blame on the other side of the political aisle.“Now government workers and every other American affected by this shutdown have become nothing more than pawns in the Democrats’ political games,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.The House passed a short-term continuing resolution on Sept. 19 to keep federal agencies funded. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of legislative session ever since, saying the solution is for Democrats to simply accept that bill.But the Senate has consistently fallen short of the 60 votes needed to advance that spending measure. Democrats insist that any bill to fund the government also address health care costs, namely the soaring health insurance premiums that millions of Americans will face next year under plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.Window-shopping for health plans delayedWhen asked about his strategy for ending the shutdown, Schumer said that millions of Americans will begin seeing on Saturday how much their health insurance is going up next year.“People in more than 30 states are going to be aghast, aghast when they see their bills,” Schumer said. “And they are going to cry out, and I believe there will be increased pressure on Republicans to negotiate.”The window for enrolling in ACA health plans begins Saturday. In past years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has allowed Americans to preview their health coverage options about a week before open enrollment. But, as of Tuesday, Healthcare.gov appeared to show 2025 health insurance plans and estimated prices, instead of next year’s options.Republicans insist they will not entertain negotiations on health care until the government reopens.“I’m particularly worried about premiums going up for working families,” said Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa. “So we’re going to have that conversation, but we’re not going to have it until the government opens.”___Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

    WASHINGTON —

    Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday he believes U.S. military members will be paid at the end of the week, though he did not specify how the Trump administration will reconfigure funding as pain from the second-longest shutdown spreads nationwide.

    The funding fight in Washington gained new urgency this week as millions of Americans face the prospect of losing food assistance, more federal workers miss their first full paycheck and recurring delays at airports snarl travel plans.

    “We do think that we can continue paying the troops, at least for now,” Vance told reporters after lunch with Senate Republicans at the Capitol. “We’ve got food stamp benefits that are set to run out in a week. We’re trying to keep as much open as possible. We just need the Democrats to actually help us out.”

    The vice president reaffirmed Republicans’ strategy of trying to pick off a handful of Senate Democrats to vote for stopgap funding to reopen the government. But nearly a month into the shutdown, it hasn’t worked. Just before Vance’s visit, a Senate vote on legislation to reopen the government failed for the 13th time.

    Federal employee union calls for end to shutdown

    The strain is building on Democratic lawmakers to end the impasse. That was magnified by the nation’s largest federal employee union, which on Monday called on Congress to immediately pass a funding bill and ensure workers receive full pay. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the two political parties have made their point.

    “It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship,” said Kelley, whose union carries considerable political weight with Democratic lawmakers.

    Still, Democratic senators, including those representing states with many federal workers, did not appear ready to back down. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said he was insisting on commitments from the White House to prevent the administration from mass firing more workers. Democrats also want Congress to extend subsidies for health plans under the Affordable Care Act.

    “We’ve got to get a deal with Donald Trump,” Kaine said.

    But shutdowns grow more painful the longer they go. Soon, with closures lasting a fourth full week as of Tuesday, millions of Americans are likely to experience the difficulties firsthand.

    “This week, more than any other week, the consequences become impossible to ignore,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, chair of the House Republican Conference.

    How will Trump administration reconfigure funds?

    The nation’s 1.3 million active duty service members were at risk of missing a paycheck on Friday. Earlier this month, the Trump administration ensured they were paid by shifting $8 billion from military research and development funds to make payroll. Vance did not say Tuesday how the Department of Defense will cover troop pay this time.

    Larger still, the Trump administration says funding will run out Friday for the food assistance program that is relied upon by 42 million Americans to supplement their grocery bills. The administration has rejected the use of more than $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits flowing into November. And it says states won’t be reimbursed if they temporarily cover the cost of benefits next month.

    A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Massachusetts that aims to keep SNAP benefits flowing by compelling the Agriculture Department to use the SNAP contingency funds.

    Vance said that reconfiguring funds for various programs such as SNAP was like “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with the budget.”

    The Agriculture Department says the contingency fund is intended to help respond to emergencies such as natural disasters. Democrats say the decision concerning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, goes against the department’s previous guidance concerning its operations during a shutdown.

    Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the administration made an intentional choice not to the fund SNAP in November, calling it an “act of cruelty.”

    Another program endangered by the shutdown is Head Start, with more than 130 preschool programs not getting federal grants on Saturday if the shutdown continues, according to the National Head Start Association. All told, more than 65,000 seats at Head Start programs across the country could be affected.

    Judge blocks firings

    A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying that labor unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated.

