Democrats reject ‘Republican lies’ as both parties try to pin the shutdown blame on each other. Plus, Israeli naval forces board pro-Palestinian flotilla
Good morning.
The vice-president, JD Vance, used false claims to blame Democrats for the government shutdown as the White House warned that worker layoffs were imminent.
Federal departments have been closing after a deadlocked Congress failed to pass a funding measure. The crisis has higher stakes than previous shutdowns, with Trump racing to slash government departments and threatening to turn furloughs into mass firings.
Vance made false claims about why Democrats had withheld their votes, saying they want “billions of dollars of funding to healthcare for illegal aliens”, which Democrats reject as “Republican LIES”.
How many federal workers will be affected? About 750,000 federal employees are expected to be placed on furlough, an enforced leave, with pay withheld until they return to work. Essential workers such as military and border agents may be forced to work without pay, and some are likely to miss paychecks next week.
How did we get here? As the messaging war over the shutdown intensifies, Democrats, motivated by grassroots anger over expiring healthcare subsidies, have been withholding Senate votes to fund the government as leverage to try to force negotiations. They are betting that voters will blame Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress.
Will they? It’s hard to call. A Marist poll released...
Since the start of Pope Leo XIV's papacy in May 2025, he has been the subject of numerous rumors about things he has said, his political opinions and more. As the first American pope in history, m...