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Senate in limbo as Thune eyes long-haul until shutdown ends
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The Senate is in for a rare weekend session as the chamber remains in limbo while lawmakers try to find a way out of the government shutdown.
Behind the scenes, appropriators are cooking up a trio of spending bills to attach to the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), along with an extension to the bill that would, if passed, reopen government until December or January.
Whether a vote on the revamped CR and spending package happens Saturday is still up in the air. Senate Democrats, as they’ve done 14 times previously, are likely to block it. It all comes as the upper chamber is scheduled for a week-long recess to coincide with Veterans’ Day.
DEMS BLOCK GOP BILL ENSURING FEDERAL WORKER, MILITARY PAYCHECKS CONTINUE DURING SHUTDOWN
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wants to reignite the government funding process, but Senate Democrats appear unwilling to support his effort. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., now wants to keep lawmakers in town until the shutdown ends.
When asked if there would be a vote on the plan, Thune said it would be ideal to have the package on the floor, but that «we’ve got to have votes to actually pass it.» Republicans are reticent to putting the CR out again just to see it fail.
«I’ve been talking all morning with some of the folks that are involved with the meeting, and I think we’re getting close to having it ready,» Thune said. «We just need to get the text out there.»
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus, freshly emboldened by sweeping Election Day victories earlier in the week, are sticking by their newly released plan that would extend the expiring Obamacare subsidies by one year, and create a bipartisan working group to negotiate next steps after the government reopens.
But Senate Republicans immediately rejected the idea; Thune called it a «non-starter,» while others in the GOP were angered by the proposal.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., charged that he would appeal to President Donald Trump and his administration to slash funding from «pet projects» in blue states and cities to pay federal workers as the shutdown drags on.
SCHUMER, DEMS UNVEIL ALTERNATIVE SHUTDOWN PLAN, ASK FOR ONE-YEAR EXTENSION TO OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 7: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) attends a news conference following a weekly Democratic policy luncheon on Capitol Hill on October 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. The government remains shut down after Congress failed to reach a funding deal last week. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
«The idea that you’ve got a bunch of kamikaze pilots trying to burn this whole place down because they’re emboldened by an election where Democrats won in Democrat areas is totally insane,» he said.
Senate Democrats were largely unsurprised that Republicans rejected the offer, however.
«I know many Republicans stormed out of the gate to dismiss this offer, but that’s a terrible mistake,» Schumer said.
Thune and his conference have, throughout the course of the 39-day shutdown, said that they would only deal with the subsidies after the government reopened, and have offered Schumer and Senate Democrats a vote on a bill addressing the healthcare issue once the closure ends.
«I’m not surprised,» Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said. «They don’t want to help people with their health care.»
But Republicans countered that a simple extension of the enhanced subsidies, which were modified under former President Joe Biden during the COVID-19 pandemic, would funnel money straight to insurers.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., has been in talks with Senate Democrats on a path forward, particularly through jump-starting government funding with the impending trio of spending bills.
THUNE SAYS ‘WHEELS CAME OFF’ AS REPUBLICANS MULL NEXT SHUTDOWN MOVE
U.S. President Donald Trump waits for the arrival of Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese at the White House on October 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
After Schumer unveiled Democrats’ plan, she charged that «since Obamacare came into effect, look, who’s gotten rich? It’s not the people.»
«They’re talking about the people’s premiums and have … they taken it to the companies that are actually making the money off of it? They’re not,» Britt said. «So I look forward to hearing why in the world they want to continue these profits and not actually help the people they serve.»
Senate Democrats, however, contend that their offer was fair.
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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., argued that there were some in the caucus that wanted to do a multi-year extension, while others wanted to go beyond just the enhanced subsidies. He reiterated his frustration that the core of the issue, from his perspective, was that neither Schumer nor Thune would sit down and negotiate.
«We made a really simple, really scaled-down offer that could get the government up and operating and [is] really good for them politically,» he said. «I just still don’t understand why they won’t accept the offer.»
senate,chuck schumer,republicans,donald trump
INTERNACIONAL
Estados Unidos anunció acuerdos comerciales con Argentina, Guatemala, Ecuador y El Salvador
La Casa Blanca anunció el jueves una serie de acuerdos comerciales con Argentina, Guatemala, Ecuador y El Salvador, en una estrategia dirigida a modificar los aranceles generalizados que la administración del presidente Donald Trump había impuesto a nivel mundial. Según el comunicado oficial, estos pactos buscan tanto aliviar el impacto de los aranceles introducidos en los últimos meses como lograr un comercio más equilibrado y con mayor reciprocidad entre Estados Unidos y estos países latinoamericanos. Entre los productos que figuran en el centro de los acuerdos se encuentran el banano, el café y el cacao, que, podrían experimentar reducciones de precio para los consumidores estadounidenses, quienes atraviesan dificultades económicas en medio del descontento generado por el costo de vida durante el actual mandato presidencial.
