- Legislation would create universal health care system
- President accuses Democrats of ‘presidential harassment’
- Nancy Pelosi to be sworn in as House speaker
- Sign up to the Guardian’s new US morning briefing
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.
Continue reading...
Donald Trump
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...
Finally, US hospitals will have to post their prices online
Astronomical hospital bills are a trope of American health care. Hospitals in the US are known for charging exorbitant fees for simple procedures, and for adding baffling entries to discharge bills. Notorious examples include the woman who was charged $40 to hold her newbo...
All the reasons why the US government has ever been shut down
When US president Donald Trump ordered the government to shut down last week, it was the third shutdown since he took office in 2017—and the 21st since 1976, the year the modern congressional budget process was enacted.
The current shutdown ste...
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 ...
John Roberts may be the new swing vote on the US Supreme Court
When US Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy announced ...
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...
Trump honors Paul Ryan’s retirement by kicking 800,000 people off of food stamps
It was a classic bait and switch. On Thursday, in the hours before the Oval Office was set to host President Donald Trump’s ceremonial signing of a farm bill — one which had been lauded by anti-hunger advocates for sparing the food stamps program of deep funding cuts — the Trump administration quietly announced its plan to dump hundreds of thousands of people off of the food assistance program.
It was a quick end to a much ballyhooed example of bipartisan compromis...
US election meddling: Russia running ‘active and ongoing’ operations – live
- Report on Russian interference prepared for the Senate accuses Facebook, Google and Twitter of impeding the investigation
- Russian disinformation campaign used every social media platform to help Trump in 2016 election and after he took office
- Help us reach our $1m goal. Make a year-end contribution
- Get the new US morning briefing. Sign up
6.43pm GMT
A doctor who helped draft Obamacare said he’s “not particul...