By April D. Ryan,
BlackPressUSA Washington Editor and White House Correspondent

The federal government is investigating the critical shooting of two West Virginia National Guardsmen three blocks north of the White House.  The unnamed guardsmen, who were armed, are at a local hospital in the DC area.

According to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the two National Guard members were “targeted” by an alleged lone suspect in front of a Metro station in the Farragut Square area of the city.

Fellow Guardsmen in the immediate area heard the shooting and subdued the suspect until D.C. Metropolitan police arrived on the scene.

Immediately following the shooting, the White House was on lockdown for about an hour, and Reagan National Airport had curtailed air traffic due to the medevac circumstances of the victims.

FBI Director Kash Patel acknowledged that the full force of the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies, along with local authorities, will bring the perpetrator to justice.

President Trump says to the National Guard, “We are with you.”  As for the suspect, the president says he “will pay a very steep price!”

Meanwhile, in the wake of this afternoon’s targeted shooting, the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth plans to deploy 500 more troops to Washington, D.C.

Last week, a federal judge ruled that sending the National Guard to the District of Columbia was illegal, concluding that the president lacks authority to send in troops “for the deterrence of crime.”

By April Ryan

Two weeks after the end of the longest government shutdown in American history, President Trump is working on plans to counter the Affordable Care Act Subsidies that end on December 31st.

Democrats held out for the most part, hoping to preserve their solutions to keep the ACA tax credits in place during the recent 43-day government shutdown.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters yesterday the president’s plan would “fix the system and bring down costs for consumers.” She acknowledged the president is “frequently” and “robustly” engaged in conversations on Healthcare. Members of the Republican conference are also said to be working to lower the cost of health insurance. 

Long-time Democratic South Carolina Congressman, James Clyburn, acknowledged to this reporter last week,” I think health care will be fine. It is not going to be as much as I want it to be. I do not think it is going away. It will be here.  Hopefully, it will be affordable.”

Georgia Democratic Congressman Sanford Bishop says, “It has hit them [Republicans] in the face that the American people overwhelmingly want to lower their healthcare costs and don’t want to see them rise astronomically as they are inevitable with the expiration of the tax credits under the Affordable Care Act.”

The impasse over the most recent federal government shutdown, which started on October 1 and ended 43 days later in mid-November, was over funding for the ObamaCare (ACA) subsidies.

During the president’s late-night bill signing earlier this month to reopen the government, he said, “Today we’re sending a clear message we will never give in to extortion,” emphasizing what he felt was that “the Democrats tried to extort” $1.5 trillion for Obamacare subsidies during the shutdown stalemate. Also, that same night, Trump said, “We’re gonna forget this Obamacare madness.” 

President Trump claims the shutdown was purely for political reasons, as Democrats are still fighting to lower skyrocketing insurance rates for Americans, anticipating that the subsidies will end on the last day of the year.

January 30, 2026, is the deadline to resolve the issues and stave off another government shutdown.  

Congressman Bishop laments that, as both parties are in search of reducing costs for health insurance, “there is still a great gap in the means by which that can be accomplished.”

By April Ryan

Several sources have confirmed that former President Barack Obama phoned Reverend Jesse Jackson over the weekend, who is in Stable Condition at a Chicago Hospital. President Obama is said to have been coordinating with the family for several days before the 44th president reached the civil rights icon.

There have been family connections spanning decades between the Jackson family and the Obamas. In 2008, Jesse Jackson Jr. served as the national co-chair of the Obama Presidential campaign.

On Sunday, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. also received a FaceTime call from Rev. Amos Brown, another Civil Rights pioneer who worked with Jackson. In the 1950s and 1960s, they marched and labored alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the fight for first-class citizenship for African Americans. In the 1970s, the two lieutenants of Dr. King separated and served in different parts of the country.

Brown told this reporter that Jackson recognized him during the FaceTime communication “by his expression and countenance.” The San Francisco Pastor of former Vice President Kamala Harris also says the elder Jackson did not speak, but Brown “encouraged him to fight on as we had fought in the struggle as friends and freedom fighters.”

In a matter of days, politicians, former staffers, and others have also gone to Jackson’s bedside to encourage him during his illness. Some of those include Reverend Al Sharpton.

In a recent written statement, the Jackson family said that Reverend Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome in 2013. In April, the diagnosis changed to supranuclear palsy (PSP), a neurological disorder.

The family that is constantly by Reverend Jackson’s side in the hospital says, “We believe in the power of prayer, and we are grateful for the overwhelming

outreach and prayers of the faithful. Our father is alert and continues to share his vision for churches and pastors to come together and reduce malnutrition during this period. He is enlisting 2,000 churches and pastors to distribute 2,000 baskets of food, to feed four million families this season,” said son and family spokesperson, Yusef Jackson.

Join April Ryan, White House correspondent at TheGrio and author of Black Women Will Save the World: An Anthem, Under Fire, At Mama’s Knee, and The Presidency in Black and White for another installment in an ongoing series of discussions focusing on the panelists’ most recent books and current events. Ryan will examine recent and longstanding issues with the following panelists: White House Correspondent April Ryan has a unique vantage point as the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House—a position she has held since the Clinton era. April can be seen almost daily on CNN as a political analyst and is the Washington, DC, Bureau Chief for The Grio. She has been featured in Essence, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle magazine, and other top publications, has served on the board of the prestigious White House Correspondents Association, and is an esteemed member of the National Press Club. April is the author of the award-winning book, The Presidency in Black and White, and At Mama’s Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White. She lives in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Nikole Hannah-Jones is a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter covering racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine, and creator of the landmark 1619 Project. In 2017, she received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, known as the Genius Grant, for her work on educational inequality. She has also won a Peabody Award, two George Polk Awards, three National Magazine Awards, and the 2018 John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism from Columbia University. In 2016, Hannah-Jones co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a training and mentorship organization geared toward increasing the number of investigative reporters of color. Hannah-Jones is the Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard University, where she has founded the Center for Journalism and Democracy. In 2021, she was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world.

