The Hill

Moulton announces bid for Senate in Massachusetts

News, Senate

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) on Wednesday launched a U.S. Senate bid in Massachusetts, setting up a generational challenge as he looks to unseat incumbent progressive Sen. Ed Markey (D).

Moulton, a moderate 46-year-old veteran, focused on age in his announcement video, saying his party has “clung to the status quo, insisted on using the same old playbook, and isn't fighting hard enough.”

“We're in a crisis, and with everything we learned last election, I just don't...

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Trump, GOP send diverging shutdown messages on value of federal workers

News

Republican leaders in Congress and the White House are sending very different signals regarding the value of federal workers amid the ongoing government shutdown.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP leaders are lionizing federal employees as a crucial piece of the nation's inner workings, while bashing Democrats for idling “valiant” public servants who help make the country run. They often sound like Democrats in previous shutdowns.

From the White House, Pr...

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Who will get hit hardest by expiring ACA health insurance subsidies?

health care, News

The fight over enhanced premium tax credits for the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) marketplace drags on in Congress as crucial deadlines draw near and certain groups stand to be hit the hardest if an agreement to extend the subsidies doesn’t materialize. 

Estimates of how many will be impacted by expiring tax credits have ranged from 3 million to more than 4 million enrollees. Based on early projections, this subsection is likely to be younger. 

“Young adults would s...

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GOP sets the stage for extended shutdown

News, Senate

Republicans and the Trump administration are bracing for a lengthy government shutdown, taking steps to alleviate any political pain that might boomerang on them while seeking to make life difficult for Democrats.

The White House is taking steps to redistribute funds to ensure the military gets paychecks during the shutdown.

Doing so in this way takes care of a constituency important to the GOP and Trump, but it deprives Democrats of a vote to fund the military.

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Poll finds more people are starting to blame Democrats for shutdown

health care, News, Senate

Americans are more likely to blame Republicans than Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown, but a new YouGov/The Economist poll shows that gap is beginning to narrow.

Only 6 points separate the parties in this week’s poll, which shows 39 percent of surveyed Americans blame President Trump and the Republicans in Congress for the shutdown, while 33 percent blame the Democrats in Congress.

Last week, 11 points separated the two sides, with 41 percent of respon...

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GOP seeks to ramp up political pain for Democrats on shutdown

News, Senate

Senate Republicans are ramping up pressure on Democrats over the shutdown, taking away a vote on a Democratic alternative to open the government and blaming the party for worsening hardships for military families.

In a now familiar scene Tuesday night, the Senate rejected a House GOP measure to open the government by a 49-45 vote. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) were the only members of the Democratic caucus who voted to advance it. Sen. J...

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Shutdown to enter third week after Senate rejects bill to reopen government

News, Senate

The Senate rejected a bill to reopen the government for the eighth time Tuesday, ensuring the shutdown will enter its third week with lawmakers nowhere close to finding a resolution.

Senators voted 49-45 on the GOP's House-passed continuing resolution, which would fund the government through late November. It needed 60 votes to advance. 

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) voted with Republicans, as they have for nearly two wee...

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Watch live: Hakeem Jeffries holds press conference marking shutdown day 14

News

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is scheduled to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, his first of the week as the shutdown clock strikes two weeks.

Jeffries and his Democratic caucus have remained united behind demands for Republicans to agree to extensions to ObamaCare tax credits as a condition for reopening the government.

Jeffries told MSNBC on Monday that he has yet to meet directly with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to discuss an end to ...

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Senate GOP sets up single vote to reopen government Tuesday

News, Senate

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has set up one vote Tuesday afternoon to reopen the government, giving Democrats only the opportunity to vote for or against a House-passed continuing resolution that has failed repeatedly on the Senate floor.

The Senate is scheduled to convene at 3 p.m. and the vote is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.

It will be the eighth time senators consider the House measure, which failed to advance on seven previous votes.

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