President Trump wants to have a full-fledged Space Force to tout in his re-election bid and Democrats want 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers with newborn or newly adopted children, and if Senate Republicans go along, everyone will get their wish this holiday season, The Washington Post reports. Democratic lawmakers and the White House have tentatively agreed to a deal for a must-pass defense authorization bill that would give Trump his sixth branch of the military and Democrats the biggest expansion in federal benefits since Bill Clinton's presidency.
Over several months of negotiations on the defense spending bill, Democrats and Republicans reached agreement on about 1,300 provision, but "the White House cared most about Space Force," a person familiar with the negotiations told the Post. Democrats used Trump's fixation on the topic to get the 2.1 million civilian workforce in line with benefits the military enacted in 2016. About a quarter of private companies in the U.S. offer paid parental leave, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - December 22, 2024Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - the long and short of it, trigger finger, and more
-
5 hilariously spirited cartoons about the spirit of ChristmasCartoons Artists take on excuses, pardons, and more
-
Inside the house of AssadThe Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraudSpeed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
-
US economy still strong in final preelection reportSpeed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strikeSpeed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
