Reading archive 2025-10-22

Health insurance sticker shock begins as shutdown battle over subsidies rages: Many states have shown rising premiums ahead of open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans. Congress is deadlocked over extending covid-era subsidies that bring costs down.

Trump is creating two classes of federal workers: Paid and unpaid: Within the same agencies, some employees are drawing their salaries during the shutdown, and others are working without pay. - "Where and how the administration is finding money for those salaries — and whether the maneuver is legal — remains unclear, experts said.

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"At the FBI, for example, special agents are getting paid, but translators, some attorneys and support staffers are not. The FBI Agents Association wrote in a statement that this is a shortsighted strategy."

How Obama maneuvered behind the scenes to fight Trump on redistricting: The ex-president’s involvement reflects the deep anxieties he has about Trump’s agenda and has propelled him into a more political, public-facing role than he envisioned.