President Donald Trump has urged Senate Republicans to abolish Obamacare and reroute federal health care spending directly to individual Americans.

In a Truth Social post Saturday morning, Trump wrote: ‘I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over.’

‘In other words, take from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people, and terminate, per Dollar spent, the worst Healthcare anywhere in the World, ObamaCare.’

‘Unrelated, we must still terminate the Filibuster!’

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Rep. Thomas Massie — a Republican fiscal hawk facing a President Donald Trump-backed primary challenger in Kentucky — has previously described himself as ‘America First,’ but now he says he thinks that he’s ‘America only.’ 

‘I am tired of sending money overseas,’ he told Fox News Digital during an interview on Thursday. 

‘I am tired of favoring foreign beef over U.S.A.-grown beef,’ he continued. ‘I’m ready to be America only. And I think all congressmen should be that way.’

Massie gave Trump a mixed review, saying that the president is America First on ‘some’ fronts.

‘But when it comes to the beef, he is not America first. When it comes to sending money overseas to Ukraine and Israel,’ Massie said, ‘I think he needs to get back to his campaign promises and put America first. Because we’re not gonna make America great again by sending our money overseas.’

Massie noted that his ‘biggest disagreement’ with both the Trump administration and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is the increase in spending.

‘I mean, I thought we were conservatives. Why are we spending more this year than Joe Biden spent in his last year? Actually, we’re spending about $200 billion dollars more,’ he said, adding that the consequence ‘is inflation and higher interest rates.’

‘And people are feeling that. You can’t gaslight them,’ Massie added. ‘You can’t tell them that things are getting cheaper when they’re not getting cheaper.’

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Kush Desai accused Massie of ‘Fake Math.’ 

‘Here are the facts: President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut Act cut mandatory spending by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, and the budget deficit from April to September of this year is down a staggering 40% compared to last year, when Joe Biden was president,’ Desai declared in the statement.

‘Instead of Fake Math, Thomas Massie should reflect on how he betrayed his voters and hardworking Americans when he voted with every Democrat against the biggest tax cut for working families in American history, including no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime pay, increased child tax credits, and permanence for the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts,’ he added.

Massie said his other disagreements with what has been happening in D.C. are ‘secondary’ to the spending issue.

‘I would say, we need to follow through on some of our campaign promises. For instance, release the Epstein files,’ he said.

Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., have been spearheading a bid to force a House vote on a proposal that would compel the release of materials pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein. 

Their discharge petition has amassed 217 of the 218 signatures needed to force the vote, but Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who has said she will sign on, has still not yet been sworn in to office more than six weeks after winning a special election in Arizona.

Johnson ‘has tried every which way he can to avoid this vote,’ Massie claimed, asserting that the speaker has not sworn in the Democrat because she ‘represents the 218th signature I need to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.

Massie, who owns cattle himself, said the president has ‘sort of gut punched the cattle ranchers and… livestock farmers’ in the U.S.

During remarks aboard Air Force One last month, Trump indicated the U.S. was considering buying beef from Argentina to drive down prices. 

Days later Reuters reported that a White House official indicated that the administration was quadrupling the nation’s low-tariff imports of beef from the South American nation. Increasing the tariff rate quota to 80,000 metric tons will allow Argentina to send greater quantities of the product to America at a lower rate of duty, according to the outlet.

The president has Massie in his political crosshairs — he has repeatedly reviled the congressman on Truth Social.

In a post on Monday, Trump referred to Massie as ‘a Weak and Pathetic RINO’ — a pejorative acronymn that stands for ‘Republican in name only.’ He also called the congressman ‘a totally ineffective LOSER,’ while expressing his support for primary challenger Ed Gallrein, who Trump is backing in the race.

Even as the president tries to convince voters in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District to reject Massie, the lawmaker said that he does not regret endorsing Trump ahead of the 2024 election, noting that former Vice President Kamala Harris would have been a total ‘disaster.’

Massie initially backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential primary, but DeSantis dropped out and backed Trump, and Massie later endorsed the Republican juggernaut as well.

‘And I’m glad that President Trump won,’ he said. 

