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

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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...

Today is a day of despair for America. We are plunged into an anticipatory grief | Moira Donegan

As we face another Trump presidency, I hope we can turn our attention to the most vulnerable: those who are less safe today than they were yesterday

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Today is a day of despair, and it would be futile to tell those who fear and grieve for what is to come in America that they will be OK. It would also be dishonest: many of us, in truth, will not be OK.

Donald Trump

Tim Walz pick excites hopes of taking US healthcare beyond Obamacare era

Advocates are enthused by Harris’s running mate, who as Minnesota governor called healthcare a ‘basic human right’

When Kamala Harris picked the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, as veep for the Democratic presidential ticket, advocates for healthcare reform felt a jolt of electricity.

Here, they saw a man who proclaimed healthcare a “basic human right”, reformed medical debt collections, and who laid the groundwork for expanded government insurance and denied corporate health insu...

‘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...

The results of the midterms may determine if American democracy endures | Robert Reich

Republican ascendancy is always a possibility with US elections, but the perils this time are more extreme than ever

Coming into the home stretch before the 2022 midterm elections, I feel different than I’ve felt in the days before every election I’ve witnessed or participated in over the last three-quarters of a century.

In elections before this one, I’ve worried about Republicans taking over and implementing their policy preferences – against political rights in the dark days...

The results of the midterms may determine if American democracy endures | Robert Reich

Republican ascendancy is always a possibility with US elections, but the perils this time are more extreme than ever

Coming into the home stretch before the 2022 midterm elections, I feel different than I’ve felt in the days before every election I’ve witnessed or participated in over the last three-quarters of a century.

In elections before this one, I’ve worried about Republicans taking over and implementing their policy preferences – against political rights in the dark days...

New York has a chance to generate all its electricity from clean energy by 2030 | Ross Barkan

If Democrats act, New Yorkers will begin to get the government they deserve. With climate cataclysms here, the political system can’t afford more delays

It has been, for progressives in New York, a trying year.

Major pieces of legislation that were supposed to reshape the state to safeguard the working class have stalled out. A bill to create a statewide single-payer healthcare system is no closer to passage than it was several years ago. A push to guarantee new protections for...

New York has a chance to generate all its electricity from clean energy by 2030 | Ross Barkan

If Democrats act, New Yorkers will begin to get the government they deserve. With climate cataclysms here, the political system can’t afford more delays

It has been, for progressives in New York, a trying year.

Major pieces of legislation that were supposed to reshape the state to safeguard the working class have stalled out. A bill to create a statewide single-payer healthcare system is no closer to passage than it was several years ago. A push to guarantee new protections for...