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Senate Republicans are moving to try to end the government shutdown by preparing a new bipartisan package of spending bills and daring Democrats to vote for it, but it was unclear if their plan would work.Many Democrats said they would continue to hold out for an extension of expiring health care subsidies, which was not expected to be part of the legislation.Senate Democrats, who have now voted 14 times not to reopen the government, left their second caucus meeting of the week Thursday with few answers about whether they eventually could find a compromise with Republicans or even with each other on how to end the shutdown.A test vote on the new package, which had not yet been publicly revealed, could come as soon as Friday. Democrats will then have a crucial choice to make: Do they keep fighting for a meaningful deal on extending health care subsidies that expire in January, while extending the pain of the shutdown? Or do they vote to reopen the government and hope for the best as Republicans promise an eventual health care vote, but not a guaranteed outcome?Emboldened by overwhelmingly favorable elections earlier this week, many Democrats say the fight isn’t over until Republicans and President Donald Trump negotiate with them on an extension.“That’s what leaders do,” said Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico. “You have the gavel, you have the majority, you have to bring people together.”Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said Democrats are “obviously not unanimous” but they are unified that “without something on health care, the vote is very unlikely to succeed.”Other Democrats have been working on a deal that would reopen the government with only an agreement for a future vote on the health care subsidies. Lawmakers in both parties were feeling increased urgency to alleviate the growing crisis at airports, pay government workers and restore delayed food aid to millions of people now that the shutdown has become the longest in U.S. history.Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s decision to keep the Senate in session Friday, and perhaps over the weekend, came after Trump urged Senate Republicans at a White House breakfast Wednesday to end the shutdown. Trump said he thought the six-week impasse was a “big factor, negative” for Republicans in Tuesday’s elections. A new effort to reopen the government The bipartisan package Thune is proposing would fund parts of government food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things and extend funding for everything else until December or January.The new package would replace the House-passed bill that the Democrats have repeatedly rejected. That legislation would only extend government funding until Nov. 21, a date that is rapidly approaching after six weeks of inaction.The details were still to be worked out, but the new legislation mirrors a tentative plan that moderate Democrats have been sketching out in hopes of finding agreement. The proposal led by New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen would also take up Republicans on their offer to hold a vote on extending the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies at a later date.It was still unclear what Thune, who has refused to negotiate while the government is closed, would promise on health care and if enough Democrats would agree to move ahead. Republicans have for weeks been five votes short of the 60 they need. Johnson delivers setback to bipartisan talks Democrats are facing pressure from unions eager for the shutdown to end and from allied groups that want them to hold firm. Many Democrats have argued that the results for Democrats in Tuesday’s election show voters want them to continue the fight until Republicans yield and agree to extend the health tax credits.A vote on the health care subsidies “has got to mean something,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said this week. “That means a commitment by the speaker of the House, that he will support the legislation, that the president will sign.”But Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., made clear Thursday morning he won’t make any commitment to Democrats. “I’m not promising anybody anything,” Johnson said when asked if he could promise a vote on a health care bill.Johnson’s clear refusal was a setback for negotiators. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, one of the moderate Democrats involved in negotiations, said the speaker’s comments were “a significant problem.”“We have to make sure we have a deal that we can get broad support for,” Peters said.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has not yet weighed in on the latest push. He has repeatedly called for Trump to sit down with Democrats a meeting that seems unlikely to happen.“Donald Trump clearly is feeling pressure to bring this shutdown to an end,” Schumer said Thursday. Closed-door negotiations become public A group of Democrats and Republicans that has been quietly negotiating for weeks insisted they were making steady progress on a deal.In a new development Thursday, Republicans suggested they might be open to including language in a final agreement that would reverse some mass firings of government workers by the White House, according to two people familiar with the private talks granted anonymity to discuss them. But it was unclear if that proposal would be included in the new package of bills.Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who has been talking to Democrats, says she wants furloughed workers to be given back pay and workers who have been fired during the shutdown to be “recalled.”“We’re still negotiating that language,” she said. Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti, Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report. Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
Ice cream maker Dreyers Grand Ice Cream Company has issued a voluntary recall of select Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Dark Chocolate Mini Bars after discovering they might have wheat in them. An investigation is underway, but Dreyers believes that food with wheat was put in the wrong packaging at the start of a production run, according to its announcement, published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There are no related illnesses or injuries as of Dreyers announcement on Monday, November 3. As Dreyers states, Those with an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products. According to the Cleveland Clinic, between 0.2% and 1.3% of individuals live with a wheat allergy worldwide. Which products are affected? The recall only affects a specific batch of Dreyers Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Dark Chocolate Mini Bars. Impacted products are in a six-count package with the following batch code and best by date: LLA519501: Best by January 31, 2027 This information should be visible on the side of the packaging, but an image of the product is available on the FDAs website. Where and when was the product sold? Dreyers didnt provide an exact timeframe for when it shipped the affected ice cream bars. However, it did state that the recalled Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Dark Chocolate Mini Bars were distributed to two retailers, Kroger and Giant Eagle. Below are the states where shipments were sent. Kroger: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Michigan Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Mexico Ohio Oregon South Carolina Tennessee Utah Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Giant Eagle: Indiana Maryland Ohio Pennsylvania West Virginia These two grocers are the only ones with recalled ice cream bars, with no other batches or Häagen-Dazs products affected. What should I do if I have this product? If youre not allergic to wheat, then its up to you whether to eat the Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Dark Chocolate Mini Bars. According to Dreyer’s, Consumers with a wheat allergy or sensitivity who have purchased the affected product are urged not to consume the product and instead dispose of it or return it to their place of purchase for a full refund.