News

Government shutdown looms: What to know about closures, payments and more

News, Senate

A government shutdown starting on Wednesday is looking probable as Democrats in Congress push Republicans on funding, health care, and President Trump’s reshaping of the federal government.

Unless Republicans and Democrats in Congress come to an agreement and pass a funding measure by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October will kick off with the first government shutdown in nearly seven years.

It would affect every agency, but many “essential” government functions and pay...

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Trump to meet with Schumer, Jeffries, Johnson, Thune ahead of shutdown deadline

News, Senate

President Trump is set to meet with the top four leaders in Congress on Monday ahead of a Tuesday shutdown deadline, a notable shift after he canceled a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) earlier in the week.

Schumer, Jeffries, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) will meet with Trump at the White House on Monday, according to three sources familiar with the mee...

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Sunday shows preview: Comey indictment consumes Washington as shutdown deadline nears

News

Former FBI Director James Comey was slapped with a two-count indictment on Thursday, a development that has consumed Washington but was welcomed by President Trump, administration officials and their allies. 

The charges come from Comey’s 2020 testimony in front of the Senate when the chamber was investigating probes into alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, which the president has slammed as a “witch hunt.” 

The indictment against Comey mar...

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Shutdown fight leaves Democrats with no good options

News, Senate

The shutdown fight has left Democrats with few options, and none of them are good.

Faced with President Trump’s refusal to negotiate, they can either cave after weeks of tough talk and support the Republicans’ spending bill, or they can hold firm against it and watch the government shutdown. 

The first option is politically fraught, providing an endorsement, however reluctant, of the Republicans’ go-it-alone budget strategy while ensuring a sharp backlash from a l...

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A failed experiment in reducing medical costs is ripe for elimination 

News, Opinion

The federal government’s role in health care was settled to a large extent when Congress passed, and then failed to repeal, the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare. While provisions of the law have been expanded and others reversed, the underlying system of healthcare exchanges remains intact. However, some ObamaCare programs have proven to be so ineffective and costly that they must be promptly repealed, starting with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. 

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White House study touts HSA eligibility expansion amid health care funding fight

health care, News

The White House is touting efforts to expand eligibility for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for millions of Americans, as Democrats' demands around health care access are front-and-center in the government funding fight.

A report shared exclusively with The Hill from the White House Council of Economic Advisers outlines how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law in July, is expected to expand access to HSAs for millions of Americans.

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Thune: Democrats need to ‘dial back’ demands to avoid shutdown

News, Senate

Related Video: MASS LAYOFFS Linger, Healthcare CUTS Loom As Leaders Reach IMPASSE On Spending Plan | SUNRISE

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) says Congress could avoid a government shutdown next week if Democrats “dial back” their demands to add hundreds of billions of dollars in new health care spending to a short-term government funding bill.

“I’m a big believer that there’s always a way out,” Thune told The Associated Press i...

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Rove: Biggest shutdown loser would be ‘public trust in Washington’

News, Senate, Trump administration

GOP strategist Karl Rove weighed in on the looming government shutdown, saying the American public will lose trust in Washington if lawmakers continue to clash over policy issues, including health care.

"But no matter what, the biggest shutdown loser will likely be public trust in Washington writ large,” Rove wrote Wednesday in an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal. “Voters see shutdowns as the result of gross incompetence by our leaders."

He pointed to Pe...

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Whole Hog Politics: Gaming out the politics of a shutdown 

News, Senate

Washington is almost as bad about abusing truisms as farmers and sports announcers.

And right now, the Washington equivalent of the black bands on a woolly bear caterpillar or “defense wins championships” is this old chestnut: “The party in control of Congress gets the blame for a government shutdown.”

It looks like we are about to find out about that.

The deal to fully fund the federal government reached in March expires at the end of the day Tuesday, a...

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