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Year: 2026

$174B spending package to avert shutdown clears key hurdle in Senate

4B spending package to avert shutdown clears key hurdle in Senate

The Senate advanced a three-bill spending package through its final procedural hurdle on Thursday, teeing up a final vote later in the day. Lawmakers are in a mad dash to avert a partial government shutdown after just exiting the longest closure in history a few short months ago, and they have a deadline on Jan. 30 to beat. Thursday’s first vote was a key test of whether the warring parties could come together or again fall victim to political divisions as they did in September. The overwhelmingly bipartisan vote proved, for now, that Senate Republicans and Democrats have a truce in the government funding battle. DHS FUNDING FIGHT DRIVES SENATE SCRAMBLE TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN The roughly $174 billion package, which cruised through the House last week, includes funding bills for commerce, justice, science and related agencies; energy and water development and related agencies; and interior, environment and related agencies. If passed later on Thursday, it’ll mark six total spending bills that lawmakers have put on President Donald Trump’s desk. But it’s only halfway to the magic dozen that are needed to fund the government. Many lawmakers acknowledge that given the short amount of time left before the deadline, and lingering issues with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, a short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), will be needed to prevent a shutdown. DHS AT CENTER OF PROGRESSIVE REVOLT AS HOUSE ADVANCES $80B SPENDING PACKAGE Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was hopeful that another round of funding bills brewing in the House could solve the DHS issue. But he didn’t shut down the possibility that lawmakers may need to use a CR just for that agency as political divisions bubble up. “That will be the hardest one for sure,” Thune said. “And I can’t predict what happens, but I think you have to, you know, reserve some optionality.” Congressional Democrats have put their foot down on the DHS funding bill, demanding restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the wake of the shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent. SENATE ADVANCES $174B PACKAGE AS MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING FUELS DHS FUNDING FIGHT But it’s unlikely Republicans will play ball with that request, meaning the bill will stay in limbo for the time being. That divide won’t be an easy mountain to climb, and the Senate is gearing up to leave for a week, returning to Washington, D.C., the week of the funding deadline. Senate Democrats also don’t want to turn to a year-long CR, a good sign that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus are serious about finishing the work of funding the government. Earlier this week, Schumer lauded Democratic negotiators who worked on the package, and noted that it was full of their own spending priorities meant to push back against Trump. “Their leadership stopped the worst of Donald Trump’s devastating cuts, protected investments that millions of Americans depend on, from education to housing to jobs,” Schumer said. “Though this isn’t the finish line, it’s a good step in the right direction.”

Congress has two dozen lawmakers 80 or older; more than half seeking re-election in 2026: report

Congress has two dozen lawmakers 80 or older; more than half seeking re-election in 2026: report

While some prominent elderly members of the House of Representatives and Senate have announced that they will not pursue re-election, others in the 80 or older age bracket are aiming to keep their jobs even longer. Out of 24 figures from the Silent Generation serving in Congress, 13 have opted to run again in 2026, according to a review by NBC News. The outlet appears to be including Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, of Washington, D.C., in that tally of 13.  NBC News assesses that the 119th Congress is the third-oldest in U.S. history. A few of the senators in the batch of two dozen lawmakers have terms that stretch beyond this year, so they have time to decide on their political futures.  REPUBLICAN SENATOR CONDEMNS ALLEGED SYRIAN ARMY ABUSES AS CEASEFIRE FOLLOWS ALEPPO FIGHTING It seems to remain unclear whether Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., will run again. The congressman has said he will decide in the coming weeks, according to NBC. “I don’t know what the Silent Generation is. I didn’t know that we were silent,” Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho quipped, according to the outlet. “You got to like the job, and you got to have enough time to spend with your family, and you got to have your health, and if you’ve got your health, and you’re doing what you want to do, why not?” The senator will turn 83 later this year and would be 89 by the end of another six-year Senate term. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., will turn 88 later this year prior to Election Day. REP. MAXINE WATERS CALLS FOR USING THE 25TH AMENDMENT TO FIND OUT WHAT’S ‘WRONG’ WITH DONALD TRUMP “My work is not finished, and I don’t know if it will ever be finished,” the congresswoman told the outlet. NBC News reported that 88-year-old Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., noted, “As long as I can be helpful to the constituents I represent, I’ll keep working.” NANCY PELOSI WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION, ENDING DECADES-LONG HOUSE CAREER But some longtime congressional figures, like Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a former House speaker, have announced that they will not run for re-election.