En el marco de estos convenios, los cuatro países latinoamericanos han aceptado abrir sus mercados a diversos productos estadounidenses a cambio del retiro o disminución de los aranceles aplicados por Washington sobre algunas de sus principales exportaciones. Un alto funcionario de la administración estadounidense afirmó a los medios que se espera que los acuerdos traigan efectos positivos en los precios de productos básicos y ayuden a reducir el déficit comercial a largo plazo de Estados Unidos.
Estos movimientos comerciales han sido interpretados, además, como una recompensa política a mandatarios de la región que mantienen relaciones alineadas con la administración Trump. El presidente argentino, Javier Milei, y el presidente salvadoreño, Nayib Bukele, son mencionados entre los principales aliados cuyos países resultan beneficiados. Bukele compartió en redes sociales el texto del acuerdo con Estados Unidos. Desde Guatemala, el presidente Bernardo Arévalo destacó la solidez de la relación bilateral tras meses de negociaciones, afirmando que su país es “uno de los primeros en alcanzar un acuerdo para reducir y eliminar los aranceles”.
En el caso de Guatemala, el presidente Bernardo Arévalo anunció lo que calificó como un “acuerdo histórico” con Estados Unidos, mediante el cual se reducirán y eliminarán los aranceles que habían sido impuestos de manera global en abril. Arévalo explicó en un mensaje oficial que “más del 70% de los productos que Guatemala exporta hacia Estados Unidos quedarán con el arancel cero”, mientras que gran parte del resto de productos mantendrán un arancel reducido del 10%. Este alivio arancelario representa un respiro para el sector exportador guatemalteco, que había experimentado el impacto directo de la medida estadounidense. Como parte del acuerdo marco, Guatemala también se comprometió a reducir barreras comerciales a productos estadounidenses, en especial en los sectores médico, farmacéutico y agrícola.
Según datos del Banco de Guatemala, entre enero y septiembre de 2025, el 30,7% de las exportaciones guatemaltecas tuvieron como destino el mercado estadounidense, con ventas que generaron 3.640,6 millones de dólares en ese periodo. El presidente Arévalo destacó que este pacto refuerza la competitividad de Guatemala y la convierte en un destino más atractivo para la inversión extranjera.
Respecto a El Salvador, Estados Unidos acordó eliminar aranceles recíprocos para determinadas exportaciones salvadoreñas que no pueden producirse dentro del territorio estadounidense en cantidades suficientes, de acuerdo con un documento compartido por Nayib Bukele. Como contrapartida, el Gobierno salvadoreño se comprometió a abordar barreras no arancelarias que afectan las exportaciones estadounidenses, a facilitar el acceso de productos farmacéuticos y dispositivos médicos y a aceptar la supervisión regulatoria y los certificados emitidos por las autoridades de Estados Unidos. Además, El Salvador reafirmó su voluntad de evitar gravámenes discriminatorios a los servicios digitales y prohibió la importación de bienes producidos mediante trabajo forzoso, comprometiéndose al mismo tiempo a altos estándares de protección ambiental.
En cuanto a Ecuador, el acuerdo anunciado contempla la eliminación de los aranceles estadounidenses —que desde abril eran del 10% y aumentaron al 15% en agosto— sobre exportaciones calificadas como el banano y el cacao, productos fundamentales para la economía ecuatoriana. A cambio, Ecuador eliminará o reducirá aranceles en sectores considerados prioritarios para Washington, como maquinaria, productos de salud, tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, químicos y componentes de automóviles.
Finalmente, Argentina acordó con Estados Unidos la eliminación de aranceles a ciertos recursos naturales y a artículos no patentados para uso farmacéutico. El acuerdo bilateral incluye el compromiso de ambas partes de mejorar sus condiciones de acceso en el sector de carne de vacuno. El comunicado conjunto subraya la facilitación del acceso bilateral y recíproco y el retiro parcial de aranceles del 10% aplicados desde abril sobre las importaciones argentinas, beneficiando en particular al sector agropecuario y farmacéutico de ese país.
(Con información de AFP y EFE)
Domestic,Politics,North America,Government / Politics
INTERNACIONAL
Former Rep. Louie Gohmert blasts Jack Smith for allegedly targeting his personal phone records in J6 probe
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EXCLUSIVE: Former Rep. Louie Gohmert blasted ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith for allegedly targeting his personal phone records as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that his action «destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.»
Fox News Digital exclusively reported Thursday morning that Smith targeted then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s personal, private phone records, as well as Gohmert’s.
JACK SMITH SOUGHT THEN-HOUSE SPEAKER MCCARTHY’S PRIVATE PHONE RECORDS IN J6 PROBE, FBI DOCS REVEAL
Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the explosive revelations. Grassley and Johnson have been leading a joint investigation into Smith’s «Arctic Frost» probe.
UNITED STATES – JUNE 13: Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, leaves the House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Wednesday morning, June 13, 2018. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
According to the document, Smith, on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the «toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)»
The information was included as part of a «significant case notification» drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division May 25, 2023.
«It is astounding that Jack ‘Frost’ Smith went on this persecution,» Gohmert told Fox News Digital Thursday. «Apparently, this guy has never read the Fourth Amendment because you have to describe with particularity what it is you’re going after — there should be probable cause, and they had no probable cause. They were going on a witch hunt.»
