Congress

Ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend travel period, U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) announced the Safe and Affordable Transit Act on Nov. 24. The new bipartisan legislation aims to improve safety and restore affordability on public transportation systems.

The longest government shutdown in United States history is finally poised to come to end, as of press time on Nov. 12, with the House of Representatives back in session after a near-two-month recess. But the deal brokered by eight members of the Democratic caucus in the Senate has not found support among their Congressional counterparts. While a 60-vote majority was necessary to bring the continuing resolution in the Senate, only a simple majority – of which the Republican party holds slim advantage – is necessary in the House.

Tensions in the Democratic Party are boiling over this week after a group of mostly moderate Democratic senators joined Republicans to advance a bill to reopen the government.

The Democrats’ support for the spending bill all but ensures that the history-making shutdown will soon end, but it came without Republicans giving any ground on the Democrats’ central demand for an extension of ObamaCare subsidies.

Millions of people across the United States who rely on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to put food on the table are facing uncertainty as President Donald Trump has said he is withholding emergency funding until the government shutdown ends. Although two federal judges ruled that freezing SNAP payments is unlawful, Trump said he would withhold all SNAP payments until the shutdown concluded, in turn violating the court orders. However, the White House contradicted the president on Nov.