Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu: There's a 'fiscal car crash' coming in about 8-9 years
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Senate delays August recess for now as Trump presses for more confirmations
WASHINGTON -- A stalemate over the pace of confirmations has delayed the Senate's yearly August recess, for now, as President Donald Trump declares that his nominees 'should NOT BE FORCED TO WAIT' and as Democrats slow the process by forcing procedural votes on almost all of Trump's picks. Caught in the middle, Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he will keep the Senate in session over the weekend, at least, to hold confirmation votes while also negotiating with Democrats to speed up consideration of dozens of nominees. The two sides haven't come to agreement yet, and it's still unclear if Trump, who has been publicly calling on Republicans to cancel their break, would be onboard with any bipartisan deal. Thune said Friday he was leaving some of the negotiations to Trump and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. 'That's how this is going to get resolved,' Thune said. 'We'll see where that leads.' Senators in both parties are eager to leave Washington for their annual break, when many of them tour their states to talk to constituents. Republicans in particular are eager to return home and sell the massive tax and spending cuts package they passed in July as Democrats vow to use it against them in the 2026 midterm elections. The House, which has no role in the confirmation process, fled Washington a week ago. But Trump has other plans. 'The Senate must stay in Session, taking no recess, until the entire Executive Calendar is CLEAR!!!' Trump posted on social media Thursday night, after a meeting with Thune at the White House. 'We have to save our Country from the Lunatic Left. Republicans, for the health and safety of the USA, DO YOUR JOB, and confirm All Nominees.' Thune said this week that Republicans are considering changing the Senate's rules when they get back in September to make it easier to quickly approve a president's nominations — and to try and avoid a similar stalemate in the future. Democrats have blocked more nominees than usual this year, denying any quick unanimous consent votes and forcing roll calls on each one, a lengthy process that takes several days per nominee and allows for debate time. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Friday that Senate GOP leadership was 'going back, drafting a specific rule for us to react to" as they try to plot a path forward. It's the first time in recent history that the minority party hasn't allowed at least some quick confirmations. Thune has already kept the Senate in session for more days, and with longer hours, this year to try and confirm as many of Trump's nominees as possible. Democrats have little desire to give in, even though they too are eager to skip town after several long months of work and bitter partisan fights over legislation. Schumer has said Democrats have blocked quick votes because, 'historically bad nominees deserved historic levels of scrutiny.' There are more than 150 nominations on the Senate calendar, and confirming them all would take more than a month even if the Senate does stay in session, if Democrats draw out the process. The standoff is just the latest chapter in an ever-escalating Senate fight over nominations in the last two decades. Both parties have increasingly used stalling tactics to delay confirmations that were once quick, bipartisan and routine. In 2013, Democrats changed Senate rules for lower court judicial nominees to remove the 60-vote threshold for confirmations as Republicans blocked President Barack Obama's judicial nominations. In 2017, Republicans did the same for Supreme Court nominees as Democrats tried to block Trump's nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch. Still, Thune says, the Democrats' current delays are a 'historic level of obstruction.' In his first year as leader, Thune has worked with Trump to quickly confirm his Cabinet and navigated complicated internal party dynamics to pass the tax and spending cuts package, which Trump sees as his signature policy achievement. Yet the president is applying increasing pressure on Thune and his conference, trying to control the Senate's schedule and calling out three Republican senators in social media posts this week — including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the senior-most Senate Republican who worked closely with Trump to confirm his picks for Supreme Court in his first term. Trump criticized Grassley for keeping with Senate tradition and working with home state Democrats on some judicial confirmations, saying that he got Grassley re-elected 'when he was down, by a lot.' Opening a committee hearing on Thursday, Grassley defended the practice and added that he was 'offended by what the president said, and I'm disappointed that it would result in personal insults.' Trump also criticized Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley for working with Democrats on a stock trading ban for lawmakers. And in a post late Thursday, he counseled Republicans to 'vote the exact opposite' of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, a moderate who has worked with Democrats on spending bills this year and frequently opposes Trump.
