We've collected the biggest stories from the holiday period so you can get up to speed with the conversations around the water cooler this week.
You're not about to wake up working for an orange horror clown in America. I’m thinking more about the disappearance of reliable,full-time jobs and careers.
The US President says the chances of reaching a deal are 50:50 and that he would be willing to shut down parts of the federal government again to get his wall.
As Donald Trump argued that undocumented immigrants have harmed American workers and demanded a border wall,they had been providing his company with cheap labour.
US President Trump has emerged from the shutdown with nothing to show for it. Nothing,that is,except for lower poll numbers and his reputation as a master dealmaker in tatters.
The President has capitulated to Democrats by agreeing to re-open the US government without securing any money for a wall on the border with Mexico.
The FAA said it had seen an increased number of workers calling in sick,a sign that the 35-day partial government shutdown was having a tangible impact.
Republican senators clashed with each other and confronted Vice-President Pence at a private luncheon on Thursday,as anger hit a boiling point.
Senators followed the failed bills with a proposal for quick passage of a three-week,stopgap funding bill to end the partial government shutdown – for now.
Wilbur Ross'comments came as Trump's daughter-in-law,Lara,said that unpaid federal workers were experiencing a"little bit of pain"for the"future of our country".
Jared Kushner's role in Trump's White House has been fuelled by a burst of self-confidence.