Category: Congress

Senate Democrats, holding out for health care, reject government funding bill for 10th time

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats rejected for the 10th time Thursday a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back away from demands that Congress take up health care benefits. The vote failed on a 51-45 tally, well short of the 60 needed to advance with the Senate’s filibuster rules. The repetition of votes on the funding bill has become a daily drumbeat in Congress, underscoring how intractable the situation has become. It has been at times the only item on the agenda for the Senate…

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Trump directs the Pentagon to use ‘all available funds’ to ensure troops are paid despite shutdown

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has directed the Defense Department to use “all available funds” to ensure U.S. troops are paid Wednesday despite the government shutdown, a short-term fix that will not apply to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed. Trump said in a social media post that he was acting because “our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th.” The Republican president’s directive removes one of the pressure points that could have forced…

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Senators struggle to find a way forward as government shutdown enters ninth day

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The consequences of a government shutdown setting in, senators labored Thursday to find a way forward but found themselves struggling to overcome a fundamental lack of trust between the two parties. Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Thursday afternoon floated an “off ramp” to the government funding impasse, suggesting that he could hold a later vote on expiring health care subsidies if Democrats would first support a stopgap spending bill to reopen the government. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer quickly dismissed the idea. “It’s nothing new, they…

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Grassroots campaign puts pressure on Congress to pass ‘Pay Our Troops Act’

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An advocacy group representing service members and their families nationwide has launched a campaign encouraging the public to contact their members of Congress in support of the Pay Our Troops Act of 2026.  The National Military Family Association says more than 10,000 letters have already been sent to Congress through its Military Family Action Center, urging lawmakers to pass the bill that would ensure that troops, Defense Department civilians and Coast Guard members continue to receive pay and benefits during this shutdown. The advocacy group made it easy for the…

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Government shutdown layoffs to occur ‘very soon,’ White House warns

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After congressional appropriations lapsed and a government shutdown began at midnight on Oct. 1, the Trump administration now warns that further federal employee layoffs are imminent. It’s unclear which agencies will move forward with potential layoffs, beyond at least one agency — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — that on Wednesday issued layoff notices. Vice President JD Vance doubled down on the Office of Management and Budget’s last week’s directive to terminate more federal employees in the case of a government shutdown. “If this thing drags on for another few…

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Feasibility of RIFs around a government shutdown called into question

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The Trump administration is taking a more aggressive approach than usual to what would happen in a government shutdown, after a White House memo Wednesday night told agencies to plan for further reductions in force if government funding lapses early next week. But with just days left before a government shutdown, many are questioning the ability for agencies to put together further RIF plans at all, since the reduction-in-force process is typically complicated and time-consuming, often taking months or longer. The new Office of Management and Budget memo, first reported…

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