President Donald Trump rejected a request from leading Democratic lawmakers to meet until the three-week-old U.S. government shutdown is brought to an end on Tuesday.
“I’d like to meet with both of them, but there’s one condition – I’ll only do so once they agree to reopen the country,” Trump told reporters, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who had invited him to meet “anytime, anyplace.”
Nearly all Democratic senators, except for three, are withholding support for the Republican-led temporary funding bill unless Trump and sufficient Republican lawmakers agree to extend an enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credit due to expire on 31 December.
Without the ACA extension, millions of Americans face steep rises in healthcare premiums, which Democrats have warned could amount to “a healthcare crisis.”
Republicans, who control Congress, have begun discussing possible ways forward in the stalemate with Democrats, who are refusing to back the short-term funding bill until the healthcare subsidy is renewed.
Senator Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said on Tuesday that Republicans would likely need to extend their stopgap funding plan to reopen the government and maintain operations beyond its current 21 November deadline.
“There’s a recognition that we’ll have to extend it because we’ve wasted all these weeks,” said the Maine Republican, adding that she does not want temporary funding measures to continue into 2026.
Her comments echoed those of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who acknowledged on Monday that more time would be needed to complete the 12 annual spending bills funding the federal government’s discretionary programmes.
Thune will need support from several Senate Democrats to pass the temporary funding measure approved by the House of Representatives last month. Republicans currently hold a slim 53–47 majority in the 100-member Senate, with most legislation requiring 60 votes to advance.
Thousands of federal workers have been furloughed since 1 October, when the new fiscal year began and funding for about $1.7 trillion of agency operations – roughly a quarter of annual federal spending – expired.
Trump met with Republican senators on Tuesday afternoon, though the extension of the ACA tax credit was not discussed, according to Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota. Republicans reportedly plan to revisit the issue later in the year.
A British national was among at least 19 people killed when a passenger bus plunged off a mountain highway into the Trishuli river in Nepal before daw...
Iran has signed a secret €500 million arms deal with Russia to rebuild air defences, weakened during last year’s war with Israel, the Financial Ti...
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas has said the bloc is unlikely to reach agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia at Monda...
The European Parliament’s trade chief has urged a temporary suspension of the EU–U.S. trade agreement approval, citing “tariff chaos” followin...
Further Iran-U.S. nuclear talks are scheduled in Geneva on Thursday (26 February) as diplomacy resumes over Tehran’s nuclear programme following ear...
A British national was among at least 19 people killed when a passenger bus plunged off a mountain highway into the Trishuli river in Nepal before dawn on Monday (23 February), authorities said. A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among those injured.
Against a backdrop of mounting environmental pressure across Central Asia, the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources has announced that the Regional Ecological Summit (RES) 2026 will take place from 22–24 April in Astana.
Iran has signed a secret €500 million arms deal with Russia to rebuild air defences, weakened during last year’s war with Israel, the Financial Times has reported. The agreement, signed in December in Moscow, will see Russia deliver 500 Verba launch units and 2,500 9M336 missiles over three years.
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas has said the bloc is unlikely to reach agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia at Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, as continued Hungarian opposition keeps consensus out of reach.
A seven-month-old Japanese macaque has drawn international attention after forming an unusual bond with a stuffed orangutan toy after being rejected by its mother.
Divers have recovered the bodies of seven Chinese tourists and a Russian driver after their minibus broke through the ice of on Lake Baikal in Russia, authorities said.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday (21 February) that he will raise temporary tariffs on nearly all U.S. imports from 10% to 15%, the maximum allowed under the law, after the Supreme Court struck down his previous tariff program.
Pakistan said it carried out cross-border strikes on militant targets inside Afghanistan after blaming a series of recent suicide bombings, including attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, on fighters it said were operating from Afghan territory.
Iran announced on Saturday (21 February) that it has designated the naval and air forces of European Union member states as “terrorist entities” in a reciprocal move after the EU blacklisted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
A British national was among at least 19 people killed when a passenger bus plunged off a mountain highway into the Trishuli river in Nepal before dawn on Monday (23 February), authorities said. A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among those injured.
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas has said the bloc is unlikely to reach agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia at Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, as continued Hungarian opposition keeps consensus out of reach.
Further Iran-U.S. nuclear talks are scheduled in Geneva on Thursday (26 February) as diplomacy resumes over Tehran’s nuclear programme following earlier mediation efforts. But will the talks move Iran-U.S. negotiations closer to a deal, and what should be expected from the meeting?
China says it's making a "full assessment" of the U.S. Supreme Court's tariff ruling and urged Washington to lift "relevant unilateral tariff measures" on its trading partners, the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement on Monday (23 February).
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 23rd of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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