The Latest: No end in sight to government shutdown as House speaker refuses to negotiate
The shutdown entered its th day with the Senate returning from its holiday break Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson refusing to call lawmakers back to Washington and President Donald Trump s budget director vowing to keep firing federal workers Democrats have focused on trying to keep Affordable Care Act subsidies from expiring for millions of Americans who purchase insurance on Obamacare exchanges Without this federal encouragement costs are expected to soar across the healthcare care economic activity Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson commented he won t negotiate unless Democrats first agree to reopen the executive losing their leverage for any deal The Latest Trump moves Kirk Medal of Freedom ceremony to Rose Garden The president commented in a post on social media that he s moving the ceremony to posthumously honor Charlie Kirk outside at the White House where he paved over the Rose Garden grass because the crowd will be so big and enthusiastic Trump revealed the new location will allow people to see the changes he s made such as the Presidential Walk of Fame where he hung portraits of the previous commanders-in-chief along with renovations to the Palm Court Trump s post to the entire world also included instructions on how to enter the White House for the event Enter through Main South Entrance Particular airports decline to show Noem s video message on executive shutdown Airports in Las Vegas Charlotte Phoenix and Westchester County say the Homeland Protection secretary s video goes against their initiative or regulations because of its political content In the video Noem blames Democrats for the federal regime shutdown and its impacts on operations to screen travelers The shutdown has left airports scrambling with flight disruptions US rejects bid to buy million tons of coal for less than a penny per ton The bid s price for the coal on community lands in Montana reflected the low appetite for coal among utilities turning to cheaper natural gas and renewables such as wind and solar It would have been the biggest U S authorities coal sale in more than a decade But coal emissions are a leading driver of atmosphere change which scientists say is making weather more extreme Trump has made reviving the coal industry a centerpiece of his ability agenda but economists say he s unlikely to reverse its decline A Department of Interior message Tuesday revealed the bid from the Navajo Transitional Force Co didn t meet the requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act Agency representatives did not provide further details and it s unclear if they will attempt another sale Maine Gov Mills to confront Trump again with US Senate campaign The New England governor who stated Trump to his face that she would see him in court now plans to challenge Maine s Republican U S senator at the ballot box Democratic Gov Janet Mills cited her White House confrontation in her Tuesday launch video She informed The Associated Press I ll stand up to Trump just as I did in February Mills says she s running for a broader resistance to Trump and to oust five-term Sen Susan Collins who voted for the tax breaks and spending cuts law that reduced food and robustness care aid for children and low-income Americans Other challengers for the Democratic nomination include oyster farmer Graham Platner who has the backing of Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders Read more about the Maine senate race Advocacy group sues Social Protection Administration over access to records Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit against the SSA Tuesday asking a court to compel the release of constituents records related to program changes at the agency The plaintiffs allege that SSA s changes during Trump s second term which include mass firings and changes to how benefits are administered have left millions of retirees and people with disabilities struggling to access the benefits they rely on They seek internal memos communications and input about the impact of SSA s policies Transparency isn t optional it s essential Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman noted in a report We re taking action to demand accountability and ensure the constituents knows what s happening behind closed doors Democrats rally in front of White House budget office Congressional Democrats and laid-off workers are gathering outside the White House s budget office to decry the Trump administration s moves to fire federal employees during the shutdown Sen Chris Van Hollen a Maryland Democrat called it a lie and illegal for the White House to use the shutdown to impose mass layoffs The Democrats stood behind people that held signs printed with budget director Russ Vought s face and his quote about wanting to put federal workers in trauma When they viciously attack our federal employees they are viciously attacking the American people Van Hollen stated GOP House Speaker backs funding transfers to pay troops Mike Johnson says the Trump administration has every right to move congressionally-mandated funds around to pay the nation s troops If the Democrats want to go to court and challenge troops being paid bring it Johnson declared at a Capitol press conference Moving the funds removes a major pressure point that might have encouraged negotiations over the shutdown Members of the military were projected to miss their first paycheck on Wednesday The Trump administration is exercising vast leeway both to fire workers drawing complaints from fellow Republicans and lawsuits from employee unions and to determine who is paid Military troops and federal law enforcement agents don t necessarily have to go without pay thanks to other funding sources as well as the billions made available in Trump s One Big Beautiful Bill Act which is now law Read more about the latest shutdown related developments House speaker rallying global endorsement to nominate Trump for the next Nobel Peace Prize Mike Johnson says he and the speaker of the Israeli Knesset are starting a project to rally global leaders to patronage Trump s nomination for next year s Nobel Peace Prize Conservatives have hailed Trump s effort to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and say he deserves the annual award Under his leadership we are witnessing the dawn of a new golden age not just for America but for the entire free world the Louisiana Republican announced at a news conference ICE using full-body restraints during deportations raising concerns over inhumane rehabilitation U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been using a full-body restraint device called the WRAP during deportations The Associated Press spoke to a number of people who declared they were placed in the device after they had already been shackled The manufacturer says the device is intended for violent individuals but detainees claim it is used to intimidate or punish them ICE s use of the WRAP has continued