“Large companies are running into a problem as they try to claim some of the tax cuts that the Republican Congress passed this summer: They can’t escape the corporate tax increase that Democrats passed three years ago,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Basically, President Trump giveth, but former President Joe Biden taketh part of it away.”
“Senate Republicans and Democrats are drifting further from a deal to reopen the federal government after President Donald Trump came out against any renewal of the Obamacare premium tax credits,” Punchbowl News reports.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he plans to keep the Senate in session until both parties find a way to reopen the government, Punchbowl News reports.
During a rare Saturday Senate session, Thune took an increasingly hard line on the Obamacare premium tax credits, saying they were “Biden bonuses.”
The Wall Street Journal looks at how Sen. Jon Ossoff — the only Democratic senator up for reelection next year in a state Trump won in 2024 — has become a symbol of the shutdown stalemate.
“He sharply criticizes Trump, saying the president needs to step in and make a deal. And he sticks tightly to that script, giving virtually the same answers every day no matter what the shutdown-related questions might be.”
IRS Direct File, the electronic system for filing tax returns for free, will not be offered next year, the AP reports.
“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Friday that Democrats would vote to end the government shutdown in exchange for a one-year extension of expiring ACA tax credits,“ Axios reports.
“Democrats, emboldened by sweeping election victories this week, are adamant that Republicans must make concessions on health care before opening the government.”
“But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) rejected the offer, calling it a ‘non-starter.’”
“With little public scrutiny, the Trump administration is handing out hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to some of the country’s most profitable companies and wealthiest investors,” the New York Times reports.
“The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, through a series of new notices and proposed regulations, are giving breaks to giant private equity firms, crypto companies, foreign real estate investors, insurance providers and a variety of multinational corporations.”
“The primary target: The administration is rapidly gutting a 2022 law intended to ensure that a sliver of the country’s most profitable corporations pay at least some federal income tax.”
“A week that started with optimism ended with no obvious off-ramp for the longest government shutdown in American history,” NOTUS reports.
“There’s no deal, no plan to come up with a deal and a lot of unhappy lawmakers. All the while the effects of the shutdown are impacting millions of Americans.”
“The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to issue an emergency block on a judge’s order that it pay 42 million Americans their full SNAP benefits for November by Friday,” CNBC reports.
Punchbowl News: “The Senate is expected to vote today — for the 15th time — on the House-passed stopgap funding bill. Democrats will block it. What happens after that is a big question mark.”
“Bipartisan negotiations are expected to continue, but there’s not much hope for an immediate solution. Democrats will keep the shutdown going as they push for new concessions from Republicans on health care, federal layoffs and more.”
Punchbowl News: “During a closed-door caucus meeting on Thursday, Democrats came to the consensus that they should continue to hold out for a better deal in the wake of Tuesday’s election victories. And they’re skeptical of advancing any funding bill until a deal is finalized.”
“Democrats also want to take advantage of President Trump’s anger at Senate Republicans, including his stated belief that the GOP is losing the shutdown fight.”
“Democrats are gambling that they can force Trump — who is publicly and privately complaining that the shutdown is hurting the GOP — to pressure Republicans into a deal over reversing mass federal layoffs, as well as on the expiring Obamacare premium credits.”
“Two Senate Democrats and two House Republicans are planning to huddle Friday over a possible bipartisan plan to extend soon-to-expire Obamacare subsidies,” Politico reports.
“Centrist Senate Democrats are working feverishly to hammer out an ACA framework in more detail to give Democrats an off-ramp to vote to reopen the government.”
Punchbowl News: “A high-stakes caucus meeting, set to begin shortly, is expected to reveal whether enough Democratic senators are willing to advance a bipartisan deal to reopen the government and vote on an Obamacare subsidies bill.”
“That meeting will determine whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune decides to keep the chamber in session through the weekend. Thune said he’d need to see a path to begin voting within the next couple of days in order to keep senators here; otherwise, he could send everyone home for the weekend and return Monday.”
“Republicans made a new offer to Senate Democrats Thursday in hopes of cutting a deal that would end the 37-day government shutdown and advance a package of three full-year spending bills,” Politico reports.
“The new offer arrived just ahead of a crucial closed-door lunch where Democratic senators will discuss the path forward. Republicans have thrown a new sweetener in the mix, according to two of the people — that they are willing to discuss rehiring federal workers who have been laid off during the shutdown as part of a deal to end it.”
“Senate Democrats ended their workday Tuesday agonizing over what to do about the record-setting government shutdown. Many of those same lawmakers woke up Wednesday morning ready to fight on,” Politico reports.
“The sweeping Democratic gains in this week’s elections bolstered the faction in the party insisting that senators dig in and force Republicans to accede to their demand for an extension of key health insurance subsidies used by more than 20 million Americans.”
“The House Freedom Caucus unanimously backed a year-long continuing resolution Tuesday, just as the Senate looks poised to move on a short-term measure to end the 35-day government shutdown,” Axios reports.
“The Trump administration is sending notifications to federal staff suggesting only those who are working during the government shutdown will be paid when it ends, despite a 2019 law that guarantees pay to furloughed employees, too,” the Washington Post reports.
“Democrats are showing unmistakable signs of splintering as the government shutdown reaches the cusp of setting an all-time record,” Politico reports.
“While many are still demanding their colleagues dig in and fight, a critical mass of Democratic senators appear to be engaged in serious talks about bringing an end to the five-week stalemate. The shutdown is set to overtake the 35-day record Tuesday night.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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