RFK Jr: Dr Oz says Trump has ‘highest testosterone level’ he’s seen in a man older than 70

RFK Jr: Dr Oz says Trump has ‘highest testosterone level’ he’s seen in a man older than 70

President Donald Trump has the highest testosterone levels of any man older than the age of 70 that Dr. Mehmet Oz has ever seen, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recounted during a podcast interview providing a handful of updates on the president’s health.  “He’s got — he’s in incredible health,” Kennedy said on Katie Miller’s podcast Tuesday. “Dr. Oz looked at his medical records and said he’s got the highest testosterone level that he’s ever seen for an individual over 70 years old.” “I know the president will be happy that I’ll repeat that,” Kennedy quipped.  Oz serves as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. BROOKE ROLLINS, ROBERT KENNEDY JR: NEW DIETARY PLAN RECOMMENDS REAL FOOD FOR ALL AMERICANS Kennedy joined Miller, who is the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, as the media and Democrats continue fanning the flames of concern surrounding Trump’s health, citing bruises on Trump’s hands, swollen legs and allegations he has fallen asleep during public events. The White House has fiercely pushed back against the claims, citing Trump’s packed daily schedule and medical reports that have found the president in normal and “exceptional health.” Kennedy has long cast himself as a public-health advocate, and he repeatedly has urged Americans to eat “real,” minimally processed foods, steering people away from ultra-processed packaged snacks and toward meals built around fruits, vegetables and other nutrient-dense staples. Trump has a long and well-established history of enjoying fast-food, notably McDonald’s meals, and frequently downs Diet Coke — putting him at odds with his Cabinet official’s health calls.  Kennedy celebrated that despite Trump “pumping himself full of poison all day long,” he has the “constitution of a deity.” “He eats really bad food, which is McDonald’s, and candy and Diet Coke. But he drinks the Diet Coke at all times,” Kennedy said. “I don’t know how he’s alive, but he is. … He says that the only time that he eats the junk food is when he’s on the road and he wants to eat food from big corporations.” While Trump is known for fast food snacking and cracking open a Diet Coke, he has famously steered clear of alcohol throughout his life. The White House backed Kennedy’s remarks when approached for additional comment on Trump’s health Thursday morning. “Secretary Kennedy is right: as his golf championships and flawless physical report results indicate, President Trump has the constitution and energy levels most young people could only dream of having,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox Digital.  Fox News Digital reached out to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for additional comment on Oz’s review of Trump’s health records Thursday morning.  RFK JR.’S BARNYARD RINGTONE INTERRUPTS WHITE HOUSE MAHA BRIEFING, SPARKS LAUGHS Democrats and liberal media outlets increasingly have questioned Trump’s fitness in recent months, citing his 79 years of age, bruising on his hands and reports of swollen ankles. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in July that Trump’s swollen legs were part of a “benign and common condition” for individuals older than age 70, while the bruising on his hands was attributable to “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.” Trump has received two medical check-ups since his inauguration nearly a year ago, received a CT scan — which originally was reported as the president receiving an MRI — as well as celebrating that he has “aced” a series of cognitive tests, including celebrating new results earlier in January.  TRUMP PITCHES COGNITIVE TESTS FOR LEADERS, TAKES AIM AT HARRIS, WALZ, NEWSOM “The White House Doctors have just reported that I am in ‘PERFECT HEALTH,’ and that I ‘ACED’ (Meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked!), for the third straight time, my Cognitive Examination, something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take,” Trump posted to Truth Social Jan 2.  The heightened focus on Trump’s health follows the media overwhelmingly downplaying concern over former President Joe Biden’s mental acuity until his final year in office.  Biden ultimately dropped out of his 2024 re-election effort to hold control of the Executive Branch in July of that year, amid pressure from longtime Democrat allies and media pundits that he bow out of the race and pass the proverbial torch to a younger generation.