The Dictatorship
Senators leave town as the shutdown pain reaches ‘point of absurdity’
For the first time since the shutdown began, senators this week began expressing some optimism that a solution might be right around the corner.
That optimism, however, will have to wait until next week, when food benefits have officially run out and Americans see their Obamacare premiums spike.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., sent lawmakers home on Thursday after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement on the shutdown for the fifth consecutive week.
Still, senators told BLN on Thursday that bipartisan talks are happening and that, despite Thune not seeing enough progress to keep the chamber in session over the weekend — or even on Friday — there is finally some progress.
One GOP senator, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive deliberations, said some of the talks are focused on appropriations, while others are centered on health care premiums. But mostly, this senator said, discussions are concentrated on turning the lights back on in Washington.
“I actually am seeing some movement, or seeing more discussions,” another GOP senator, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, said Thursday.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., echoed that sentiment, telling BLN he thought “the pace of bipartisan discussions is a good sign.”
Whether those discussions are close to bearing fruit is another question.
Democrats are still demanding that lawmakers address the expiring Obamacare tax credits as part of any deal to end the shutdown, while Republicans insist the only way to end the impasse is by passing the short-term spending bill that the House approved last month.
Despite the ramped-up conversations, that core disagreement still exists.
“There is talking going on,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said. “But we need talks to yield results, right?”
That lack of results seemed to prompt Thune to send everyone home.
It’s really reached the point of absurdity. It’s reached the point of real suffering for people.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
“We got to see something from the Democrats that suggests that would be a worthwhile endeavor,” Thune said Wednesday when asked if he would keep lawmakers in over the weekend. Asked if at least 10 Democrats have come to him saying they are ready to have a serious conversation about ending the shutdown, he responded: “No.”
Less than 24 hours later, he adjourned the Senate for the week.
The discussions between Democrats and Republicans haven’t exactly been leadership-sanctioned. And Democratic and GOP leaders haven’t been the ones engaging in talks. Thune maintains there’s nothing to discuss until Democrats vote for the House-passed continuing resolution. And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., maintains that Democrats will need real concessions on Obamacare before his caucus votes for a spending bill.
The dynamic is similar in the House with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who says it’s well past time to negotiate, and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who says there’s nothing to negotiate and has kept the House out of session since Sept. 19 to back up his claim.
With leaders sticking to their positions, when the impasse finally breaks is anyone’s guess.
The shutdown is on track to make history. If it stretches into Wednesday — day 36 — it will be the longest funding lapse in history, surpassing the 35-day shutdown of 2018-19 during President Donald Trump’s first term, which centered on Trump’s demand for border wall funding and was only a partial shutdown.
But several senators say next week could be different, particularly as the effect of the shutdown gets uglier.
Beginning on Saturday, the Trump administration will not issue November’s food benefits to nearly 42 million Americans on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. That prospect alone could change the calculus for lawmakers, but add in nearly seven million women, infants and children not receiving special food benefits from WIC, 1.4 million federal workers missing paychecks, more than 60,000 children losing access to Head Start programs and airports seeing delays as air traffic controllers call in sick as a result of going unpaid, and the shutdown could become untenable even for the most dug-in lawmakers.
The talks will go nowhere if Republicans remain completely intransigent and resistant to any compromise on extending the health care coverage.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
“It’s really reached the point of absurdity,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said of the shutdown. “It’s reached the point of real suffering for people. This isn’t just an inconvenience. People are really, really suffering now.”
On top of all the pain points, open enrollment for Obamacare begins this weekend, meaning many Americans will see drastically higher premiums because the enhanced tax credits are set to go away on Jan. 1.
While Republicans hope the pain of the shutdown will simply become too much for Democrats, Democrats hope those skyrocketing premiums will force Republicans to the negotiating table.
“The talks will go nowhere,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said, “if Republicans remain completely intransigent and resistant to any compromise on extending the health care coverage.”
Then there’s the president. Trump was overseas this week, effectively removing himself from the shutdown talks. With his return, there’s a possibility he gets involved — something Democrats have argued is the only way out of the shutdown.
“The off ramp is: Let’s get in a room. Let’s get the president actually in a room. Let’s get him to focus on this for more than an hour,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
And then there’s the potential political angle. Voters in New York, New Jersey and Virginia are headed to the polls on Tuesday for a slew of off-year elections. Republicans cynically believe Democrats have held out on the shutdown in some opaque election gambit.
“More than likely, I say we open next week after the elections,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla, said. “That’s it.”
