Author: Sarah Fortinsky

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday he thinks it was a “terrible decision” for the NFL to tap Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Bad Bunny to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in February. “I didn’t even know who Bad Bunny was, but it sounds like a terrible decision, in my view,” Johnson told a reporter, when asked for his thoughts on the controversial selection. Johnson suggested a more suitable choice would have been Lee Greenwood, the country singer known for his patriotic anthem, “God Bless the U.S.A.,” which has remained a staple at political rallies for President Trump. “Well, it sounds…

White House officials are raising the possibility that furloughed federal workers might not be entitled to back pay from their time off during the government shutdown. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers woke up Oct. 1 to find themselves furloughed or working without pay, after government funding lapsed overnight. President Trump on Tuesday said some furloughed federal workers “don’t deserve” back pay after a draft White House memo raised the possibility that some employees might not be paid after the government shutdown. “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” Trump said to reporters alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “I…

President Trump on Monday called on Democrats to reopen the government, saying he will only discuss a potential deal on extending health care tax credits once they support the GOP funding proposal. In a statement on Truth Social, Trump appeared to shift from his earlier comments on Monday, when he signaled he was open to a deal with Democrats on health care, an issue at the core of the shutdown debate. “Democrats have SHUT DOWN the United States Government right in the midst of one of the most successful Economies, including a Record Stock Market, that our Country has ever…

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) signaled a willingness to negotiate with Democrats on their health care demands, breaking with her party on an issue at the core of the government shutdown standoff. In a lengthy post on the social platform X, Greene said she’s “absolutely disgusted” that health insurance premiums could double if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expire, even as she stressed her strong opposition to the Obama-era legislation and to health insurance in general. “But I’m going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s…

Vice President Vance relaunched his TikTok profile on Monday, posting his first video to the popular social platform since taking office in January. Vance, posting from his personal account, said his team plans to use the page to update followers on daily White House activity, as well as politics, and will throw in “some sombrero memes here and there.” “JD Vance here. Just want to let you know that we are relaunching the VP’s TikTok page,” Vance said in the video. “I got a little lazy the last few months. I was focused on the job of being VP, not…

United States liquor exports to Canada declined by 85 percent in the second quarter of 2025, according to a new report, which cited the “adverse impact” of ongoing trade tensions. The midyear report, released Monday by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), shows that exports to Canada dropped to $9.6 million in the second quarter of 2025, down from $63.1 million in the second quarter of 2024. President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners earlier this year, including a 35 percent tariff on Canada. Goods covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which Trump struck during…

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the Trump administration’s plan to lay off thousands of federal workers is “regrettable,” but the fault is with Democrats who won’t agree to the Republicans’ proposal to reopen the government. In an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker pressed Johnson on the administration’s unprecedented plan to lay off thousands of federal workers, noting it’s “never been done before in a shutdown.” “We haven’t seen the details yet about what’s happening,” Johnson told Welker, when asked if he supports “laying off thousands of federal workers as a part of this shutdown.” “But…

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called President Trump’s behavior “erratic and unhinged” as government funding lapsed overnight. In a joint statement, the top two Congressional Democrats said their party remains “ready to find a bipartisan path forward” but blamed Trump and the Republican party for leading the country into a shutdown. “After months of making life harder and more expensive, Donald Trump and Republicans have now shut down the federal government because they do not want to protect the healthcare of the American people,” the New York Democrats wrote late Tuesday. “Democrats…

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a moderate Republican, raised questions on Monday about the independence of the Justice Department, pointing to the “political pressure from the White House” that preceded former FBI Director James Comey’s indictment. “The Department of Justice has long been insulated from presidential administrations to protect public trust in the rule of law,” Murkowski said in a post on the social platform X. “But that independence is called into question when overt political pressure from the White House leads to unusual personnel changes and criminal charges filed just days after the President calls for them.” Murkowski, who has…

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor in New York City, defended his politics in a Monday interview in response to President Trump repeatedly labeling him a “communist.” CNN’s Erin Burnett played a compilation of clips of Trump calling Mamdani a communist and asked Mamdani directly, “Are you?” “No. I’m a democratic socialist,” Mamdani said. “I’ve said that time and again.” Mamdani said it reveals something about the state of American politics that Trump is dissatisfied with amplifying Mamdani’s true identity of “democratic socialist” and instead continues to call him a communist. “I think it reflects the fact that… whereas…