CNN
25 minutes ago
- CNN
Sen. Booker says institutions are bending the knee to Trump
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CNN's Anna Cooban explains. 01:34 - Source: CNN GOP lawmaker faces raucous crowd in Wisconsin Republican Rep. Bryan Steil faced tough questions and booing by attendees of a town-hall style event in Wisconsion. Audience members confronted Steil on topics including the economy, immigration policy, and the war in Gaza. 02:08 - Source: CNN Biden warns country is facing 'dark days' under Trump During the National Bar Association's annual gala in Chicago, former President Joe Biden warned that the country is facing 'dark days' under President Donald Trump's watch, saying the executive branch 'seems to be doing its best to dismantle the Constitution.' 01:12 - Source: CNN Harris gives Colbert her first interview since losing election Former Vice President Kamala Harris reflected on her decision not to pursue a gubernatorial run in California, citing systemic dysfunction, while speaking in an interview on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." 00:44 - Source: CNN Virginia Giuffre family's message to Trump about Ghislaine Maxwell pardon CNN's Kaitlan Collins speaks with the family of late Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking accusers, about their response to President Trump potentially pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell. 00:50 - Source: CNN Kerrville mayor admits to missing emergency briefing call CNN's Shimon Prokupecz speaks with Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. about not seeing emails regarding an emergency preparation call before the deadly July 4 floods. 01:47 - Source: CNN $200 million 'Trump-style' ballroom coming to the White House Construction for a new ballroom on the White House campus will begin in September on a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, fulfilling a 15-year ambition by President Trump to construct an event space on the White House grounds that expands the building's entertaining capacity. 01:16 - Source: CNN Trump's tariff deadline looms over world economy President Trump's self-imposed midnight deadline is rapidly approaching for countries to strike a trade framework with the United States or face significantly higher tariffs. In a new development today, President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher tariffs on Mexico. 01:26 - Source: CNN Trump's tariffs might make coffee in the US more expensive CNN's Isa Soares examines Trump's proposed tariffs on Brazil, and how it may impact coffee prices once they go into effect. 01:34 - Source: CNN US diminished a key weapons stockpile fighting Iran The US used about a quarter of its supply of high-end missile interceptors during the Israel-Iran war, exposing a gap in supplies, and raising concerns about US global security posture. CNN's Tamara Qiblawi reports. 01:35 - Source: CNN Education Dept. resumes collecting student loans in default The Department of Education will start sending federal student loans in default to collections again, ending a pandemic-era pause that began roughly five years ago. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty explains what you need to know. 01:42 - Source: CNN Democrats cite arcane law in letter demanding Epstein files CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox explains how a law from the 1920s could help Senate Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee access to the Epstein files. 01:31 - Source: CNN Tapper presses Pelosi on Trump's insider trading allegations CNN's Jake Tapper spoke to former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who reacted to President Donald Trump accusing Pelosi and her husband of insider trading, calling the allegation "ridiculous." 01:08 - Source: CNN Johnson says he wants 'everything on Epstein evils' to be released In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he wants everything possible on the Epstein files to be released, something he says the president wants as well. 01:55 - Source: CNN Ghislaine Maxwell's attorneys lay out conditions to be met before she gives testimony to Congress Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has offered to testify before Congress, but with major conditions, including immunity. CNN's Kaitlan Collins breaks down the list of demands sent to the House Oversight Committee by her attorneys. 01:20 - Source: CNN Trump and Netanyahu spar over starvation claims President Trump told reporters that the imagery out of Gaza was 'real starvation' and that 'you can't fake that' in a rare rebuke of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who claimed over the weekend that there is 'no starvation in Gaza.' A recent UN-backed agency alert, meanwhile, warned that the 'worst-case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza. 01:12 - Source: CNN Preventing 'woke' AI is President Trump's latest target in an Executive Order. But can AI be 'woke?' The 'Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government' executive order requires government-used AI large language models – the type of models that power chatbots like ChatGPT – adhere to President Donald Trump's 'unbiased AI principles.' 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CNN
27 minutes ago
- CNN
Corporation for Public Broadcasting will shut down after Trump funding cuts
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced on Friday that it will wind down its operations due to the successful Republican effort to defund local PBS and NPR stations across the country. The announcement came just over a week after President Donald Trump enacted a rescissions bill clawing back congressionally approved federal funds for public media and foreign aid. Of the $9 billion in canceled funds, $1.1 billion was earmarked for the corporation for the next two years. 'Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,' CPB president and CEO Patricia Harrison said in a statement. 'CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care.' Officials at the organization, which was founded more than 60 years ago, say they are focused on helping local stations figure out how to cope with sudden budget shortfalls. Harrison has warned that some stations, particularly in rural areas, will have to shut down without federal support. Most larger stations have numerous other funding sources, including viewer and listener donations, to soften the blow dealt by Congress. Still, public media executives have warned that the interconnected system will be weakened in various ways without federal funding as a foundation. Most of the corporation's roughly 100 staff positions will be eliminated when the money runs out on September 30. The CPB will maintain a small transition team through January to guarantee 'a responsible and orderly closeout of operations,' it said in a statement. The shuttering is a political victory for Trump, who tried several different methods to defund public broadcasting this year. At one point, he tried to fire three of the corporation's board members, even though he had no authority to do so under the law that created the corporation in 1967. The corporation went to court to defend its board members, but on Friday, it filed a voluntary dismissal of its lawsuit, in effect acknowledging that Trump has prevailed. 'REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED….BUT NO MORE,' Trump wrote on Truth Social after the rescission bill he pushed was approved by both the GOP-controlled House and Senate. Even after Trump signed the bill into law, some public media advocates held out hope that federal funding could be restored through the normal appropriations process in Congress. Senators advanced a draft bill without any such funding on Thursday, however, signaling that such a plot twist was exceedingly unlikely. For Trump and other Republican lawmakers, eliminating the corporation is a successful stand against liberal bias, which they allege is a rampant problem at both NPR and PBS. For public media advocates, it's the end of a noncommercial TV and radio era, taking the federal government out of the funding equation altogether. 'The end of CPB is the direct result of the deep and corrupt failure of Congress and the Trump administration to invest in informing the American public,' Craig Aaron, co-CEO of the progressive media reform group Free Press, said in a statement. 'They have trashed decades of democracy-building work and will deny many journalists, artists, educators and creators the opportunity to be heard.' Aaron expressed hope that publicly-funded media can be reinvented as 'a bulwark against authoritarianism that meets the civic needs of all our communities.' Some station leaders have similarly described this moment as an opportunity to rebuild with more local-level support. GBH, the public media powerhouse in Boston, put up a sign outside its headquarters last month that read 'Local. Trusted. Defunded.' 'We're not backing down' despite the federal funding loss, GBH said in a fundraising push, 'but we can't do it without you. Donate now to keep public media strong and independent.'
