Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) raised the stakes on Capitol Hill as he scheduled a Thursday vote to advance the mammoth defense appropriations bill on Day 15 of the government shutdown.
Thune is seeking to put Democrats on the record if they vote to block the $852 billion spending bill as Republicans spotlight how the shutdown is impacting national security.
The upper chamber on Wednesday is slated to vote again on the House-passed continuing resolution that could reopen the government; it failed Tuesday for the eighth time.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is hearing a major challenge to the Voting Rights Act this morning, as Louisiana fights to toss its new congressional map that added a second Black-majority district.
The redistricting battle has brought the court to the verge of curtailing a central provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has forced states to draw majority-minority districts. Oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais began at 10 a.m. EDT.
At the White House, President Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel will hold a press conference on crime at 3 p.m. EDT. The president will host a “ballroom dinner” later in the evening.
Read below for the latest updates.
