MCALLEN, Texas — Taking the shutdown fight to the Mexican border, President Donald Trump edged closer Thursday to declaring a national emergency in an extraordinary end run around Congress to fund his long-promised border wall. Pressure was mounting to find an escape hatch from the three-week impasse that has closed...
In First House Speech, Cox Calls for End to Federal Shutdown
Payday will come Friday without any checks for about 800,000 federal employees affected by the government shutdown, forcing workers to scale back spending, cancel trips, apply for unemployment benefits and take out loans to stay afloat. On Thursday, Rep. TJ Cox (D-Fresno) used the impact of the shutdown as the...
Trump Threatens Emergency Declaration Ahead of Border Visit
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress if he can't reach a deal with Democrats to fund his promised border wall. He headed to the U.S.-Mexico border to draw further attention to his case after negotiations with lawmakers blew up. The...
Feds Create Hole in Marjaree Mason Budget. It's Up to Us to Fill It.
The first rule of government should be one that's in the Hippocratic Oath: "First, do no harm." I say that because the Marjaree Mason Center — one of Fresno's best-known and most-needed nonprofits — is dealing with the fallout of the federal government's effort to help the homeless. Center Lost $224,000...
White House Tries to Hold Jittery GOP in Line on Shutdown
WASHINGTON — The White House is trying to hold jittery congressional Republicans in line on the 19th day of the partial government shutdown, with no end in sight to the impasse over President Donald Trump's demand for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. There's growing concern about the toll the...
The Latest: Trump Tells Nation Illegal immigration is 'Crisis'
WASHINGTON — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the partial government shutdown (all times EST): 9:25 p.m. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the president has "chosen fear" in making the case to the American people for the border wall and Democrats "want to start with the facts." Pelosi said...
What Air Travelers Should Know About Government Shutdown
DALLAS — The partial government shutdown is starting to affect air travel. Over the weekend, some airports had long lines at checkpoints, apparently caused by a rising number of security officers calling in sick while they are not getting paid. Safety inspectors aren't even on the job. A Federal Aviation...
Trump to Take Case for Border Wall to Prime-Time Audience
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will argue to the nation Tuesday night that a "crisis" at the U.S.-Mexico border requires the long and invulnerable wall he's demanding before ending a partial government shutdown that has hundreds of thousands of federal workers fearing missed paychecks on Friday. Trump's first Oval Office...
Trump Official Says 2018 Tax Refunds Will Go out on Time
WASHINGTON — A Trump administration official says that tax refunds will go out on time during the partial government shutdown. With the shutdown in its third week there had been mounting concerns over an IRS delay in sending refunds. But Russell Vought, acting director of the White House budget office,...
Park Service to Tap into Entrance Fees to Keep Operating
WASHINGTON — The National Park Service says it is taking the extraordinary step of dipping into entrance fees to pay for staffing at its highly visited parks in the wake of the partial government shutdown. P. Daniel Smith, deputy director of the service, said in a statement Sunday that the...