Millions of Americans are bracing for soaring health care costs after the US Senate on Thursday rejected rival Republican and Democratic plans to avert the expiry of key insurance subsidies — a fight set to dominate next year’s midterm elections.President Donald Trump has remained largely disengaged from Capitol Hill negotiations, according to lawmakers in both parties, reluctant to spearhead a major health care push and declining to endorse any credible proposal to address the crisis.Without action in the next three weeks, insurance payments for more than 20 million low- and middle-income Americans are projected to more than double, raising the political stakes as Washington edges into a campaign season defined by cost-of-living pressures.Democrats were promised a vote on a three-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies as part of a deal that ended a record 43-day government shutdown last month. While Republican Majority Leader John Thune agreed to hold the vote, he had not promised its success, and Republicans were almost unified in opposition.Under pressure from moderates and senators up for reelection, Thune had also agreed to bring forward a Republican alternative for a vote alongside the Democratic bill. This plan would have replaced subsidies with contributions to Health Savings Accounts to help cover out-of-pocket expenses. But reaching the 60-vote threshold in the 100-seat Senate always looked like a longshot, with only 53 Republicans making up the majority — and Democrats duly blocked the bill.The average payment is expected to rise by roughly 114 percent — an extra $1,000 to $1,500 in annual premiums for a typical family, according to health policy research group KFF. – ‘Life and death vote’ -Up to seven million ACA enrollees could lose their coverage altogether, statistical modeling indicates, and most are expected to become uninsured rather than switching to other plans. Thune, however, has signaled that Thursday’s defeats might open the way for talks in 2026. “When we get through this exercise this week the question is, ‘Are there enough Democrats who want to fix the problem?'” he told reporters on Wednesday, adding that he believed there was “a path forward.””Obviously we don’t have a lot of time to do this, but I think there are ways in which you could, where there’s a will.”Republicans say they are unwilling to back a clean extension but believe the broader issue of rising health costs can be addressed early next year, potentially as part of negotiations over government funding due to expire on January 30. They are hoping to use special Senate procedures to circumvent the 60-vote rule and go it alone, arguing that Democrats have little incentive to compromise in an election year — a calculation the minority party denies.In the House, the landscape is even more fractured. Multiple Republicans — including the leadership — unveiled a plethora of ideas aimed at lowering costs, though none includes extending ACA subsidies or looks to have sufficient backing.With competing petitions, no unified House strategy and little sign of leadership buy-in, the chances of a bipartisan compromise emerging before year’s end now appear extremely slim.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer gave an impassioned floor speech ahead of the vote on the Democratic bill, setting out what he saw as the stakes. “This is not a political fight. This is not a symbolic vote,” he said. “This is a life and death vote, because people who will lose their health care could face that horrible, horrible end.”

A US federal judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release of a Salvadoran man who was wrongly deported in March and then returned to the United States after months of legal battles and detained again.The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident married to an American woman, has become a lightning rod for those opposed to President Donald Trump’s efforts to carry out mass deportations across the country.He was among more than 200 people sent to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison in March. The Trump administration alleges he is a violent MS-13 gang member involved in smuggling other undocumented migrants, which he denies.After his return to the United States in June, Abrego Garcia was detained again in Tennessee on human smuggling charges. He was then released under strict conditions in August, pending a trial.But after returning to Maryland, he was detained again by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation to one of four African countries. He declared himself instead ready to go to Costa Rica, which had been willing to take him.In her ruling Thursday, Judge Paula Xinis concluded that Abrego Garcia has been held in ICE detention “absent a lawful removal order.””His detention has been for the basic purpose of effectuating removal, lending further support that Abrego Garcia should be held no longer,” her ruling said.She ordered the government to release him from ICE custody immediately while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward. The government must report back to the judge by 5:00 pm local time (2200 GMT) on Thursday, according to the ruling.Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin accused the judge of “judicial activism.””This order lacks any valid basis and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” she wrote on X.Trump has made combating illegal immigration his top priority, claiming an “invasion” of the United States by “foreign criminals” and pressing for the mass deportation of immigrants. But his program has been hampered by numerous court rulings on the grounds that those targeted must be able to assert their rights.

Several Democratic lawmakers called Thursday for the Israeli and US governments to fully investigate a deadly 2023 attack by the Israeli military on journalists in southern Lebanon.The October 13, 2023 airstrike killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six other reporters, including two from AFP — video journalist Dylan Collins and photographer Christina Assi, who lost her leg.”We expect the Israeli government to conduct an investigation that meets the international standards and to hold accountable those people who did this,” Senator Peter Welch told a news conference, with Collins by his side.The lawmaker from Collins’s home state of Vermont said he had been pushing for answers for two years, first from the administration of Democratic president Joe Biden and now from the Republican White House of Donald Trump.The Israeli government has “stonewalled at every single turn,” Welch added.”With the Israeli government, we have been extremely patient, and we have done everything we reasonably can to obtain answers and accountability,” he said.”The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said, referring to the Israeli military, adding that it has told his office its investigation into the incident is closed.Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured. “But I’d also like them to put pressure on their greatest ally in the Middle East, the Israeli government, to bring the perpetrators to account,” he said, echoing the lawmakers who called the attack a “war crime.””We’re not letting it go,” Vermont congresswoman Becca Balint said. “It doesn’t matter how long they stonewall us.”AFP conducted an independent investigation which concluded that two Israeli 120mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area in Israel.The findings were corroborated by other international probes, including investigations conducted by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.Unlike Welch’s assertion Thursday that the Israeli probe was over, the IDF told AFP in October that “findings regarding the event have not yet been concluded.”