Trump has ‘done a lot of good things,’ he said, adding that many of them have been carried out via executive order, and he thinks Congress should vote on more of the issues so that the president’s moves are not simply ‘temporary actions.’

Asked whether he’d have any interest in potentially running for president himself, Massie said that he is not interested.

The Senate is in for a rare weekend session as the chamber remains in limbo while lawmakers try to find a way out of the government shutdown.

Behind the scenes, appropriators are cooking up a trio of spending bills to attach to the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), along with an extension to the bill that would, if passed, reopen government until December or January.

Whether a vote on the revamped CR and spending package happens Saturday is still up in the air. Senate Democrats, as they’ve done 14 times previously, are likely to block it. It all comes as the upper chamber is scheduled for a week-long recess to coincide with Veterans’ Day.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., now wants to keep lawmakers in town until the shutdown ends.

When asked if there would be a vote on the plan, Thune said it would be ideal to have the package on the floor, but that ‘we’ve got to have votes to actually pass it.’ Republicans are reticent to putting the CR out again just to see it fail.

‘I’ve been talking all morning with some of the folks that are involved with the meeting, and I think we’re getting close to having it ready,’ Thune said. ‘We just need to get the text out there.’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus, freshly emboldened by sweeping Election Day victories earlier in the week, are sticking by their newly released plan that would extend the expiring Obamacare subsidies by one year, and create a bipartisan working group to negotiate next steps after the government reopens.

But Senate Republicans immediately rejected the idea; Thune called it a ‘non-starter,’ while others in the GOP were angered by the proposal.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., charged that he would appeal to President Donald Trump and his administration to slash funding from ‘pet projects’ in blue states and cities to pay federal workers as the shutdown drags on.

‘The idea that you’ve got a bunch of kamikaze pilots trying to burn this whole place down because they’re emboldened by an election where Democrats won in Democrat areas is totally insane,’ he said.

Senate Democrats were largely unsurprised that Republicans rejected the offer, however.

‘I know many Republicans stormed out of the gate to dismiss this offer, but that’s a terrible mistake,’ Schumer said.

Thune and his conference have, throughout the course of the 39-day shutdown, said that they would only deal with the subsidies after the government reopened, and have offered Schumer and Senate Democrats a vote on a bill addressing the healthcare issue once the closure ends.

‘I’m not surprised,’ Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said. ‘They don’t want to help people with their health care.’

But Republicans countered that a simple extension of the enhanced subsidies, which were modified under former President Joe Biden during the COVID-19 pandemic, would funnel money straight to insurers.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., has been in talks with Senate Democrats on a path forward, particularly through jump-starting government funding with the impending trio of spending bills.

After Schumer unveiled Democrats’ plan, she charged that ‘since Obamacare came into effect, look, who’s gotten rich? It’s not the people.’

‘They’re talking about the people’s premiums and have … they taken it to the companies that are actually making the money off of it? They’re not,’ Britt said. ‘So I look forward to hearing why in the world they want to continue these profits and not actually help the people they serve.’

Senate Democrats, however, contend that their offer was fair.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., argued that there were some in the caucus that wanted to do a multi-year extension, while others wanted to go beyond just the enhanced subsidies. He reiterated his frustration that the core of the issue, from his perspective, was that neither Schumer nor Thune would sit down and negotiate.

‘We made a really simple, really scaled-down offer that could get the government up and operating and [is] really good for them politically,’ he said. ‘I just still don’t understand why they won’t accept the offer.’

The Senate is in for a rare weekend session as the chamber remains in limbo while lawmakers try to find a way out of the government shutdown.

Behind the scenes, appropriators are cooking up a trio of spending bills to attach to the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), along with an extension to the bill that would, if passed, reopen government until December or January.

But the package was not ready for primetime Saturday, and no votes were held. Instead, Senate Republicans spent hours railing against Obamacare and Senate Democrats’ desire to extend the expiring premium subsidies on the floor. 

When the package does hit the floor, Senate Democrats, as they’ve done 14 times previously, are likely to block it. It all comes as the upper chamber is scheduled for a week-long recess to coincide with Veterans Day.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., now wants to keep lawmakers in town until the shutdown ends.

When asked if there would be a vote on the plan, Thune said it would be ideal to have the package on the floor, but ‘we’ve got to have votes to actually pass it.’ Republicans are reticent to put the CR out again just to see it fail.

