Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Monday urged House members to begin returning to the Capitol after a more than 50-day recess as the chamber prepares to vote later this week on an agreement to end the record-long government shutdown. “Air travel has been grinding to a halt in many places, and as of Sunday, nearly half of all domestic flights, U.S. flights, were either canceled or delayed,” he said. “I’m stating the obvious to all my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats in the House, you need to b

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Tuesday that lawmakers will need to extend the Nov. 21 deadline in the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) as the government shutdown entered its 35th day, tying the record for the longest in U.S. history. “We’ve lost five weeks, so the Nov. 21 deadline no longer makes a lot of sense. So clearly, it would have to be extended,” he told reporters. “There is a conversation around what that next deadline will be.” The temporary funding measure was in

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Friday said Republicans will bear the responsibility for a government shutdown because they have refused to negotiate with Democrats. “The only way to avoid a shutdown is to negotiate with Democrats,” he told reporters shortly after the Senate rejected a pair of competing stopgap measures. The Republican proposal, a “clean” seven-week continuing resolution (CR) with added money for lawmakers’ security, was defeated 44–48 after passing the House earl