This Mitch McConnell quote from 2013 looks really awkward today

On Thursday night, eight Republicans joined all the Democrats in the House of Representatives to pass a bill that would reopen parts of the federal government — omitting any funding for President Trump’s border wall — in a bid to end the two-week shutdown directly impacting about 800,000 federal workers.

On Friday, the upper chamber remained silent as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to allow a vote on legislation that would end the shutdown. McConnell has...

Rashida Tlaib: Democrat defends call for Trump’s impeachment – live

Michigan congresswoman stood by impeachment comment as her office says: ‘Tlaib was elected to shake up Washington’

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On their first full day in power, House Democrats voted to jump into into a court battle defending the Affordable Care Act as part of their rules package.

From Politico:

From the Associated Press, new poll shows Americans increasingly concerned with immigration:

As much of the U.S. government remains shut down over President Donald Trump’s insistence on funding for his border wall, nearly half of Americans identify immigration as a top issue for the government to work on this year.

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Medicare for All: ‘huge step’ for proposal as Pelosi agrees to hold hearings – live

Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the two first Muslim Congresswomen who will take office today, will take her oath of office on a copy of the Koran owned by Thomas Jefferson, per the Detroit Free Press.

Fun fact: When Rashida Tlaib, a Muslim, is sworn in as the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress today, she will take the oath of office using Thomas Jefferson’s personal copy of the Quran. https://t.co/wZ6I2eKq3v

The new 116th Congress has now officially convened.

Vice President Mike Pence is swearing in members of the Senate. House members are preparing to be sworn in.

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The government wants you to file your tax returns, despite the shutdown

The government has been partially shut down for nearly a week and half as of Wednesday, and if it goes on much longer, it could affect this year’s tax season.

Officials want everyone to file their taxes like normal for the time being. However, if the shutdown extends through mid-January, as some believe it might, you should expect a delay in getting your refund.

Vox noted Wednesday that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made a shutdown contingency plan, but it lasted f...

Trump blames deaths of migrant children on ‘Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies’

For the first time, President Donald Trump acknowledged the recent deaths of two migrant children who were in the custody of his government on Saturday — by blaming Democrats.

In a series of tweets, Trump suggested that the deaths of seven-year-old Jakelin Ameí Rosmery Caal Maquin and eight-year-old Felipe Gómez Alonzo were “the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies.”

After implying that his proposed border wall — which has led...

Trump has a story of how his presidency’s going. Here’s what the numbers say.

According to Donald Trump, who was elected president just over two years ago, his administration is among the greatest in history, with the greatest economy in American history and a nation finally respected again. As he told Bob Woodward this summer, “nobody’s ever done a better job than I’m doing as president.”

The United Nations could not hold back a laugh in September when Trump said in a speech: “In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more ...

Trump said a shutdown is the president’s fault, and a fireable offense

President Trump has flip-flopped several times in the course of just a week on the shutdown he’s caused. First, Trump said he’d be “proud” to shut down the federal government if a spending deal doesn’t include $5 billion for a wall he said Mexico would pay for. Then on Friday, when a shutdown looked inevitable with no budget deal reached, Trump tweeted, “The Democrats now own the shutdown!”

It’s no wonder the president is distancing himself from t...