‘I’ve been talking all morning with some of the folks that are involved with the meeting, and I think we’re getting close to having it ready,’ Thune said. ‘We just need to get the text out there.’

The spending package, however, is just one piece of the puzzle to reopening the government. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus, freshly emboldened by sweeping Election Day victories earlier in the week, are sticking by their newly released plan that would extend the expiring Obamacare subsidies by one year and create a bipartisan working group to negotiate next steps after the government reopens.

But Senate Republicans immediately rejected the idea; Thune called it a ‘non-starter,’ while others in the GOP were angered by the proposal.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said he would appeal to President Donald Trump and his administration to slash funding from ‘pet projects’ in blue states and cities to pay federal workers as the shutdown drags on.

‘The idea that you’ve got a bunch of kamikaze pilots trying to burn this whole place down because they’re emboldened by an election where Democrats won in Democrat areas is totally insane,’ he said.

Senate Democrats were largely unsurprised that Republicans rejected the offer, however.

‘I know many Republicans stormed out of the gate to dismiss this offer, but that’s a terrible mistake,’ Schumer said.

Thune and his conference have, throughout the course of the 39-day shutdown, said they would only deal with the subsidies after the government reopened and have offered Schumer and Senate Democrats a vote on a bill addressing the healthcare issue once the closure ends.

‘I’m not surprised,’ Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said. ‘They don’t want to help people with their healthcare.’

But Republicans countered that a simple extension of the enhanced subsidies, which were modified under former President Joe Biden during the COVID-19 pandemic, would funnel money straight to insurers.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., has been in talks with Senate Democrats on a path forward, particularly through jump-starting government funding with the impending trio of spending bills.

After Schumer unveiled Democrats’ plan, she charged that ‘since Obamacare came into effect, look who’s gotten rich? It’s not the people.’

‘They’re talking about the people’s premiums and have … they have taken it to the companies that are actually making the money off of it? They’re not,’ Britt said. ‘So, I look forward to hearing why in the world they want to continue these profits and not actually help the people they serve.’

Senate Democrats, however, contend that their offer was fair.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., argued that there were some in the caucus that wanted to do a multi-year extension, while others wanted to go beyond just the enhanced subsidies. He reiterated his frustration that the core of the issue, from his perspective, was that neither Schumer nor Thune would sit down and negotiate.

‘We made a really simple, really scaled-down offer that could get the government up and operating and [is] really good for them politically,’ he said. ‘I just still don’t understand why they won’t accept the offer.’

The Senate could take a test vote as early as tomorrow afternoon on a revamped Republican bill to end the government shutdown and fund parts of the government for the rest of the fiscal year. 

We are still waiting on bill text on a measure which would fund the government through late January and provide money for the Agriculture Department (which funds SNAP), the Veterans Affairs Department and military construction projects and Congress through Sept. 30, 2026. 

But things will begin moving once text is posted tonight or tomorrow morning. 

This appears to be a pure spending bill with nothing separate for renewing Obamacare subsidies. 

The test vote needs 60 yeas. That entails Democratic buy-in. Fox is told to watch the following Democratic senators to see if they will vote to break a filibuster — although they might not be needed to vote for the final bill. Only a simple majority is needed there. 

Fox is told here is the universe of potential senators who caucus with the Democrats to watch as possible yeas to break a filibuster:

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Gary Peters, D-Mo., Angus King, I-Maine, and Patty Murray, D-Wash. Murray is the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Fox is told that Murray scored some significant language in the tenuous spending pact. 

This is a fragile coalition and could fall apart. 

But if the Senate breaks the filibuster, it is just a matter of time before the senators vote to re-open the government. In fact, it’s possible that the Senate could vote Sunday night if senators can forge a time agreement. 

By the book, the Senate is afforded significant debate time once it breaks a filibuster. Fox is told that progressives, steamed that they scored nothing on health care — and were burned by their own party — could try to stretch things out as much as possible. That could mean the Senate doesn’t vote until Tuesday or beyond on final passage. 

But by the same token, Democrats are only preventing SNAP benefits from going out. So they could agree to an expedited process. 

