Ossoff’s latest quarterly filing shows that more than 80% of the money he raised last period came from out-of-state donors. The report, which details contributions from individuals who have given at least $200 this cycle, also reveals that over half of his maxed-out donors hail from California, New York or the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region.

After the release of an October filing, Ossoff’s team touted in a press release that, in the face of “heavy spending from GOP Super PACs,” it raised $12 million during the last third-quarter filing period that runs from July 1 through Sept. 30.

The same press release said Ossoff’s “re-election juggernaut” was “overwhelmingly” powered by small donors with an average of $36 from approximately 233,000 donors. If a donor has not given an aggregate of at least $200, that donor’s contribution remains undisclosed in FEC filings.

NATIONAL DEMS BANKROLL CAMPAIGN OF ‘FAKE INDEPENDENT’ SENATE CANDIDATE FROM MIDWESTERN STATE

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., has raked in a lot of money from out-of-state donors. Some GOP critics and Capitol Hill insiders have posited that the Georgia Democrat cannot break rank and vote to reopen the government, or he could risk losing his significant support from liberals around the country.  (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Ossoff is running for re-election in a state Trump won in 2024, albeit by a thin two-point margin. He first arrived in Congress in 2021 after defeating incumbent Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., in a razor-thin election that required a runoff. During that first election cycle, according to The Washington Free Beacon, Ossoff raised 60% of his contributions from outside the state of Georgia.

According to Ossoff’s recent October FEC filing, California is leading the pack in terms of the most donations to his campaign during the third quarter, totaling about 20% of all donations. Georgia is second with about 17.5%.

But when it comes to donors who have maxed out their contribution limits, more of those political donors came from California (33.3%) New York (15.65%) and Massachusetts (10.8%) than from Georgia, which accounted for only 6.1% of maxed-out donors who contributed to Ossoff in the third quarter.

REPUBLICAN DOOLEY JUMPS INTO GEORGIA’S SENATE RACE WHILE TOUTING SUPPORT FOR TRUMP AND TAKING AIM AT OSSOFF

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is up for re-election after a narrow victory in the 2020 election cycle. (AP Photo/Buddy Carter For Senate)

Given Ossoff’s vulnerability heading into Election Day, GOP strategists and Senate sources say the Georgia Democrat is unlikely to break with his party to vote for reopening the government, fearing it could cost him crucial support from liberal donors nationwide.

“There is no middle ground for him when it comes to these big decisions that have to be made, and I think the shutdown proves that,” Ryan Mahoney, a Georgia-based GOP strategist who has worked with Republican senators in the state told The Washington Examiner.

“His calculus is, ‘Do I vote to open the government up and get crushed and can’t raise a single dollar of low-dollar money, or do I vote to shut the government down and get $3 million [from online fundraising]?’” a Democratic Party insider also told The Hill.

A sign that says “Closed due to federal government shutdown” outside the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Oct. 6, 2025. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)

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Ossoff’s campaign declined to comment when reached for this article.

The post Vulnerable Dem senator’s ‘grassroots’ campaign powered by out-of-state cash, mostly by coastal elites appeared first on My Blog.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter Smith’s attorneys sent to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley Thursday afternoon, after both panels signaled interest in testimony from the former special counsel.

EXCLUSIVE: JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS

“Given the many mischaracterizations of Mr. Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Mr. Smith respectfully requests the opportunity to testify in open hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees,” Smith attorneys Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski wrote.

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith is requesting to testify in open, public hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“During the investigation of President Trump, Mr. Smith steadfastly adhered to established legal standards and Department of Justice guidelines, consistent with his approach throughout his career as a dedicated public servant,” they wrote.

“He is prepared to answer questions about the Special Counsel’s investigation and prosecution, but requires assurance from the Department of Justice that he will not be punished for doing so,” they continued. “To that end, Mr. Smith needs guidance from the Department of Justice regarding federal grand jury secrecy requirements and authorization on the matters he may speak to regarding, among other things, Volume II of the Final Report of the Special Counsel, which is not publicly available.”

Smith’s attorneys also noted that in order to provide “full and accurate answers to your questions, Mr. Smith requires access to the Special Counsel files, which he no longer has the ability to access.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, leaves the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 12, 2023.  (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press )

JACK SMITH DEFENDS SUBPOENAING REPUBLICAN SENATORS’ PHONE RECORDS: ‘ENTIRELY PROPER’

“With the guidance and access described above, Mr. Smith is available to testify in an open hearing at your earliest convenience,” they wrote.

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Smith’s attorneys are planning to officially seek guidance from the Department of Justice on the matter.

