Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez explain their votes on the shutdown

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) teamed up to release a Thursday video explaining why they voted against the House Republican-authored stopgap legislation. Its failure in the Senate led to a government shutdown.

In the clip that shows them taking a walking and talking together in Washington, the lawmakers raised concerns about the lapse in Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies as the main reason for their decision to withhold vote...

Newsom mocks Trump with AI-generated Marie Antoinette image

The press office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) updated its official X account's profile picture with an AI-generated image of Marie Antoinette with President Trump's face on Thursday.

"NEW PROFILE PIC!" the post read. "In honor of our Queen!"

Newsom's press office previously used the image in a separate post referring to Trump's plans to construct a ballroom at the White House, which will reportedly press ahead despite the government shutdown that started We...

Bessent warns shutdown could hurt GDP: ‘A hit to working America’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the government shutdown could slow the economy, delivering a blow to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) and its workers.

“This isn’t the way to have a discussion, shutting down the government and lowering the GDP,” Bessent said during a CNBC “Squawk Box” interview. 

“We could see a hit to the GDP, a hit to growth and a hit to working America,” he added. 

GDP growth exceeded second quarter expecta...

Trump to meet with Project 2025 architect on cutting ‘Democrat agencies’ amid government shutdown – live

Trump touts meeting with Russ Vought ‘of Project 2025 fame’ to determine where cuts can be made as the federal government remains shut for second day

In his interview this morning with CNBC Scott Bessent also said that he could “guarantee” Republicans will not meet Democratic leaders’ demands to extend Obamacare subsidies as a way to end the government shutdown.

Democrats are negotiating “like terrorists”, the treasury secretary claimed, adding: “They want to say, ‘This is what we have to have, and if we don’t get it, we’re going to close down the government.’”

President Trump, in the first nine months now, has been unstoppable. They’ve tried to stop him in the courts, they tried to stop him in the press, and now they’re trying to stop him with the shutdown.

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Live updates: Johnson, House GOP lay blame on Schumer, push for votes to end shutdown

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his leadership team pushed blame for the government shutdown on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) at a press conference on Thursday morning, while urging the Senate to keep voting to end the two-day-old shutdown.

“The ball is in [Sen.] Chuck Schumer’s hands right now,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said about the New York Democrat.

With at least another day before the Senate votes to potentially end the government sh...

Moderate Democrats at center of shutdown pressure campaign

Moderate Democrats are at the center of a game of tug-of-war between Republicans and Democratic leadership, as the GOP attempts to peel off the five remaining votes needed to back the party’s “clean” stopgap spending bill and reopen the government.

According to multiple GOP sources, individual Republican lawmakers are engaging with Senate Democrats who they view as flippable in a bid to win them over. Although some members of leadership are involved, this is largely being d...

GOP on shaky ground with claim about Democrats’ shutdown demands

Amid a stalemate over government funding, Republicans have repeatedly accused Democrats of demanding free health care for immigrants in the country illegally in return for their support of a federal funding bill. 

It’s a misleading message circulated widely by Republican leaders in the House and Senate, as well as by President Trump and Vice President Vance. 

Trump on Monday posted an AI fake of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying: “If we giv...