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The Dictatorship

Democrats finally propose a shutdown deal — and Republicans torch it in seconds

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Democrats finally propose a shutdown deal — and Republicans torch it in seconds

On day 38 of the government shutdown, Senate Democrats unveiled their first official offer to reopen the government.

Almost immediately, Republicans said “no.”

The plan, as proposed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday, aimed to solve one of the key Democratic concerns throughout the shutdown: that Republicans were offering no guarantee that Affordable Care Act subsidies will in fact be extended in some form.

Without an extension, Americans enrolled in Obamacare are poised to see their premiums skyrocket next year.

The proposal called for reopening the government with what Democrats describe as a “clean” stopgap funding bill, coupled with a package of three appropriations bills that have already received bipartisan approval.

Republicans are mostly fine with that idea. In fact, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has been working to pass a similar bill. But Democrats also have an additional demand: a one-year extension of Obamacare subsidies, allowing lawmakers to set up a bipartisan committee to then negotiate future reforms.

“This is a reasonable offer that reopens the government, deals with health care affordability, and begins the process of negotiating reforms to the ACA tax credits for the future,” Schumer said Friday.

The blueprint was notably the first explicit proposal Schumer has publicly offered since the shutdown began, with the New York Democrat preferring to keep his caucus’ demands more enigmatic.

“Now, the ball is in the Republicans’ court,” Schumer said. “We need Republicans to just say ‘yes.’”

Republicans, however, are not playing ball.

In a swift and assertive manner, GOP senators shot down the Democratic proposal, ensuring that the shutdown will continue with no end in sight.

“I think everybody who follows this knows that’s a non-starter,” Thune told reporters shortly after Schumer unveiled his proposal.

“There is no way the Obamacare extension is the negotiation,” he added. “That’s what we’re going to negotiate once the government opens up.”

Throughout the shutdown, Republicans have maintained that Democrats need to reopen the government before they’ll have a conversation about the Obamacare subsidies. Thune has offered Democrats a vote on extending the Obamacare subsidies, but Democrats fear that’s all it will be — a vote.

In some ways, the distance between Democrats and Republicans doesn’t seem all that vast, but because Democrats want some degree of certainty that an extension of the subsidies will pass — and not just get a vote — the legislative difference is night and day.

“It’s frustrating for them to step up and say, ‘If you’ll give tax credits to this 20 million people, we’ll let children get fed.’ I don’t get that,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said, invoking the cliff in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., was even more succinct, calling the proposal “detached from reality” and “selfish.”

Schumer rolled out his counterproposal surrounded by several Senate Democrats — he requested their presence on the floor, two sources told BLN — projecting an image of unity in the caucus.

But there are some notable cracks in the group.

Just as Schumer began his remarks on the floor, a source told BLN that 11 senators had been meeting in Sen. Angus King’s office for a “productive meeting” that lasted more than an hour. (King is an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, but has consistently voted with Republicans throughout the shutdown in order to reopen government.)

The group of Democrats in King’s office, the source said, had a “tone and approach” that “doesn’t reflect what you see on the floor,” suggesting that Schumer’s strategy may be on a shot clock.

The rollout of the Democratic proposal capped off a week of twists and turns with the shutdown, as lawmakers sought to find an off-ramp to the record-breaking impasse.

For weeks, a bipartisan group of rank-and-file lawmakers — including King — have been negotiating a potential deal. Talks had been gaining steam, and the contours of that plan appeared to be coming together at the start of the week, despite strong objections from progressives.

But Tuesday’s elections, in which Democrats dominated a series of high-profile races, appeared to shake up the momentum, with some Democrats suddenly arguing they’d be fools to cave after such a positive result.

“I think we are in an enormously strong position right now to make a really big difference for the people we represent, the people who are going to be hurt by these escalating premiums and Trump’s corruption,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told reporters Wednesday.

Some Republicans were disappointed that, despite those bipartisan talks, Democrats went on their own track.

“There are a lot of conversations that have been had that I think have moved everybody in a positive direction, but it’s unfortunate to see this,” Britt said.

What lawmakers do now to solve the shutdown is unclear.