The letter from Smith’s attorneys comes after Jordan, R-Ohio, requested Smith appear for a closed-door transcribed interview and provide all records from his work related to President Donald Trump.

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, Sept. 16, 2025.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The letter also comes after Grassley, R-Iowa, and nearly two dozen Senate Republicans demanded that the Department of Justice and FBI release documents on Smith’s decision to subpoena telecommunications companies for phone records of a number of Senate Republicans during his probe into Jan. 6, 2021.

Fox News Digital exclusively reported earlier in October that Smith tracked the private communications and phone calls of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania as part of his “Arctic Frost” investigation.

An official said the records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers.

FBI Director Kash Patel shakes hands with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa during a Senate Judiciary hearing on Sept. 16, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

An FBI official told Fox News Digital that Smith and his team tracking the senators were able to see which phone numbers they called, the location the phone call originated and the location where it was received.

A source said the calls were likely in reference to the vote to certify the 2020 election.

Smith, though, called his decision to subpoena several Republican lawmakers’ phone records “entirely proper” and consistent with Justice Department policy.

“As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” Smith’s lawyers wrote Tuesday to Grassley.

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland, President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith.  (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images | Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Smith was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022.

Smith, after months of investigating, charged Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request.

Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million.

“Jack Smith certainly has a lot of answering to do, but first, Congress needs to have all the facts at its disposal,” Grassley told Fox News Digital Thursday. “Hearings should follow once the investigative foundation has been firmly set, which is why I’m actively working with the DOJ and FBI to collect all relevant records that Mr. Smith has had years to become familiar with.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Jordan for comment and has yet to receive a reply.

Fox News’ Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

The post Jack Smith pushes for public testimony to confront ‘mischaracterizations’ of Trump probes appeared first on My Blog.

Approximately 42 million people in the U.S. who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are in danger of not receiving aid come Nov. 1, when the program’s funds are expected to run dry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) warned state agencies in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital on Thursday.

More than two dozen states have alerted residents to possible lapses in funding. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency over SNAP benefits on Thursday.

“It requires about $8 billion each month to fund SNAP benefits nationwide. When there’s no funding it impacts not just pockets of people, but it’s going to impact people all around the country,” said Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World, a nonprofit hunger advocacy group that works with local partners to educate recipients about access to food.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks to the media next to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Sept. 29, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Cho explained to Fox News Digital that some states will feel the drying up government funding more than others.

“Yes, funding comes from the federal government, but the administration of it happens through local states,” he said. “And so, when it comes to SNAP, states are on a little bit of a different rhythm in terms of how they’re conveying the reduction or the elimination of SNAP benefits. It is playing out a little bit differently from state to state.”

The longer the shutdown goes on, the less funding also becomes available for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program, which helps nearly 7 million vulnerable pregnant women and children under age 5.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

It could pose a political headache for Democrats who have resisted agreeing to Republicans’ federal funding plan for over a month, demanding significant concessions on healthcare in exchange for their support.

“We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for healthcare for illegals or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments,” a USDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The House passed a seven-week extension of FY2025 funding largely along partisan lines on Sept. 19. The measure, a continuing resolution (CR), is aimed at giving lawmakers more time to strike a longer-term deal for FY2026.

A local bodega with “EBT accepted here” sign in window in Queens, New York. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

But in the Senate, where several more Democrats are needed to break a filibuster than have been voting for it, progress has stalled, with the legislation having failed 12 times already.

Democrats are demanding that any spending plan be paired with an extension of enhancedObamacare subsidiesthat are set to expire at the end of 2025.

They have also called for Republicans to repeal the Medicaid cuts made in their One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) earlier this year.

“Millions of American families are about to lose access to food assistance because Democrats are openly admitting to being afraid of their far-left base and refuse to reopen the government,” House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital.

Thompson’s panel has jurisdiction over SNAP in the House.

“We need to reopen the government, so we can put Americans first by making sure families can put food on the table and our farmers are supported,” he said.

Democrats could also be faced with the political quagmire of having previously railed against Republicans moving to expand SNAP work requirements in the OBBBA, to now be blamed by the right for federal food benefits drying up.

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The Trump administration does have some power to move existing funding around to help cover shortages during the shutdown. The White House moved research and development funding at the Pentagon to cover active duty military paychecks on Oct. 15 and reallocated some $300 million from tariff revenues for WIC earlier this month.

But any such fix would be temporary, as the two aforementioned adjustments have been.

When reached for comment about the administration’s SNAP warning, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee told Fox News Digital that USDA needed to tap into the government’s emergency SNAP reserves.

