Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego pressed Johnson on why a Democrat who won a special House election in Arizona had not been sworn in.

It’s a marked departure from past practice in Congress, where members of administrations from both parties have long sought to keep their responses to lawmakers respectful.

External pressure from the White House has had little sway on Senate Democrats in their bid to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, forcing the government shutdown into an eighth day.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked a preliminary move to terminate President Donald Trump's use of the military to destroy boats carrying alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers, unless he gets authorization from Congress.

The report identified 20 jobs at significant risk from AI, 15 of which could see more than half of their positions replaced.

Republicans confirmed 107 Trump nominees including Herschel Walker and Sergio Gor as ambassadors, marking the second use of new Senate confirmation rules.

David Toepfer, who has served in the role temporarily since July 2025, received bipartisan support despite partisan disputes over Trump's nominees.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told ABC News on Wednesday that the thousands of furloughed federal workers will get back pay when the government shutdown ends. However, he would not say whether he has discussed this with President Donald Trump, who has threatened to deny the retroactive pay to some workers despite the federal law.