Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd and cameras outside.

The Time Will Come to Tear Down the Monuments Trump Has Built for Himself

The Tone of Our Country Has Changed — And Americans Can See and Feel It Everywhere

The Tone of Our Country Has Changed — And Americans Can See and Feel It Everywhere

​U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

RFK Jr. Received Compassion When He Was Arrested for Heroin, but My Patients Do Not

Election Experts Urge Caution After President’s Primetime Claims

Election Experts Urge Caution After President’s Primetime Claims

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and US Senator Bernie Sanders standing at a podium together with a crowd of supporters behind them.

Just What Is a Socialist?

Open For Business: The U.S. Government

The funding dispute has been resolved at the last minute, successfully preventing a government shutdown during the holiday season.

Open For Business: The U.S. Government
photo of Capital Hill, Washington, D.C.
Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumDec 21, 2024
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
See More Writings by author

WASHINGTON, DC — In response to the impending government shutdown deadline, the Senate swiftly passed a bipartisan plan early Saturday. This plan is designed to fund federal operations and provide disaster aid temporarily.

“Tonight, the Senate delivers more good news for America. There will be no government shutdown right before Christmas,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on the Senate floor ahead of final passage.

The House approved the new bill from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA.) by a significant margin, with a vote of 366-34. The Senate also passed the bill, with a vote of 85-11, just after the midnight deadline.

The streamlined 118-page package will fund the government at existing levels until March 14 and includes an additional $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance for farmers.

Notably, the bill does not include President-elect Donald Trump's request to raise the debt ceiling, which GOP leaders indicated will be discussed next year as part of their tax and border proposals.

Trump derailed bipartisan congressional budget negotiations by dismissing the original proposal, claiming it favored Democrats and was laden with excessive spending. This reaction followed social media posts from billionaire Elon Musk.

Musk urged his followers to "Stop the steal of your tax dollars!" on his platform X, suggesting potential primary challenges for those who supported the budget deal. Trump later echoed this sentiment in his own social media post.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said it looked like Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency, was calling the shots for Trump and Republicans.

“Who is in charge?” she asked during the debate.

Lawmakers expressed relief after the bill's passage. Still, the narrow escape from a potential shutdown raised concerns among some Republicans about the challenges that may arise next year, particularly with Republicans holding an even slimmer majority in the House and Trump back in office.

President Joe Biden, who maintained a lower public profile during the tumultuous week, anticipated signing the measure into law on Saturday.

Some critics argue that Trump does not share the same apprehension about government shutdowns as lawmakers do, pointing to his role in initiating the longest government shutdown in history during his first term.

A government shutdown occurs when the necessary funding legislation to finance the federal government is not approved before the start of the next fiscal year. During a shutdown, the federal government reduces agency activities and services, halts non-essential operations, furloughs non-essential employees, and retains only essential staff in departments responsible for safeguarding human life or property.

The most significant government shutdowns include:

File:President Barack Obama.jpg - Wikipediaen.m.wikipedia.org

The 16-day shutdown in 2013 during the Barack Obama administration resulted from a disagreement over implementing the Affordable Care Act.

File:Bill Clinton.jpg - Wikipedia en.m.wikipedia.org

The 21-day shutdown of 1995–1996, during President Bill Clinton’s administration, over opposition to major spending cuts.

File:Donald Trump official portrait.jpg - Wikipediaen.m.wikipedia.org

The longest shutdown, lasting 35 days from 2018 to 2019, occurred during the Donald Trump administration and was triggered by a dispute regarding the expansion of barriers along the U.S.–Mexico border.


Latest news

Woman voting on election day
Electoral Reforms

Which Proportional Voting System Best Fits America’s Constraints?

Woman holding out an empty wallet at a table.
Economy

More Whites Live in Poverty than Either Blacks or Hispanics - Correcting the Perception of Poverty

The All-America City of San Antonio Collaborates to Address Teen Pregnancy and Other Issues
Health

The All-America City of San Antonio Collaborates to Address Teen Pregnancy and Other Issues

Anti-gerrymandering sign
Governance & Legislation

Don't Hold Your Breath Waiting for Politicians or Their Consultants to Fix Gerrymandering

Read More

Red rock formations in the "Valley of the Gods."