“It’s time the administration do right by seniors, children and veterans and utilize the SNAP contingency fund to ensure benefits can be provided for November,” ranking member Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., said.

The SNAP contingency fund currently has some $5 billion — not enough for an entire month’s worth of service.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters Thursday that he believed the White House would tap into that funding.

“As has been the case in prior government shutdowns, the money can be found by the administration if they chose to do so. In fact, there’s about $5 billion available in a contingency fund for emergency circumstances just like this,” Jeffries said. “But the administration refuses to agree to use it. Why? Because they want to starve the American people as part of their continuing effort to visit cruelty on everyday Americans.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

The post Democrats under fire as food stamp funds run dry: 42 million Americans caught in shutdown fight appeared first on My Blog.

That bill, proposed by Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Todd Young, R-Ind., failed in a 54-45 vote, where 60 votes were needed to advance the bill over the threat of a filibuster.

Only three Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, voted with Republicans.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., turns to an aide during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, June 3, 2025.  (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

In addition to compensating federal employees and military personnel during the current shutdown, the bill would also extend relief to future instances where funding bills aren’t in effect.

“For fiscal year 2026, and any fiscal year thereafter, there are appropriated such sums as are necessary to provide standard rates of pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other payments on a regular basis to excepted employees,” the bill reads.

SENATE STALLS ON SHUTDOWN VOTE AMID WARNING FURLOUGHED WORKERS MAY LOSE PAY

Johnson had pitched his bill as a long-term solution.

“I just hope, on a nonpartisan basis, we do something that makes sense around here for once,” Johnson said ahead of the bill’s consideration.

“With Democrats continuing the Schumer Shutdown, they should at least agree to pay all the federal employees that are forced to continue working. The 2025Shutdown Fairness Actis a permanent fix that will ensure excepted workers and our troops are paid during a shutdown,”Johnson said.

Other Republicans blasted Democrats for voting against the bill.

“It means Democrats don’t care,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. “We know this is going to end sometime. The question is when. I guess it will depend on how much carnage the Democrats want to create. To me, they are in a box canyon, and they can’t figure out how to get out.”

Essential federal employees have been asked to continue working since the government entered a shutdown on Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to pass spending legislation to begin the 2026 fiscal year. Republicans have advanced a short-term spending extension that would open the government through Nov. 21. Democrats have repeatedly rejected that proposal though, demanding that Congress first consider an extension to expiring COVID-19-era supplemental funding for Obamacare health insurance subsidies.

Republicans, who maintain that the health insurance subsidies are unrelated to the government’s short-term funding needs, have rejected those demands out of hand.

Democrats in the Senate have voted 12 times to defeat the stopgap bill.

JOHNSON WARNS US ‘BARRELING TOWARD ONE OF THE LONGEST SHUTDOWNS’ IN HISTORY

Sen. Ron Johnson talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol after the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22, 2025. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)

The shutdown looks poised to continue with no resolution in sight, prompting lawmakers to worry about key areas that are feeling the shutdown’s effects more acutely. The Johnson-Young supplemental package was the most recent attempt to provide a limited basis for relieving some of that pain.

Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Republicans in the House of Representatives appeared open to considering the Johnson-Young bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told House Republicans during a lawmaker-only call on Tuesday that his chamber would be “prepared to act” if the bill passed the Senate, Fox News Digital was told. Johnson has repeatedly said he would give lawmakers 48 hours’ notice to return to Washington before any votes but has largely signaled he will keep the House out of session until Senate Democrats pass the GOP’s funding bill.

Johnson also said on the call that he was skeptical the bill would get enough Senate Democratic support to pass.

“If they oppose the Ron Johnson bill in the Senate, it will be absolutely clear that they are simply using the military and air traffic control and law enforcement and all these other personnel as pawns for their political efforts,” Johnson said, Fox News Digital was told.

But other lawmakers had hesitations about partially reopening the government, offering relief to some workers and not others. That was the concern of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ahead of Thursday’s vote.

“I have a concern about picking and choosing among all the federal workers,” Blumenthal said.

“I’m fine to support it. I think we need to pay our military, but I want to define and limit it in a way that provides pay to essential workers who serve our public safety and our national defense,” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal voted against the measure.

Democrats in the House of Representatives signaled similar lines of opposition to the idea behind the Johnson-Young bill.

