Senate to vote on stopgap bill on Saturday after House Republican measure fails – as it happened

Senate set for 1pm ET vote after McCarthy suffers another blog when lawmakers reject short-term funding bill by 232 to 198 vote

Joe Biden is out with a statement remembering Dianne Feinstein, who he crossed paths with during his time in the Senate:

Senator Dianne Feinstein was a pioneering American. A true trailblazer. And for Jill and me, a cherished friend.

In San Francisco, she showed enormous poise and courage in the wake of tragedy, and became a powerful voice for American values. Serving in the Senate together for more than 15 years, I had a front row seat to what Dianne was able to accomplish. It’s why I recruited her to serve on the Judiciary Committee when I was Chairman – I knew what she was made of, and I wanted her on our team. There’s no better example of her skillful legislating and sheer force of will than when she turned passion into purpose, and led the fight to ban assault weapons. Dianne made her mark on everything from national security to the environment to protecting civil liberties. She’s made history in so many ways, and our country will benefit from her legacy for generations.

Often the only woman in the room, Dianne was a role model for so many Americans – a job she took seriously by mentoring countless public servants, many of whom now serve in my Administration. She had an immense impact on younger female leaders for whom she generously opened doors. Dianne was tough, sharp, always prepared, and never pulled a punch, but she was also a kind and loyal friend, and that’s what Jill and I will miss the most.

The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 5525, making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2024, and for other purposes. Hours before a Government shutdown, House Republicans are playing partisan games instead of working in a bipartisan manner to fund the Government and address emergency needs.
In a blatant violation of the funding agreement the Speaker and the President reached just a few months ago, the bill endangers the vital programs Americans rely on by making reckless cuts to programs, regardless of the consequences for critical services from education to food safety to law enforcement to housing to public health. It also fails to address key emergency funding needs where lives are at stake, ignoring the Administration’s request for resources to combat the fentanyl crisis and effectively manage the border, support the people of Ukraine as they defend their homeland from Russia’s illegal war, and stand with communities across America as they recover from natural disasters. In addition, H.R. 5525 fails to provide the resources needed to avoid severe disruptions to Government services—risking unnecessary delays for travelers by underfunding the Federal Aviation Administration; loss of access to nutritious food for pregnant and postpartum women and children by underfunding the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; and deterioration in service for the over 71 million Americans who rely on the income support Social Security programs provide.

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Trump real estate empire under threat after fraud ruling; Senate leader urges House to pass funding bill – US politics live

Even a short shutdown would jeopardize the work of potentially thousands of air traffic controllers and other key employees, secretary Buttigieg says

US soldier Travis King, who fled to North Korea in July, is in American custody after being expelled by Pyongyang into China, according to US officials.

North Korea’s KCNA state news agency said King had been expelled after he confessed to illegally entering the country. It said the soldier harboured ill feelings over inhumane treatment and racial discrimination within the US army.

This is genuinely new – I don’t think it’s ever happened before, a president on a picket line. Candidates do it frequently and prominent senators, but not a president.

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Chuck Schumer says he is ‘disturbed’ by Bob Menendez bribery charges

Senate majority leader says fellow Democrat has fallen ‘way short’ of senatorial standards but stops short of calling for resignation

The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said on Wednesday he was “disturbed” by the fraud indictment against his fellow Democratic Senator, Bob Menendez, and that the New Jersey lawmaker has fallen “way short” of senatorial standards.

Menendez pleaded not guilty earlier in the day to charges of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, as calls for his resignation from his fellow Democrats escalated.

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Republicans pushing for government shutdown ‘stuck on stupid’, says party moderate

Mike Lawler, New York Republican, says ‘colleagues refuse to do what we were elected to do’ as shutdown looms

Republicans pushing for a federal government shutdown are “stuck on stupid”, a party moderate said shortly before one rightwinger reported that the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, would not hold a vote on a bipartisan Senate plan advanced as a way to keep the government open.

“The American people elected a House Republican majority to serve as a check and balance and be able to govern,” Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York, a heavily Democratic state, told CNN.

