12m ago
Jeffries files discharge petition, calls on Republicans to join House Democrats in health care push
Jeffries filed a discharge petition to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years.
The petition, which would circumvent House GOP leadership, requires at least 218 signatures from House members to force a floor vote on the issue.
Speaking at a news conference on the steps of the Capitol, Jeffries called on House Republicans to join Democrats in their effort to extend health insurance tax credits. If all Democrats sign on to it, at least four Republicans would need to cross the aisle and support it.
“We’re calling upon our Republican colleagues to join us and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” he said. “And we will be working hard today, tomorrow and throughout the balance of this year to make sure that those Affordable Care Act tax credits are extended.”
Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said House Democrats would introduce the legislation to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years “to make sure that tens of millions of Americans don’t experience dramatically increased premiums, copays and deductibles.”
Jeffries said House Democrats are “ready to continue this battle on the House floor.”
20m ago
Trump says Republicans should focus on reopening government, not Epstein
In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump claimed that “Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects.”
He wrote that “only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.” Multiple Republicans have signed onto a discharge petition that would force the Justice Department to release additional materials related to the Epstein case. House Democrats’ release of Epstein-related emails earlier Wednesday and the anticipated swearing in of Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva have brought the issue to the forefront ahead of the vote to end the shutdown.
“There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!” Mr. Trump wrote.
42m ago
Leavitt says October inflation and jobs data may never be released, leaving Fed “flying blind at a critical period”
Leavitt said consumer price index data and the jobs reports for October will “likely never” be released, hampering the Federal Reserve as it determines rate cuts and other monetary policy. The Labor Department said during the shutdown that staffing shortages had hampered the ability of the department to conduct surveys that form the basis of the reports.
“The Democrats may have permanently damaged the federal statistical system, with October CPI and jobs reports likely never being released,” Leavitt said. “And all of that economic data released will be permanently impaired, leaving our policymakers at the Fed flying blind at a critical period.”
Although there was no federal jobs report for October, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found layoffs across the country increased to more than 153,000, the worst October for job reductions in more than two decades.
51m ago
Jeffries says 3-year health care tax credit extension would provide “level of certainty”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats’ proposal to extend the expiring health care credits for three years is in line with the last extension.
The tax credits were originally passed in 2021 during the pandemic and extended in 2022 for another three years.
“The legislation that we will introduce in the context of the discharge petition will provide that level of certainty to working-class Americans,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries told CBS News he will likely file the discharge petition aimed at forcing a vote on the issue on Wednesday.
He added that Senate Republicans were offered a “very reasonable” proposal from Senate Democrats to extend the tax credits for one year but rejected it “because Republicans have zero interest in fixing the health care crisis that they created.”
When asked whether he was still willing to negotiate with Republicans on the issue, Jeffries told CBS News that Democrats have “always been willing to negotiate in a bipartisan way, but Republicans have been unwilling to sit down and even have a conversation with Democrats.”
Nikole Killion and Caitlin Yilek
58m ago
Leavitt says White House is “very hopeful” shutdown will end tonight
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House is “very hopeful” the government shutdown will end tonight, blaming Democrats for the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
“Tonight, thanks to Republicans, the White House is very hopeful that this shutdown is going to come to an end,” Leavitt said during Wednesday’s press briefing.
“Our economy has lost billions and billions of dollars in economic activity over the course of this shutdown, hurting consumer sentiment and crushing the travel and hospitality industries,” she said. “According to a CBO estimate, the Democrat shutdown could end up decreasing fourth-quarter economic growth by two whole percentage points.”
The White House has dismissed Congressional Budget Office data as unreliable and biased in the past.
Leavitt said the measure the House will vote on to reopen the government Wednesday night “is what President Trump and Republicans have supported from day one.” She said the president may allow cameras into the room whenever he signs the bill to reopen the government.
1:05 PM
House Democrats to file discharge petition for health care tax credit extension
House Democratic leadership will file a discharge petition to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years, according to two sources familiar with the plans.
The petition would need at least 218 signatures from House members to force a floor vote on the issue. If all Democrats sign on to it, at least four Republicans would need to cross the aisle and support it, though the length of the proposed extension is likely to face pushback within the GOP.
Democratic leadership were unsuccessful in their attempt to attach an amendment to the funding bill to extend the tax credits during the House Rules Committee meeting.
— Jaala Brown and Patrick Maguire
1:01 PM
White House officially backs funding package to reopen government
In a statement of administrative policy, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget voiced its support for the Senate-passed funding package to reopen the government.
“This bill finally puts an end to the senseless Government shutdown — the longest in history — forced upon the American people by congressional Democrats,” the statement said.
The White House urged lawmakers “to support this responsible, good faith product to finally put an end to the longest shutdown in history,” pledging that the president will sign it into law should it reach his desk.
11:17 AM
House expected to vote on funding bill around 7 p.m.
The House is expected to begin the vote on final passage of the funding bill between 7 and 7:30 p.m., according to a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office.
The chamber will meet at 4 p.m. for the swearing in of Grijalva before proceeding to debate over the rule for the final bill. The vote on the rule is expected at 5 to 5:30 p.m.
The rule’s adoption clears the way for the House to begin floor debate on the government funding package. House GOP leadership expects a final vote to take place sometime within the 7 p.m. hour.