The House is on 48 hours notice to come back. So the House may not return until midweek to align with the Senate and re-open the government. But it’s likely the House could be recalled as soon as possible. 

The House’s disposition is unclear on this legislation. However, it’s hard to believe that most Republicans wouldn’t take this deal. In additon, Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., and Jared Golden, D-Maine, are among moderate Democrats who may be in play to vote yes if the GOP loses a few votes. Golden was the lone House Democrat who voted for the old interim spending bill on Sept. 19. Golden has since announced his retirement.

Here’s another question:

Would the House swear-in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., before or after the vote? Democrats will bray if Johnson fails to swear-in Grijalva before a possible House vote.

And, as we say, it’s always about the math. 

Swearing-in Grijalva puts the House at 433 members with two vacancies. The breakdown is 219 Republicans to 214 Democrats. That means the GOP can only lose two votes before needing help from the Democrats.
 

In addition, brace for the internecine Democratic warfare which will start once Democrats break with their party. Big divisions will emerge between those Democrats who vote to break the filibuster and those holding out for Obamacare subsidies. 

Moreover, consider the emerging chasm between House and Senate Democrats once this is over. 

And, here’s the kicker: It’s entirely possible that a group of Senate Democrats threw their colleagues under the bus to end the shutdown — and the party scored no guarantees on health care money despite their risky political shutdown gambit. 

A reckoning is coming.

Or shall we say, ‘reckonings.’

And they’re coming, whether the government re-opens soon or remains shuttered.

If the government stays closed, voters will likely torch both parties for not hammering out a deal. Air traffic delays are stacking up. Those problems only intensify as we near Thanksgiving and Christmas. That’s to say nothing of multiple missed paychecks for federal employees, stress, economic consequences and no SNAP benefits for the needy.

Some of those concerns will dissipate if lawmakers address the shutdown quickly. But there will be a reckoning if the shutdown drags deeper into November.

There are likely specific reckonings for both political parties.

For Republicans, it’s a resistance by GOP leaders to address spiking health care subsidies. Yes. The GOP is making a compelling argument that health care subsidies are only necessary because Obamacare is a problem and health care prices skyrocketed. So Republicans are back fighting against Obamacare.

In fact, the entire government shutdown is not about spending levels and appropriations. It’s a re-litigation of the touchstone law passed under President Obama in 2010. And Republicans — despite multiple campaign promises and dozens of efforts to kill the law over a six-year period, failed at nearly every turn.

Despite issues with Obamacare, Democrats annexed the public’s concern about health care costs and linked that to government funding. Democrats appear like the party trying to address the issue as premiums spike. And Republicans, despite promises that they’ll get to it, are inert on the subject. They’re even championing efforts to lambaste Obamacare — much the same as they did in 2010 when Congress passed the law.

Republicans are latched on to the concept that the subsidies are ‘pumping money to insurance companies,’ as Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., put it on Fox. Lankford also characterized those who benefitted from Obamacare as a ‘select group.’ It works out to about 24 million people. That’s seven percent of the U.S. population. So maybe that burns the GOP politically. Maybe it doesn’t.

A major reckoning looms for the Democrats, too.

It’s possible that a coalition of Democratic senators may break with the Democratic Party and support a new GOP plan to re-open the government on a temporary basis. Nowhere is it written that Democrats — who made the shutdown about health care — are guaranteed an outcome on Obamacare subsidies. Yes, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have said they’ll address the health care issue after the government is open. But that’s not necessarily a fix.

So Democrats are fuming.

Therefore, it’s a distinct possibility that Democrats will refuse to fund the government in an effort to extract a concession on Obamacare subsidies — and walk away empty-handed.

Such an outcome will spark an internecine firestorm inside the Democratic Party. Progressives felt that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rolled them back in March when he and a squadron of other Democrats helped the GOP crack a filibuster to avoid a shutdown.

It’s doubtful that Schumer will help this time. But Senate Republicans hope to coax just enough Democrats to overcome the filibuster on a pending test vote and then fund the government through late January.

That’s the reckoning for the Democrats. 

No outcome on health care. And getting the screws put to them by members of their own party.

Again.

Progressives will be apoplectic. And House Democrats will seethe — not so privately — at Senate Democrats.

