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Harris and Trump Battle for Labor Support as Dockworkers Suspend Strike

This combination of pictures created on October 01, 2024 shows, L-R, Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arriving to speak during a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing in Waunakee, Wisconsin, October 1, 2024 and US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gesturing as she leaves the stage after speaking during a campaign rally in Douglas, Arizona, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI and Rebecca NOBLE / AFP)
This combination of pictures created on October 01, 2024 shows, L-R, Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arriving to speak during a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing in Waunakee, Wisconsin, October 1, 2024 and US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gesturing as she leaves the stage after speaking during a campaign rally in Douglas, Arizona, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI and Rebecca NOBLE / AFP)
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Harris and Trump Battle for Labor Support as Dockworkers Suspend Strike

This combination of pictures created on October 01, 2024 shows, L-R, Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arriving to speak during a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing in Waunakee, Wisconsin, October 1, 2024 and US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gesturing as she leaves the stage after speaking during a campaign rally in Douglas, Arizona, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI and Rebecca NOBLE / AFP)
This combination of pictures created on October 01, 2024 shows, L-R, Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arriving to speak during a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing in Waunakee, Wisconsin, October 1, 2024 and US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gesturing as she leaves the stage after speaking during a campaign rally in Douglas, Arizona, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI and Rebecca NOBLE / AFP)

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the union stronghold of Flint on Friday as she battles with Donald Trump for working-class voters who could tip the scales in this year's election.
Her appearance in the battleground state of Michigan comes the day after US dockworkers suspended their strike in hopes of reaching a new contract, sparing the country a damaging episode of labor unrest that could have rattled the economy. A tentative agreement was reached to raise salaries, although other issues still need to be resolved, The Associated Press said.
Harris issued a statement saying the development “indicates progress toward a strong contract and represents the power of collective bargaining.” She added that “dockworkers deserve a fair share for their hard work getting essential goods out to communities across America.”
Unions have long been a bedrock of support for Democrats, but Harris has failed to secure some key endorsements. The International Association of Fire Fighters announced this week that it wouldn't back a candidate this year, following a similar announcement from the Teamsters. Both unions endorsed Joe Biden four years ago.
It's not a total cold shoulder for Harris. Some Teamsters locals are supporting her, and she won quick endorsements from national teachers unions, the building trades, the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers after replacing Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
But the divide within the labor community is a reminder of shifting loyalties in American politics. Democrats have increased their support among white-collar professionals while Republicans try to make inroads among voters who didn’t attend college.
During a rally in Michigan on Thursday, Trump claimed that Republicans are now “the party of the American worker,” glossing over his anti-union record as president. In a reference to labor unrest at the country’s ports, he insisted that “under my leadership Americans won’t have to go on strike for a better wage or a better life.”
Trump is heading to Georgia on Friday to appear with Gov. Brian Kemp, the latest sign that he's patched up his rocky relationship with the top Republican in a key battleground state. Later in the day, he’s holding a campaign event in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Union voters have traditionally leaned toward Democrats, with 56% supporting Biden in 2020. But Trump has pushed hard to win over blue-collar workers traditionally represented by some of the biggest unions. He won 62% of white voters without college degrees — though only 24% of non-white voters without college degrees — in 2020.
It’s frustrating for Democrats, who point to the White House’s firm support for unions. Biden even joined a UAW picket line last year.
Lisa Anderson, 59, drove more than an hour from Green Bay in her green “AFSCME for Harris-Walz” shirt to hear the vice president speak Thursday in Wisconsin.
She’s been an elementary school administrative assistant for 17 years, and she’s confident that Harris’ union support runs deep.
“I’m not worried about it,” Anderson said. “If you’re voting for Trump, how can you believe in unions?” AFSCME is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Labor relations could have been a dominant issue in the closing weeks of the presidential campaign if the dockworkers strike continued, leading to snarled ports and shortages on store shelves.
Biden expressed satisfaction that a deal was being worked out.
“We’ve been working hard on it," he said at the White House. "With the grace of God, and the goodwill of neighbors, it’s gonna hold.”

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Biden Signs Bill That Averts Govt Shutdown Ending Days of Washington Upheaval

United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
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Biden Signs Bill That Averts Govt Shutdown Ending Days of Washington Upheaval

United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)

President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Saturday that averts a government shutdown, bringing a final close to days of upheaval after Congress approved a temporary funding plan just past the deadline and refused President-elect Donald Trump’s core debt demands in the package.

The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government's borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”

Johnson's revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.

“There will be no government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was "a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”

The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.

The House is scheduled to elect the next speaker on Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an exceedingly narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little margin for error as he tries to win the speaker's gavel.

One House Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, criticized Republicans for the deficit spending in the bill and said he was now “undecided” about the GOP leadership. Others are signaling unhappiness with Johnson as well.

Yet Trump's last-minute debt limit demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the slim Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republican deficit hawks prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.

Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.

The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was June 2023. Rather than raise the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025.

There is no need to raise that limit right now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure that America does not default on its debts. Some estimate these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline to the summer of 2025. But that’s what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.

GOP leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.

It was essentially the same deal that flopped Thursday night — minus Trump’s debt demand. But it's far smaller than the original deal Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.