    U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction that bars the firings while a lawsuit challenging them plays out. She had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the job cuts that was set to expire Wednesday.

    Federal agencies are enjoined from issuing layoff notices or acting on notices issued since the government shut down Oct. 1. Illston said that her order does not apply to notices sent before the shutdown.

    Will lawmakers find a solution?

    At the Capitol, congressional leaders mostly highlighted the challenges many Americans are facing as a result of the shutdown. But there was no movement toward negotiations as they attempted to lay blame on the other side of the political aisle.

    “Now government workers and every other American affected by this shutdown have become nothing more than pawns in the Democrats’ political games,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

    The House passed a short-term continuing resolution on Sept. 19 to keep federal agencies funded. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of legislative session ever since, saying the solution is for Democrats to simply accept that bill.

    But the Senate has consistently fallen short of the 60 votes needed to advance that spending measure. Democrats insist that any bill to fund the government also address health care costs, namely the soaring health insurance premiums that millions of Americans will face next year under plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

    Window-shopping for health plans delayed

    When asked about his strategy for ending the shutdown, Schumer said that millions of Americans will begin seeing on Saturday how much their health insurance is going up next year.

    “People in more than 30 states are going to be aghast, aghast when they see their bills,” Schumer said. “And they are going to cry out, and I believe there will be increased pressure on Republicans to negotiate.”

    The window for enrolling in ACA health plans begins Saturday. In past years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has allowed Americans to preview their health coverage options about a week before open enrollment. But, as of Tuesday, Healthcare.gov appeared to show 2025 health insurance plans and estimated prices, instead of next year’s options.

    Republicans insist they will not entertain negotiations on health care until the government reopens.

    “I’m particularly worried about premiums going up for working families,” said Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa. “So we’re going to have that conversation, but we’re not going to have it until the government opens.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

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  • ‘Everyone is doing well’: President Trump praises economy amid layoffs, potential SNAP crisis

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    ‘Everyone is doing well’: President Trump praises economy amid layoffs, potential SNAP crisis

    President Trump promotes economic prosperity during his visit to Japan, while layoffs and a federal shutdown threaten millions back in the U.S.

    Updated: 3:03 PM PDT Oct 28, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ


    White House Correspondent

    President Donald Trump is promoting Japanese companies investing $550 billion in the United States while visiting the East Asian country. The president said the funds would be “at my direction” as part of a trade framework secured with Japan. The president also boasted about the U.S. economy, despite contrasting economic challenges.”Well, everyone in our country is now doing well. My first term, we built the greatest economy in the history of the world. We had an economy like nobody has seen before now. We’re doing it again, but this time, actually, it’s going to be much bigger, much stronger,” Trump said.The president highlighted the stock market reaching all-time highs, but economists point to other indicators that tell a different story. Amazon announced it is cutting 14,000 jobs, UPS is eliminating roughly 48,000 positions and closing more than 90 buildings as part of a turnaround plan, and Target, Ford, and GM have also announced layoffs amid slowing demand. Additionally, the federal government shutdown threatens food aid benefits for more than 40 million Americans as soon as Nov. 1, and September’s CPI data showed prices are rising again just as the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to support the economy.”I don’t really understand the optimism to be perfectly honest, and I’m a very optimistic, very little of a ‘doomer’ person. We’ve had seven months in a row of contractions and manufacturing output. The labor market cooled to such an extent that it forced the Fed to cut rates in September,” said Jai Kedia from the Cato Institute.President Trump is preparing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid the ongoing U.S.–China trade war. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two countries have reached a “very successful framework” ahead of their summit, covering tariffs, rare-earth exports and large U.S. agricultural purchases.Meanwhile, 26 states and Washington, D.C., are suing the USDA, arguing the agency has contingency funds that could be used to maintain SNAP benefits during the shutdown. In a memo, the USDA stated that those funds can only be used for a natural disaster or other emergency, not to operate during a shutdown, and placed the blame on Senate Democrats, saying, “We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for the Far-Left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments.” The states argue the law requires the USDA to issue benefits as long as money is available.It comes after another failed vote occurred today in the Senate. A federal judge in San Francisco has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the government shutdown. This move comes as a lawsuit challenges recent job cuts in education, health, and other areas.For more coverage from the Washington News Bureau here:

    WASHINGTON —

    President Donald Trump is promoting Japanese companies investing $550 billion in the United States while visiting the East Asian country. The president said the funds would be “at my direction” as part of a trade framework secured with Japan.