HOUSE GOP BLOCKS DEMS’ MILITARY PAY BILL AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN THREATENS CHECKS

“It’s not legislation that I support, because it appears to be more like a political ploy to pick and choose, giving Donald Trump discretion [over] which employees should be compensated, and which employees should not be compensated. All employees should be compensated and that will happen when we reopen the government,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on Monday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., holds a press conference on the 14th day of the government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 14, 2025.  (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

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Senate Democrats also defeated other pieces of legislation that would open portions of the government. Last week, Democrats in the Senate voted against a 2026 defense spending bill ­— one of the 12 year-long bills normally used to fund the government.

Aside from the Johnson-Young bill, the Senate will not consider other pieces of spending legislation on Thursday. Senators are scheduled to leave Washington, D.C., on Thursday and will return at the beginning of next week.

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

The post Essential workers left unpaid after Senate Democrats kill pay bill appeared first on My Blog.

But the debate over how long to extend those levels is already dividing Republican lawmakers, making for a potentially messy fight on the horizon even before the current fiscal standoff ends.

Asked if Republicans would need to consider another extension of the most recent federal spending levels — which have been mostly unchanged since fiscal year (FY) 2024, the last year President Joe Biden was in office — House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital, “I think we’ll have to, having wasted this much time.”

It has been roughly a year and a half since Congress fulfilled its duty of passing a yearly federal budget, and decades since it has been done via 12 single-subject appropriations bills — a goal prized by Republican lawmakers.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

Senate Majority Leader John Thune holds a copy of a continuing resolution bill as he speaks alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson during a news conference in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Oct. 3, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“What would it be, the third year of Biden’s last budget?” House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, quipped to reporters Wednesday.

GOP-controlled Washington had hoped to pass a conservative budget for FY 2026. To do that, Republicans are pushing an extension of current federal funding levels through Nov. 21, called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving lawmakers more time to strike a longer-term deal.

But that bill has been stalled in the Senate since Sept. 19. Democrats are demanding any spending deal be paired with an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of this year, a request that has been rejected by Republican leaders.

“We put the date in there weeks ago when we passed a bill over a month ago out of the House, because that is what Republican and Democrat appropriators had agreed to,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Well, Democrats have eaten up most of that time. And so we know at some point we’ll need a later date, and we don’t want it to be jammed up against a holiday.”

Two House GOP sources told Fox News Digital that multiple options have emerged, including another CR extending into January and a measure that could last the entire fiscal year until next Sept. 30.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole said he would prefer another CR into January, so his committee can get its work done. (Getty Images)

Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus and their allies are pushing for the latter option, believing it to be the best course to keep federal spending levels low. The alternative, a bipartisan deal, would need Democrat support in the Senate and consequently see spending levels rise.

“If we can have a long-term CR, so we have guaranteed funding at current levels when we’ve got Donald Trump and [Office of Management Budget Director] Russ Vought and the strong leadership over the executive branch using taxpayer funds wisely, then that’s a good position to be in,” House Freedom Caucus Policy Chair Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

A source close to the House Freedom Caucus told Fox News Digital that its chairman, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., would even support a CR until December 2026, though with the caveat that he would need to see what the actual details were.

That would delay another shutdown fight until after the midterm elections. And the source said Harris believed it would keep threats off of essential workers and military pay for over a year.

58 HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING ‘LIFE AND LEGACY’ OF CHARLIE KIRK

But Cole said House appropriators would favor an extension into January.

“I think there’s actually, amongst the appropriators, a heightened sense of urgency because we don’t want a yearlong continuing resolution,” he said. “That’s not a good thing to happen … I talk to my Democratic counterparts, I know that’s not what they want to do.”

Meanwhile, in the upper chamber, where Senate Democrats rejected the Nov. 21 CR nearly a dozen times, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., suggested a lengthy new measure could be inevitable.

Rep. Chip Roy sits next to Rep. Ralph Norman as he listens during a House Rules Committee meeting on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, May 21, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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“Clearly now, with the clock having lost several weeks now on the CR, we’re getting farther and farther into the season where we’re going to have to at least do an extension, if not something on a much longer term basis, to fund the government,” Thune told reporters.

Other Republican senators signaled another extension was inevitable as well.

“I would like to see it extended into January, February. I think at the end of the day we spend less money [with a] CR. And again, that’s my bigger purpose here,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said.

But Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters, “I’m fine with a year-long CR. I’m fine with it. I mean the original CR was to take us to Nov. 21 and that’s only a few weeks away. This shutdown could last until then.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

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Among the few lawmakers breaking ranks was Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa, who voted with Republicans to reopen the government. Now, he’s urging his colleagues to do the same.

“It’s an easy, easy choice to pick my country over the party, especially in circumstances like this,” Fetterman said on “Saturday in America.”

