The Federal Reserve is poised to cut interest rates again this week, but the environment surrounding that decision is unusually fraught for the central bank.

The federal government shutdown is now entering its fifth week and could soon set an all-time record, with little sign of either side backing down or really even feeling much pressure to do so.

The building strain on lawmakers to end the impasse was magnified by the nation’s largest federal employee union, which called on Congress to pass a funding bill and ensure workers receive full pay.

Democrats demand extending ACA tax credits as Republicans push reforms, with talks stalled and premiums set to rise if subsidies expire.

Senate Democrats again blocked Republicans’ stopgap funding bill from advancing in a 50 to 43 vote. The parties remain in a standoff over health care subsidies as the shutdown drags on.

Once again, Washington finds itself in a completely avoidable mess. The federal government is shut down, not because Republicans refused to act, but because Democrats chose politics over people. House Republicans did our job.

History lessons are being wiped from the internet, and California is retreating from ethnic studies, as education swings away from curriculums that are seen as too progressive.

President Donald Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors, saying he planned to meet with budget director Russ Vought to talk through “temporary or permanent” spending cuts that could set up a lose-lose dynamic for Democratic lawmakers.