The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. It costs about $8 billion per month nationally.

The filibuster is a longstanding parliamentary tool that halts action on most bills unless 60 senators in the 100-member chamber vote to move forward. Over the years, it has stymied policy priorities for Democrats and Republicans alike.

Monthly premiums for 2026 plans are expected to be higher for those enrolling in ACA exchange plans because COVID-era subsidies are expiring.

Thousands of federal workers have been furloughed, with thousands more still on the job without pay. Programs like SNAP are set to run dry of funding come Saturday.

President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on Republican governors to draw new maps that give the party an easier path to maintain control of the House in the midterms.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ push for Illinois Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map as a counter to President Donald Trump’s mid-decade redistricting project in GOP-led states has met a cool reception with state lawmakers.

The USDA said each Farm Service Agency office will have two workers who will be paid even though the government remains shutdown. Thousands of other federal employees like air traffic controllers are working without pay during the shutdown.

The federal government has been without a budget since Oct.1, making virtually no progress in negotiations over health care issues causing the stalemate.

Chicago’s top federal judge announced plans to halt pay and some operations as the court system continues “feeling the pain” of the ongoing government shutdown.

About 4.8 million people are expected to lose their Affordable Care Act coverage in 2026 if Congress does not extend a set of enhanced subsidies created under the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. That includes about 100,000 people in Illinois.

The funding freeze, which came despite a full funding agreement executed earlier this year, comes amid a broader anti-DEI push from the administration. In announcing the pause, federal officials said they’d be examining whether the Red Line Extension involves “race-based contracting” that Trump officials claim are discriminatory.

The federal government entered its sixth day of a shutdown Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of employees furloughed.

President Donald Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors, meeting with budget director Russ Vought on Thursday to talk through “temporary or permanent” spending cuts.

Washington is bracing for what could be a prolonged federal shutdown after lawmakers deadlocked and missed the deadline for funding the government. Neither side shows any signs of budging.

The last shutdown was in President Donald Trump’s first term when he demanded that Congress give him money for his U.S.-Mexico border wall. Trump retreated after 35 days — the longest shutdown ever — amid intensifying airport delays and missed paydays for federal workers.

If government funding legislation isn’t passed by Congress and signed by Trump on Tuesday night, many government offices across the nation will be temporarily shuttered and nonexempt federal employees will be furloughed, adding to the strain on workers and the nation’s economy.