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated that, beginning today, flights across America will be reduced at 40 airports due to the ongoing government shutdown. According to the agency, the flight reductions are being implemented due to safety issues stemming from a shortage of air traffic controllers, who are not being paid during the shutdown. The reductions are expected to lead to a wave of flight cancellations, the number of which is set to increase every day between now and November 14. Heres what you need to know about the flight reductions, including the full list and a map of the 40 airports affected. Why is the FAA mandating flight reductions? The FAA says it has safety concerns stemming from the ongoing government shutdown, which began on October 1 and is the longest US government shutdown in history. Hundreds of thousands of government workers have been furloughed without pay during the shutdown. But some federal employees, including air traffic controllers, are designated as essential workers. Those workers are required to stay on the job during a shutdown, though their pay is paused. The problem is that those essential workers still have bills to pay, so as the shutdown drags on, necessity dictates that some are resigning to take on other paid roles in the private sector, while others are calling in sick. Fewer air traffic controllers and other essential airport staff reporting to work means the risk to flier safety increases. To help mitigate that growing risk, the FAA has now decided to restrict a select number of flights at 40 U.S. airports. What are the specifics of the FAAs flight reductions? In a notice posted to the FAAs website yesterday, the agency said that it would initiate a 10% reduction in flights at 40 U.S. airports starting today, Friday, November 7. However, the reductions will be phased in gradually over the next week. The first reduction begins today, with the full 10% taking effect a week later. Here is how the reduction phases will work: Friday, November 7: 4% reduction in flight operations Tuesday, November 11: 6% reduction in flight operations Thursday, November 13: 8% reduction in flight operations Friday, November 14: 10% reduction in flight operations Announcing the reductions, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said that the agency was seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely. He also warned that the FAA will not hesitate to take further action if needed. What airports are affected by the FAA reductions? Most of the major airports in the country are impacted by the reductions, including central hubs like John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and Chicago OHare International Airport. The full list of airports affected is as follows: ANC Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport ATL Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport BOS Boston Logan International Airport BWI Baltimore/Washington International Airport CLT Charlotte Douglas International Airport CVG Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport DAL Dallas Love Field DCA Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport DEN Denver International Airport DFW Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport DTW Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport EWR Newark Liberty International Airport FLL Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport HNL Honolulu International Airport HOU William P. Hobby Airport IAD Washington Dulles International Airport IAH George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport IND Indianapolis International Airport JFK New York John F. Kennedy International Airport LAS Las Vegas McCarran International Airport LAX Los Angeles International Airport LGA New York LaGuardia Airport MCO Orlando International Airport MDW Chicago Midway International Airport MEM Memphis International Airport MIA Miami International Airport MSP MinneapolisSt. Paul International Airport OAK Oakland International Airport ONT Ontario International Airport ORD Chicago OHare International Airport PDX Portland International Airport PHL Philadelphia International Airport PHX Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport SAN San Diego International Airport SDF Louisville International Airport SEA SeattleTacoma International Airport SFO San Francisco International Airport SLC Salt Lake City International Airport TEB Teterboro Airport TPA Tampa International Airport window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); What flights will be reduced? If your flight is among the reductions, it will be canceled. But it appears that those cancellations will not be decided by the FAA itself. Instead, it will be left up to the airlines to decide which flights they will cut to meet their reduction requirements. In the memo the FAA posted, the agency states that The order does not require a reduction in international flights. Carriers may use their own discretion to decide which flights are canceled to reach the orders goal. Can I get a refund if my flight is canceled? Yesterday, Fast Company reported that many major U.S. airlines, including United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, confirmed that they would issue full refunds to passengers whose flights are canceled. However, other airlines remained silent on the matter. But now it appears airlines will not have a choice in the matter. The FAAs memo states that Airlines will be required to issue full refunds. However, the FAA says airlines will not be responsible for covering secondary costs, such as hotel stays. That means if your flight is canceled, you can get a full refund from the airline, but if that cancellation requires you to stay at a local hotel until you can get on another flight, the airline will not be responsible for covering your hotel costs. Will flight cancellations get worse? That remains to be seen and is largely dependent on how long the government shutdown drags on. What’s certain is that cancellations will increase from today until next Friday, when the full 10% reduction order takes effect. But there is no guarantee that reductions will remain capped at 10%. The FAA says that Decisions to increase or decrease these flight reductions will be informed by safety data.
Category:
E-Commerce
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