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...

Lawmakers expect shutdown to drag on for at least a week

Senators say they expect the government shutdown to drag out until at least the middle of next week, with some fearing it could go even longer.

The Senate rejected votes to reopen the government on Wednesday, and the chamber will be out of session on Thursday in observance of Yom Kippur.

The Senate will return Friday, but few expect the vote that day on the House GOP measure to fund the government to have a different result.

Two Democratic senators and I...

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...

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...

Students for Life: Abortion pill review ‘must go back to the beginning’ 

*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img+div{display:none}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0}#converted-body .list_block ol,#converted-body .list_block ul,.body [class~=x_list_block] ol,.body [class~=x_list_block] ul,u+...

White House plans for layoffs amid shutdown

*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img+div{display:none}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0}#converted-body .list_block ol,#converted-body .list_block ul,.body [class~=x_list_block] ol,.body [class~=x_list_block] ...

White House embraces government shutdown

The White House is embracing the fight over the first government shutdown since 2019, viewing it as a political loser for Democrats and an opening to unilaterally advance its own policy interests.

President Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought have signaled they plan to use the shutdown to further slash the federal workforce and potentially pare back government programs and benefits.

While some polling has shown many Americans wi...

Washington Post editorial board warns Democrats walking into ‘shutdown trap’

The editorial board of The Washington Post is warning that progressive Democrats are leading the party into a “shutdown trap.”

In an op-ed published Wednesday morning, the board noted that Democrats "shut off any potential escape valve to avoid a shutdown" when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), facing a left-wing revolt, apparently backed off a potential plan to buy more time for negotiations.

“In doing so, progressives embraced the same disastrous me...

Maine Democrat blames ‘far-left’ for government shutdown

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) criticized “far-left groups” for demanding Democrats vote against a Republican-backed proposal to fund the government.

“This government shutdown is the result of hardball politics driven by the demands far-left groups are making for Democratic Party leaders to put on a show of their opposition to President Trump,” Golden said in a Wednesday statement. 

Golden was the lone Democrat to vote for the GOP funding bill, which passed ...