On Thursday, the Senate failed in a 54-46 vote to advance a Republican bill to pay certain federal workers during the shutdown, falling short of the 60 votes needed to pass the measure. Only three Democrats, including Fetterman, voted with Republicans.

GOVERNMENT LIMPS DEEPER INTO SHUTDOWN CRISIS WITH NO DEAL IN SIGHT

Sen. John Fetterman at the U.S. Capitol during votes related to the government shutdown Oct. 16. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Democrats have refused to back any funding bill unless it includes an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire in 2025. They argue that failing to act before open enrollment in November could drive up premiums for millions of Americans.

But Republicans say the government needs to reopen before they can negotiate.

“I do believe that there’s a critical mass of my fellow Democrats that are dug in until there’s an absolute ironclad kind of a deal,” Fetterman said, explaining his party’s position.

SHUTDOWN IGNITES STRATEGIST DEBATE: WILL TRUMP AND GOP PAY THE POLITICAL PRICE IN 2026?

But Fetterman said he believes Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is an “honorable guy” and that talks on healthcare will move forward when the government is reopened.

“Let’s just open it up,” he said.

“Then we can have that conversation to see if we can extend those tax credit deals, because I do believe there are enough Republicans that would like to see that too.”

SENATE STALLS ON SHUTDOWN VOTE AMID WARNING FURLOUGHED WORKERS MAY LOSE PAY

The shutdown began Oct. 1, shuttering nonessential federal offices and delaying pay for hundreds of thousands of workers. As it entered its fourth week, many federal employees missed their first full paycheck.

The impact on the federal government’s nutrition program is a major issue for Fetterman and one reason he believes lawmakers need to set aside differences and focus on getting people fed.

He said that, amid the standoff, neither political side is winning the battle. Instead, the entire country is losing.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman sits on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Oct. 1 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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“It’s like, ‘Are we winning? Are we losing?’” he said.

“Because I guarantee America is losing in this place right now.”

Video

Madison is a production assistant for Fox News Digital on the Flash team.

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Military families are struggling with the uncertainty that this shutdown has brought and hoping that relief comes soon. Many services are temporarily closed on military bases, with the shutdown affecting families that had been in the process of moving across the country and the globe in the service of their country.

Republicans have repeatedly offered and voted in favor of a clean continuing resolution to fund the government with no partisan policy riders. But their opponents won’t budge.

SOCIAL SECURITY, AIRPORTS, FOOD STAMPS: HOW ARE YOU AFFECTED DURING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN?

The government shutdown began Oct. 1, with U.S. troops among the most affected. Approximately 1.3 million active-duty troops, including active-duty National Guard and reserve personnel, began the shutdown continuing to work with no pay, but President Donald Trump’s order “to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15” ended this concern, at least, with many troops receiving their paychecks with repurposed research money.

Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division load an Airforce C-17 Globemaster aircraft to conduct Operation Panther Storm in March at Fort Bragg. (U.S. Army/Sgt. Taylor Hoganson)

Despite troops receiving these emergency repurposed paychecks on Oct. 15, the general anxiety among service members during the shutdown is reflected by a 30% increase in demand this month throughout the country at the Armed Services YMCA, which runs nearly two dozen food banks near military installations across the United States. At some food banks, demand is so high that they must close early because they run out of food. At others, lines have begun forming more than six hours before the food banks open for the day.

Additionally, despite Trump’s order that ensures troops are paid in the meantime, the U.S. military is still under heavy stress, especially at military bases abroad, where service members and their families depend far more on-base services than military families stationed in the United States do. Many of these military facilities abroad have had to temporarily close services because of Schumer’s shutdown.

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Ramstein Air Base in Germany, for example, has temporarily closed its library, aquatics center, UNITE program for morale and recreation, Military and Family Readiness Center Spouse Hub, and civilian personnel office. Other U.S. military bases abroad with some services temporarily closed include RAF Lakenheath, U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach, U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden and Naval Air Station Sigonella.

MORNING GLORY: SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER MUST END HIS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Anyone familiar with the military lifestyle knows that frequent moves between bases located all over the globe are a recurring fact of life. Many troops and their families are currently struggling with Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders, as a U.S. Air Force official revealed that airmen who received PCS orders before Oct. 1 are allowed to continue relocating, but those who received orders after the shutdown started are on hold to move.

Video

The Army is facing a similar issue. Even in-progress PCS moves have been halted despite some orders arriving before Oct. 1. This is exceptionally concerning because the shutdown began just after the majority of PCS orders were sent out, meaning many families are waiting to move into their new homes across the country and the world, staying at on-base hotels and spending weeks or even months without the comforts of home.