    The president also boasted about the U.S. economy, despite contrasting economic challenges.

    “Well, everyone in our country is now doing well. My first term, we built the greatest economy in the history of the world. We had an economy like nobody has seen before now. We’re doing it again, but this time, actually, it’s going to be much bigger, much stronger,” Trump said.

    The president highlighted the stock market reaching all-time highs, but economists point to other indicators that tell a different story.

    Amazon announced it is cutting 14,000 jobs, UPS is eliminating roughly 48,000 positions and closing more than 90 buildings as part of a turnaround plan, and Target, Ford, and GM have also announced layoffs amid slowing demand.

    Additionally, the federal government shutdown threatens food aid benefits for more than 40 million Americans as soon as Nov. 1, and September’s CPI data showed prices are rising again just as the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to support the economy.

    “I don’t really understand the optimism to be perfectly honest, and I’m a very optimistic, very little of a ‘doomer’ person. We’ve had seven months in a row of contractions and manufacturing output. The labor market cooled to such an extent that it forced the Fed to cut rates in September,” said Jai Kedia from the Cato Institute.

    President Trump is preparing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid the ongoing U.S.–China trade war. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two countries have reached a “very successful framework” ahead of their summit, covering tariffs, rare-earth exports and large U.S. agricultural purchases.

    Meanwhile, 26 states and Washington, D.C., are suing the USDA, arguing the agency has contingency funds that could be used to maintain SNAP benefits during the shutdown.

    In a memo, the USDA stated that those funds can only be used for a natural disaster or other emergency, not to operate during a shutdown, and placed the blame on Senate Democrats, saying, “We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for the Far-Left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments.”

    The states argue the law requires the USDA to issue benefits as long as money is available.

    It comes after another failed vote occurred today in the Senate. A federal judge in San Francisco has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the government shutdown. This move comes as a lawsuit challenges recent job cuts in education, health, and other areas.

    For more coverage from the Washington News Bureau here:

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  • Senate Republicans head to White House as government shutdown enters fourth week

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    As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, Senate Republicans are headed to the White House on Tuesday — not for urgent talks on how to end it, but for a display of unity with President Donald Trump as they refuse to negotiate on any Democratic demands.Senate Democrats, too, are confident in their strategy to keep voting against a House-passed bill that would reopen the government until Republicans, including Trump, engage them on extending health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year.With both sides showing no signs of movement, it’s unclear how long the stalemate will last — even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers will miss another paycheck in the coming days and states are sounding warnings that key federal programs will soon lapse completely. And the meeting at the White House appears unlikely, for now, to lead to a bipartisan resolution as Senate Republicans are dug in and Trump has followed their lead.“I think the president’s ready to get involved on having the discussion” about extending the subsidies, said Senate Republican leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Monday. “But I don’t think they are prepared to do that until (Democrats) open up the government.”Missed paychecks and programs running out of moneyWhile Capitol Hill remains at a standstill, the effects of the shutdown are worsening. Federal workers are set to miss additional paychecks amid total uncertainty about when they might eventually get paid. Government services like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, and Head Start preschool programs that serve needy families are facing potential cutoffs in funding. On Monday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing 1,400 federal workers. The Federal Aviation Administration has reported air controller shortages and flight delays in cities across the United States.Still, there has been little urgency in Washington as each side believes the other will eventually cave.“Our position remains the same, we want to end the shutdown as soon as we can and fix the ACA premium crisis that looms over 20 million hardworking Americans,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Monday, referring to the expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire in December.Schumer called the White House meeting a “pep rally” and said it was “shameful” that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of town during the shutdown.November deadlinesMembers of both parties acknowledge that as the shutdown drags on, it is becoming less likely every day that Congress will be able to either extend the subsidies or fund the government through the regular appropriations process. The House GOP bill that Senate Democrats have now rejected 11 times would only keep the government open through Nov. 21.Thune on Monday hinted that Republicans may propose a longer extension of current funding instead of passing individual spending bills if the shutdown doesn’t end soon. Congress would need to pass an extension beyond Nov. 21, he said, “if not something on a much longer-term basis.”Democrats are focused on Nov. 1, when next year’s enrollment period for the ACA coverage begins and millions of people will sign up for their coverage without the expanded subsidy help that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once those sign-ups begin, they say, it would be much harder to restore the subsidies even if they did have a bipartisan compromise.“Very soon Americans are going to have to make some really difficult choices about which health care plan they choose for next year,” Schumer said.What about Trump?Tuesday’s White House meeting will be a chance for Republican senators to engage with the president on the shutdown after he has been more involved in foreign policy and other issues.The president last week dismissed Democratic demands as “crazy,” adding, “We’re just not going to do it.”North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said that Republican senators will talk strategy with the president at Tuesday’s lunch. “Obviously, we’ll talk to him about it, and he’ll give us his ideas, and we’ll talk about ours,” Hoeven said. “Anything we can do to try to get Democrats to join us” and pass the Republican bill to reopen the government, Hoeven said.Still, GOP lawmakers expect Trump to stay in line with their current posture to reject negotiations until the government is open.“Until they put something reasonable on the table to talk about, I don’t think there’s anything to talk about,” said Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy.Democrats say they believe Trump has to be more involved for the government to reopen.“He needs to get off the sidelines, get off the golf course,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “We know that House and Senate Republicans don’t do anything without getting permission from their boss, Donald J. Trump.”___Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves and Matt Brown contributed to this report.

