For Mike Johnson, not showing up is the entire battle. The speaker made clear Thursday — eight days into the government shutdown — he is committed to keeping the House out of session as long as it takes to pressure Senate Democrats to act on the stopgap funding bill his chamber passed three weeks ago. […]
For Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the more the merrier. Despite the entry of Rep. Wesley Hunt into Texas’ ferocious GOP Senate primary, a new poll from a pro-Cornyn super PAC obtained by POLITICO shows the four-term incumbent Republican in the lead. The poll was conducted by Texans for a Conservative Majority in the days immediately […]
The Senate rejected dueling bills to fund the government for a seventh time Thursday, as the federal shutdown appears all but guaranteed to slide into a third week. Senators will vote again on the two stopgap measures as soon as Friday. But with no votes flipping since last week, there’s no sign that they are […]
The IRS is walking back guidance on back pay for staffers a day after the agency furloughed almost half its employees and suggested they would receive retroactive paychecks, according to an email obtained by POLITICO. “An earlier memo circulated on furlough guidance incorrectly stated the nature of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 […]
Speaker Mike Johnson told House Republicans on a private call Thursday that he doesn’t plan to put a standalone bill to pay troops up for a vote before they miss paychecks Oct. 15, arguing the Senate would kill that measure while Democrats also block an already-passed stopgap bill that includes servicemember pay. Johnson also made […]
The Senate broke a monthlong impasse on its annual defense policy bill and secured a deal that could see the legislation pass as soon as Thursday. Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) locked in an agreement on the floor to vote on 17 amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act, a substantial package of […]
Senate Majority Leader John Thune shot down speculation that Republicans would deploy the so-called nuclear option to break the funding stalemate. The idea has gained traction on social media, particularly among Democrats who already support getting rid of the 60-vote threshold needed for legislation. But it found a new footing when a sliver of GOP […]
Speaker Mike Johnson heard a plea from a military family to move legislation paying active-duty forces amid the government shutdown in a remarkable televised exchange Thursday. Johnson was already under pressure from a growing number of fellow House Republicans to pass legislation to prevent a potential missed paycheck due Oct. 15. But on C-SPAN, he […]
Rep. Ken Calvert, the House Republican in charge of defense funding, is throwing his weight behind a bipartisan bill that would allow members of the military to get paid during the government shutdown. It’s something of an act of defiance against GOP leaders who are now intimating they won’t allow a vote on such a […]
Chuck Schumer is winning over critics who bashed him for surrendering during this spring’s shutdown standoff. That could change fast. A POLITICO survey of Democratic lawmakers and activists finds that Schumer has exceeded their low expectations in the latest funding standoff. But they’re watching his actions closely, wary that Senate Democrats will cave if pressure […]