The deal has split Democrats, with many senior figures saying they should have held out for the extension of health insurance subsidies at the heart of the shutdown battle, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Pathetic,” California governor Gavin Newsom, widely seen as a 2028 Democratic presidential frontrunner, posted on X.
Despite opposing the bill vocally and voting against it, Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has faced calls from some lawmakers in his party to step down for failing to corral his senators.
For Democrats, the wavering was especially galling as it came just days after election wins that put Donald Trump on the back foot for the first time since his White House return.
Democratic wins in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia in particular highlighted the issue of affordability, a weak spot for billionaire Trump and the Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
But Senate Republicans have promised Democrats a vote on health insurance, with millions of Americans set to see their “Obamacare” costs double without an extension of the subsidies.
The health care issue has itself threatened to cause a rift in Trump’s “Make America Great Again” coalition.
Trump said on Monday one-time ally Marjorie Taylor Greene had “lost her way” after the congresswoman made critical comments, including that she was “disgusted” that premiums could double for her own grown children.
Top Democrats have vowed to oppose the government funding bill, in large part because it does not directly address the extension of health insurance subsidies that are to expire at the end of this year. But it is likely to pass the House because it only needs a simple majority, which Republicans narrowly have, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
From the start, Donald Trump had piled pressure on Democrats by letting the shutdown be as punishing as possible and refusing to negotiate on their demands on health insurance.
A million federal workers went unpaid, food benefits for low-income Americans came under threat and air travelers faced thousands of cancelations and delays ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Transportation secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday that the chaos could get worse by the weekend if the shutdown persists, with air traffic controllers unable to be paid and authorities ordering further slowdowns in flight traffic.
“You’re going to have airlines that make serious calculations about whether they continue to fly, full stop,” Duffy told reporters at Chicago’s O’Hare international airport.
Polls have shown that voters increasingly blamed Trump’s party as the shutdown dragged on past its 40th day, reports AFP.
But it was the Democrats who caved and gave Republicans the extra votes they needed on Monday under Senate rules, without securing the key concessions they wanted.
“Health care of people all across this country is on the brink of becoming unaffordable,” top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Tuesday as he vowed to maintain the fight for lower costs.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog said he received a letter from US president Donald Trump on Wednesday asking him to pardon prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three separate corruption cases, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing court cases, with no ruling yet delivered, and his supporters have dismissed the trials as politically motivated.
In a speech to the Israeli parliament in October, Trump suggested to Herzog that he pardon Netanyahu.
According to AFP, Herzog’s office said in a statement:
This morning, President Isaac Herzog received the attached letter from US President Donald Trump, calling on him to consider granting a pardon to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the letter, Trump says he is writing to Herzog at a “historic time, as we have, together, just secured peace that has been sought for at least 3,000 years”. It adds:
I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive war time prime minister.
While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli justice system … I believe that this ’case’ against Bibi … is political, unjustified prosecution.
Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused in one case of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours.
He is also accused of attempting to negotiate more favourable coverage from two Israeli media outlets in two other cases.
The statement from Herzog’s office said the Israeli president holds Trump “in the highest regard and continues to express his deep appreciations for President Trump’s unwavering support for Israel”. It added:
Alongside and not withstanding this … anyone seeking a presidential pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures.
John F Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg announces run for US House seat
John F Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg has said he will run for the US House next year, announcing Tuesday that he was seeking a key New York seat set to be vacated by longtime Democrat Jerry Nadler.
“This district should have a representative who can harness the creativity, energy and drive of this district and translate that into political power in Washington,” Schlossberg said in a campaign video posted on social media late Tuesday.
In an email to supporters, Schlossberg, a Democrat, said that his campaign will officially launch on Wednesday.
Schlossberg has drummed up a large following on social media with frequent posts weighing in on national issues, including taking aim at his mother’s cousin, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Last month, he posted on Instagram an image of a Halloween costume for “MAHA Man,” in reference to Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again message and described it as including such things as measles.
Nadler, who is serving his 17th term in Congress, announced in September that he will not run for reelection next year, suggesting to the New York Times that a younger Democratic lawmaker in his seat “can maybe do better, can maybe help us more.”
The 12th District includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Upper East Side and midtown.
A political commentator and writer whose work has been published in such news outlets as The Washington Post, Politico and Time magazine, Schlossberg joins a crowded field of contenders already vying for the 12th congressional district seat.
Venezuelans sent by Trump to El Salvador endured systematic torture, report finds
More than 252 Venezuelans expelled to El Salvador under Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy suffered systematic and prolonged torture and abuse, including sexual assault, during their detention, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The report, compiled jointly by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Cristosal – a group investigating violations in Central America – says conditions at El Salvador’s sprawling “terrorist continent center” (Cecot) breached the UN’s standard minimal rules for the treatment of prisoners. It cites “inhumane prison conditions, including prolonged incommunicado detention, inadequate food” and other shortcomings.
The groups accuse the Trump administration of willful complicity in the suffering deportees endured after being flown to El Salvador in March and April, insisting that it ordered the men’s deportation while fully aware that they would be mistreated or even face threats to their lives.
They are calling an “independent investigation” by the US justice department, although they admit the prospect is unlikely. They are also demanding the Trump administration stop deporting third-country nationals to El Salvador.
US connivance in what is depicted as a systematic pattern of torture and human rights abuses evokes comparison with the scandal at Bahghdad’s Abu Ghraib facility during the “war on terror”, they say.
Juanita Goebertus, HRW’s Americas director, said:
We reached the conclusion that the Trump administration is complicit in systematic torture and enforced disappearances of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador.
Trump to host business leaders at White House dinner
Donald Trump is expected to host a private dinner at the White House tonight with several top business executives, including the chief executives of Nasdaq and JPMorgan Chase, an administration official told Reuters.
The gathering underscores Trump‘s effort to deepen ties with corporate leaders as his administration rolls out new initiatives aimed at strengthening US capital markets and rebuilding critical domestic supply chains seen as vital to national security. JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank, has announced a decade-long, $1.5trn investment program aimed at industries central to US national security and economic resilience, including supply chain and manufacturing, defense and aerospace, energy independence, and frontier technologies.
A White House official confirmed that Trump was meeting with financial leaders, but did not confirm a guest list.
Jamie Dimon, the head of the bank, has previously defended the independence of the Federal Reserve amid Trump attacks and had warned that swingeing tariffs made a recession more likely.
House set to vote on deal to end record shutdown
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of US politics with the US House of Representatives expected to vote today to end the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history. It comes as anger flares among Democrats over the Senate compromise that drops an extension of key healthcare subsidies.
After keeping the chamber idle for more than 50 days, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, has recalled lawmakers to Washington to consider the short-term funding bill, which would keep the government open through January. The measure, advanced by a coalition of Senate Republicans and a handful of Democrats, would avert further chaos but leaves millions facing potential increases in healthcare premiums.
The deal has exposed sharp divisions among Democrats. Progressive groups have accused Senate leaders of betrayal and even called for Chuck Schumer to step down despite not backing the deal himself. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries warned that Democrats are unlikely to back the bill, calling it “a Republican refusal to address the cost-of-living crisis”.
Johnson can only afford to lose two votes in order to pass the bill, and the Kentucky representative Thomas Massie is likely to vote no. But Republican leaders have expressed optimism that the legislation will pass, and be sent to Trump for his signature.
Stay with us to see what happens.