The Senate’s test vote on the new GOP proposal could come as early as Sunday evening. The revised package would also fund the Department of Agriculture and Department of Veterans Affairs, plus, Congress until Sept. 30, 2026.

Fox is told Republicans believe they are in range of persuading Democrats who are sweating the shutdown to join them.

Fox is told that air traffic control and flight delays are contributing to the Democrats’ consternation.

That said, it is believed that the Senate GOP leadership is reluctant to force a vote related to the retooled, spending bill without a guarantee it could break a filibuster. The last thing the Senate needs is another failed procedural vote – after repeated failed test votes over the past six weeks.

Let’s game out the timing for a moment:

By the book, if the Senate breaks the filibuster late Sunday, it’s doubtful the chamber can take a final vote on the package until Monday or Tuesday.  But Fox is told there is a distinct possibility that Democrats could yield back time to expedite the process in the interest of quickly re-opening the government. By the same token, angry liberal senators could bleed out the parliamentary clocks and attempt to amend the bill to their liking — presumably with Obamacare provisions.

The Senate must break yet another filibuster to finish the bill. Then it’s on to final passage. That only needs a simple majority. And even if some Democrats voted to hurdle the filibuster, they might not support the underlying plan at the end. However, that’s not a problem if GOP senators provide the necessary votes.

Then it’s on to the House. The House’s disposition is unclear on this legislation. However, it’s hard to believe that most Republicans wouldn’t take this deal. Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash. and Jared Golden, D-Maine, are among moderate Democrats who may be in play to vote yes if the GOP loses a few votes. Golden was the lone House Democrat who voted for the old interim spending bill on Friday, September 19. Golden has since announced his retirement.

Another big question: 

Would the House swear-in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., before or after the vote? Democrats will bray if Johnson fails to swear-in Grijalva before a possible House vote

And, as we say, it’s always about the math.

Swearing-in Grijalva puts the House at 433 members with two vacancies. The breakdown is 219 Republicans to 214 Democrats. That means the GOP can only lose two votes before needing help from the Democrats.

Regardless, the House would not come back until at least the middle of next week if not later. It hinges on how fast the Senate can move, if it has the votes to break a filibuster and what happens to the Obamacare question.

All of this is uncertain after 39 days of the government shutdown.

And the only thing which is certain is the political reckoning for both parties.

Nov. 8, 2025, marks the 50th anniversary of Chevy Chase’s comedic portrayal of U.S. President Gerald Ford as a bumbling klutz on ‘Saturday Night Live.’

Nowadays, we expect ‘SNL’ to mock the president. (There’s even speculation going into each administration about who will play the president.) 

But when Chase did it for the first time, it was groundbreaking. In fact, in the years before ‘SNL,’ mocking the president on what was still the relatively new mass medium of television often had to overcome resistance from network censors and presidential pressure.

In the early 1960s, NBC executives would not allow a comedy sketch about President John F. Kennedy to appear on its ‘Art Carney Show.’ As a network spokesperson explained, ‘We thought it would have been improper to have performers actually portraying the president and his wife,’ adding the ‘decision was based on a matter of good taste.’

The networks were similarly reluctant to mock Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon Johnson. In 1964, NBC imported the British parody show ‘That Was the Week That Was,’ which was specifically developed in England to ‘prick the pomposity of public figures.’ 

Although the show did get in an occasional poke at Johnson, NBC censors constantly battled the show’s producers over LBJ jokes. NBC also took the step of suspending all political humor on the show around the 1964 presidential election.

Another show that tried to make fun of the president was ‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.’ The show, which premiered on CBS in 1967, even got pushback from Johnson himself. One skit that mocked Johnson prompted Johnson to tell CBS Chairman William Paley in a late-night call, ‘get those b——- off my back.’ Paley asked the show to go easier on the president.

When Richard Nixon was elected in 1968, the brothers pledged to ‘lay off the jokes’ about the incoming president for a time. But that pledge did not stop them from having the comedian David Frye impersonate Nixon on the show. 

Still, the show was canceled in April 1969, over a host of controversies, including sex and religion jokes, as well as political ones.

On the final episode, the brothers read a letter from former President Johnson, claiming that he had been OK with being mocked.

