Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, is jumping into the Senate race in Texas, joining a competitive primary battle between Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Hunt told the Associated Press in an interview that he believes that polling indicates "people want an alternative, and I’m going to give it to them."

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have provided few public signs of meaningful negotiations to break an impasse on reopening the federal government as the shutdown enters a sixth day