As a divided Congress and Democrats spar over a funding bill, here’s what to expect from a government shutdown
The US stands hours away from a partial government shutdown as Democrats decide whether to play ball with Republicans on the first major legislative hurdle in Trump’s second administration.
The House approved a stopgap funding measure called a continuing resolution last week, and the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, has urged Democrats in the Senate to pass the m...
US Congress
Trump signs order on birthright citizenship – as it happened
President pardons 1,500 rioters, launches immigration crackdown, pauses TikTok ban and orders US withdrawal from WHO among other actions
- What executive orders did Trump sign on day one?
- How world leaders greeted Trump’s inauguration
- Trump embraces role of demagogue on divine mission to reshape America
My colleague Joseph Gedeon in Washington DC also had this look at what Trump might have planned for day one:
In the grand theatre of American politics, presidential inaugurations typically follow a familiar script: the oath, the speech, a few carefully chosen executive orders to satisfy campaign promises. Franklin D Roosevelt used his first day to tackle the banking crisis. Barack Obama moved to close Guantánamo Bay (though it remains open). Donald Trump’s first term began with a single executive order targeting Obamacare. Joe Biden signed 17 executive orders on his first day in 2021.
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The US government could shut down. Here’s what to know
If lawmakers don’t secure a spending deal before Friday midnight, all nonessential government functions will pause
- What is the US debt ceiling?
- US politics – live updates
A government shutdown looms after Republicans in Congress failed on Thursday to pass a pared-down spending bill. The potential shutdown could disrupt Christmas travel and deliver a blow to the US economy just a month before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Lawmakers face a last...
Mike Johnson plans Republican mega-bill ready to push through if Trump wins
House speaker plans far-reaching bill including tax cuts and border security to make Trump ‘the most consequential president’
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, is planning a sweeping ideological legislative drive that aims to make Donald Trump “the most consequential president of the modern era” if the Republicans win power in November.
A far-reaching bill containing a range of policy priorities at once – including tax cuts worth trillions, border security and rolling back Obamacare – is being prepared to avoid the mistakes the GOP believed happened early in Trump’s first term, when Johnson says the party wasted time because its victory over Hillary Clinton took it by surprise.
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‘Donald Trump is a symptom, not the cause’: Tim Kaine’s journey to healing
Hillary Clinton’s running mate experienced defeat by Trump. His new book documents his attempt to understand America
Jack Kemp. Joe Lieberman. John Edwards. Sarah Palin. Paul Ryan. All ran for vice-president of the United States and fell short. All had to confront the question: what next? The same fate befell Tim Kaine, whose turn as running mate to Hillary Clinton in 2016 ended in a catastrophic defeat by Donald Trump and Mike Pence. The US has not recovered, as polarisation, rancou...
‘This may be the last time’: Nancy Pelosi at what she suggests is her final press conference – video
'This may be the last time I speak to you this way,' said Nancy Pelosi in what she suggested could be her final press conference. The former Democrat house speaker defended her record in office, noting the passing of the Affordable Care Act as one of her greatest achievements. 'Nothing in any of the years that I was there compares to the Affordable Care Act,' Pelosi told reporters, adding: 'It is a values issues for our country, so that for me was the highlight.'
Pelosi announce...
Nancy Pelosi tells of ‘proud’ record as speaker in likely final press conference – as it happened
- Outgoing House speaker praises ‘remarkable’ Joe Biden
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Nancy Pelosi has given what she suggests will be her final press conference as House speaker, telling reporters this is “maybe the last time I see you in this way”.
She’s been reflecting on some of the successes of her tenure, and paying tribute to Joe Biden and Barack Obama for most of them, fro...
Republicans will try to impeach Biden ‘every week’, Adam Kinzinger says
Anti-Trump January 6 committee member warns of likely aggressive tactics if GOP retakes House in midterms
Republicans will try to impeach Joe Biden every week if they retake the House in November, a rare anti-Trump Republican congressman predicted.
Remembering repeated attempts to defund the Affordable Care Act under Barack Obama, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said: “That’s going to look like child’s play in terms of what Marjorie Taylor Greene is going to demand of Kevin McCarthy.
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‘Feels like the good old days’: Joe Biden welcomes Barack Obama back to White House – as it happened
- Former president returns to mark 12 years of Affordable Care Act
- Confirmation week continues for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
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Ivanka Trump will testify before the January 6 committee this afternoon.
The Guardian confirmed that former president Donald Trump’s oldest daughter, and former senior White House adviser, will speak to the panel virtually.
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Harry Reid, who led Senate Democrats for 12 years, dies at 82
- Nevada senator helped to pass Obama’s Affordable Care Act
- Reid called Trump ‘the worst president we’ve ever had’
Harry Reid, who emerged from the unforgiving political landscape of Las Vegas, Nevada, to lead the Senate Democrats for 12 turbulent years, died on Tuesday at age 82.
Reid died Tuesday, “peacefully” and surrounded by friends “following a courageous, four-year battle with pancreatic cancer,” Landra Reid said of her husband.
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