    WASHINGTON —

    As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, Senate Republicans are headed to the White House on Tuesday — not for urgent talks on how to end it, but for a display of unity with President Donald Trump as they refuse to negotiate on any Democratic demands.

    Senate Democrats, too, are confident in their strategy to keep voting against a House-passed bill that would reopen the government until Republicans, including Trump, engage them on extending health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year.

    With both sides showing no signs of movement, it’s unclear how long the stalemate will last — even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers will miss another paycheck in the coming days and states are sounding warnings that key federal programs will soon lapse completely. And the meeting at the White House appears unlikely, for now, to lead to a bipartisan resolution as Senate Republicans are dug in and Trump has followed their lead.

    “I think the president’s ready to get involved on having the discussion” about extending the subsidies, said Senate Republican leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Monday. “But I don’t think they are prepared to do that until (Democrats) open up the government.”

    Missed paychecks and programs running out of money

    While Capitol Hill remains at a standstill, the effects of the shutdown are worsening. Federal workers are set to miss additional paychecks amid total uncertainty about when they might eventually get paid. Government services like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, and Head Start preschool programs that serve needy families are facing potential cutoffs in funding. On Monday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing 1,400 federal workers. The Federal Aviation Administration has reported air controller shortages and flight delays in cities across the United States.

    Still, there has been little urgency in Washington as each side believes the other will eventually cave.

    “Our position remains the same, we want to end the shutdown as soon as we can and fix the ACA premium crisis that looms over 20 million hardworking Americans,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Monday, referring to the expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire in December.

    Schumer called the White House meeting a “pep rally” and said it was “shameful” that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of town during the shutdown.

    November deadlines

    Members of both parties acknowledge that as the shutdown drags on, it is becoming less likely every day that Congress will be able to either extend the subsidies or fund the government through the regular appropriations process. The House GOP bill that Senate Democrats have now rejected 11 times would only keep the government open through Nov. 21.

    Thune on Monday hinted that Republicans may propose a longer extension of current funding instead of passing individual spending bills if the shutdown doesn’t end soon. Congress would need to pass an extension beyond Nov. 21, he said, “if not something on a much longer-term basis.”

    Democrats are focused on Nov. 1, when next year’s enrollment period for the ACA coverage begins and millions of people will sign up for their coverage without the expanded subsidy help that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once those sign-ups begin, they say, it would be much harder to restore the subsidies even if they did have a bipartisan compromise.

    “Very soon Americans are going to have to make some really difficult choices about which health care plan they choose for next year,” Schumer said.

    What about Trump?

    Tuesday’s White House meeting will be a chance for Republican senators to engage with the president on the shutdown after he has been more involved in foreign policy and other issues.

    The president last week dismissed Democratic demands as “crazy,” adding, “We’re just not going to do it.”

    North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said that Republican senators will talk strategy with the president at Tuesday’s lunch. “Obviously, we’ll talk to him about it, and he’ll give us his ideas, and we’ll talk about ours,” Hoeven said. “Anything we can do to try to get Democrats to join us” and pass the Republican bill to reopen the government, Hoeven said.

    Still, GOP lawmakers expect Trump to stay in line with their current posture to reject negotiations until the government is open.

    “Until they put something reasonable on the table to talk about, I don’t think there’s anything to talk about,” said Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy.

    Democrats say they believe Trump has to be more involved for the government to reopen.

    “He needs to get off the sidelines, get off the golf course,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “We know that House and Senate Republicans don’t do anything without getting permission from their boss, Donald J. Trump.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves and Matt Brown contributed to this report.

