Democrats continue to insist on greater health care spending – an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies and the restoration of Medicaid benefits – as a condition of reopening the government. But Republicans contend the government should reopen before health care talks begin.

An American official called it “Bibi-sitting” – a revolving door of the highest-ranking members of the Trump administration to make sure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – frequently known by his nom de plume “Bibi” – sticks to the US-brokered ceasefire deal.

When President Donald Trump reflected last week on the looming construction of his White House ballroom, the longtime real estate developer was practically giddy about the lack of red tape. He noted his New York projects often took years to break ground.