This live blog is now closed.
The admiral in charge of US military forces in Latin America will retire two years early, AP reports, amid rising tensions with Venezuela that include Wednesday’s seizure of an oil tanker and more than 20 deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats.
Three US officials and two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Admiral Alvin Holsey was pushed out by defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Two officials said Hegseth had grown frustrated with Southern Command as he sought to flex US military operations and planning in the region.
Continue reading...
US news
Senate rejects dual healthcare bills as Obamacare tax credits expiration nears
Votes came as premium tax credits for estimated 21.8 million enrollees of plans set to expire at end of month
The US Senate on Thursday rejected competing proposals to address the imminent expiration of subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans, greatly increasing the chances that healthcare costs will soon rise to unaffordable levels for millions of Americans.
The votes, part of a deal brokered between Republican majority leader John Thune and the Democratic senators who agreed to reopen the government after a historically long shutdown last month, came as premium tax credits for an estimated 21.8 million enrollees of the plans are set to expire at the end of the month. Health policy research group KFF estimates that annual premiums will more than double if the subsidies are allowed to expire.
Continue reading...
Hospitals and clinics are shutting down due to Trump’s healthcare cuts. Here’s where
From Georgia to Oregon, clinics and wards are closing as Trump’s health law triggers steep Medicaid cuts and rising costs
People in the US: how has the Trump administration affected your healthcare?
Healthcare providers across the country have closed clinics and hospital wards in the four months since Donald Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the landmark tax-and-spending legislation that will lead an estimated 10 million pe...
Democrats sift through shutdown’s ashes after resistance finally breached
After 42-day standoff, government is back open – and minority party won no concessions from party in power
More than 42 days ago, beleaguered congressional Democrats employed a tactic they were not known for using – refusing to fund the government unless their demands, in this case, an extension of tax credits that lowered costs for Affordable Care Act health plans, were met.
Fast forward to Wednesday evening, and the federal government is back open, the Democrats’ resistance b...
Trump signs funding bill to end longest US government shutdown
President signs legislation to restart federal operations after House passes measure in 222-209 vote
The longest US government shutdown in history ended on Wednesday after more than 42 days, following the House of Representative’s passage of a bill negotiated by Republicans and a splinter group of Democrat-aligned senators.
The compromise sets the stage for government operations to return to normal through January, while leaving unresolved the issue of expiring tax credits for ...
Top House Democrats vow to oppose shutdown bill over healthcare funding
Democrats are demanding an extension of tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans set to expire at end of year
US politics live – latest updates
As House Republican leaders move to hold a vote on legislation to reopen the US government, top Democrats vowed on Tuesday to oppose the bill for not addressing their demand for more healthcare funding.
Democrats have for weeks insisted that any measure to fund the government include an extension of tax c...
Angry Democrats call on Schumer to resign after eight vote to end shutdown
Some lawmakers and progressive groups blame minority leader after eight senators defect
Democrats are seething after news emerged on Sunday that eight members of their Senate caucus had collaborated with Republicans on crafting a compromise to end the longest government shutdown in US history, without winning any healthcare concessions that they had sought.
But one name is coming in for more opprobrium than any other: Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader who had led the Democrat’s weeks-long stand against reopening the government without an extension of tax credits that lower premiums for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans.
Continue reading...
How each senator voted on legislation to end US government shutdown
Senate took a key procedural vote on proposal that would end the longest government shutdown in US history
The Senate on Sunday evening took a key procedural vote on legislation that would end the longest government shutdown in US history. The bill resulted from days of talks between Democratic and Republican senators, and extends funding through next January, but does not include an extension of the subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans that Democrats put at the heart of th...
Trump shares false claim Obama earned $40m in ‘royalties’ from Obamacare
US president promoted fictional claim from satirical website that has been debunked repeatedly since 2017
Donald Trump promoted the false claim that Barack Obama has earned $40m in “royalties linked to Obamacare” in a post to his 11 million followers on Truth Social on Sunday.
The fictional claim that the former US president receives royalty payments for the use of his name to refer to the Affordable Care Act, which he signed into law in 2010, has been repeatedly debunked since...
Trump news at a glance: President suggests scrapping Obamacare as shutdown flight chaos continues
Trump urged Republican senators to redirect federal money toward direct payments to individuals. Key US politics stories from 8 November at a glance
Donald Trump on Saturday urged Republican senators to redirect federal money used to subsidize health insurance costs under the Affordable Care Act toward direct payments to individuals, in an effort to overcome an issue at the heart of the US government shutdown.
“I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billio...