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...
The Guardian
Oz vows to make Americans healthier but dodges questions on Trump cuts
TV doctor and former heart surgeon vows to fight healthcare fraud at Senate hearing for health role
Dr Mehmet Oz promised senators on Friday to fight healthcare fraud and push to make Americans healthier if he becomes the next leader of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.But the former heart surgeon and TV personality dodged several opportunities to say broadly whether he would oppose cuts to Medicaid, the government-funded program for people with low inc...
Deportations, tariffs, pardons: what Trump has planned for day one
The incoming president is ready to sign a slew of executive orders on day one of his second term. Here’s what’s planned
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...
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.
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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
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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...