By design, budget reconciliation mostly addresses the parts of federal spending that are not part of the appropriations process. This includes mandatory programs like Medicare, Medicaid, food assistance, student loans and farm aid that get automatically funded unless Congress makes changes to their structure.

Elon Musk has expressed a wish for a government shutdown, according to four sources familiar with his stance told WIRED on the condition of anonymity.

In just over 48 hours, the government will partially shut down unless Congress can pass a continuing resolution. New reporting from Wired finds Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency might just want Washington,

The U.S. Senate on Friday was poised to pass a stopgap spending bill and avert a partial government shutdown, after Democrats backed down in a standoff driven by anger over President Donald Trump's campaign to slash the federal workforce.

Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the US Senate, said he would support a Republican stop-gap funding bill, increasing the likelihood that Congress will avoid the risk of a government shutdown. There was a risk that President Donald Trump and close adviser Elon Musk would use a shutdown — which will take place early on Saturday if a funding measure is not passed — as an executive power grab,

A day before a shutdown deadline, Senate Democrats are mounting a last-ditch protest over a Republican-led spending bill that already passed the House

A new CNN/SSRS poll shows that 53 percent of Americans hold an unfavorable opinion of the world's richest man.