US government reopens after shutdown with House to vote on Epstein files next week – politics live | US news
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Trump signs funding bill that will end longest US government shutdown
Chris Stein
longest WE The historic government shutdown ended Wednesday after more than 42 days. House of RepresentativesPassage of a bill negotiated by a group of Republicans and pro-Democratic senators.
While the compromise lays the groundwork for government operations to return to normal by January, it also leaves the issue of expiring tax credits unresolved. Affordable Care Actor Obamacare health plans, which most Democrats want expanded in any deal to reopen the government.
After the weekend launch, Senate He approved the compromise on Monday, and the House followed suit two days later by a margin of 222 in favor and 209 against; two did not vote. Donald Trump By signing the bill Wednesday night, he said, “we are sending a clear message that we will never give in to usurpation, because that’s what happened… Democrats tried to blackmail our country.”
Six Democrats left their party to vote for the bill: Man Gray related to California, Tom Suozzi related to new York, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez related to washington, don davis related to North Carolina, Henry Cuellar related to Texas And Jared Gold related to Mainto. Two Republicans Thomas Massie related to Kentucky And Greg Steube related to Floridavoted against.
House Republican leadership said in a statement:
The Democratic shutdown is finally over, thanks to Republicans in the House and Senate.
There is now absolutely no doubt that Democrats are responsible for millions of American families going hungry, millions of travelers stranded in airports, and our troops wondering whether they will receive their next paycheck.
Democratic minority leader in his speech to the Parliament shortly before the vote Hakeem Jeffries He had vowed to continue pressing for an extension of subsidies.
He said:
This fight is not over. We’re just getting started.
Either Republicans will finally decide to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits this year, or the American people will throw Republicans out of their jobs next year and put an end to Donald J Trump’s promises once and for all. This is how this fight ends.
The spending standoff was the biggest battle between congressional Democrats and Republicans since Trump returned to Congress. white house earlier this year. That led to unprecedented cuts to government services, with the Trump administration ordering cuts to commercial air travel across the country and the first-ever halt to the largest federal food aid program.
mike johnson, US House The spokesman said he would introduce a bill mandating the release of government files on sex offenders late Wednesday. jeffrey epstein on the House floor next week.
“We’ll put this on the ground [a] Full vote next week [as] As soon as I get back,” Johnson told reporters, as parliament met to discuss legislation to reopen the government.
Johnson, who opposed the bill, made the announcement just hours after being sworn in. Arizona Democrat Adelita GrijalvaHe took the oath of office seven weeks after winning a special election in late September to succeed his father, a longtime representative. Raúl GrijalvaDied in March.
Grijalva’s swearing-in paved the way for the release of the vote Epstein filesWhile it was the 218th and last signature on the petition for eviction This automatically triggers a vote in Parliament on legislation requiring the justice ministry to release the files. In his speech on Wednesday, Grijalva said:
Justice cannot wait another day. Adelante.
Under the rules governing eviction petitions, Johnson would not be given the authority to request a vote until early December, so his announcement that the vote would be held next week came earlier than expected.
Even if the bill passes the Parliament, it must be passed by the Parliament. Senate and will be signed by Trump. Senate leaders have shown no indication they will bring the issue to a vote, and Trump has called the effort “a hoax by the Democrats.”
We’ll say more about this story in a moment, but first let’s cover some other important developments in US politics:
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A portion of documents released Wednesday by the House oversight committee revealed that Jeffrey Epstein’s staff kept him informed about Donald Trump’s air travel as it related to his own transportation, and that the late sex trafficker kept up with news about his former friend years after their relationship soured. The disclosure of nearly 20,000 pages about Epstein from the committee’s Republican members comes as Trump continues to grapple with political fallout over his past friendships and the justice department’s failure to release documents as he long promised during the campaign.
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The US House of Representatives has voted to pass a funding bill that would end the longest government shutdown in US history. Trump signed the bill into law on Wednesday night. The legislation followed a Senate-brokered compromise in which a handful of Democrats voted to abandon the extension of expiring health benefits that has been at the center of the long-running impasse.
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Trump said he felt he had an “obligation” to sue the BBC over the editing of one of his speeches, as a deadline approaches for the BBC to respond to his billion-dollar legal threat. The US president accused the broadcaster of “defrauding the public” last year with an edition of Panorama that mashed together two parts of a speech he gave on January 6, 2021, and gave it until Friday to respond.
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Trump reiterated his request for pardon from Israeli President Isaac Herzog for Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three separate corruption cases. The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing trials. No verdicts were announced, and his supporters dismissed the cases as politically motivated.
