The authors and signatories of the open letter are senior officials of former presidents, including the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. These include former US Defense Secretaries William Cohen and Chuck Hagel and former CIA directors William Webster and Michael Hayden.
2:05 a.m.: The Republicans in the US House of Representatives have failed with a controversial budget proposal. The proposal was defeated Wednesday by a vote of 202-220, with 14 Republicans voting against and three Democrats voting in favor. Democrats rejected the version put to the vote by House Speaker Mike Johnson because it was tied to a change to election law that would require Americans to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Trump has made illegal immigration a central issue of his re-election campaign, falsely claiming that Democrats are registering illegal immigrants to vote.
Johnson then announced the preparation of a new interim budget to prevent a possible government shutdown after October 1, when current funding expires. “Now we’re going to go back to the drawing board, come up with a new plan and find a different solution,” Johnson said. “I'm already talking to colleagues.” Democrats in the House and Senate have expressed willingness to pass a stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown that would send hundreds of thousands of federal workers on furlough after funding runs out.
Congress faces another critical deadline on Jan. 1, when lawmakers must raise the nation's debt ceiling to prevent a default on the more than $35 trillion in national debt.
