Washington Unless Congress devises a plan and takes immediate action, the U.S. government will shut down this weekend. After entrepreneur Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump blew up their original bill and then a backup plan failed to pass Thursday night, congressional Republicans are starting over as federal funding ends at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. Government operations that people depend on and the salaries of millions of federal employees are at risk while Congress considers a course ahead. The following information will help you understand what a government shutdown is and how it can impact you: What is a government shutdown? Since Congress has the power of the purse under the Constitution, nearly all decisions on government finance are made on Capitol Hill. Every year, the ...

Following repeated complaints about brightly colored and mostly inexplicable flying devices dominating the night sky over the Garden State, the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday banned drone flights over almost two dozen cities in New Jersey. "Prohibiting drone flights over critical New Jersey infrastructure," the FAA said in a statement announcing the temporary flying restrictions (TFR). A vast area of central and northern New Jersey, the 11th most populous state in the country with almost 9 million people, is covered by the TFRs, which are scheduled to end on January 17. Drones are prohibited as far north as Cedar Grove and Clifton and as far south as Hancocks Bridge. The port city of Bayonne, Philadelphia's neighbor Camden, and Elizabeth, the state's fourth most populated cit...

U.S. officials have quadrupled the number of American forces in Syria to aid in the fight against ISIS, the Pentagon revealed in a surprising revelation Thursday. This increase predates the overthrow of Bashar al Assad's regime earlier this month. At the Pentagon briefing, Defense Department Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder stated that although the U.S. military and U.S. Central Command have repeatedly stated that they only had 900 troops in Syria, the United States actually has about 2,000 people there. Ryder did not specify when the U.S. military had grown. He claimed to have discovered today that the figure has been much higher for a while. Regarding the timing of the hike, Ryder stated, "I don't have a specific date to provide." According to what I gather, it's been at least mo...

Washington After Republican leaders broke a previous bipartisan agreement and made changes to placate President-elect Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, and an internal GOP uprising, the House rejected a package Thursday to temporarily keep the government funded. With one Democrat present, the vote was 174-235, just short of the two-thirds majority required to advance it through a fast-track process. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, was the only member of the party to vote in favor of the bill, with two other Democrats voting against it. Conservatives argued that the bill did not significantly cut federal spending, and 38 Republicans also voted against it. The House is not scheduled to hold any more votes Thursday, according to notices sent to lawmakers. The rejected measure le...

According to two persons with knowledge of the matter, President-elect Donald Trump may have postponed his plans to remove General Charles Q. Brown, Jr., the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by meeting with him in a luxury box during last weekend's Army-Navy football game. In reference to Brown in particular, Trump and his close allies have been vowing for months to replace U.S. military officials who they believe are overly focused on diversity projects. However, the two people who were aware of the conversation said that the meeting went well. According to the two individuals, Trump and Brown met last Saturday during the second quarter of the yearly military resentment game at Northwest Stadium in Maryland. Sitting in the owner's box, Trump and Brown had a one-on-one conversation f...

In what they say is the biggest strike against the delivery behemoth in history, the Teamsters union announced a walkout against Amazon Thursday morning, with workers forming picket lines in four states. Amidst the flurry of last-minute holiday present deliveries, the strike occurs just one week before Christmas. Workers from a facility in New York City, another in Atlanta, three in Southern California, one in San Francisco, and one in Skokie, Illinois, which is just outside of Chicago, went on strike at 6 a.m. ET. According to a news release from the Teamsters, about 10,000 Amazon employees have joined the union. The $2 trillion tech and retail conglomerate employs 1.5 million workers, of which that is only a small portion. According to the union's press statement, the work stoppage occur...

President of Washington,The White House said Thursday that Joe Biden will meet with Pope Francis in January, which is probably the president's last foreign trip before he steps down from the presidency. The White House said in a statement that Biden called the pope on Thursday and accepted Francis' offer to visit the Vatican. The two males have already had multiple encounters. Biden will visit Rome from January 9 to 12, according to a statement from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Biden will also meet with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella of Italy. In his meeting with the pope, Biden talked about "efforts to advance peace around the world," the White House said. A White House readout of the leaders' call stated, "The President thanked the pope f...

Washington After Republican leaders broke a previous bipartisan agreement and made changes to placate President-elect Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, and an internal GOP uprising, the House rejected a package Thursday to temporarily keep the government funded. With one Democrat present, the vote was 174-235, just short of the two-thirds majority required to advance it through a fast-track process. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, was the only member of the party to vote in favor of the bill, with two other Democrats voting against it. Conservatives argued that the bill did not significantly cut federal spending, and 38 Republicans also voted against it. With less than 30 hours before the deadline, the vote leaves Congress without a clear plan to prevent an impending governme...

According to authorities on Wednesday, investigators in a Utah community believe a man ruthlessly murdered his family, including three children, before taking his own life. A 17-year-old was spared in the West Valley City incident. According to Roxeanne Vainuku, a police spokesman, he was wounded in the head and is still in serious condition. She told reporters, "Our first conclusion is that the father probably shot all of the family members before shooting himself, but police need ballistic and other evidence to confirm that." According to a statement released by the extended family on Thursday, the fatalities were identified as four members of a Karenni refugee family who had left Myanmar over a decade ago. Mother Bu Meh, 38; son Boe Reh, 11; and daughters Kristina Ree, 8, and Nyay Meh, ...

Washington After Republican leaders broke a previous bipartisan agreement and made changes to placate President-elect Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, and an internal GOP uprising, the House rejected a package Thursday to temporarily keep the government funded. With one Democrat present, the vote was 174-235, just short of the two-thirds majority required to advance it through a fast-track process. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, was the only member of the party to vote in favor of the bill, with two other Democrats voting against it. Conservatives argued that the bill did not significantly cut federal spending, and 38 Republicans also voted against it. With less than 30 hours before the deadline, the vote leaves Congress without a clear plan to prevent an impending governme...