First Run News

The Internal Revenue Service will make tax refunds even if the government remains shut down when they are set to be issued, the Trump administration said on Monday.  “Tax refunds will go out,” Russell Vought, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told reporters during a briefing.  Vought said the move was a change from past shutdowns and that the appropriate agencies would issue further guidance.  House Democrats are planning to pass legislation this week to fund the Treasury Department and IRS, as part of their effort to push Republicans to end the shutdown.

Senate Democrats are playing hardball as they try to strong-arm Republicans to buck MORE and bring up legislation to end the partial government shutdown. A growing number of Senate Democrats, backed by progressive outside groups, are calling on the caucus to filibuster any legislation until Republicans give a vote to a House-passed package to fully reopen the government. Senate Democrats are in the minority, but if they are able to unite 41 of their 47 members behind the strategy they can grind the Senate to a standstill in an effort to ratchet up pressure on Majority

Democratic leaders are demanding "equal airtime" for a response to MORE's presidential address planned for Tuesday night. “Now that the television networks have decided to air the President’s address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given equal airtime," Senate Democratic Leader MORE (Calif.) said in a joint statement on Monday night.  All major networks 

MORE will give a prime-time address Tuesday from the Oval Office to make his case for closing parts of the government over his demand for $5.7 billion in funding for a wall on the Mexican border. The president also plans to travel to the border on Thursday, a bellicose move reflecting the entrenched positions on both sides of the debate and one that almost certainly means the 18-day shutdown will continue into the weekend. Negotiations had come to a standstill even before the White House announcements about Trump’s address and border visit. Democrats insist it is not

The administration has worked with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure the IRS issues tax refunds despite a partial government shutdown that affects the IRS. Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought emphasized during a Monday briefing with reporters that the Trump administration has worked to make the partial government shutdown as painless as possible consistent with the law. Vought on Monday acknowledged concern over whether tax refunds would go out while the government is shut down.

In an exclusive interview with SiriusXM Patriot’s Breitbart News Sunday, Kobach says it is a border wall, coupled with U.S.

Wehoville reports law enforcement has yet to release the identity of the deceased male who died in Buck’s West Hollywood apartment. Buck was investigated — and later cleared — following the death of Gemmel Moore, a young man who died of a drug overdose at the 65-year-old’s home in July 2017.

CNN senior Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju reported CNN plans to “take the Democratic response live,” adding that it is currently unknown who will deliver the party’s rebuttal. Earlier Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on the networks to give Democrats an opportunity to respond to the president’s address.

STORM LAKE, Iowa — A Minnesota supporter of President Trump is facing a disorderly conduct charge stemming from a weekend altercation at an Iowa rally for Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Photos from Warren’s rally Saturday in Storm Lake show 58-year-old Randal Thom, of Lakefield, Minn., carrying a sign that read ‘‘Keep America Great’’ — which was a reference to Trump’s ‘‘Make America Great Again’’ 2016 campaign slogan. Police say Thom was involved in an argument with supporters of the Massachusetts senator that turned physical, and that some punches were thrown.

What sets America apart from other countries is how little we value the lives of our fellow citizens.  Opinion | Aimee Ortiz A newspaper in Vermont is not only asking Senator Bernie Sanders not to run for president, it’s begging him.  President Donald Trump says he’s prepared to keep part of the U.S. government shut down for more than a year if necessary to get the money he wants for a wall on the Mexican border.  Miss her jaunt through Council Bluffs, Storm Lake, and Des Moines? Here are four takeaways from the opening weekend of Elizabeth Warren’s budding 2020 campaign.