despite safety concerns expressed two years ago by a watchdog division of its parent agency the U S Department of Homeland Shield A DHS spokesperson says ICE s use of the restraints is fully in line with established legal standards Read more from the AP s examination into ICE s use of full-body restraints Trump s big bill helps pay Coast Guard salaries in shutdown The administration has begun tapping funds from Trump s tax breaks and budget law to start paying for priorities during the shutdown in this occurrence ensuring the Coast Guard doesn t go without paychecks Homeland Assurance Secretary Kristi Noem commented in a declaration that thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill the brave men and women of the US Coast Guard will not miss a paycheck this week Trump had already instructed the Department of Defense to make sure military operation members are paid The Pentagon broadcasted it would do so with billion in unused research and advancement funds The law includes more than billion in new funds for the military as well as for DHS and Trump s mass deportation agenda White House budget office prepared for long shutdown standoff The office led by budget director Russ Vought also stated in a social media post that it will continue implementing reduction-in-force plans to fire federal workers The post revealed the office would pay the troops pay law enforcement continue the RIFs and wait Numerous in Washington are digging in for a prolonged establishment funding fight The shutdown is already well into its second week Pennsylvania man pleads guilty in arson at governor s mansion while Shapiro s family slept A man who scaled an iron measure fence eluded police and used beer bottles filled with gasoline to ignite the occupied Pennsylvania governor s mansion pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted murder Cody Balmer was sentenced to to years in prison after he also entered pleas to terrorism counts of arson aggravated arson burglary aggravated assault of Gov Josh Shapiro counts of reckless endangerment and loitering in the April attack that did millions of dollars in damage to the state-owned brick building Shapiro and his family were awakened and evacuated hours after celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover Balmer explained police after turning himself in that he had planned to beat Shapiro with a sledgehammer according to court documents Read more about the attack on the Pennsylvania governor s mansion Supreme Court rejects Jones appeal of billion Sandy Hook judgment The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and left in place the billion judgment against him over his description of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a hoax staged by predicament actors The Infowars host had argued that a judge was wrong to find him liable for defamation and infliction of emotional distress without holding a trial on the merits of claims lodged by relatives of casualties of the shooting which killed first graders and six educators in Newtown Connecticut The justices did not comment on their order which they issued without even asking the families of the Sandy Hook casualties to respond to Jones appeal Read more about Jones rejection by the Supreme Court Barack Obama appears in ad urging California voters to counter Trump Barack Obama is entering the fight for U S House control by appearing in a -second ad urging California voters to approve a ballot proposal that could add as plenty of as five Democrat-held House seats from California Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next electoral contest and wield unchecked power for two more years Obama says looking directly into the camera You can stop Republicans in their tracks Proposition is aimed at offsetting Trump s moves in Texas and elsewhere to help win more Republican seats in the midterm voting process Voting is underway and concludes Nov Republicans hold a - House majority with three vacancies Democratic Gov Gavin Newsom has framed the referendum as a referendum on all things Trump who is unpopular in liberal-leaning California outside of his conservative base Republicans call it a Democratic power grab that would override an independent commission created by voters News outlets face Pentagon ouster for refusing to sign defense secretary s pre-approval rules Major news organizations say they won t sign a Defense Department document about its new press rules making it likely the Trump administration will evict their reporters from the Pentagon Pete Hegseth reacted to their refusal by posting a hand-waving emoji on X His gang has announced that reporters who don t acknowledge the program in writing by Tuesday must turn in badges admitting them to the Pentagon and clear out their workspaces the next day The new rules bar journalist access to large swaths of the Pentagon without an escort and say Hegseth can revoke press access to reporters who ask anyone in the Defense Department for information classified or otherwise that he has not approved for release The New York Times The Associated Press the conservative Newsmax television organization The Washington Post The Atlantic and Reuters among other outlets say the guidelines threatens to punish routine news gathering protected by the First Amendment Read more about the Pentagon and the media Trump complains that the photo of him on Time Magazine is the Worst of All Time The president posted a lament on social media early Tuesday morning about a signature subject his hair Trump has long been known for his swoopy blonde hair but on the latest issue of Time recognizing his ceasefire deal in Gaza he feels his locks are lacking They disappeared my hair and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown but an extremely small one Really weird the president wrote The president also complained that the shot is taken facing up showing more neck and chin than he seemed to prefer This is a super bad picture and deserves to be called out he wrote What are they doing and why FACT FOCUS Trump now says he s ended eight wars His numbers are off As Israel and Hamas traded hostages and prisoners on Monday in a first step toward peace Trump addressed Israel s parliament claiming he had ended his eighth war The day before today I was saying seven but now I can say eight he narrated the Knesset After so plenty of years of unceasing war and endless danger this day the skies are calm The guns are silent The sirens are still And the sun rises on a holy land that is completely at peace Trump disclosed But Trump s claim is exaggerated Here s a closer look Gaza ceasefire plan brims with questions about what s next The coming weeks months and years will require more than just rebuilding from the devastation that has left much of Gaza in ruins Key details of the peace plan may remain unsettled Granular details will need to be negotiated to keep the plan moving forward and prevent the resumption of fighting The path to long-term peace stability and eventual rebuilding will be a long and very precipitous trail Source