Whether that’s actually a factor — or whether talks will finally reach a point of action, or whether the shutdown pain will finally become too much — remains to be seen. But even Thune, after adjourning the Senate for another week, seemed to have new hope.
“I’m always optimistic,” Thune said. “Aren’t you?”
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.
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.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran again launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrainand Kuwaiton Sunday following new U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” in negotiations to end the warif Washington continues its attacks.
Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuzwithout Iran’s oversight has sparked days of crossfire. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday it would expand a route near Omanfor inbound and outbound traffic.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday reiterated the claim that Tehran must govern the strait to the Persian Gulfthat once carried a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas.
“Any attempt to establish new or separate arrangements from those currently being carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran will only lead to further complications, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and increase the level of tension,” Araghchi said.
The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite its location in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters. In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels going through a route near the Omani side.
A Pakistani official involved in the technical talks between the U.S. and Iran told MS NOW Sunday that talks between the sides are on hold given the ongoing fighting between the two sides. The source, who did not want to be named to discuss the sensitive matter, said the U.S., Iran, Pakistan and Qatar all have representatives currently in Switzerland to restart discussions when instructed to do so.
But the Trump administration said nothing has been canceled and technical talks are on track for the coming days.
Talks include arrangements around the strait, the removal of a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and sanctions on Iran, and the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The two sides have 60 days from their signing of the memorandum of understanding earlier this month to work out details.
Continued conflict in Lebanon threatens the agreement, which says fighting must end on all fronts before certain issues can be discussed.
Strikes target Gulf states hosting US military
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Kuwait, which hosts a major U.S. military base, said air defenses intercepted Iranian drones and two missiles just after the U.S. strikes in Iran. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Bahrain said the Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near the international airport and no one was killed. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. The damaged building was not near its headquarters.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry denounced what it called “a dangerous escalation that reveals that what Tehran is doing is not a passing act, nor an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate approach and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression.”
Later on Sunday, Qatar said a civilian had been killed, and another person was hurt, by shrapnel related to “military operations in the area” after a vessel didn’t return at its scheduled time on Saturday. It did not give details.
Trump accuses Iran of violating ceasefire
The U.S. military said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship on Saturday. The Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, another key mediator.
U.S. President Donald Trump on social media accused Iran of violating the deal and warned of a point where the U.S. may “be forced to militarily complete the job.”
“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote.
The exchanges of fire began when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vesseloff Oman on Thursday and the U.S. military retaliated.
Ship traffic on the strait had increased over the past 72 hours, “despite the elevated threat environment,” the multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, adding that “U.S.-assisted commercial transits continued uninterrupted.”
It said 89 such transits had been made, below the historical average of 138 vessels a day.
Iran calls for new ‘conflict control unit’ in Lebanon
Last week, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreementto end the latest fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, which began two days after the Iran war started when Hezbollah fired at Israel. Israel has responded with an invasion of southern Lebanon and it has said it will not withdraw until Hezbollah is disarmed.
The agreement did not include Iran or Hezbollah, which has criticized itand rejected calls to disarm.
On Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister again said the U.S. must force Israel to halt attacks and withdraw. Israel occupies around 600 square kilometers (231 square miles) in southern Lebanon, which it says it needs as a security buffer.
Sporadic clashes have continued, and Hezbollah’s leader said Saturday that the group would continue fighting until Israel withdraws from Lebanon.
Key Iranian negotiator and parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Sunday that a meeting of a new “conflict control unit” formed among Iran, the United States and Lebanon should meet as soon as possible, Iran’s state broadcaster reported.
Two strikes hit southern Lebanon on Sunday morning — one in Taybeh town and the other in the Nabatiyeh area, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Overnight, Hezbollah militants killed an Israeli soldier in Deir Siryan village in southern Lebanon, according to Israel’s military. Hezbollah did not comment.
Israel targets a village in Syria
Israel’s military targeted Abdin village in southern Syria’s Daraa province with artillery shelling Sunday evening, Syrian state media reported. There was no immediate report of casualties.
State news agency SANA earlier reported that residents had blocked the road into the village with stones to prevent Israeli forces from entering it again after they had entered and withdrawn.
Earlier Sunday, Israel’s military said it had killed several armed men in southern Syria but gave no details. There was no statement from Syrian officials.
Israel seized control of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria in December 2024 following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in an insurgent offensive. Israeli officials initially called the move temporary, but more recently they have said they plan to occupy the zone indefinitely.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has a message for political opponents using him as the new face of the Democratic Party: “Let them.”
