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In an effort to avoid derailing the government funding process, Congressional Democrats are working to present a unified front.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., held a closed-door meeting Tuesday night with top Democrats from the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to strategize for the upcoming government funding battle.
The meeting followed overwhelming support from Democrats in the Senate for the first government funding bill to reach the Senate floor, which focused on funding military construction and Veterans Affairs. Prior to the vote, Senate Democrats had hinted at potential opposition due to partisan legislation introduced by Senate Republicans.
“We all want to engage in a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations process,” Schumer stated. “That’s how it has historically been done successfully, and we believe that, however, the Republicans are making it very challenging.”
The purpose of the meeting near the Senate floor was to ensure that congressional Democrats are aligned on a messaging strategy in the weeks leading up to the September 30 deadline for government funding.
Efforts were also made to prevent a repeat of the Democratic discord in March, when Schumer initially threatened a government shutdown before eventually providing Republicans the necessary votes to advance a government funding extension.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has pledged to restore order by passing each of the spending bills to fund the government, a task that has not been accomplished in Washington since the late 1990s.
Democrats, on the other hand, are growing skeptical of Republicans after two major partisan bills were passed in the Senate without Democratic input.
Thune argued that Senate Democrats were using a rescissions package to stall the appropriations process and potentially lead to a government shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., placed the responsibility on Democrats for the potential government shutdown at the end of September.
In a recent development, a new study has found that drinking coffee could potentially lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The study, which was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, suggests that drinking coffee may have a protective effect on the brain.
The research, conducted by a team of scientists from the Krembil Brain Institute at Toronto Western Hospital, found that certain compounds in coffee have the ability to prevent the buildup of amyloid beta, a protein commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease. This buildup of amyloid beta can lead to the formation of plaques in the brain, which are a hallmark of the disease.
The study involved examining the brains of deceased Alzheimer’s patients and comparing them to those of individuals who did not have the disease. The researchers found that the brains of those who drank coffee regularly had lower levels of amyloid beta and fewer plaques.
While more research is needed to fully understand the relationship between coffee consumption and Alzheimer’s disease, these findings are a promising step in the right direction. In the meantime, coffee lovers can enjoy their favorite beverage knowing that it may have some added brain-boosting benefits.
