The White House began another round of firings across more than half a dozen agencies, laying off thousands of workers.   Speaking to reporters Tuesday, President Donald Trump promised to use the shutdown as an opportunity to exert more leverage over federal spending – a power that's historically (and legally) delegated mostly to Congress.

Democratic California Rep. Dave Min called for Senate Republicans to reopen the government on Monday — despite Min having almost all House Democrats in voting against a GOP-backed bill to fund the gov...