Barbara Sprunt
Barbara Sprunt is a producer on NPR's Washington desk, where she reports and produces breaking news and feature political content. She formerly produced the NPR Politics Podcast and got her start in radio at as an intern on NPR's Weekend All Things Considered and Tell Me More with Michel Martin. She is an alumnus of the Paul Miller Reporting Fellowship at the National Press Foundation. She is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., and a Pennsylvania native.
-
The federal government remains open for business. That's because Congress managed to avoid a government shutdown on Friday that would have hit families right before the holidays.
-
If lawmakers can't reach a deal to avoid a shutdown, many federal workers would be furloughed, while essential functions like Social Security payments would continue. -
Congress has approved a short-term spending bill to fund the government until March 14. President Biden signed the legislation on Saturday. -
President-elect Donald Trump and his newest top-lieutenant, Elon Musk, have sent Washington scrambling to avoid a government shutdown, even before Trump takes office. -
Congressional leaders released a stop-gap spending bill to fund the government until March 14 but Republicans, including President-elect Trump, are objecting to additional spending in the bill. -
If the Senate puts up a fight against President-elect Trump's demand for recess appointments, could Trump force Congress to adjourn and ram his nominees through anyway? -
In a post on Truth Social announcing the nomination of Gaetz, Trump said: "Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System." Gaetz said he would resign from the U.S. House of Representatives, effective immediately. -
Republicans have chosen Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., as the next party leader, launching a new era for the GOP after nearly two decades with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., leading the party in the Senate. -
President Biden and President-elect Trump met for almost two hours and discussed a funding bill that Congress needs to pass by Dec. 21, as well as ongoing support for Ukraine, the White House said. -
Congress comes back for a lame-duck session with a packed agenda, including voting on a new Senate majority leader.
