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However, Democrats in Congress had issued statements rejecting the deal as details of it leaked before Trump’s speech. “Unfortunately, initial reports make clear that his proposal is a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total, do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people’s lives,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.

Some renters in Arkansas are already facing eviction, thanks to the partial government shutdown. A property manager told tenants at properties in Alma and several other towns that the shutdown has cut off a federal rental assistance program that covers a portion of their rent. “Until the government opens again, you are responsible for ALL of your rental amount,” the letter said, threatening eviction if tenants don’t pay up by the 20th. The shutdown is creating financial stress for hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers. If the shutdown continues, low-income renters could also feel the sting. Tens of thousands...

Lynette Gabourel has been a federal employee for 38 years, including 10 years in the Navy. She said she has always been committed service. But now she's stuck, having been furloughed from her job at the International Trade Commission amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. A single mother of three grown children, two of whom live with her, Gabourel is worried about paying her mortgage and her diabetes medications. "For this month, I'm good," she said. But if her situation continues into February, she said she's going to have to make a choice between insulin and her mortgage...

<p>NEW YORK - An estimated 35.3 million people saw President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders speak to the nation on border security and the partial government shutdown.</p> <p>That's about 10 million fewer viewers than Trump had for his 2018 State of the Union address. The Nielsen company said Wednesday it was similar to President Barack Obama's 2014 presidential address on fighting the Islamic state, which was seen by 34 million people.</p>

House Democrats will propose a two-part plan to reopen the federal government once they take power on Thursday, according to multiple Democratic aides. The proposal, however, won’t provide President Donald Trump with his much sought-after border money boost. Their plan would fund the Department of Homeland Security until Feb. 8, and all other closed agencies — such as Transportation, Commerce and Agriculture — for the rest of the fiscal year through Sept. 30. Democrats intend to vote on the plan Thursday, the same day they officially wrest control of the House from Republicans. But the Senate won’t accept the measures...

The lights have been dimmed and Congress has gone home, but a couple dozen House Republicans continued their floor protest today of what they're calling the "Pelosi shutdown" - the decision by Democrats last week to adjourn for the previously scheduled August recess without voting on opening new areas to drilling. "What heartens me as I hear the speeches of the men and women gathered around me is that I know in my heart we are speaking and giving voice to the will of the overwhelming majority of the American people who want this Congress to return to Washington, D.C.,...