Once the House votes on the funding bill, the chamber will be done for the week.
11:12 AM
House Freedom Caucus considers shutdown deal “a complete and total win”
The conservative House Freedom Caucus touted the Senate-passed funding package as “a complete and total win,” according to an internal messaging document provided to CBS News from a source familiar with the matter.
“This is now the fourth time we have successfully blocked an omnibus spending bill (September 2024, December 2024, March 2025 and now),” the talking points read. “This package demonstrates that we can govern without surrendering to big spending or letting Democrats dictate priorities.”
It continues: “We successfully stiff-armed a massive omnibus spending bill; locked in disciplined, flat spending levels; preserved President Trump’s policy priorities as well as his already announced project cancellations and rescissions (and defended his ability to do more); and kept our leverage for the next round in January.”
The document indicates that most, if not all, members of the group are on board with voting for passage of the final bill.
10:13 AM
Scalise says he’s “very confident the bill’s going to pass”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters he’s hopeful “we’re going to get this government back open today.”
Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, outlined that votes in the House will begin around 5 p.m., with final votes around 7 p.m. following debate on the bill. He said he’s “very confident the bill’s going to pass.”
On the health care issue that was at the center of Democrats’ push in the shutdown fight, Scalise reiterated that House Republicans, unlike in the Senate, wouldn’t commit to holding a vote on health insurance tax credits that Democrats have sought to extend. But he said Republicans are “always willing to work with Democrats to move good policy that helps American families.”
Asked whether he would put a Senate-passed bill on the Affordable Care Act on the floor, Scalise said “I’ve got to see whatever they might pass.”
“If they’re just looking at shoveling money to insurance companies to mask the high cost of Obamacare, that’s a nonstarter,” he said.
9:56 AM
Johnson: “We believe the long national nightmare will be over tonight”
House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke with reporters at the Capitol, saying “we believe the long national nightmare will be over tonight.”
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, predicted that he’ll have the votes to approve the Senate-passed funding package this evening.
“We’re very optimistic about the vote tally tonight,” he said. “We think this is going to happen, and we’re sorry that it took this long.”
The speaker put the blame on Democrats for refusing to support a short-term measure to reopen the government over the course of 14 votes in the Senate and one in the House. He said “they have a lot to answer for.”
“It was completely and utterly foolish and pointless in the end, as we’ve said all along,” Johnson said. “I just want to apologize to any Americans who are out there who still have flight cancellations or delays today. I want to apologize to the many American families who were made to go hungry over the last several weeks, our troops and other federal employees who were wondering where their next paycheck would come from. All of that’s on the Democrats.”
9:33 AM
Democrats on House Oversight Committee release Epstein emails about Trump
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released emails exchanged between Jeffrey Epstein and others about President Trump.
Among the documents is a 2011 message from Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell that said Mr. Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of Epstein’s victims, whose name is redacted. In another email in 2019 to author Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”
Mr. Trump has previously said he cut ties with Epstein years ago, and he has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Read more here.
Updated 8:15 AM
Grijalva to be sworn in today
According to a Democratic leadership aide, here’s how Adelita Grijalva’s swearing-in is expected to play out.
The lower chamber is set to reconvene at 4 p.m., when Johnson will administer the oath of office to Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who was elected on Sept. 23 to replace her late father. Arizona Reps. Paul Gosar, a Republican, and Greg Stanton, a Democrat, are expected to give brief remarks, followed by remarks from Grijalva.
After her remarks, Grijalva is expected to sign a petition to force a vote on releasing files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Updated 8:15 AM
House Rules Committee tees up floor vote
The House Rules Committee advanced the Senate-passed funding package overnight, teeing it up for floor action this afternoon. A final vote is expected this evening.
During the hours-long meeting, which began at 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday, House Democrats hammered their Republican colleagues for refusing to negotiate on the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which expire at the end of the year, and being absent from Washington for nearly eight weeks. Republicans took digs at Democrats, blaming them for unneccessarily shutting down the government to please the far left.
Among the amendments offered by Democrats during the meeting was one to extend the expiring health care tax credits for three years and another to strip a provision in the bill that would allow senators to sue for up to $500,000 for data seizures or subpoenas like those after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Both amendments failed.
Some committee Republicans denounced the provision allowing senators to sue over data seizures, but said the House couldn’t amend the bill to remove it because it would prolong the shutdown if it had to be sent back to the Senate.
“It is beside my comprehension that this got put in the bill, and it’s why people have such a low opinion of this town,” GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said. “That provision needs to get fixed, and we need to find a way as a body to get it fixed as soon as possible.”
The meeting ended around 1:30 a.m. with the panel voting along party lines to advance the funding package.
Updated 8:15 AM
House returns from nearly 2-month absence as government shutdown nears end
The House returns Wednesday for the first time since the start of the government shutdown and nearly two months after it last voted, bringing an end to the chamber’s longest absence in recent memory.
The House has been out of session since Sept. 19, when it passed a Republican measure to fund the government. Arguing that the House had done its job after the vote, Johnson canceled weeks of votes and committee hearings were put on hold.
“We have a lot of business to do,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Monday. “There’ll be long days and long nights here for the foreseeable future to make up for all this lost time that was imposed upon us.”
Read more here.