‘It is part of the price of leadership to be the target of clever satirists. You have given the gift of laughter to us. May we never grow so somber or self-important that we fail to appreciate humor.’ 

Although the words were admirable, it was a little hard to take Johnson seriously given his earlier intervention with Paley.

As for Frye, with the show canceled, he continued to impersonate Nixon on comedy albums. But even here, the networks continued to obstruct. In 1973, the three major networks refused to accept advertising in New York for Frye’s Watergate-related album. According to a WABC-TV spokesman, ‘It’s such a serious matter we’ve decided not to accept advertising for any comedy material relating to Watergate.’

With this backdrop in mind, ‘SNL’ must have known that it was taking a risk when it had Chase send up the president on live TV. Chase’s portrayal went beyond light jokes at the president’s expense. Chase was pratfalling around the Oval Office, holding up a glass rather than a phone to his ear and pouring water from a pitcher onto the papers on his desk. Yet the show not only survived, it thrived.

That first ‘SNL’ presidential skit was a watershed moment that helped fundamentally change the relationship between the American people and the president. The 1960s and 1970s had brought the U.S. presidency down in the eyes of the American people. The Kennedy assassination shocked Americans who did not realize the president was so vulnerable. 

The Johnson years punctured the bubble of presidential honesty about foreign affairs. Nixon’s Watergate scandal punctured a similar bubble about domestic affairs. And then the unelected Ford came to power and almost immediately pardoned Nixon for Watergate. The decision is lauded in retrospect but was controversial at the time.

Chase’s opening the show as Ford on that day in 1975 brought mocking presidents out from the narrowcast world of Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl comedy routines and more regularly into the mass media. That first ‘SNL’ sketch ushered in a period in which presidents became both closer to and further from the American people. 

Mockery can keep physically- removed politicians less distant from everyday citizens. As a result, presidents are now nearly ubiquitous in a world of TV and social media, with constant mockery taking them down a peg — or more. In this world, even a short presidential disappearance of a day or two can lead to unfounded rumors of a presidential demise.

At the same time, presidents are further from the American people in that the security bubble around them is so much tighter. The White House resembles an armed camp. Presidential motorcades are unapproachable, and presidents are hard-pressed to continue to communicate regularly with friends. George W. Bush gave up e-mail. Obama resisted pressure to give up his BlackBerry.

In our current Chevy Chase-enabled world, presidential mockery is a constant. While Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel learned that presidents and network suits can still target an individual comic or show, those are unfortunate exceptions rather than the rule, and even Kimmel’s exile lasted barely a week. 

The continuing mockery of the president on Kimmel, as well as South Park, Jon Stewart, social media and a host of other places, shows that the genie of mass market, largely uncensored, mockery of presidents unleashed by Chevy Chase on ‘SNL’ a half century ago is not going back in the bottle, and for that we should be grateful.

Senate Democrats for years have warned of the negative side effects of government shutdowns that would largely affect their priorities, but as the shutdown drags on, they find themselves in direct opposition to their own pet projects. 

‘There’s a tremendously twisted irony,’ Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital.

John Feehery of EFB Advocacy, who served as press secretary to former Republican House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert, said, ‘The most unbelievable thing’ about the shutdown is Democrats ‘hurting their own constituents.’

‘Democrats never shut the government down. This is the first time they’ve ever done this. I mean, they’ve let the Republicans shut the government down, but they’ve never done it on purpose,’ he said.

As Senate Democrats have pushed the shutdown into the longest on record, they still aren’t ready to reopen the government, even as millions who rely on food stamps from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are only set to get partial benefits.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus have remained firm in their demand that they get a guarantee to extend expiring Obamacare premium subsidies in exchange for their votes to reopen the government.

Democrats have blasted President Donald Trump and his administration for threatening to not fund federal food benefits. Earlier this week, Trump said that food stamps would not be funded despite a court order requiring that they at least be partially paid for.

‘They’re the ones who shut down the government,’ Lummis said. ‘They won’t reopen it, and so they got nothing to complain about. It’s within their control to reopen the government. It’s in their control.’

His administration has since changed course, however, and announced in a memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that Americans that rely on the benefits would receive 65% of their typical allotted amount. A federal judge then ordered the administration to fully fund food benefits by Friday. 