Smith had sought Gohmert’s personal cellphone records from November 2020 through the end of January 2021.
«They don’t have any regard for the Fourth Amendment,» he said. «It makes Watergate look like school yard folly.»
But Gohmert said it is the «principle.»
Then-Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on an unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former President Donald Trump Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
«It is the separation of powers that is the problem,» Gohmert explained. «People and whistleblowers contacted me regularly from within the DOJ and the FBI about overreach within the FBI and DOJ. By grabbing my records, they could stifle reporting of potential crimes by people within the agencies.»
JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS
«You can’t just go seize members of Congress’ records even with a warrant because of that separation of powers,» Gohmert said. «There has to be a wall and that’s what troubles me more than anything.»
Gohmert told Fox News Digital that he didn’t remember who he spoke with during the time period Smith sought records, but said that «the last thing I want is for someone who trusted me to keep their name private to have some jack-booted thug like Jack ‘Frost’ Smith grab my records and find out who is tattle tailing on him.»
He added: «It violates and destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.»
Gohmert, though, told Fox News Digital that he trusts the current Justice Department and FBI leadership.
«I trust the DOJ and trust the people running the FBI,» he said. «We’ll see if there were any crimes committed and, if following the Constitution, they can be properly prosecuted.»
HAGERTY PRESSES VERIZON OVER FBI’S ACCESS TO HIS PHONE RECORDS DURING JACK SMITH PROBE
Meanwhile, McCarthy said he will take legal action against Smith.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, as the House is considering President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion-and-growing domestic policy package. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (AP)
«Jack Smith’s radical and deranged investigation was never about finding the truth,» McCarthy told Fox News Digital. «It was a blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration. Perhaps no action underscores this point more than the illegal attempt to access the phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate — including the Speaker of the House.»
«His illegal targeting demands real accountability,» McCarthy continued. «And I am confident Congress will hold hearings and access documents in its investigation into Jack Smith’s own abuses.»
HAGERTY PRESSES VERIZON OVER FBI’S ACCESS TO HIS PHONE RECORDS DURING JACK SMITH PROBE
«At the same time, I will ask my own counsel to pursue all areas of redress so this does not happen to anyone else,» McCarthy said.
The revelations come after Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October that Smith and his «Arctic Frost» team investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots were tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of the probe, including 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.
An official told Fox News Digital that those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers.
Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track 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 in October to Grassley.
Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
An FBI official told Fox News Digital that «Arctic Frost» is a «prohibited case,» and that the review required FBI officials to go «above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.» The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned.
Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald 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.
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Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million.
Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
house of representatives politics,justice department,fbi
INTERNACIONAL
State Department warns Americans in Japan as deadly bear attacks kill 13 people since April: ‘Be diligent’
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The State Department is warning Americans in Japan to be aware of their surroundings amid an increase in bear sightings after 13 people have been killed by the wild animal in the country since April.
Japanese officials have closed Maruyama Park in Sapporo, which is adjacent to the U.S. Consulate General, for two weeks following a bear sighting in the park, read a State Department alert Wednesday.
HIKER’S FRIEND WATCHES IN HORROR AS BROWN BEAR DRAGS MAN INTO BUSHES ON MOUNTAIN: REPORT
A warning sign is seen at the closed walking trail to the observatory in the Shirakawago district, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on October 7, 2025 in Hida, Gifu Prefecture of Japan. The State Department issued a warning Wednesday to Americans about bear sightings in Japan. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
JAPAN DEPLOYS MILITARY AFTER RECORD BEAR ATTACKS ACROSS COUNTRY
«Bear sightings and attacks have increased in parts of Japan, especially in municipalities close to or adjacent to populated zones,» the alert states. «Although the Consulate is located outside of the park, we encourage all visitors for routine or other services to be diligent and aware of your surroundings.»
Since April, 13 people have been killed by bears in Japan, AFP reported.
In response, Japan has deployed troops to the northern Akita region on Nov. 8, following the most recent attack there.
TRAGEDY STRIKES AT POPULAR NATIONAL PARK AS CLIMBER MEETS FATAL END ON MOUNTAIN
A hiker was found dead in August in Japan after a brown bear allegedly attacked and dragged him into the bushes, authorities said. (iStock)
The troops didn’t carry firearms and did not harm any bears, AFP reported.
Instead, they carried bear sprays, sticks, shields, goggles, bullet-proof jackets and net launchers in an attempt to restore a sense of safety in the area.
A poor acorn harvest resulted in a boom to Japan’s bear population, as they move closer to residential areas to seek out food.
A member of Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) stands next to military vehicles during a practice setting up a bear trap in Kazuno, Akita Prefecture, Japan, November 5, 2025. (Tom Bateman/Reuters)
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Residential areas in Hokkaido and Akita have also reported bear sightings, which could lead to more park closures, the alert said.
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo urged Americans to avoid areas where bears have been sighted and to report sightings to authorities.
state department,japan,wild nature,us
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