As Washington enters a government shutdown, the Trump administration has erected safeguards to ensure President Donald Trump’s most hardline priorities continue unscathed. Agencies central to Trump’s agenda are shielding certain programs by declaring the federal employees who work on them essential or sheltering them under already approved funding streams — designations that will allow them […]
The federal government shut down early Wednesday morning, setting up a potentially lengthy stand-off without a clear path forward to fund the government after top congressional leaders did not meet to try to find a last-minute deal in the hours before the shutdown. Leaders from both parties braced for an imminent shutdown by casting blame […]
Pope Leo XIV made a direct foray into U.S. politics Tuesday, offering measured support for the Chicago Archdiocese’s plan to honor Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who supports abortion rights, with a “lifetime achievement award” for his work on immigration policy. The pope’s comments to reporters come as anti-abortion advocates are condemning Chicago Archbishop […]
President Donald Trump posted another deepfake AI-generated video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday hours before the federal government is expected to shut down, further signaling the significant divide between the two parties. On Monday, Trump posted a vulgar AI-generated video of Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking outside the White […]
A government shutdown is now all but inevitable. Senators rejected dueling spending stopgap bills on Tuesday, including aHouse-passed continuing resolution that was the final off-ramp to avoid a government shutdown set to start at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. There’s no sign of any further breakthrough that could avert a shutdown before midnight — and even if […]
Republicans might be united on the public stage as they face off with Democrats ahead of a government shutdown. But a much more divisive internal fight waits in the wings. The year-end expiration of health insurance subsidies first created under the Affordable Care Act is already splitting the GOP, seeming to vindicate Democrats’ decision to […]
Democrats who have put health care at the center of their government funding demands have another motivation for not backing down ahead of a likely shutdown: ending President Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine Congress’ funding power. The fight to wrest control of the federal pursestrings has been ongoing for eight months, with lawmakers of both […]
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed the AI-generated deepfake video posted online by President Donald Trump Monday night as “racist and fake.” “Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video,” Jeffries told reporters Tuesday. “When I’m back in the Oval Office, […]
All signs point to the government shutting down at midnight Tuesday night. Just when Monday’s meeting between President Donald Trump and congressional leaders brought a glimmer of a potential offramp — the president expressed openness to extending Obamacare credits, Democrats’ asking price — it was back to the status quo hours later. Trump posted a […]
A government shutdown is looking increasingly likely, and Congress is set to experience the self-inflicted pain of the institution’s inability to pass a spending bill to fund its own operations. During the last, partial shutdown, which began at the very end of 2018 and concluded 35 days later, a legislative branch appropriations bill had already […]