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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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  • 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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  • Thune steams while Democrats do the country a favor by slowing Trump’s nominees

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    U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, speaks at Dakotafest in Mitchell on Aug. 20, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune was hot under the collar. It wasn’t just because of the August weather, or the crowd at the Dakotafest agricultural trade show in Mitchell, or the pole barn where the crowd was jammed in. Thune was hot because of the way he’s being treated by Senate Democrats.

    Those pesky Democrats have thrown up as many roadblocks as they can to delay the filling of more than 1,300 positions in the Trump administration that require Senate confirmation. “We spend two-thirds of our time on personnel in the United States Senate,” Thune said, according to a Dakota Scout story, calling the resistance from the minority party “unprecedented.”

    In a recent op-ed, Thune promised that Senate Republicans are working on a rule change that should hurry the process along.

    Gone are the days of the Senate gentlemen’s club where the prevailing tradition was that a president should be allowed to have the nominees he wanted. Thune said 90% of President Barack Obama’s nominees were approved by unanimous consent, a fast way to approve nominees that skips committee hearings and floor debate. About 60% of President Joe Biden’s appointees were approved that way. In Trump’s first term, about half of his nominees were approved without hearings or debates.

    The downward trend in using unanimous consent is a direct result of the ideological split in this country. To date, none of Trump’s appointees during his second term have been approved by unanimous consent.

    The irony here is that Trump can’t get approval for the people he wants to serve in his administration while, during his first months in office, he’s been busy firing or furloughing thousands of federal government employees.

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has sworn to use every weapon in his arsenal to block the Trump agenda. It looks like that includes slowing the Senate confirmation process to a glacial pace.

    Senate Democrats may have acted more favorably toward Trump’s nominees if his Cabinet choices to be the leaders in his government weren’t so astoundingly unqualified. In Trump’s first term, he chose high-ranking officials as if casting a movie. They had to have the right look, but with the right look came a reasonable amount of competence. In Trump 2.0, the need for competence has been discarded. This time out, the prevailing quality to serve in the Trump administration is blind loyalty to the president.

    There’s no doubting that the likes of Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are loyal to Trump. Their competence at running the Pentagon, intelligence agencies and the nation’s health care are frequently and rightfully questioned. Life probably wouldn’t be so tough for Thune if he and his Senate Republican colleagues had shown some backbone and told the president that competence had to be the standard for Cabinet secretaries rather than just fawning loyalty to the president.

    SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

    It’s easy to understand Thune’s frustration. However, he and Senate Republicans brought this on themselves by treating Trump’s Cabinet selections as if they were serious choices rather than a presidential power play to show that he could get anyone he wanted approved by the Senate.

    This space has been used before to note that Thune may come to regret, if he doesn’t already, his rise to the top Senate leadership post of his party during a Trump administration. As he complains about the long days he has to put in while fulfilling that role, he should remember that he won the office by claiming that Sen. Tom Daschle was paying too much attention to Senate leadership and not enough attention to South Dakota’s needs.

    Senate Democrats may be throwing up roadblocks to Trump’s agenda, but for Republicans this is a self-inflicted wound developed by currying favor with the president rather than doing their jobs. Despite Thune’s complaints, the slow pace of approval for Trump’s nominees is likely what’s best for the country. That’s particularly the case if the nominees Trump seeks to work in his government are anything like the clown car he calls a Cabinet.

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  • Heinrich, Luján challenge Trump ‘targeting’ of DACA recipients for deportation

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    Supporters of the DACA program rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court, circa 2023. (Photo by Robin Bravender / States Newsroom)

    New Mexico Democratic U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján joined more than 40 Senate Democrats in calling upon U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem to make clear that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients have protection from deportation.

    DACA is a status conferred through a 2012 federal law that affords immigrants who were brought to the United States as children protection, also known as “dreamers,” from being deported for renewable two-year periods.

    According to a news release, the Sept. 3 letter to Noem stems from a statement made by DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in which she said, “Illegal aliens who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not automatically protected from deportation.”

    The senators’ letter notes that, “DACA was created to provide protections from immigration enforcement for certain noncitizens brought to the United States as children, also known as Dreamers, who undergo strict background checks and meet specific educational or work requirements. In contrast to Ms. McLaughlin’s puzzling statement, public DHS guidance makes clear that DACA holders are ‘not considered to be unlawfully present’ in the United States and that ‘[a]n individual who has received deferred action is authorized by DHS to be in the United States for the duration of the deferred action period.’”

