On paper, Jon Ossoff has plenty of reasons to break party ranks as the government shutdown drags into a third week: The 38-year-old Georgian is the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for re-election next year and his home state has more than 81,000 federal workers at risk for furloughs and firings In reality, Ossoff is […]
A Democratic effort to pass a bill paying active-duty military members during the government shutdown was blocked on the House floor Friday by the GOP. The presiding Republican, Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois, gaveled a brief pro forma session to a close before Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.) could make a procedural move to try to […]
Speaker Mike Johnson expressed fresh skepticism Friday that a deal to extend Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies — a key Democratic demand amid the 10-day government shutdown — is within reach. Speaking on a rare joint call with House Freedom Caucus members Friday, Johnson said “it will take a lot of work to build […]
President Donald Trump is now the only person with the power to keep 1.3 million active-duty military members from missing their paychecks Wednesday after the Senate failed to act on spending legislation Thursday then left Washington for the long holiday weekend. If all active-duty troops are not paid on time, it would be a first […]
Lawmakers are desperately throwing around ideas on how to end the shutdown as it heads toward its third week — and as federal workers start feeling the hole in their paychecks Friday. The Senate officially headed home for the long weekend and will return Tuesday to vote for an eighth time on the GOP-led CR. […]
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 […]