#federal-shutdown

#federal-shutdown

will demonstrate ultimately that what's being done here is both illegal and is in excess of authority and is arbitrary and capricious,

Given the federal shutdown, they argued, they just didn't have the lawyers to do the work. "Department of Justice attorneys and employees of the federal defendants are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances, including 'emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property,'" they wrote in their filing Oct. 1, the first day of the shutdown.

This week, the current federal-government shutdown will become the third-longest ever, surpassing a 2013 shutdown that lasted 16 days. There are some significant echoes of the 2013 shutdown, which stemmed from a failed Republican effort to "defund" Obamacare just as that health-reform initiative was being fully implemented. Now the shoe is on the other foot: Democrats are demanding that Obamacare subsidies, which were significantly expanded in 2021, be extended. Without congressional action, upwards of 20 million Americans will see a huge Obamacare premium hike at the end of the year.

This is just the latest round of reductions to the CISA workforce since Trump came to office in January. Employees at the Agency have been worried about cuts for months. When we reported layoff fears in April, CISA had an estimated 3,300 person workforce; according to DHS' shutdown contingency document the agency had just 2,540 people as of the end of May.

When you added up the numbers between both of our family households, it was going to be something that we could not keep going long term,

New York State raised the weekly maximum unemployment insurance benefit rate to $869 on Monday, the first state raise in the weekly rate since 2019. Before Monday, the maximum rate was $504. NYS Commissioner of Labor Roberta Reardon and Gov. Kathy Hochul ushered in the change Wednesday morning. Though the new rate went into effect Monday, New Yorkers can expect to see the change reflected in unemployment checks starting next week.

As top congressional Republican and Democratic leaders dig in their heels-a signal that the ongoing federal government shutdown may continue for a while-many older Americans are wondering if they will still get their Social Security checks, and questioning how a prolonged showdown will affect their future benefits. Currently, thousands of federal employees are working without pay and President Donald Trump is threatening mass federal layoffs.

Democrats want to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that millions rely on and undo health spending cuts from President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Warnock told Morning Edition that Georgians in rural areas have expressed concerns about losing access to health care. He said a small business owner told him she decided to close her business because paying for health insurance would be too expensive without ACA subsidies. The senator told NPR's Leila Fadel that the White House should "stop acting like these are pieces on a chessboard. These are people's lives."

Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jefferies' shutdown

Prescribed burns are an important tool to burn excess vegetation, keep landscapes healthy and reduce the risk of destructive wildfires. But starting last week, some Forest Service staff were told not to conduct burns in preparation for a potential shutdown. "We were told, 'No ignitions,'" said a Forest Service fire management officer, who didn't want to be named for fear of losing his job. "'Don't even start.'"

The $18 billion cut targets money for two major transportation projects. One is construction of a rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, due for completion in the next decade. It is a priority for Schumer and was backed by former President Joe Biden. The second is the Second Avenue project in the New York City subway system.