Senate Majority Leader John Thune rejected a Democrat proposal to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, dismissing a one-year extension of Obamacare premium tax credits in exchange for reopening the government as a “non-starter” that “doesn’t even get close.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confided privately that he believes Vice President JD Vance is the clear frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination if Vance chooses to run—adding that he would fully support him.