‘We’re finding out that it’s hurting the union workers, it’s hurting air travelers, it’s hurting people who rely on food stamps. I mean, it’s hurting Democrats,’ Feehery said. ‘Their higher priority is showing that they’re tough against Trump, and they’re more than happy to use their constituents as cannon fodder.’

Democrats acknowledge that the pain of the shutdown can’t be ignored but remain firm that their fight to extend the healthcare subsidies is one worth having.

‘Shutdowns suck. I want it over here, but I don’t think we have fully come to recognize how much pain is going to exist in this country when 4 million people lose their healthcare insurance,’ Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. ‘That’s as devastating, if not more devastating, in the long run, than the pain people are feeling this month.’

Julian Epstein, former chief counsel for House Judiciary Committee Democrats, told Fox News Digital that Republicans had an opportunity to seize the narrative on healthcare.

‘If I were advising Trump, I would tell him to make the case in an Oval Office address that the Democrats are voting to close the government and that it’s the Republicans that want to open it. The president should also lay out his vision for controlling healthcare premiums,’ Epstein said. ‘Voters are starting to tune out the invective from both sides, and all the noise. They want a clear plan for their economic concerns.’

And Feehery similarly argued Republicans should take their moment on healthcare, pointing out that Democrats are effectively delaying the discussion on Obamacare by prolonging the shutdown.

‘If Republicans were smart, they would be talking about why Obamacare is fundamentally broken and how to fundamentally change that. But Republicans don’t really like to talk about healthcare, which is kind of annoying,’ he said. ‘But yeah, I do think that the fact that it’s gone past the [Nov. 1 open enrollment] deadline has made this even more complicated.’

There is a sense on Capitol Hill that the shutdown could be coming to an end, but Republicans contend it will be up to Senate Democrats.

A dozen centrist Democrats are mulling an offer from the GOP that would guarantee a vote on the expiring subsidies after the government reopens, coupled with the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) and a trio of spending bills to jump start the government funding process.

But many in the caucus say that’s not enough, and demand that Trump sit down and meet with Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to hash out a deal.

Democrats also believe that Republicans are feeling the heat from Tuesday night’s elections, where Democratic candidates swept their Republican opponents in statewide elections, and they point to comments Trump made that the shutdown was hurting the GOP.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., contended that what Trump meant was Democrats were using the shutdown ‘to fire up their base.’

‘But I think it’s also incredibly sad that SNAP recipients and federal workers and their families and Head Start families all had to go without so they could help the New York City election,’ Lankford said. ‘And that’s pretty sad.’

Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., who is running for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, told Fox News Digital, ‘Every day the Schumer Shutdown drags on, Americans pay the price — missed paychecks, canceled flights, and threats to public safety. Democrats aren’t helping anyone, they’re sowing chaos and achieving nothing.’

Still, Democrats largely remain firm that the only off-ramp they want starts at the White House.

‘Shutdowns are terrible. I mean, I don’t know what to tell you,’ Sen. Bryan Schatz, D-Hawaii, told Fox News Digital. ‘It’s really awful what people are going through. And the only way out of this is a negotiation.’

North Korea launched a ballistic missile off its east coast Friday, just days after U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth wrapped up a visit to South Korea focused on deterring Pyongyang and reinforcing the alliance between the two countries.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the suspected short-range missile was fired from an inland area around the western county of Taekwan toward the East Sea, traveling roughly 435 miles. The launch was reported by Reuters and The Associated Press, citing military officials in Seoul and Tokyo.

No injuries or damage were reported, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said. Seoul’s military added that it had detected signs of preparations before the launch and was monitoring additional activity in the area, according to The Associated Press.

Reuters reported that North Korea has conducted several missile launches in recent weeks, including systems it claims are ‘cutting-edge’ strategic weapons.

During his three-day visit to South Korea on Nov. 4, Hegseth spoke to reporters following annual security talks with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back in Seoul and said he was ‘greatly encouraged’ by Seoul’s commitment to increasing defense spending and investing more heavily in its own military capabilities. He said both allies agreed that these investments would strengthen South Korea’s ability to take the lead in conventional deterrence against its northern adversary.