    The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico recently sued Noem and other federal and local officials over the arrest and “indefinite” detention of a DACA recipient in a state immigrant detention facility.

    The letter urges Noem to correct McLaughlin’s statement “to accurately reflect DACA and ensure that DHS recognizes and abides by the protections of DACA moving forward.”

    Heinrich, Luján and other Senate Democrats also sent a letter earlier this year to the Trump administration pushing for it to reopen applications for DACA status, following a court ruling that paved the way for them to resume. In July, Heinrich introduced legislation to protect DACA recipients’ private information.

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  • Inside Congress’ warring factions over how to fund the government

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    Battle lines are emerging on Capitol Hill in the fight to avert a government shutdown in three weeks — and it’s not just Republicans vs. Democrats.

    On one side, fiscal hawks are joining with the White House to keep federal agencies running on static funding levels, ideally into January or longer. On the other, Democrats and some top Republicans want to punt no further than November to buy congressional negotiators more time to cut a cross-party compromise on fresh funding totals for federal programs.

    In the end, the standoff could hinge on Speaker Mike Johnson’s appetite for trying to pass a funding package backed by President Donald Trump but not Democrats, as he did in the spring — and whether Senate Democrats once again capitulate rather than see government operations grind to a halt on Oct. 1.

    “They jammed us last time,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a top appropriator, said in an interview. “And I am encouraging my Republican friends who want to do appropriations to understand that that won’t work this time.”

    Even more irate after Trump’s latest move to unilaterally cancel almost $5 billion in foreign aid through a so-called pocket rescission, Democrats are warning there will be a funding lapse if Republicans don’t negotiate with them. And while they’re being cautious not to box themselves in with ultimatums on funding totals or specific policy demands, they’re starting to flex their muscles by floating concessions Republicans could make in exchange for support across the aisle.

    That includes making a deal by the end of the year to head off the expiration of enhanced health insurance subsidies that would result in premium hikes come January for millions of Americans.

    There are glimmers of bipartisan talks happening behind the scenes: Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries recently discussed passing a short-term spending patch until November or December, though no decisions were made.

    And top House and Senate appropriators are gelling behind a hybrid approach: attempting a bill with a full year of updated funding levels for the USDA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and congressional operations, tied to a short-term extension for other agencies, to allow for more negotiations.

    But there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about a bipartisan funding deal coming together, with Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a senior appropriator, putting the odds of a shutdown at “50-50, perhaps higher.”

    As of late last week, the top Senate leaders — Republican John Thune and Democrat Chuck Schumer — haven’t yet spoken about the upcoming funding deadline, in a further sign that cross-party talks are still nascent.

    Meanwhile, House hard-liners, backed by some of their conservative Senate counterparts, appear to be digging in to demand a lengthy stopgap bill, rather than a short-term patch meant to facilitate a more comprehensive bipartisan funding measure down the road. One Republican, granted anonymity to share the conservative strategy, said fiscal hawks want a funding patch “to 2026” or for the entirety of the coming fiscal year “if we can get it.”

    Continually running the government on stopgaps is part of White House budget director Russ Vought’s strategy to shrink federal spending as he roots for the government funding process to be “less bipartisan.”

    Those kick-the-can funding bills give the White House more leeway to shift cash while depriving Democrats of any increases in non-defense funding and GOP defense hawks the military budget increases they seek. Then, using party-line measures like the domestic-policy megabill and the $9 billion clawbacks package Congress cleared this summer, Republicans can add or subtract funding without needing to rely on the votes of Senate Democrats.

    The White House predicts that Trump’s more recent, unilateral cancellation of $4.9 billion will only help build support among GOP fiscal hawks for a “clean” continuing resolution, or CR, that simply drags out current funding levels for weeks or months more. In this scenario, Democrats will have to fall in line, a White House official told reporters late last month after Trump nixed the foreign aid funding.

    “It’s very hard for me to believe that they’re going to oppose a clean CR that would cause them to be responsible for a government shutdown,” said the official, granted anonymity to speak candidly.

    The Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, Patty Murray of Washington, warned it won’t work for Republicans to blame Democrats: If the GOP goes it alone, she said last week, “well, then, that is a Republican shutdown.”

    Democrats are also still grappling with how the pocket rescission will factor into their government funding demands. Schatz called it a “point of friction” but added, “I’m not prepared to articulate any red lines to you.”