Senate Democrats rejected a bill spearheaded by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Friday evening that would have paid federal workers who have been going without paychecks since the shutdown started.

After the vote failed 53-43 — there was a 60-vote threshold — Thune promptly adjourned for the night, announcing that the Senate will return Saturday at noon.

At this point, the main unknown senators face is whether they will stay in Washington over the weekend. Thune has said he’ll keep senators at the Capitol, but senior GOP aides have suggested that if the extra time is unlikely to prompt progress, they’ll likely not stick around.

Meanwhile, frustrations are mounting. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who predicted on Thursday that the shutdown would last another two weeks, now says the funding lapse will probably last longer than that.

“God, please give me patience,” Kennedy told reporters on Thursday, “because if God gives me strength, I’m going to need bail money.”

Kevin Frey is a congressional reporter for BLN. He previously served as Washington correspondent for Spectrum News NY1. A graduate of George Washington University, he grew up in Pennsylvania.

She covers Capitol Hill involving both Democrats and Republicans. She previously covered Congress at Blue Light News. She graduated from George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication and political science.

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The Dictatorship

French company Capgemini to sell subsidiary working with ICE

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French company Capgemini to sell subsidiary working with ICE

PARIS (AP) — French company Capgemini announced Sunday it is selling off its subsidiary that provides technology services to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, during global scrutiny of ICE agents’ tactics in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

France’s government had pressured the company to be more transparent about its dealings with ICE, whose actions in Minneapolis in recent weeks have raised concern in France and other countries. The government’s campaign against immigrants in Minnesota’s capital has led to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal immigration officers.

Capgemini said in a statement Sunday that it will immediately start the process of selling off its subsidiary Capgemini Government Solutions. It said the rules for working with U.S. federal government agencies ″did now allow the group to exercise appropriate control over certain aspects of the operations of this subsidiary to ensure alignment with the group’s objectives.″

It didn’t give further explanation for the decision, but noted that the subsidiary represents only 0.4% of the company’s estimated 2025 revenue.

Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat said he was only recently made aware of the subsidiary’s contract with ICE. In a LinkedIn post, he said, “The nature and scope of this work has raised questions compared to what we typically do as a business and technology firm.’’

The company selloff announcement came after French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, speaking to parliament last week, urged Capgemini ″to shed light, in an extremely transparent manner, on its activities … and to question the nature of these activities.″ Lescure’s office did not comment on the company’s decision.

Non-governmental organization Multinationals Observatory reported that Capgemini Government Solutions provided ICE technical tools to locate targets for the immigration crackdown. CapgemiSni did not immediately respond to a query about the tools.

Capgemini is a consulting and technology company that employs more than 340,000 people in more than 50 countries.

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‘Melania’ opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary

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‘Melania’ opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary

NEW YORK (AP) — Promoted by President Donald Trump as “a must watch,” the Melania Trump documentary “Melania” debuted with a better-than-expected $7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The release of “Melania” was unlike any seen before. Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million for the rights, plus some $35 million to market it, making it the most expensive documentary ever. Directed by Brett Ratner, who had been exiled from Hollywood since 2017, the film about the first lady debuted in 1,778 theaters in the midst of Trump’s turbulent second term.

While the result would be a flop for most films with such high costs, “Melania” was a success by documentary standards. It’s the best opening weekend for a documentary, outside of concert films, in 14 years. Going into the weekend, estimates ranged from $3 million to $5 million.

But there was little to compare “Melania” to, given that presidential families typically eschew in-office memoir or documentary releases to avoid the appearance of capitalizing on the White House. The film chronicles Melania Trump over 20 days last January, leading up to Trump’s second inauguration.

Marc Beckman, left, shake hands with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer as they arrive for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's movie

Marc Beckman, left, shake hands with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer as they arrive for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s movie “Melania” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

On Thursday, Trump hosted a premiere of the film at the Kennedy Centerwith attendees including Cabinet members and members of Congress. There, Ratner downplayed its box-office potential, noting: “You can’t expect a documentary to play in theaters.”

