| November 10, 2025 07:34:03 AM |
|
|
| November 10, 2025 07:34:03 AM |
|
|
The Senate took the first step to end the government shutdown on Sunday after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies, angering many in their caucus who say Americans want them to continue the fight.
Welcome to this week’s edition of AP Ground Game. |
Policy changes, but facts endure. AP delivers accurate, fact-based journalism to keep the world informed in every administration. Support independent reporting today. Donate. |
An American Airlines American Eagle jet flies past the air traffic control tower at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) |
Senate advances bill to end shutdown |
In a test vote that is the first in a series of required procedural maneuvers, the Senate voted 60-40 to move toward passing compromise legislation to fund the government and hold a later vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire Jan. 1. Final passage could be several days away if Democrats object and delay the process. The agreement does not guarantee the Affordable Care Act subsidies will be extended, as Democrats have demanded for almost six weeks. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York voted against moving ahead with the package, along with all but eight of his Democratic colleagues. A group of three former governors — New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine — broke the six-week stalemate on Sunday when they agreed to vote to advance three bipartisan annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January in exchange for a mid-December vote on extending the health care tax credits. The agreement also includes a reversal of the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began on Oct. 1 and would ensure that federal workers receive back pay. Read more. |
|
|
Of note: Senate Majority Leader John Thune quickly endorsed the deal and called the immediate vote to begin the process of approving it as the shutdown continued to disrupt flights nationwide, threaten food assistance for millions of Americans and leave federal workers without pay. Returning to the White House on Sunday evening after attending a football game, President Donald Trump did not say whether he endorsed the deal but said, “It looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending.” |
|
|
Al-Sharaa becomes 1st Syrian leader to visit the White House |
Trump is hosting Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, welcoming the once-pariah state into a U.S-led global coalition to fight the Islamic State group. It's the first visit to the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946, and it comes after the U.S. lifted sanctions imposed on Syria during the decades the country was ruled by the Assad family. Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that toppled former Syrian President Bashar Assad last December and was named the country’s interim leader in January. Trump and al-Sharaa — who once had ties to al-Qaida, along with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head — first met in May in Saudi Arabia. It was the first official encounter between the U.S. and Syria since 2000, when former President Bill Clinton met with Hafez Assad, the father of Bashar Assad. Read more. |
|
|
Of note: Al-Sharaa comes into the meeting with his own priorities. He wants a permanent repeal of sanctions that punished Syria for widespread allegations of human rights abuses by Assad’s government and security forces. While the Caesar Act sanctions are currently waived by Trump, a permanent repeal would require Congress to act. |
|
|
UN climate conference focusing on cutting carbon pollution to slow warming |
On the edge of the Brazilian Amazon, U.N. climate negotiations were expected to begin Monday with leaders making a push for urgency, cooperation and acceleration after more than 30 years fighting to curb global warming by drastically reducing the carbon pollution that causes it. André Corrêa do Lago, president of this year's conference, known as COP30, in his 10th and final letter to negotiators emphasized the Brazilian word “mutirão,” derived from an Indigenous word that refers to a group coming together to work on a shared task. Complicating the calls for togetherness is the United States. The Trump administration is not only withdrawing for the second time from the 10-year-old Paris agreement, which is being celebrated as a partial achievement at COP30, but it is not sending high level negotiators to the talks. Read more. |
|
|
Of note: The United States has put more heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas than any other country. China is the No. 1 carbon polluter now, but because carbon dioxide stays in the air, triggering global warming, for at least a century, more of the greenhouse gas was made in the U.S. |
|
|
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, on his way to attend a football game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions in Maryland. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) |
- Trump is scheduled to host Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday. Also Monday, the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference gets underway in Brazil.
|
|
|
|
