Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) Wonders If Her State Was Prepared For An Attack
An emergency alert warning of an inbound ballistic missile was blasted out to Hawaii residents on Saturday, causing chaos for 38 minutes. The false alarm caused a national security panic, and raised questions about the ease with which a mistake like this can be made.
Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa represents the first district of Hawaii. She was on her way to lunch when the alert was sent. The congresswoman says the real problem was the inability to retract the mistake. "Someone clearly wasn't watching," she said. The incident raises concerns that the state would not have been ready to handle an actual attack.
Congresswoman Hanabusa was one of many who did not receive the missile alert on her phone. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called the incident unacceptable. The Congresswoman believes his frustration lies in the time it took to retract the alert, and the fact that all residents didn't receive the alert, or the retraction.
As a gubernatorial candidate in 2018, the congresswoman says this mistake is an exact example of why Hawaii needs better leadership.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
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A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