Hegseth added that President Donald Trump’s decision to support South Korea’s plans to build nuclear-powered submarines was driven by his desire to have strong allies. ‘And because Korea has been a model ally, he’s open to opportunities like that, that ensure they have the best capabilities in their own defense and alongside us as allies,’ he said.

The United States and South Korea have maintained close military coordination as Pyongyang accelerates its weapons testing program. Hegseth’s visit was meant to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the alliance and emphasize deterrence against North Korea. His remarks in Seoul echoed earlier statements that the alliance will stay focused on deterring North Korea.

When asked whether the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea might be used in conflicts beyond the peninsula, including with China, Hegseth said that protecting against nuclear-armed North Korea remains the alliance’s primary goal. ‘But there’s no doubt that flexibility for regional contingency is something we would take a look at,’ he told reporters.

Friday’s launch underscores the fragile security situation on the peninsula and highlights ongoing tensions as North Korea continues to expand its missile capabilities. Both Seoul and Tokyo said they are analyzing the launch in coordination with the United States.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

President Donald Trump said Friday during a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán he is considering granting an exemption on Russian oil sanctions to allow Hungary to purchase the resource from Russia. 

‘We’re looking at it because it’s very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas,’ Trump said Friday when asked by the media if he is prepared to grant Orbán’s request for an exemption. ‘As you know, they don’t have, they don’t have the advantage of having seas. It’s a great country.

‘It’s a big country. But they don’t have sea, they don’t have the ports,’ he continued. ‘And so they have a difficult problem. There’s another country that has that same problem, by the way. But when you look at what’s happened with Europe, many of those countries, they don’t have those problems, and they buy a lot of oil and gas from Russia. And, as you know, I’m very disturbed by that because we’re helping them, and they’re going and buying oil and gas from Russia.’ 

After months of waffling between confrontation and conciliation toward Moscow, Trump imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies — Rosneft and Lukoil — in October as the Kremlin backed off from talks to end the war with Ukraine. 

‘Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere,’ Trump said in October when announcing the sanctions. ‘They just don’t go anywhere.

‘I just felt it was time. We’ve waited a long time,’ Trump added when asked why he chose to impose the sanctions at that time and not sooner. 

The sanctions came after a planned meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in October was called off. 

Orbán, who has a longstanding warm relationship with Trump, in October called the sanctions imposed by Trump ‘a mistake,’ from Hungary’s perspective. 

‘We are thinking about how to build a sustainable system for the Hungarian economy because Hungary is very dependent on Russian oil and gas. And, without them, energy prices will skyrocket, causing shortages in our supplies,’ Orbán said in October during a meeting with Italian leaders in Rome. 

Orbán told the media his discussion with Trump Friday will include the exemption request, explaining that the pipelines transporting oil and gas are ‘vital’ to the nation because it is landlocked and that he will negotiate the matter with the White House. 

Trump told the media that he and Orbán agree the war between Russia and Ukraine — which has raged since 2022 — will end soon, adding, ‘The basic dispute is they just don’t want to stop yet. And I think they will. I think it’s taking a big toll on Russia.’

The pair said it would likely take a ‘miracle’ for Ukraine to win the war. 

Trump praised Orbán during the meeting as a ‘great leader,’ namely on his strict immigration policies. 

‘The fact is that he’s a great leader, and he’s respected all over,’ Trump said. ‘Not necessarily liked by some of the leaders, but, you know, those leaders have proven to be wrong.

‘If you look at his stance on immigration and other things, you know, if you look at Europe, they made tremendous mistakes in immigration. It’s really hurting them very badly. He has not made a mistake on immigration.’ 

Orbán also commended Trump, arguing ‘everything was ruined’ by the Biden administration while celebrating Trump’s return to the White House. 

‘The reason why we are here to open a new chapter between the bilateral relations of the United States and Hungary, basically, because during the Democrat administration, everything was ruined,’ he said. 

‘So, after your leaving president, everything was basically blocked, ruined, canceled. A lot of harm done by the previous administration. In the last ten months, president, what you have done, we are very much grateful for that. You restored the old level of the relationship. You improved the bilateral relation. You repaired what was done badly by the previous administration,’ Orbán said.