Those required to make PCS moves during the shutdown are facing financial hardships because of the uncertain environment. One organization estimates that on average, military families spend $8,000 outside of what the government covers in moving expenses — a very large financial burden for families unsure when they will receive their paychecks. Moving expenses are an especially large concern for younger military families who often have very little in savings.

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While military families and personnel are urged to spend less money, they are left to wonder when their next paycheck will come, and how best to prepare their families for continuing negative news.

Among all the negative consequences of the Schumer shutdown, some of the worst are those affecting military personnel and installations. Our service members and their families deserve better than this.

Wilson Beaver is a senior policy advisor for defense budgeting at The Heritage Foundation. 

The post Schumer's shutdown is leaving our troops and their families high and dry appeared first on My Blog.

“You don’t know nothing” – Baseball Legend Yogi Berra

Socrates may have been claiming ignorance, Berra was talking about baseball, but both may as well have been talking about the government shutdown.

So when will it end?

“You shouldn’t ask me because I’m the guy who said it’ll only last five days,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said on Fox. “But I will tell you, a couple of Democrat senators recently indicated that they think this is going to go ‘til at least the first of November.”

However, Biggs added that he doesn’t “see an end in sight.”

GOVERNMENT ENTERS LONGEST FULL SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY WITH NO END IN SIGHT

The government shutdown is now entering its fourth week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Whether you are Socrates or Yogi Berra, we don’t know “nothing.” Which technically means that we do know something.

However, I do know proper grammar.

The one thing that I do know in this case is that I don’t know anything about ending the government shutdown.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN STALLS AS DEMOCRATS DEMAND OBAMACARE SUBSIDY EXTENSION

Regardless… Is it even possible to game out when the government shutdown may end?

Congressional Republicans believed that Democrats would fold after a matter of days once funding lapsed in the wee hours of Oct. 1. Then Republicans argued that Democrats would cry “uncle” once federal workers missed their first paycheck last week. Later, the GOP suggested Democrats would keep the government shuttered through the “No Kings” rallies around the country last weekend.

The GOP argued that Democrats needed to show their base that they were “fighting” against President Donald Trump.

“Now that they had their protests, I just pray that they come to their senses and re-open the government this week,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., says he doesn’t “see an end in sight.”  (Getty Images)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of continually changing their reasons for why Democrats are blocking the GOP bill to fund the government.

“In a few days, it will be about something else,” Jeffries said.

So, we enter the ice age of Congressional inactivity as the government shutdown enters its fourth week.

Who could have predicted it?

Then again, who could have predicted thieves could make off with millions of dollars of jewelry inside the Louvre in an historic heist? At least the bandits stole our attention away from the government shutdown for a bit.

SHUTDOWN STANDSTILL: NO HEADWAY UNTIL THERE’S ‘INCENTIVE,’ POLITICOS LAMENT

That said, everyone knows (even if they won’t say it publicly) who will likely end the government shutdown: Trump.

He’s not just the president. Trump has a sway over Republicans in Congress that Ronald Reagan could only envy. So until he joins the fray, the government will remain closed.

“Donald Trump definitively needs to get involved. He needs to get off the sidelines. Get off the golf course and actually decide to end the shutdown that he’s created and that he has allowed to happen,” Jeffries said.

“Donald Trump, instead of leaving the country before he leaves the country, should sit down and negotiate with us so we can address this horrible crisis,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “The president should meet with us. It’s not me, him or anything political. It’s that the people are in crisis every day.”

President Trump met with Republican lawmakers this week. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The president did meet with lawmakers this week, holding court with Senate Republicans for lunch in the renovated Rose Garden.

“Did you notice the white marble floor?” quipped the president.

But Democrats contend that Trump huddled with the wrong party. Schumer characterized it as “a Rose Garden pep rally.”

Trump implored Democrats to bend – and vote for the GOP spending bill.

“They’re getting killed in the polls,” he said.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

“Shouldn’t the president get involved in negotiations at this stage to end this?” yours truly asked Johnson.

“We’re not going [to] pay a ransom to reopen the federal government,” replied the speaker.

“Isn’t the only key to end this shutdown to just have a sit-down negotiation with both sides?” I countered.

“Republicans have nothing to offer to Democrats,” replied Johnson.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meanwhile, contends that “Republicans have nothing to offer Democrats.” (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

In fact, some Republicans argued that Trump shouldn’t even negotiate.

“If I’ve learned anything about President Trump, it’s his timing. I think that he feels like the timing is not right now. We’re winning the messaging war,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “So there’ll be a time. But the time is not ripe yet.”

It’s unclear when that time may come, considering that the government has remained shuttered for more than three weeks.