Don Lemon spent three decades on local and national TV, a trusted voice after the Sandy Hook massacre, in war-torn Eastern Europe, and during the riots of 2020. Anchoring Don Lemon Tonight on CNN, he was known for hard-hitting interviews with public officials and compassionate dialogue with everyday people. The Don Lemon Show is now streaming on all platforms. His book on race, This is the Fire, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. His most recent book is, I Once Was Lost: My Search for God in America.

By April Ryan

In the aftermath of eight Democratic U.S. Senators defecting from the party on the government shutdown, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says, “We plan to fight” the proposed Senate agreement in the House. All that is needed is for three Republicans to vote no when the deal reaches the House.

At this point, it is unclear whether three House Republicans will stand with the House Democrats, as Jeffries says, “they have been on vacation for the last seven weeks and are still not back in town.” Last night, the eight Senate Democrats joined the Republican Party in voting to reopen the government on a procedural basis. Now, Senate Democrats are working on a strategy for their next moves to win on their original quest to fund expiring insurance subsidies. The agreement reached last night would fund the government through January 30 and include full-year funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (https://www.npr.org/2025/11/09/nx-s1-5603417/full-snap-benefits-trump-states-order), through September 30, 2026, or the end of the fiscal year.

The NAACP President and CEO, Derrick Johnson, has submitted letters to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressing “grave concern with actions of the congressional Majority and several Senate Democrats regarding the healthcare needs of everyday Americans.” Johnson says,” The government shutdown weaponized the poverty of 41.7 million (12.3%) of Americans in need of SNAP food assistance against 44 million Americans who obtain health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace and Medicaid expansion. Although ACA premium tax credits expire in December 2025 along with the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, the Majority and Executive Branch chose earlier this year to prioritize roughly 1,000 Billionaires by passing a $4 trillion tax cut and failing to renew the ACA Premium Tax Credits.”

The NAACP offered the House and Senate leadership a list of demands.:

1. Guarantee that healthcare coverage continues uninterrupted for 44 million Americans.
2. Extend the ACA Premium Tax Credits beyond one year to ensure a long-term solution, not a short-term fix.
3. Prioritize affordability and access, not just coverage. Premiums, deductibles, and networks all matter.
4. Ensure the budget deal reflects the values of the American people, many of whom are represented by the same officials who denied them food assistance and healthcare as political theater.
5. Exercise Constitutional authority to ensure the current administration follows the rule of law in the appropriations process.

The NAACP letter concludes with the statement, “Congress has a responsibility to govern in a manner reflecting the American values of fairness.”

Today, there is a 3 pm virtual meeting of the House Democratic Caucus. Meanwhile, Congressional leaders from across the country are subject to a 48-hour callback from their home districts to Congress if there is movement on the government shutdown in the House. Currently, there is no guarantee on flights due to numerous cancellations resulting from a shortage of air traffic controllers during the shutdown.

By April Ryan

The United Nations reports that Hurricane Melissa has scattered nearly 5 million tons of debris across Western Jamaica, hindering crews from delivering aid and restoring critical services promptly.

According to reports, crews are still working to clear roads, attempting to reach 27 communities cut off by landslides and flooding. Many of those communities are still without power and Wi-Fi. The category five storm killed at least 32 people in Jamaica and another 43 in nearby Haiti, where 13 people remain missing. Here in the United States, the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, New York Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, is working feverishly with the State Department to ensure help is coming from the United States to the affected Caribbean nations, particularly Jamaica.

Both of the New York Congresswoman’s parents immigrated to the United States from Jamaica. Clarke has been a strong advocate for Caribbean issues and serves as co-chair of the Congressional Caribbean Caucus. According to a State Department website, “Within hours, Secretary [Marco] Rubio deployed a regional Disaster Assistance Response Team, including urban search-and-rescue teams, to assess needs and provide search and recovery assistance.

The State Department also indicates it “is collaborating with UN agencies, NGOs, and host governments to deliver food, water, medical supplies, hygiene kits, temporary shelter, and search and rescue support.” Iconic and award-winning actress, activist, and Jamaican native Sherly Lee Ralph said on The Tea with April, “It is exactly one week later, and there are some people who have not had anybody come to help them, nobody!”

Ralph emoted,” It’s rough. We need help there now.” She is calling on all the people who have “enjoyed the beaches in Jamaica” to help by finding trusted places you know and making a donation, as the storm’s destruction has halted the normalcy of life on the island.” Ralph provided an update on some areas that hold personal significance for her. “The school that my parents helped build lost their roof.  They’re trying to figure out where we’re gonna put these kids, how we’re gonna get them back into school, all of these things, and it’s like I can see where we’re going afterwards, but how do we start to get the help there now?”

The actresses’ children have also started a donation center at their facility, Walk Good LA, to help address some of the dire needs in Jamaica. Her family used the same space for donations to help the victims of the L.A. fires earlier this year.