The stalemate over how to reopen the government is being inflamed by something no policy provision can fix: A deep-seeded distrust between the leaders of the parties.
The trust gap has a lengthy history and a profusion of roots. But it's resurfacing now over the thorny issue driving the budget impasse: Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.
Republicans say they're open to discussing the topic, but they’re insisting those talks happen l...
Senate
Five Senate Democrats the GOP is trying to flip on government funding
Senate Republicans are pushing intensely to nab the five additional Democratic votes they need to unlock their bill to end the government shutdown.
Republicans have shown little willingness to negotiate on the top Democratic priority — an extension of enhanced health care subsidies — as part of any funding deal, and instead are attempting to work directly to pick off the requisite support.
The GOP needs eight Democratic votes to advance the House-passed continuing...
Haberman: Some Republicans ‘quietly frustrated’ with Trump’s Project 2025 talk
White House correspondent Maggie Haberman on Thursday said GOP lawmakers are “quietly frustrated” by President Trump’s references to the conservative policy initiative known as Project 2025 during the government shutdown.
In recent days, the president has touted a meeting with White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, who co-authored the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. The 920-page leadership mandate outlined a legislative agenda t...
Senate rejects measures to end shutdown
Senate Democrats voted for the fourth time Friday to defeat a House-passed bill that would fund the government through Nov. 21 and end the three-day government shutdown that has left tens of thousands of federal employees furloughed.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) failed to pick up any additional Democratic votes for the clean, seven-week funding measure, leaving the tally at 54-44. It needed 60 votes to pass.
Three members of the Democratic cauc...
Democrats seek shutdown leverage with economy over Trump, GOP
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are buckling in for a protracted government shutdown, something that experts say could begin to have a significant impact on the economy and put pressure on President Trump to negotiate a deal with Democrats.
Economic experts say the shutdown won’t have an immediate impact on the economy, but they predict the effect on gross domestic product (GDP) will add up after a few weeks and could become more pronounced because of other economic headwinds, su...
White House’s shutdown layoff threats, funding freezes unnerve some Republicans
The Trump administration’s plans to lay off thousands of federal workers and freeze federal grants during the government shutdown are getting pushback from some congressional Republicans.
The moves would harm projects and constituents in a number of GOP-held districts, and some Republicans worry that using the shutdown as a spending-slashing opportunity could backfire on Republicans as they aim to put the blame for the shutdown squarely on Democrats.
Rep. Mike Law...
White House’s shutdown layoff threats, funding freezes unnerve some Republicans
The Trump administration’s plans to lay off thousands of federal workers and freeze federal grants during the government shutdown are getting pushback from some congressional Republicans.
The moves would harm projects and constituents in a number of GOP-held districts, and some Republicans worry that using the shutdown as a spending-slashing opportunity could backfire on Republicans as they aim to put the blame for the shutdown squarely on Democrats.
Rep. Mike Law...
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez explain their votes on the shutdown
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) teamed up to release a Wednesday video explaining why they voted against the House Republican-authored stopgap legislation. Its failure in the Senate led to a government shutdown.
In the clip that shows them taking a walk and talking together in Washington, the lawmakers raised concerns about the lapse in Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies as the main reason for their decision to withhold votes ...
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...