    Notwithstanding the administration’s latest attempt to revoke funding, setting static spending levels through next September would be a nonstarter for many members of both parties. For Democrats, going into next year with a stopgap bill would force them to give up their biggest point of leverage — another end-of-the-year government funding deadline — to try to get a deal on extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits that will expire Dec. 31.

    On the GOP side, some conservatives view a full-year stopgap bill as locking in spending levels set under President Joe Biden, while defense hawks warn that it undermines the military. Those GOP divisions would make it harder, if not impossible, for Johnson and the White House to try to repeat their go-it-alone playbook from the spring.

    Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he didn’t think a full-year, flat-funded spending bill would come to fruition: “We can talk about it all we want, we always do. Same plot, different actors.”

    Passage of a lengthy funding patch would especially sting for Republicans appropriators, who are quietly trying to retain relevance amid Trump’s escalating assault on Congress’ power through tactics to shift, freeze and cancel funding that lawmakers previously approved.

    House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, who consistently refrains from criticizing the president, told his underlings last week that the best way for lawmakers to protect Congress’ power of the purse is to negotiate a bipartisan funding agreement now, rather than fall back on a continuing resolution.

    “The way to be successful is, get a deal done. That’s what we need to do,” the Oklahoma Republican told fellow appropriators during a recent markup. “But please don’t have any illusions that we’re cavalierly surrendering our power.”

    Still, Cole hasn’t received the blessing of his leadership to begin cross-party negotiations.

    “We are in discussions now with the administration, with the Senate, about how to proceed,” he said. “We don’t have any final goal or deadline. But I would prefer to get this done sooner rather than later, and I don’t want another CR.”

    Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

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  • Nadler’s retirement reignites debate over advanced age of many in Congress

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    When Jerry Nadler announced his retirement this week, he opted to directly address a question that’s been roiling the Democratic Party since Joe Biden’s withering debate performance last year: How old is too old to run for office?

    The 78-year-old congressmember cited his age as a factor in his departure plans from a safe seat in New York City. And in doing so, he earned praise from some of the party’s younger agitators — though based on interviews, it’ll take more than a handful of elderly lawmakers like Nadler heeding their calls to step aside to repair the intra-party rift.

    As it is, the vast majority of Democrats who are 70 or older are publicly running for another House term.

    Against that backdrop, a trend of acknowledging the party’s age problem — often tacitly — is beginning to emerge, even as other senior members of the party are likely to stay put.

    Four House Democrats, including Nadler, and four Senate Democrats over the age of 65 have said this year that they are stepping down from Congress. A fifth House Democrat said he would retire from his home district if Texas’ proposed redistricting maps survive legal challenges. Democrats believe even more departures could be coming with a government shutdown deadline looming and lawmakers evaluating their futures after returning from their August recess.

    “These retirements are a great example of maturity from these leaders to make the difficult decision for them of knowing even after you’ve served somewhere for decades that it’s time for somebody else to lead,” Leaders We Deserve co-founder David Hogg said in an interview, specifically responding to Nadler’s news.

    But 25-year-old Hogg, who has become a leading voice for generational change within his party, also pledged to continue his plan to financially support some candidates who challenge older incumbent Democrats.

    “There is still more of a need for us to bring in some fresh blood into this party and help rejuvenate it,” he said, “and show people how the party is changing in the wake of a pretty major loss last election cycle.”

    More than 80 House members are 70 or older, a statistic younger Democrats like Hogg cite to underscore their argument that a party in turmoil needs generational change. Only one House member is in his 20s, and the vast majority of older congressional members are expected to run for reelection.

    Still, some Democrats who have announced their retirement have explicitly cited age as a factor.

    Nadler told the New York Times that “watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that.” Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky, 81, announced in the spring she wouldn’t seek reelection, saying, “It is now time for me to pass the baton” and this week praising the “new voices” as “so sharp, so articulate, so self-assured. It’s wonderful.”

    Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, 67, likewise said earlier this year that “it’s important that people in my position do what they can to lift up the next generation of leaders” when unveiling her retirement. And 83-year-old Illinois Rep. Danny Davis told supporters in July when he decided to retire that “this would be a great time to try and usher in new leadership.”

    As Democrats search for a path out of the political wilderness, they have faced a push for fresh faces from voters and activists who have urged their leaders to mount a more visible resistance to President Donald Trump. The impatience from younger Democrats has led several primary challengers to attempt to turn incumbents’ age into a liability. Three House Democrats have died in office this year, further fueling the contentious debate on the left.

    “The boomer generation has held on to some of these seats for a long time,” said New York City-based Democratic strategist Evan Thies. “And we saw in the last election that even very accomplished, highly competent and productive elder electeds are now at risk of not winning their elections simply because they’re older.”