Recent primary races in New York turned into a proxy war between progressives, including democratic socialists like Mamdani, and establishment Democratic politicians after candidates endorsed by Mamdani faced off against those endorsed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. After all three of Mamdani’s endorsements bore fruit, a national spotlight shone on the mayor as a growing influence in the Democratic Party.
Asked on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday how he felt about Republicans making him the “poster child” for the Democratic Party, Mamdani said, “Let them. We don’t have to ask ourselves what life looks like if a socialist wins. I won last November, and over the course of these last six months, what we’ve delivered for working people are the very things we were told were impossible.”
He touted recent campaign promises he delivered on, including freezing rents for nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments, expanding free child care and filling potholes across the city.
“I think we are seeing a hunger that is not just felt by New Yorkers, but frankly by Americans from coast to coast for a new politics, one that puts working people at the heart of it,” Mamdani told ABC.
Mamdani dismissed criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike. Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, said last week that he and the mayor “agree to strongly disagree about some of his endorsements, and he’s got work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward.” Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said, “The effort to nationalize New York is going to fail.”
Mamdani said he’s focused on the three congressional candidates he has already endorsed: Brad LanderDarializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez. But he didn’t rule out future endorsements outside of New York.
“It’s not just New York City where working people are asking themselves ‘why can’t I afford my rent, why can’t I afford my groceries, why can’t I find enough money in my pocket for childcare no matter how hard I work?,’” Mamdani said.
When asked about a recent manifesto penned by a number of moderate House Democrats and Democratic candidates, promoting capitalism over socialism, Mamdani doubled down on his vision for the party.
“I’m not interested in writing a manifesto, or frankly, in reading one,” the mayor said. “I’m interested in delivering.”
Mamdani also criticized Democrats who continue to make antagonizing Trump the center of their politics rather than working people.
“You’ve got to have something that you are not just willing to stand up for, but that you’re also willing to explain how this is relevant to working people,” he said. “And I think this just comes back to the fact that I’m leading a city that’s the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. I could end the sentence there and say that life is great for 8.5 million people. But it’s also a city where one in four are living in poverty. And for far too many Americans, those contradictions have become their day to day life.”
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Despite remaining undefeated in the initial round of the World Cupthe Iran national team is going home after failing to secure enough points to advance. But they do not leave quietly.
Iran’s tumultuous journey in the World Cup has been the subject of widespread attention amid the U.S. war with Iran, with the United States being one of three countries hosting matches. The Iranian team captain, Mehdi Taremi, blamed FIFA, saying, “It’s a disaster World Cup. A disaster.”
“I mean, FIFA, they have to solve every problem here but unfortunately they could not solve it since the beginning,” Taremi said at a press conference Friday after his team drew with Egypt, knocking Iran out of the tournament.
He pointed to the team’s biggest obstacle. “We don’t have our logistics people here. They don’t have a visa,” Taremi said, adding, “We always complain about these things but no one helps. No one.”
The Trump administration denied visas to key Iranian staff and severely restricted players’ travel. The team’s base camp was moved from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, where it was required to return immediately after each game.
“How is it possible we always have to travel from Tijuana? We love the people in Tijuana. We love Mexico,” the Iran team captain said, but added, “It’s not fair.”
Throughout the tournament, the Football Federation of Iran lamented the number of issues, threatening to lodge a formal complaint against FIFA. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei called his team the “most oppressed” in the tournament. A few days before Iran’s final match against Egypt in Seattle on Friday, the U.S. loosened travel restrictions to allow players to enter the United States two days before the game.
“The Iran team will still be required to leave the day the match ends,” the Department of Homeland Security said ahead of the match. “The overall security measures and protocol are the same. We remain committed to providing the safest tournament possible for players, staff, and fans alike.”
Still, Iran finished Group G in third place with three points earned after drawing in its matches against Belgium, New Zealandand Egypt. Under FIFA’s new 48-team format, the top eight of third-place teams move on to the next round, but Iran narrowly fell short.
The team initially seemed poised to advance when it was tied with the same amount of points as Algeria, which scored a goal in stoppage-time against Austria Saturday night. But moments later, Austria tied the game, guaranteeing Iran’s elimination.
Off the field, tensions with Iran heightened Friday when the U.S. struck Iran despite signing a memorandum of understanding meant to halt hostilities in order to finalize a peace deal.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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