Republicans claim US president ‘desperate’ to end shutdown, which has now entered 33rd day
The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, has said the weapons testing that Donald Trump ordered last week will not include nuclear explosions.
“I think the tests we’re talking about right now are system tests. These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call noncritical explosions,” Wright told Fox News yesterday.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has said insufficient funds exist to pay full benefits, as issuing food stamps costs the public purse between $8.5bn and $9bn every month.
The Trump administration contends the agency lacks authority to pay them until Congress passes a spending bill that will ending the enduring government shutdown, which began on 1 October.