And two weeks ago, Republicans torched Schumer for declaring things got “better” for Democrats the longer the shutdown dragged on, but shutdown fatigue is now setting in on Capitol Hill.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

“Welcome to day 22 of the Democrats’ shutdown,” Johnson declared at the now sonorous daily press briefings delivered by both sides.

“This does suck,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., on Fox Business about the shutdown.

Lawmakers are now seeking shutdown daylight.

“The hope is that we get this shutdown resolved before the end of the month,” Jeffries said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., expresses hope that the shutdown will be resolved by the end of the month. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

There’s worry about how the shutdown might impact national parks.

“(Here are) the more negative consequences that we’ll start to see without regular staffing. Litter will pile up and park ecosystems will be affected,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.

Both parties are convinced they’re prevailing in the shutdown.

“What I did hear on our telephone town hall repeatedly (is) ‘Don’t you guys give into these hostage takers,’” said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. “I heard that repeatedly.”

“It’s resonating with Americans. What I’m hearing from people in Connecticut is ‘hang tough,’” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

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The Senate holds a test vote Thursday on a bill to pay essential workers who are on the job without a paycheck, but Democrats are skeptical.

“I’d be in favor of paying the federal workers,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “That bill, unfortunately, gives a lot of latitude to the president to pick and choose, or, I should say, (White House Budget Director) Russell Vought to pick and choose (who gets paid).”

So while shutdown weariness sets in, no one knows when it might end.

It is said that knowing what you don’t know actually constitutes true knowledge.

And if no one knows the end of the shutdown, that must mean that everyone is pretty smart.

Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.

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“I’m holding the Senate floor to protest Trump’s grave threats to democracy. We cannot pretend this is normal,” Merkley wrote on Tuesday night on X.

By 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, nearly 12 hours after the post, the senator was still continuing his speech. As of 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the senator was still refusing to stop, surpassing 15 and a half hours.

Merkley later added that he was protesting against the president “dragging us further into authoritarianism.”

5 TIMES DEMOCRATS BLASTED ICE WITH HARSH RHETORIC

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., launched into an overnight marathon speech as a protest against President Donald Trump. (Screenshot)

The White House seemed to dismiss the Democrat’s claims against the president.

“Democrats will do anything except vote to open the government. A useless overnight floor speech that no one watched will do nothing to help the millions of Americans who are missing paychecks, losing out on important benefits, or being otherwise harmed by the Democrat’s decision to shut down the government over free health care for illegal aliens,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised Merkley, thanking him “for standing up for the American people.” Several other Democrats joined in applauding the senator, including Sens. Andy Kim, D-N.J., Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

On Wednesday morning, Democrats offered more than verbal support as they helped prolong the speech by asking questions, giving Merkley brief opportunities to pause. This is something they also did in April when Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., delivered a record-breaking speech that lasted for more than 25 hours.

A protester reacts as law enforcement officers deployed smoke grenades to disperse people gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in south Portland, Ore., Oct. 5, 2025.  (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

REPUBLICANS READY TO SUPPORT TRUMP’S MOVE TO SKIRT CONGRESS IN DC CRIME CRACKDOWN

“Trump’s plan is to replace the government by and for the people with government by and for the powerful,” Merkley remarked during his speech.

Merkley also received some criticism from his colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., slammed Merkley’s speech as a stunt.

“The Democrats are going to make Capitol Police and Capitol support staff — who they refuse to pay — work all night so they can give speeches patting themselves on the back for shutting down the government and hurting the American people. How ridiculous is that?”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also weighed in and told reporters, calling the speech “performance art” and a “meaningless gesture.”

“He’s trying to put on a show for his base, back home, his political base. It means nothing in terms of the functioning of the Senate or trying to work out some of the problems that we have, or reopening the government,” Cornyn said.

Video

Over the course of the speech, Merkley hurled a wide array of accusations against Trump and his administration, as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He also claimed that the government was trying to “fake a riot” outside an ICE facility in Portland, Ore., in order to expand its own power.

At one point, Merkley spoke specifically about a protester who was hit with pepper spray during an anti-ICE protest. The senator said that the woman was asked to get out of ICE agents’ way and complied but was still sprayed with the riot control substance.

Merkley has held similar marathon speeches before. In 2017, he spoke for 15 hours and 28 minutes against the nomination of now-Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. He touched on this in his overnight address, saying that Gorsuch’s nomination represented “the first time a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy has been stolen from one president and delivered to the next.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., talks to members of the press after speaking all night on the Senate floor in opposition to U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch on April 5, 2017, at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.  (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

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In 2016, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, then-President Barack Obama appointed Merrick Garland, who would later serve as attorney general under President Joe Biden. However, Senate Republicans refused to hold hearings for Garland, leading to his nomination expiring in January 2017.

