About 12.4%, some 41 million, of the U.S.'s 333 million people live at or below the poverty line, the Census Bureau calculates, which is set at about $29,678 for a household of two adults and two chidren.
That rate fell to a record low in 2021 thanks to COVID-19 federal support, but has jumped as these programs expired.
Hardline Republicans in the House have rejected a deal the Republican-led House negotiated with U.S. President Joe Biden in May for $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending in fiscal 2024, paving the way for wide swaths of the government to shut down for the fourth time in a decade.
It’s a pretty hard case to make. This isn’t even Republicans in general; it’s a handful of absolute lunatics in the House that the rest of them don’t even like. Everyone saw the clown show when McCarthy was nominated for Speaker, and this is an obvious continuation of that.