After 42-day standoff, government is back open – and minority party won no concessions from party in power
More than 42 days ago, beleaguered congressional Democrats employed a tactic they were not known for using – refusing to fund the government unless their demands, in this case, an extension of tax credits that lowered costs for Affordable Care Act health plans, were met.
Fast forward to Wednesday evening, and the federal government is back open, the Democrats’ resistance b...
Democrats
Trump signs funding bill to end longest US government shutdown
President signs legislation to restart federal operations after House passes measure in 222-209 vote
The longest US government shutdown in history ended on Wednesday after more than 42 days, following the House of Representative’s passage of a bill negotiated by Republicans and a splinter group of Democrat-aligned senators.
The compromise sets the stage for government operations to return to normal through January, while leaving unresolved the issue of expiring tax credits for ...
Top House Democrats vow to oppose shutdown bill over healthcare funding
Democrats are demanding an extension of tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans set to expire at end of year
US politics live – latest updates
As House Republican leaders move to hold a vote on legislation to reopen the US government, top Democrats vowed on Tuesday to oppose the bill for not addressing their demand for more healthcare funding.
Democrats have for weeks insisted that any measure to fund the government include an extension of tax c...
Angry Democrats call on Schumer to resign after eight vote to end shutdown
Some lawmakers and progressive groups blame minority leader after eight senators defect
Democrats are seething after news emerged on Sunday that eight members of their Senate caucus had collaborated with Republicans on crafting a compromise to end the longest government shutdown in US history, without winning any healthcare concessions that they had sought.
But one name is coming in for more opprobrium than any other: Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader who had led the Democrat’s weeks-long stand against reopening the government without an extension of tax credits that lower premiums for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans.
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Live updates: Republicans, Democrats in deadlock over shutdown; Trump doubles down on nixing filibuster
Senate Republicans are in a deadlock with Democrats after pressure tactics to end the 38-day government shutdown failed to break the impasse.
The chamber is meeting for a rare Saturday session as lawmakers hope to hash out a deal.
Senate Republicans are batting around various ideas to break the stalemate, such as voting on a new Senate-drafted bill that would fund a large swath of the federal government through fiscal year 2026.
They rejected a Democrat...
On the shutdown, Democrats have painted themselves into a corner
Having painted themselves into a shutdown corner, Democrats now want Republicans to extricate them.
Democrats know that they cannot win this one. They also know that they cannot return to their rabid base having conceded. What they want is for Senate Republicans to detonate another so-called “nuclear option” and end Democrats’ ability to filibuster the federal government to a standstill.
Senate Democrats have defeated 13 Republican attempts t...
How Republicans can make health care affordable
As the government shutdown drags on, lawmakers remain locked in a standoff over whether to extend ObamaCare subsidies. Supporters of these taxpayer-provided subsidies claim they’re the fix for rising health costs when, in fact, they only mask rising costs. ObamaCare is the primary reason costs are rising.
Congress faces a choice: Keep pouring taxpayer dollars into a failing, unaffordable health care system, or take this opportunity to fix the struc...
Democrats are entirely to blame for the coming food stamp cuts
It’s the great falsehood heard ‘round the world: President Trump and Republicans in Congress are about to ruin Thanksgiving!
Breathless media stories to that effect have multiplied in recent days. Last week, the Trump administration warned states that because of the shutdown, it will run out of funding for food stamps in early November. At that point, states will have to limit these welfare payments, or even end them altogether — something states like Pennsyl...
Republicans may go nuclear to end the shutdown
Something wicked this way comes. What was once a far-fetched fear is now looking increasingly plausible, even likely: That Senate Republicans will blow up the filibuster to end the government shutdown.
This would be the ultimate nuclear option, toppling the last major hurdle to single party rule in Washington.
By removing the 60-vote threshold for most Senate votes, the current Republican majority — and any future Senate majority of either party — would be empowered...
Fetterman believes Thune ‘sincere’ about ACA talks after shutdown
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said Wednesday he thinks Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) would engage in “sincere” talks about extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits once the government reopens.
Fetterman — who came out on Tuesday in favor of the GOP “nuking” the Senate filibuster to pass a bill to reopen the government — said it’s important for senators simultaneously to prioritize funding the government while pushing for the health care subsid...