Progress seen on budget deal that would prevent government shutdown

Bipartisan bargainers are making progress toward a budget deal to prevent a partial federal shutdown this weekend, a major hurdle overcome when President Donald Trump signaled he would put off his demand that the measure include money to build his border wall with Mexico. Republicans are also vetting proposed changes to their beleaguered health care bill that they hope will attract enough votes to finally push it through the House.

Government shutdown, health bill rescue at stake in Congress

Bipartisan bargainers are making progress toward a budget deal to prevent a partial federal shutdown this weekend, a major hurdle overcome when President Donald Trump signaled he would put off his demand that the measure include money to build his border wall with Mexico. Republicans are also vetting proposed changes to their beleaguered health care bill that they hope will attract enough votes to finally push it through the House.

Roy Blunt

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer on Tuesday said Democrats will block President Donald Trump's budget proposals on expanding federal immigration forces and starting the border wall project. "Senate Democrats are prepared to fight this all the way," the New York Democrat said at an event organized by the National Council of La Raza , the country's largest Hispanic civil rights advocacy group.

Trump backs away from demand for border wall money

President Donald Trump appears to be stepping back from demanding a down payment for his border wall, which could remove a major obstacle to a bipartisan deal on must-pass spending legislation just days ahead of a government shutdown deadline. Trump told a gathering of around 20 conservative media reporters Monday evening that he would be willing to return to the funding issue in September.

White House a confidenta of averting shutdown as Trump shows flexibility on wall

The White House sought Monday to calm a jittery Washington ahead of a showdown with Congress over spending, and President Donald Trump softened his demand that a deal to keep the federal government open include money to begin construction on his long-promised border wall. Despite one-party control at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, the brinkmanship that came to define spending battles in the Obama years has tumbled into the Trump era, as have the factional divisions over strategy and priorities that have gripped the GOP for a decade.

Chuck Schumer Still Talks To Trump. But He Doesn’t See A Detente Coming.

As Donald Trump approaches the end of his first 100 days in office, the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate says he's been surprised by the failure of the White House to splinter the Democratic Party. In an interview with HuffPost, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer didn't close the door on bipartisan collaboration with the president.

Attorneys general: Restore guidance to aid student borrowers

Attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia are faulting Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for rolling back Obama-era guidance they say is helping protect student loan borrowers. In a letter sent Monday, Democratic attorneys general Maura Healey of Massachusetts and Lisa Madigan of Illinois called on DeVos to restore the memos instituted by the Education Department last year under former President Barack Obama.

Obama Says He ‘Did Not Transform’ Chicago ‘In Any…

Former President Barack Obama delivered his first public address since leaving the White House at the University of Chicago Monday morning. During his opening remarks, Obama noted that for "three years," he did his "best" to reverse economic disparity in the communities he represented as the junior United States Senator from Illinois, but admitted he ultimately fell short of his goal.

Dems say Trump can avert shutdown risk if he relents on wall

In this April 5, 2017 file photo, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York takes a question during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump could avert the risk of a government shutdown next weekend by stepping back from his demand that lawmakers fund his promised border wall with Mexico in a must-pass spending bill, Congress' two top Democrats said Monday, April 24, 2017.

Rep. Peter Welch Warns of GOP Budget’s ‘Catastrophic’ Impact

By Eric Francis, Standard Correspondent WHITE RIVER JUNCTION - Warning that the proposed federal budget making the rounds in Washington D.C. looks to be "absolutely catastrophic" for social service agencies, Vermont's lone congressman sat down at the beginning of this week to listen to local organizations which are likely to be impacted. Meeting Monday at the Upper Valley Haven homeless shelter in Wilder, in a conference room that now fills up each night with cots, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch said that the best hope is that "red states" like Oklahoma and Tennessee will find they have as much, if not more, to lose from the so-called "Trump Budget" than Vermont does and a broad backlash will build.

Hash Browns Recalled Over ‘Extraneous Golf Ball Materials’

On 21 April 2017, McCain Foods, USA announced they were recalling some of their hash browns due to "extraneous golf ball materials" found in some packages. The company has issued a press release detailing the scope of the recall, which affects hash browns manufactured on 19 January 2017 that apparently harvested and packaged fragments of golf balls along with potatoes.

Drop the push for the wall and wea ve got a budget deal, Democrats tell Trump

In this Wednesday, April 19, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office in Washington. With a budget deadline looming, he plans a whirlwind of activities seeking to highlight accomplishments while putting fresh pressure on congressional Democrats to pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, even if that pressure risks a government shutdown.

Russia investigations on the Hill: Where things stand

Multiple committee investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign will continue to push forward as Congress returns this week. Members of the House Intelligence Committee are hoping to get back to work after chairman Devin Nunes withdrew himself from the panel's Russia investigation amid ethics complaints.

Commentary: NEA funds help the arts reach rural communities

While his peers in other states are also holding town hall meetings, Rep. Welch has gone the extra mile of pulling together small groups in a variety of fields to discuss how Vermonters would be affected by the sweeping cuts proposed in the most recent federal budget. I took part in one such meeting last week that included representatives from a selection of arts and humanities organizations, public broadcasting companies, libraries and museums.

Anger at GOP-abetting turncoat Democrats in New York spurs talk of primary challenges

At his Senate confirmation hearing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath that he had never had contact with the... While New York is a heavily Democratic state, the GOP has run the state Senate almost nonstop for decades. Democrats actually won a nominal 32-31 majority in 2016, but the eight-member Independent Democratic Conference continues to keep the Republican leadership in power, while a ninth Democrat, Simcha Felder, outright caucuses with the GOP.