Tag: shutdown

Posted on

Senate Democrats Reach A Deal To Avoid Government Shutdown

U.S. Senate

Democrats in the U.S. Senate have reached a deal with Senate Republicans to pass five spending bills to fund much of the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year.

But the agreement includes just a two week stopgap measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security while both sides negotiate guardrails to rein in ICE agents. Continue reading “Senate Democrats Reach A Deal To Avoid Government Shutdown”

Posted on

Majority Of Trump Voters Support Extending Obamacare Subsidies

Donald Trump (via White House Flickr)

As we head into Day Three of the federal government shutdown, Senators will try again to reopen the federal government with votes on funding bills scheduled this afternoon.

Behind the scenes, dealmakers from both sides of the political spectrum are attempting to come up with a deal that could get enough Democrats to support a funding measure.

One consideration is a shorter funding extension through Oct. 31, which Democrats say could keep pressure on Republicans to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies — originally put in place during covid-19 — before the open enrollment period begins on Nov. 1. Continue reading “Majority Of Trump Voters Support Extending Obamacare Subsidies”

Posted on

House Democrats Rescue Republicans With Temp Funding Bill

UPDATE: McCarthy’s ‘hail Mary’ bill to keep the government open for 45 days has passed (335-91) thanks to the Democrats. More Dems voted for the measure than Republicans. Ninety-one Republicans and one Democrat voted against the bill. The measure, which still must pass the Senate, would keep funding the federal government through mid-November and provide billions of dollars for disaster recovery efforts. But it did not include money for Ukraine, a major sticking point for Democrats in the House and Senate. Continue reading “House Democrats Rescue Republicans With Temp Funding Bill”

Posted on

McCarthy Won’t Give Senate Funding Bill A House Vote

The U.S. Senate advanced legislation on Tuesday evening that would continue to fund the government through November 17 and avoid a government shutdown this weekend. The legislation was passed by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 77-19. But Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) informed GOP House members this morning that he doesn’t intend to bring the Senate’s continuing resolution to the floor for a vote. Continue reading “McCarthy Won’t Give Senate Funding Bill A House Vote”

Posted on

‘Broadway Rising’ Follows Broadway’s Journey Back After COVID Shutdown

The feature-length documentary Broadway Rising chronicles the Broadway community’s harrowing and inspiring journey back to the stage following the COVID-19 shutdown on March 12, 2020.
(image via Facebook)
The feature-length documentary Broadway Rising chronicles the Broadway community’s harrowing and inspiring journey back to the stage following the COVID-19 shutdown on March 12, 2020. Continue reading “‘Broadway Rising’ Follows Broadway’s Journey Back After COVID Shutdown”

Posted on

#TrumpShutdown Continues As “Great Dealmaker” Goes AWOL

With 60 votes necessary to pass a Continuing Resolution bill which would keep the federal government open and operating, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s bill fell way short last night with only 50 ‘yes’ votes while 49 senators voted ‘no.’

Sen. John McCain wasn’t present due to his ongoing cancer battle.

The legislation, on top of keeping the government open for four more weeks while a budget would, in theory, be hammered out also included a 6-year extension in the Childrens Health Insurance Program which Republicans allowed to expire months ago.

Clearly, McConnell has held this in his backpocket to use as leverage to get the budget he wants.

But Senate Democrats held to their guns saying not only should CHIP be addressed (and it should) but also the issue of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program or ‘Dreamers’ needs to be resolved now.

Several months ago, Donald Trump decided to end the program at random. Without DACA in force, 800,000 young people who were brought to the U.S. as children and live here without a criminal record could be deported.

So, here we are today as Senate and House leaders try to figure out how to solve this impasse.

Donald Trump, who apparently agreed to a deal that would address all of these issues last week, now says he is not willing to negotiate anything that deals with DACA for now. Many Washington insiders are blaming white nationalist and Trump adviser Stephen Miller who opposes any kind of immigration reform.

And so, we wait.

This is the first time a furlough of federal employees has occurred under single-party control of Congress and the White House. That would be the Republicans.

According to a recent poll, 48% of voters would hold Trump and the Republicans responsible for the government shutdown, only 28% would blame Democrats.

Where is the “Great Dealmaker?” Where is the “Great Negotiator” who says he knows how to bring people together to get a deal done?

Oh, that reminds me: today is the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president.

It only took a year for him to shut down the government.

Another record broken… #MAGA

Posted on

Poll: Republicans Could Bear The Brunt Of Government Shutdown Blame

Only hours before a possible shutdown of the federal government, a new poll shows the Republicans would bear the brunt of responsibility for the ensuing debacle.

According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll:

• 48% of those surveyed would place the blame on Donald Trump and the Republicans

• 28% would hold Democrats responsible

• 18% say both parties would share the blame

• Among the very important political Independents, 46% would blame Republicans compared to 25% who would say Dems would be responsible.

This would be the first time in modern history that the government would shut down while under control of one political party.

I thought Donald Trump’s big skill was “bringing people together” to get a deal…?

Posted on

Trump: Federal Shutdown “Would Be A Tremendously Negative Mark On The President Of The U.S.”

With a federal shutdown looming as Republicans and Democrats dig in their heels regarding funding the government, check out this nugget from 2011 where Donald Trump told The Today Show that a shutdown “would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the United States.”

There’s always a quote, there’s always a tweet…

Posted on

Sen. Lindsey Graham admits the GOP government shutdown “hurt” the Republican brand

Via RawStory: In an interview on Face The Nation, Sen. Lindsey Graham admitted the GOP bungled the recent government shutdown:

“After this debacle called the shutdown, our party’s been hurt, our brand name is at the lowest ever, Obamacare actually got a bump in polling and we got in the way of a disastrous roll-out. So from my point of view, this was a tactical choice that hurt us.”

To make his point, the South Carolina Republican told a story of a “friend” who had been personally impacted by the health care law.

“Friend of mine owns 52 Wendy’s, he’s put pen to paper, he has 40 percent of his workforce insured today,” Graham explained. “Under Obamacare, if 20 percent choose insurance, his insurance costs will double. That story is repeating itself throughout the economy. Obamacare is a debacle that will go into 2014.”