#government-shutdown

#government-shutdown

The US Senate approved a major government funding package on Friday, after the killings of two US citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis upended spending talks and gave out-of-power rare leverage over Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign. In a 71-29 tally, the Senate overcame last-minute opposition from a handful of Republicans to rally behind a deal the president struck with Democrats, an unusual display of bipartisanship as tensions rise nationally over the presence of ICE in American cities.

If the second Trump administration has been a metaphorical firefight over whether the U.S. is a democracy or a theocracy run by Christian nationalists, Democrats didn't bring a hose-they brought a couple of water balloons to fuck around with. They've caved, insulted voters and each other, and given everyone brain-splitting migraines. And when Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7, they still didn't say anything about blocking the budget bill that would give ICE another few billion.

At the moment, the betting in Washington is that Republicans and Democrats will manage to achieve just enough agreement on must-pass spending legislation to avoid another government shutdown on January 30. So what will Congress do between now and the November midterms? All the spending measures will run out on September 30 at the end of the federal fiscal year, but lawmakers will likely find a way to kick the can past Election Day.

The trigger point for the long shutdown that began in October, the deadline for extending Obamacare premium subsidies, has come and gone, and while all Democrats and some Republicans still want to resurrect them, the issue isn't time sensitive in quite the way it was. Plus, Congress is actually making progress on regular spending bills covering agencies till the end of the year, which could make the scope of government operations vulnerable to a shutdown significantly smaller.

Millions of Americans are facing a huge increase in the amount they have to pay for health insurance. A dispute about government subsides for healthcare was one of the major issues that led to a 43-day shutdown of the US government last year the longest in history. But even when the shutdown ended, Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on and extension of the the subsidies.

A much-delayed report shows the U.S. economy grew a robust 4.3% between July and September, fueled by consumer spending. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: In July through September, the U.S. economy grew faster than economists had predicted. LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: That's according to a delayed report from the Commerce Department on GDP, the gross domestic product. The report is nearly two months late because of the government shutdown.

A contributing factor to this lack of productivity was President Donald Trump's increasing use of executive orders, often controversial and subject to multiple court challenges. So far in his second term, Trump has signed 224 executive orders, compared to the 52 he signed in 2017 and more than he did during his entire first term. President Joe Biden signed 76 in 2021, his first year in office.

US real gross domestic product rose at an annualized rate of 4.3% in the third quarter, exceeding the 3.3% expected and more than the 3.8% growth in the second quarter. "The increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, and government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in investment," the Bureau of Economic Analysis said.

"We've done studies showing the reason a lot of people are leaving is because it's not functional, because of death threats, because they're not getting anything done," she said in an interview. "The polarization is just dramatically different from even from the 'good old days' when you had the Clinton impeachment, but you got things like welfare and tax reform done," said Comstock, who was a congressional staffer in the 90s and served in Congress from 2015 to 2019.

'It's likely a bit distorted,' said Diane Swonk, chief economist at the tax and consulting firm KPMG. 'The good news is that it's cooling. We'll take a win when we can get it.' Still, Swonk added: 'The data is truncated, and we just don't know how much of it to trust.' By disrupting the economy - especially government contracting - the shutdown may have contributed to a cooling in prices, she said.

The United States economy lost 41,000 jobs in October and November, and the unemployment rate has ticked up to its highest level since 2021 as the labour market cools amid ongoing economic uncertainty driven by tariffs and immigration policies. In November, the US economy added 64,000 jobs after shedding 105,000 in October, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Federal Reserve has one more decision in 2025 - and it will set the tone for where interest rates will go in the new year. On Wednesday, leaders at the central bank will decide whether to continue cutting rates or put a pause on loosening monetary policy. The call will have ripple effects across consumer prices, the job market, and Corporate America.

Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a "no-hire, no fire" standstill. That's caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, sizable layoffs have continued to pile up - raising worker anxieties across sectors. Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from U.S. President Donald Trump's barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending.

After pushing for entry for weeks, they visited on Monday and found three people detained there and said the facility was clean. I'm glad that we were finally able to get down there, U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas told reporters following the visit. It does leave a lot of suspicion in my mind as to what was there before, why weren't we allowed to go in. We gave all the notices that we were supposed to.

The 20 largest civilian federal agencies collectively spent 63% less money in October 2025 - during the government shutdown - compared to October 2024, according to reported spending data pulled from the Federal Procurement Data System by Deltek in mid-November. Reported spending at some large agencies, including NASA and the departments of State and Energy, declined by 84% or more compared to October 2024.

This morning, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced September retail sales data, which showed sales began slowing even before the government shutdown through the economy for a loop. Sales increased 0.2% in September nationwide, slower than August's 0.6% gain. Worse, essentially all the increase in September "sales" came in the form of price hikes on products. Prices rose 0.3% in the month, and if you back out that increase, shopping-sales actually declined 0.1%.

During the 12-day Thanksgiving travel period from Nov. 21 to Dec. 2, we expect 1.96 million passengers at MIA, which would be a 4% increase over last year and a new record,

The longest government shutdown in US history hit air traffic controllers hard. Thirteen thousand worked without pay for over a month, taking up jobs driving for DoorDash and Instacart to survive. But staff shortages in US control towers go back decades before the shutdown. Despite being fatigued and overworked, the remaining controllers hold thousands of lives in their hands every day.

"People dress up like they're going to bed when they fly," Duffy said. "I see people get on airplanes and they're having a hard time taking their luggage and getting it in the...overhead bin. Help people out, be nice, be courteous. We want to push people as we come into a really busy travel season: help people out, be in a good mood, dress up. Bring civility back to travel."