Your government is failing you right now. Poverty is not red or blue,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a Capitol Hill press conference alongside House Speaker Mike

With the shutdown ball squarely in the Senate’s court, a fair question feels timelier than ever: Is the United States Senate what our Founders envisioned it to be — or has it fallen short of their design? The honest answer lies somewhere in the gray.

Trump’s sudden decision to assert himself into the shutdown debate — bringing the highly charged demand to end the filibuster — is certain to set the Senate on edge. It could spur senators toward their own compromise or send the chamber spiraling toward a new sense of crisis.

One of the most significant developments involves Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills officially entering the Democratic primary to challenge longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

Emerson, who serves as the Louisiana House Ways & Means Committee chairman, challenges incumbent Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy. As a state lawmaker, she led the effort for the state’s $1 billion income tax cut, authored the school choice program LA GATOR and passed legislation ending the state franchise tax.