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Senate finds breakthrough on funding as government shutdown looms

Stopgap deal reached Tuesday is a big step forward, but hard-right House Republicans still show little sign of relenting on budget

The Senate took a significant step on Tuesday to extend government funding beyond the end of the month, with just days left to avoid a shutdown that could force millions of federal employees to go without pay.

In a vote of 77 to 19, the Senate advanced a shell bill that will become a stopgap measure to fund the government through 17 November while directing roughly $6bn toward Ukraine’s war efforts and another $6bn toward disaster relief.

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Senate votes to advance stopgap funding bill to avoid shutdown – as it happened

The 79-page stopgap spending bill would not include any border security measures, a major sticking point for House Republicans

In a major blow to Bob Menendez’s support, Cory Booker, his fellow Democratic senator from New Jersey, says he should resign following his indictment on corruption charges last week.

“I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving,” said Booker, who supported Menendez when he previously faced corruption charges in 2015.

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Bob Menendez says money found in police search was for personal use – live

Democratic senator says he has withdrawn cash over 30 years and expects to be exonerated of corruption charges

We’re awaiting a press conference from Robert Menendez scheduled for 11.30am, where the Democratic senator will reportedly vow not to leave office and instead run for re-election next year, despite being indicted last week for using his position to assist the government of Egypt.

We’ll follow the press conference live, and let you know what he says.

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Biden and Harris unveil first federal gun violence prevention office, citing 100 people shot and killed daily – live

US president urges action as Kamala Harris says one in five Americans have lost family member to gun violence

Faced with the House stalemate over a government stopgap funding bill, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday set up a path for the Senate to move first on a bill to fund the government beyond 30 September.

Senate aides told the Hill the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) bill could serve as a legislative vehicle to pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for a few weeks – but that it will likely not include money for the war in Ukraine or disaster relief.

This is painful. It gives me a headache. This is a very difficult series of missteps by our conference. If you can’t do [the defense bill], what can you do?

At this point, it seems like there are some people playing policy warfare, and I think we need to move our country forward.

For my colleagues, they have to come to a realization: If they are unable or unwilling to govern, others will. And in a divided government where you have Democrats controlling the Senate, a Democrat controlling the White House, there needs to be a realization that you’re not going to get everything you want.

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White House planning for government shutdown after chaos on Capitol Hill

House leaves for weekend without solution to shutdown threat in sight amid hard-right Republican opposition to McCarthy plans

The Republican-led US House of Representatives has all but disappeared for the long weekend after abruptly wrapping up its work on Thursday when the embattled speaker, Kevin McCarthy, failed to advance a stopgap government spending bill, as members continued to clash with just days left to avert a federal shutdown.

The White House on Friday planned to begin telling federal agencies to prepare for a shutdown, AP reported, citing a government official.

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McCarthy says hard-right Republicans ‘want to burn whole place down’

Conference fails to approve procedural motion to take up defense spending bill as government shutdown looms

The House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was dealt his second humiliating defeat of the week on Thursday, when his conference again failed to approve a procedural motion as members continued to clash over government spending levels with just days left to avert a federal shutdown.

With no clear path forward in Republicans’ negotiations, the House concluded its work on Thursday without any stated plan to reconvene on Friday.

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White House says Republicans turned Garland hearing into ‘circus’ – live

Attorney general is grilled by Trump-aligned lawmakers on House judiciary committee

The judiciary committee’s highest-ranking Democrat Jerry Nadler then got a turn to question Merrick Garland, and asked him what would happen if the FBI was defunded.

“Defund the FBI” has become a rallying cry for extreme rightwing Republicans such as representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz as well as the presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who claim the law enforcement agency has become politicized.

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House Republicans cancel vote on short-term funding measure amid infighting – live

Kevin McCarthy fights rightwing of Republican party over spending deal; House oversight committee aims for first hearing next Thursday, report says

The House will not vote today on a measure to keep the government open past 30 September, amid a split between the chamber’s Republican leadership and a handful of far-right lawmakers that will cause a government shutdown if it is not resolved in 12 days, Punchbowl News reports:

Lawmakers had been scheduled to today vote to approve the rules of debate for the short-term funding measure, but it was unclear if it would have passed.

