The Latest: Senate Democrats are ready to reject government funding bill again over health care

Senate Democrats are poised for the th time Thursday to reject a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the authorities insisting they won t back away from demands that Congress take up medical care benefits The repetition of votes on the funding bill has become a daily drumbeat in Congress underscoring how intractable the situation has become as it has been at times the only item on the agenda for the Senate floor House Republicans have left Washington altogether The standoff has lasted over two weeks leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed even more without a guaranteed payday and Congress essentially paralyzed Democrats say they won t budge until they get a guarantee on extending subsidies for strength plans offered under Affordable Care Act marketplaces They warned that millions of Americans who buy their own strength insurance such as small business owners farmers and contractors will see large increases when premium prices go out in the coming weeks Looking ahead to a Nov deadline in the majority states they think voters will demand that Republicans enter into serious negotiations The Latest Johnson reported he wants to return to being happy Mike House Speaker Mike Johnson ended his news conference Thursday on the federal establishment shutdown a bit riled up but promptly caught himself I don t like being mad Mike I want to be happy Mike Johnson noted prompting laughter from colleagues and reporters in the room I want to be a happy warrior but I m so upset about this God bless America We re done Trump set to speak to Putin on Thursday Trump will speak with Russia s Vladimir Putin on Thursday as he considers Ukraine s push for long-range missiles according to a White House official who was not authorized to discuss a private call and spoke on the condition of anonymity The call will come ahead of a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House on Friday for their fourth face-to-face meeting this year Trump has commented he s weighing selling Kyiv long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles which would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory if Putin doesn t settle the war soon Zelenskyy who has long sought the weapons system revealed it would help Ukraine put the sort of pressure on Russia needed to get Putin to engage in peace talks Johnson says he has no idea how the shutdown will end House Speaker Mike Johnson reported he s at a loss on how to answer an often-asked question from reporters How will the federal governing body shutdown end We have no idea Johnson mentioned Johnson s comments came as he kicked off the daily news conference that congressional leaders of both parties have been holding as they attempt to shape masses opinion on the shutdown which began Oct The comments underscore the lack of progress that has been made in resolving the impasse Johnson mentioned Democrats have offered no common-sense path forward for ending this situation Judge slams Territory line Patrol for high-speed chase through Chicago neighborhood At Thursday s federal court hearing Judge Sara L Ellis also raised concerns about a high-speed car chase Tuesday on the Chicago s South Side as Edge Patrol agents pursued a driver before using tear gas on protesters and residents who were gathering in the residential neighborhood She noted that while various agents may be accustomed to working along the U S -Mexico perimeter Chicago is an urban densely populated area where appropriate crowd control is central where trying to apprehend people is very very different I have to tell you there s a reason the Chicago Police Department has policies about car chases and where they occur and when you need to stop she explained Judge requires bodycams accuses immigration officers of not following order restricting tear gas A federal judge on Thursday ruled that immigration officers in the Chicago area must wear body cameras She also disclosed they did not follow a previous order from her barring the use of tear gas and other weapons on peaceful protesters and journalists U S District Judge Sara L Ellis in Chicago noted she was profoundly concerned about reports of tear gas use since last her previous ruling last week That decision also mentioned federal agents must wear badges I m not happy Ellis reported I m really not happy Ellis demanded that the operation s field director appears in court Monday She noted instances where news outlets have informed that tear gas was deployed without giving people warning and images of federal agents in plainclothes without their alphanumeric identifiers carrying out immigration operations I live in Chicago if folks haven t noticed she noted And I m not blind Sean Skedzielewski an attorney for the federal authorities laid blame with one-sided and selectively edited media reports What a new poll shows about Americans views on the shutdown Preponderance see it as a vital dilemma as it stretches through its third week with no end in sight a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Masses Affairs Research shows And Americans are blaming all of the major players involved Roughly in Americans say Trump and Republicans in Congress have a great deal or quite a bit of responsibility for the shutdown while say the same about Democrats in Congress the poll shows Trump s blaming the Democrats and the Democrats are blaming the Republicans announced Jason Beck a Republican from Utah We re stuck because there s no middle ground anymore The poll also finds that more Americans favor than oppose extending wellbeing insurance subsidies which Democrats are demanding to end the stalemate A large share have no opinion suggesting multiple are not closely following the core dispute US cruise ship operator says it s avoiding China due to retaliatory port fees Miami-based Oceania Cruises part of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings informed the Associated Press on Thursday that they are now revising select itineraries in Asia and replacing port calls in mainland China due to new port fees that China imposed on American-owned or -operated vessels which came into effect this week China imposed the tit-for-tat fees in retaliation for similar port fees that the U S slapped on Chinese-owned or -operated ships docking in the U S American ships are subjected to a yuan per net ton fee for each voyage if they berth at Chinese ports Ships can no longer effectively visit mainland Chinese ports an Oceania Cruises spokesperson explained in a message Thursday We share in the disappointment of these necessary changes and are committed to providing our guests with itineraries that deliver exceptional destination experiences the Oceania Cruises spokesperson added Source