“The GOP had trampled on a basic Democratic norm, in effect, stealing a Supreme Court seat and gotten away with it,” Merkley said at around 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, referring to Gorsuch.

As Merkley broke his 2017 record, the U.S. government was working on one of its own as it entered day 22 of the shutdown. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history lasted 35 and occurred during Trump’s first term, starting in December 2018 and ending in January 2019.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus kneecapped Republicans’ bid to reopen the government for the 12th time in a 54-46 vote where Republicans needed at least 60 votes to advance the measure. The latest failed vote comes as Schumer has demanded another meeting with President Donald Trump and on the heels of an almost 24-hour filibuster by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore, that pushed the vote late into Wednesday.

During his marathon floor speech, which began at 6:23 pm on Tuesday, Merkley spoke on authoritarianism — what he called the Trump Administration’s overreach on immigration, separation of powers, and more.

“Republicans have shut down the government to continue the strategy of slashing Americans’ healthcare,” Merkley said, referring to the healthcare-centered debate holding up consideration of the government’s funding.

He concluded his remarks at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

Little has changed in the upper chamber since the shutdown began. Schumer and the Senate Democratic caucus demand that there be a real, ironclad deal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, while Senate Republicans remain adamant that there is no path forward available on the matter until the government is reopened.

SCHUMER REQUESTS MEETING WITH TRUMP ‘ANY TIME, ANY PLACE’ AS DEMOCRAT STALEMATE DRAGS ON

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., steps away from reporters following a Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Oct. 15, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

But what is old is new in a repeating cycle, and Schumer wants to meet with Trump again.

Schumer, speaking on behalf of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., requested another meeting with Trump ahead of the vote in a bid to go around Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and congressional Republicans to secure a deal.

There have been informal talks — more casual conversation than true negotiation — between Republicans and Democrats, but nothing has materialized that puts lawmakers any closer to solving the ongoing stalemate.

“Hakeem and I reached out to the president today and urged him to sit down and negotiate with us to resolve the healthcare crisis, address it and end the Trump shutdown,” Schumer said. “He should sit — the things get worse every day for the American people. He should sit down with us, negotiate in a serious way before he goes away.”

The last time the top congressional Democrats met with Trump came just a day before the climactic vote to avert a shutdown. Neither side walked away with a compromise, or agreement, to keep the lights on.

SENATE DEMS EMBOLDENED BY WEEKEND RALLIES BLOCK GOP PLAN TO END SHUTDOWN FOR 11TH TIME

President Donald Trump listens as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a lunch with Republican senators on the Rose Garden patio at the White House in Washington, Oct. 21, 2025. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

Fast-forward to the shutdown’s fourth week, and Trump signaled he’d speak with Schumer and Jeffries — only after the government is reopened.

“The government has to be open,” he said. “You know how long it will take for them to do that? Just say, ‘OK, government is open.’ That’s it. There is nothing — They’re not negotiating.”

“What they’re doing is saying they lost the negotiation,” Trump continued. “And when we got the great ‘big beautiful [bill]’ done, they lost the negotiation. Now they’re saying, ‘Well, we want to get some of the things we lost.’ But the problem is the things they lost are very bad for our country.”

Congressional Democrats’ initial demands, made in a counter-proposal to the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), called for a permanent extension to the enhanced Obamacare premium tax credits and guardrails on Trump’s ability to claw back congressionally approved funding, among other things.

SCHUMER’S SHUTDOWN SCHEME EXPLAINED: DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON OBAMACARE CREDITS AS STANDOFF DRAGS ON

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pictured at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

A White House official doubled down on Trump’s position and told Fox News Digital, “We will not have policy conversations while the Democrats are holding the American people hostage. Reopen the government.”

While Democrats desire more than just an extension to the COVID-19-era subsidy, they’ve made their primary argument all about the tax credits.

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Thune offered Senate Democrats a vote on the subsidies, but so far they have declined to take the leap and instead are holding out for a guaranteed outcome in the shutdown fight. However, that is unlikely to come as Republicans and the White House, so far, are equally dug in against Schumer’s demands.

“I think [Trump] wants the Democrats to take ‘yes’ for an answer,” Thune said. “We’ve offered them a lot of the things they were asking for — a normal appropriations process, an opportunity to get a vote on some of the things that they want to see voted on, with respect to the expiring Obamacare enhanced subsidies. But that can’t happen until we open up the government.”

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

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