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Hunter Biden’s lawyer criticizes charging decision as ‘bending to political pressure’ – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. For the full report on Hunter Biden’s charges, click below:

House speaker Kevin McCarthy, speaking to reporters after a tense closed-door GOP meeting, insisted he would not “walk away from a battle” as he tries to hang on to his position amid rising discontent among the party’s most hardline members. He said:

If it takes a fight, I’ll have a fight.

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Updated Covid vaccines approved by US medical regulator – live

FDA approval makes way for vaccines targeting XBB.1.5 sub-variant to be rolled out

Joe Biden’s national security tour of south-east Asia reached Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday, where the president called for stability in the US-China relationship against an increasingly complex diplomatic picture in the region for his country.

“I don’t want to contain China,” Biden said.

I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it’s all about.

On the one hand, we’ve got to pass a continuing resolution. We also have the impeachment issue. And we also have members of the House, led by my good friend, Chip Roy, who are concerned about policy issues. They want riders in the appropriations bills, amendments in the appropriations bills that guarantee some type of security on our Southern border.

There is not a strong connection at this point between the evidence on Hunter Biden and any evidence connecting the president.

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Protesters arrested for occupying Kevin McCarthy’s office over Aids funding

Program caught in a partisan fight over abortion and is under threat amid Congress’s negotiations over government shutdown

Several people were arrested after entering the office of Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, during a protest for HIV/Aids funding on Monday.

The US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), a widely bipartisan program, has since been reauthorized three times, and Joe Biden earlier this year indicated that he would work with Congress to extend it a fourth.

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Mitch McConnell rejects speculation about future amid concerns over health

Republican Senate leader, 81, says he will finish term as signs emerge of uncertainty over his future in GOP ranks

Mitch McConnell rejected speculation about his future as Republican leader in the US Senate, telling reporters: “I’m going to finish my term as leader and I’m going to finish my Senate term.”

The remarks on Wednesday came amid intense speculation about the 81-year-old Kentucky senator’s health, after two recent freezes in front of reporters, one on Capitol Hill in July and another in McConnell’s home state last week.

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Health concerns plague ageing Congress members returning to Capitol Hill

Republicans Mitch McConnell and Steve Scalise join others in increased scrutiny over recent health issues

Lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill as they race to reach a short-term funding deal by the end of the month to keep federal agencies open and avert a government shutdown. But worries about the health of two top Republicans loom over the high-stakes talks as politicians’ age has become a growing concern.

Speaking to reporters last week in Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, the 81-year-old Senate Republican leader, appeared to freeze for 30 seconds after calling the possibility of a shutdown “a pretty big mess”. The incident raised questions about his health and mirrored an earlier incident where he suddenly paused for several seconds while speaking to reporters at the US Capitol.

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Mitch McConnell did not have stroke or seizure, Capitol doctor says

Brian Monahan suggests Republican leader in US Senate, 81, may be suffering effects of concussion sustained during fall in March

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, is not evidently suffering from “a seizure disorder”, a stroke or a “movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease”, the congressional physician said on Tuesday.

The doctor’s remarks came a little less than a week after the 81-year-old senator suffered a second worrying freeze in front of reporters.

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US pro-Israel groups in bitter feud over Netanyahu’s far-right government

Hardline Aipac – condemned for unquestioning support of PM – calls liberal rival J Street ‘grave threat’ to Israel’s security

A public feud has broken out between the US’s leading pro-Israel lobby groups over who represents the true interests of the Jewish state in Washington under the most rightwing government in its history.

The hardline American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) has called its smaller and more liberal rival, J Street, a “grave threat” to Israel’s security and accused it of endorsing the country’s “most virulent critics” in Congress.

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Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again for more than 30 seconds

Republican Senate minority leader, 81, had a similar but shorter incident several weeks ago

The Republican leader in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, experienced another public health scare on Wednesday when he appeared to freeze for more than 30 seconds while speaking to reporters in his home state, Kentucky.

McConnell, 81, was eventually escorted away by staff, footage from an NBC News affiliate showed.

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