Red rock formations in the "Valley of the Gods" on April 22, 2026 in Bears Ears National Monument, Utah. Bears Ears has been a controversial Monument since it's creation in December of 2016.

George Frey / Getty Images

When Public Lands Become Real Estate

Last week, in his latest attempted liquidation of our shared heritage, President Trump signed two executive orders eviscerating protections for close to three million acres of our national monuments: Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. From the Oval Office, a president who has never even seen these sacred sites reduced them by roughly 90%, dwarfing his 2017 attempt at a similar land grab by about a million acres, leaving only 300,000 acres of protected land. These cuts will directly threaten critical wildlife habitats, put nearly 100,000 irreplaceable archaeological sites at risk of destruction, and fracture an interconnected indigenous homeland that has been stewarded by Native tribes since time immemorial. To Trump, it’s just another real estate deal.

The Trump regime has tried to portray this set-up to sell off as an effort to restore public access. During the Oval Office photo op where the president signed the proclamations, he said of the monuments: “You can’t go hunting. You can’t go fishing. You can’t do anything. You can virtually not even walk on it.” That is, to put it mildly, a malicious lie. All your favorite forms of outdoor recreation—from hiking and camping to fishing and hunting—are allowed there, which Trump might know if he had ever visited the land he decided is not worth preserving. In fact, the Antiquities Act doesn’t limit ordinary public use but rather the extent to which an area can be subject to mining and drilling. So much for the land of the free. Trump wants to make it a whole lot easier for extractive industries and private development interests to privatize and pillage these sacred lands for financial gain. Home of the brave? Not an ounce of courage to refuse the fuel lobby when it comes to our public lands. At least the law is on our side. As the President of the National Parks Conservation Association put it, this is both “a betrayal to the American people and illegal.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Happy teacher asking girl with hand raised sitting in classroom at elementary school

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is a call to defend public education, strengthen democracy, and reject school privatization in New Hampshire.

Maskot / Getty Images

Looking to Celebrate America’s 250th? Uplift Public Schools!

July 4th, 2026, will be the 250th anniversary of the Declaration. One of the foundational documents of the United States, the Declaration has been taught in many ways: as America’s breakup letter, as a rallying cry for freedom, and as an example of the legal assertion of a right to rebellion—derived from common law and biblical teaching. Influenced by the Protestant reformation, the Great Awakening and enlightenment thinking, the Declaration is an example of the complexity of our founding and a reminder of the important work of educating for democracy.

Yet, many teachers feel like it’s getting more difficult to teach today, on the eve of the 250th. Just like in the era that gave us the “Spirit of ‘76”, teachers, who are striving to keep the spirit alive, must both stay rooted in local life and draw inspiration from Europe.

Keep ReadingShow less
A U.S.-Mexico Impasse Will Test How Far the Trump Administration Will Go to Fight Drug Trade

Rubén Rocha Moya, governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa state, left, with then-President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, center, and then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2024. The U.S. has charged Rocha with drug corruption, but Sheinbaum has refused to arrest him.

Rashide Frias/AFP via Getty Images

A U.S.-Mexico Impasse Will Test How Far the Trump Administration Will Go to Fight Drug Trade

After months of U.S.-Mexico tensions sparked by the Trump administration’s threats to strike unilaterally at Mexican drug traffickers, the two governments are heading for a potentially more serious confrontation over President Claudia Sheinbaum’s refusal to arrest Mexican officials charged in the United States with drug corruption.

U.S. Justice Department officials have yet to present a full picture of their evidence against 10 current and former Mexican officials, whose indictments were announced on April 29. They include the governor of Sinaloa state, Rubén Rocha Moya, an ally of the president and a prominent figure in her leftist political party.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026