    Even agitators like Hogg have carved out exceptions to their push to oust senior Democrats, which he insists is motivated by effectiveness and not solely age. Hogg, whose primary plans caused an uproar within the Democratic National Committee that culminated in his ouster as a party vice chair, has exempted Democratic luminaries like Nancy Pelosi, 85, from his anti-incumbent movement. And he has said the same of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 83, who still draws huge crowds even as he signals this term could be his last in the Senate.

    “Generational change has been underway in the House Democratic caucus for the last several years, and it’s something that every caucus member, regardless of which generation they find themselves in, has embraced,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, 55, told reporters Tuesday when asked about generational change and Nadler’s decision. “What the record shows is leadership to rank-and-file-members to committee positions, and at all points in between.”

    This year, House Democrats elevated a younger, rising star in the party, Rep. Robert Garcia, as their top member of the Oversight Committee, and Jeffries himself had participated in a changing of the guard when Pelosi stepped aside as speaker, along with her top lieutenants, Reps. Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, to make way for a younger trio.

    Rep. Jared Huffman took over as the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee from Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who stepped aside amid a cancer battle and later died. And Rep. Angie Craig won a caucus-wide election to be the top Agriculture Committee Democrat after Rep. David Scott also dropped his bid amid health questions.

    In a move that some younger Democrats have criticized, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has actively recruited older, well-known Democrats like former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in his long-shot bid to flip the upper chamber. Other Senate Democratic candidates are younger, including Rep. Chris Pappas, 45, in New Hampshire and the trio of Democrats running in Michigan.

    Some senior House Democrats are keeping others in the party guessing about their future plans. Two top members of the previous generation of House Democratic leadership — Pelosi and Hoyer — have been publicly noncommittal on their re-election plans, though Pelosi has filed for re-election. And others who have faced competitive primary challenges amid broader health questions, like Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), have said they’re still running for re-election.

    Hoyer spokesperson Margaret Mullkerrin said in a statement he was “focused on holding the Trump Administration accountable, protecting democracy at home and abroad, supporting federal employees and civil servants, and delivering for Maryland’s 5th District.”

    Jumaane Williams, the 49-year-old New York City Public Advocate, applauded Nadler for stepping down after “watching what happened to the country, particularly around President Biden.”

    “I think the party in general should be learning this lesson,” he said. “Hopefully, when it’s my turn, I have that lesson, too.”

    With additional reporting by Jeff Coltin and Shia Kapos.

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  • Biden Resistance Appears To Be Waning in Congress

    Biden Resistance Appears To Be Waning in Congress

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    Democrats may not believe Joe Biden is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump in November, but there seemed to be a grim resignation on Capitol Hill on Monday night that none were willing to take the steps that might actually push Biden to drop out. If Democrats could simply wave a magic wand to remove the president from the ticket, they would. But all they have are knives, and few are inclined to use them.

    The fretting was based on the calculus that while Biden was likely to lose if he remained on the ticket, an unsuccessful effort to oust him would just widen the margin of defeat (and the resulting down-ballot casualties). Many took an abstract view of the process as if it was some intellectual question that needed to be worked out on a blackboard. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told reporters “I think we are having an important national conversation and I am confident that the president will make a decision in the best interest of the country.” There was no sense that Biden has already announced that decision a number of times, including hours before in a letter to Congressional Democrats and again during a phone interview with Morning Joe.

    Fatalism gripped the Democratic Party on Monday, fueling a desire among many just to resolve all of this quickly. As one donor said “the longer it lingers, the worse it is going to be in November.” Only Joe Biden could really decide to remove himself from the ticket, and barring a shocking turn of events, he wasn’t going to relinquish that grip. In the meantime, the more the media feeding frenzy continued, the tougher it would be for Democrats in competitive races. After all, the last thing Democrats want to do is spend day after day answering questions about Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities, and until there was a definitive resolution, they wouldn’t have a choice. There would be no open convention, no Sorkinesque sacrifice — just another grim four months of plodding along with a flawed nominee.

    One senior Democratic aide invoked the T.S. Eliot line that became a cliche long before even Biden was born: “This won’t end with a bang but a whimper.”

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  • Senate Democrats Reintroduce Legislation to Legalize Marijuana – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news

    Senate Democrats Reintroduce Legislation to Legalize Marijuana – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news

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    Senate Democrats Reintroduce Legislation to Legalize Marijuana – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news




























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