The No. 1 movie of the weekend was Sam Raimi’s “Send Help,” a critically acclaimed survival thriller starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. The Walt Disney Co. release debuted with $20 million. The film, with a $40 million budget, was an in-between kind of release for Raimi, whose hits have typically ranged from low-budget cult (“Army of Darkness”) to big-budget blockbuster (2002’s “Spider-Man”).

The microbudget sci-fi horror film “Iron Lung,” directed by YouTuber and filmmaker Markiplier, came in second with $17.9 million, far exceeding expectations. The Jason Statham action thriller “Shelter” debuted with $5.5 million.

But most of the curiosity was on how “Melania” would perform. A week earlier, the White House hosted a black-tie preview attended by Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy, Apple chief executive Tim Cook and former boxer Mike Tyson.

The audience waits in a movie theater for the start of the screening of a documentary about Melania Trump in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

The audience waits in a movie theater for the start of the screening of a documentary about Melania Trump in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

The film arrived in a week dominated by coverage of federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

“Melania” didn’t screen in advance for critics, but reviews that rolled out Friday, once the film was in theaters, weren’t good. Xan Brooks of The Guardian compared the film to a “medieval tribute to placate the greedy king on his throne.” Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it a “cheese ball informercial of staggering inertia.” Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “To say that ‘Melania’ is a hagiography would be an insult to hagiographies.”

But among those who bought tickets over the weekend, the response was far more positive. “Melania” landed an “A” CinemaScore. Audiences were overwhelmingly 55 and older (72% of ticket buyers), female (72%) and white (75%). As expected, the movie played best in the South, with top states including Florida and Texas.

David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe called it “an excellent opening for a political documentary.”

“For any other film, with $75 million in costs and limited foreign potential, it would be a problem,” said Gross. “But this is a political investment, not a for-profit movie venture, and if it helps Amazon with a regulatory, taxation, tariff or other government issue, then it will pay back. $75 million is insignificant to Amazon.”

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the premiere of her movie

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the premiere of her movie “Melania” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“Melania” is Ratner’s first film since he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2017. Multiple women, including the actor Olivia Munn, accused Ratner of sexual harassment and misconduct. Ratner has denied the allegations. Last fall, after Trump’s reported intervention, Paramount Pictures said it would distribute his “Rush Hour 4.”

“Melania,” which will stream on Prime Video following its theatrical run, was released globally. Shortly before its debut, South African distributor Filmfinity said it would no longer release it. The company said it changed course “based on recent developments.”

International ticket sales for “Melania” were expected to be minuscule.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Send Help,” $20 million.

2. “Iron Lung,” $17.9 million.

3. “Melania,” $7 million.

4. “Zootopia 2,” $5.8 million.

5. “Shelter,” $5.5 million.

6. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $5.5 million.

7. “Mercy,” $4.7 million.

8. “The Housemaid,” $3.5 million.

9. “Marty Supreme,” $2.9 million.

10. “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” $1.5 million.

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The Dictatorship

‘ICE out’: Bad Bunny uses Grammy speech to speak out

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‘ICE out’: Bad Bunny uses Grammy speech to speak out

As awards season progresses, celebrities continue to speak out against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — especially in Minneapolis. Though some stars have opted for a slight nod of resistance with pins that say “ICE out,” others have been more vocal in their stances.

Upon accepting the Grammy Award for Best Música Urbana Album on Sunday night, Bad Bunny got straight to the point.

“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” the Puerto Rican performer said as soon as he approached the podium with award in hand.

After a standing ovation and cheers from the crowd, he continued.

“We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”⁣

This is not the first time the artist has spoken out against the Trump administration’s rhetoric against immigrants in the United States. Last year, he announced he would no longer tour in the U.S., which drew criticism from some right-wing commentators.

Despite that pushback, Bad Bunny scored the headlining spot at this year’s Super Bowl and said he decided to “do just one date in the United States.”

The album Bad Bunny accepted the award for, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” also won Album of the Year, becoming the first primarily Spanish-language album to win the distinction in the ceremony’s 68-year history.

Kathleen Creedon is a platforms editor for MS NOW. She previously worked as a web producer for Vanity Fair.

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