The Trump White House is determined to shut down the government on Dec. 21, in an attempt to get funding for a border wall with Mexico. So what happens to federal services if the government closes for business?
During a shutdown, the US government “must discontinue a...
Republicans
How Republicans are turning US states into labs of anti-democracy
The party’s brazen efforts to rewire state legislature poses a greater threat than Trump – and will be all the harder to tackle
America’s federal system of government is, in theory, key to the strength of its democracy. As opposed to citizens in the more centralized states of Europe, Americans get to vote for a huge array of local offices, policies and ballot initiatives that can influence their lives for the better. Innovation in the states can be healthy for the whole country, such as when healthcare reform in Massachusetts provided inspiration for the Affordable Care Act. The supreme court justice Louis Brandeis famously praised US states as laboratories which could “try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country”.
Related: Voter suppression is an all-American problem we can fight – and win | Cas Mudde
Continue reading...
…And now the bad news about the new Congress: Liz Cheney will be a top House Republican
American conservatism frequently resembles a bad horror movie franchise. Despite common sense indicating that unsavory characters stopped deserving our attention long ago, they somehow keep coming back for decades.
Many members of disgraced President Richard Nixon’s administration resurfaced under President George W. Bush.
Now the oldest daughter of Dick Cheney, Bush’s historically–unpopular vice president, has risen to a Republican leadership role during th...
The US just elected its first openly gay governor
Jared Polis, the Dem...
Midterm elections: Sean Hannity accused of lying about Trump rally as Beto O’Rourke delivers final message – live
- Fox News host campaigned onstage with Trump after claiming he wouldn’t
- Everything you need to know about the midterms
- Are you voting? Tell us about it
- Sign up for Guardian US morning briefing
3.09pm GMT
Guardian readers have been in touch about how they’re voting and the reasons why. For Lynne in New Mexico, universal healthcare and abortion rights are key issues. “I’d like to see universal healthcare provi...
Eight candidates with scientific degrees that have a shot in the 2018 midterm elections
There are 435 seats in the US House of Representatives. After the 2016 presidential election, Americans with some training in science attempted to fill 48 of those, and shift the balance of the Republican-majority Congress. Thirty fai...
A guide to how Democrats can take back the House in the midterms
Two years after President Donald Trump’s stunning upset win (despite receiving nearly three million fewer votes than his opponent), Democrats finally have a chance to regain control of one (or both) chambers of legislature. This would mean an opportunity for Congress to finally offer meaningful checks and balances on the Trump administration after the midterm elections, this Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Democrats need to flip 24 seats to win the House. Twenty-five GOP-controlled districts...
Trump claims ignorance over racist election advert after Fox and Facebook pull it – live
President said ‘I don’t know about it’ when asked about the advert that included false claims and was criticized for stoking fear of immigrants
- Everything you need to know about the midterms
- Sign up for Guardian’s new US morning briefing
10.36pm GMT
Trump is in Indiana. Why Indiana? He hopes to tip the senate race away from Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly and toward challenger Mike Braun, a former R...
The economy still matters for US elections, but not in the way many people think
The US economy is doing well. GDP growth is robust and the job market is strong. Yet Donald Trump’s approval rating is low, and his party is expected to lose a lot of seats in midterm elections on Tuesday. So does that mean the economy...
Trump said black people were ‘too stupid’ to vote for him, claims Michael Cohen – live
Cohen told Vanity Fair that Trump ‘repeatedly used racist language before his presidency’. Meanwhile, Obama speaks in Florida before midterms
- Sign up for Guardian US morning briefing
7.44pm GMT
Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state congresswoman, is one of hundreds of Democrats now running on single-payer healthcare, a monumental shift to the left for the party which – even when it controlled Congress and the White House in 200...