Congress is a very superstitious place. Only on Capitol Hill would temporal markers like Groundhog Day and Friday the 13th hold legislative resonance.

The partial government shutdown will continue until at least Tuesday. This impacts 78% of the federal government after Democrats scuttled a multi-bill spending plan last week over concerns about ICE.

The charge now for the House of Representatives is to align with a revised Senate-passed plan from Friday. This bill would fund the Pentagon, HUD, transportation programs and a host of agencies through September 30. But it would only operate DHS temporarily as Democrats demand reforms to ICE.

Many House Democrats balked at the plan supported by many Senate Democrats on Friday. That contributed to uncertainty about whether the House can reopen the government this week. First, House Democrats argued they weren’t a party to the deal cut by many Senate Democrats to partly fund the government and only apply a Band-Aid to DHS funding.

DEMOCRAT WHO BROKE WITH PARTY SAYS HIS DHS FUNDING VOTE A ‘MISTAKE’ AFTER 2ND MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING

House Democrats seethed — not so privately – last March when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Democrats agreed to help Republicans avoid a shutdown. So last Thursday, I asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) if he and Schumer were in sync this time.

“First of all, that question is, so March of 2025,” Jeffries chided.

He then ran through a litany of examples of House and Senate Democrats aligning, ranging from health care to the fall government shutdown. Jeffries then answered the question.

“Yes. Short answer. We are on the same page,” said Jeffries.

And then added a caveat — which is so February 2026.

“Now with respect to what emerges from the Senate, as is always the case, we will evaluate whatever bill comes over to us on its merits,” said Jeffries.

Some Democrats were fine with the funding deal. Moderate Democrats didn’t want to continue the government shutdown. It’s bad politics back home. Others embraced earmarks they secured in the funding package. Yet progressives argued they couldn’t support any funding bill until they saw concrete plans to reform ICE. That’s to say nothing of some on the left wanting to defund ICE.

“I will be voting no on this funding package. I refuse to send another cent to (White House Adviser) Stephen Miller or (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee.

But Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, planned to vote yes. The bill funds most of the government for the rest of the fiscal year. And it buys time to get a deal on ICE.

“If we do not do that, we will not be able to bring the kinds of pressure that is necessary to make sure that ICE does not continue to terrorize our communities,” said DeLauro.

So there may be the votes to pass the bill. But the real problem may be on a test vote, known as the rule.

The House must approve the rule first to determine how it will handle a bill on the floor. If the House adopts the rule, it can debate and vote on the bill. If the vote on the rule fails, the gig is up.

Some Republicans may oppose the rule. And Democrats made clear they would not assist on the procedural measure which is customarily carried by the majority party.

“Republicans have a responsibility to move the rule,” said Jeffries. “If they have some massive mandate, then go pass your rule.”

House Republicans feel the pressure.

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS DRAWS LINE ON DHS, ICE FUNDING AS MINNEAPOLIS UNREST FUELS SHUTDOWN RISK

“We always work until the midnight hour to get the votes. You never start the process with everyone on board,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).

It’s about the math.

The Republican majority shrank Monday after the House swore-in Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX). He won a special election in Texas over the weekend. The GOP majority now holds a 218-214 advantage. In other words, Republican can lose one vote and still pass a bill on their own if every Member casts a ballot.

“Does his election make your job a little tougher tomorrow?” I asked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as he met with Menefee for the ceremonial swearing-in.

“We have a one vote margin now. So what could go wrong? That’s fine. We’re happy for him. And, I hope the first vote is not to shut the government down. That’s not a good way to start,” said Johnson.

“Are you going to make the job a little harder on the Republican side tomorrow?” I queried Menefee.

“I just got elected on Saturday and just jumped off the plane to get here. So my first job is to figure out what the bathroom is,” said Menefee.

I followed up.

“Does that mean a no vote tomorrow?”

“It means I’ve got to consider the issues very thoughtfully and cast a vote that matches my values,” deflected Menefee.

“Good answer!” exclaimed an ecstatic Johnson.

So everything hinges on the rule vote. If the House crosses that procedural hurdle, it can probably pass the bill and end the shutdown. If not, there’s trouble.

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he hoped there was a bipartisan solution to what he termed a “long, pointless and destructive shutdown.”

Perhaps it’s only appropriate that everyone was talking about ending a government shutdown on Groundhog Day. Especially after the record-breaking 43-day shutdown last autumn.

By the way, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. He forecast six more weeks of winter. After all of these funding fights, when is someone going to ask Phil for his prognostication about the shutdown?

But forget Groundhog Day. What everyone should really focus on is Friday the 13th. As in a week from Friday. If the House aligns with the Senate and ends the partial government shutdown, lawmakers only have until 11:59:59 pm et on Friday the 13th to fund DHS. Otherwise, DHS remains broke. Again. That means FEMA has issues. TSA agents aren’t getting paid. You name it.

SENATE DEMOCRATS THREATEN SHUTDOWN BY BLOCKING DHS FUNDING AFTER MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING

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It’s hard to address issues with ICE in such a tight timeframe.

“Republicans need to take a good look at what’s happening around the country and realize too that it’s time to rein in ICE’s abuses,” said Schumer.

Some Republicans agree.

“We should have been focusing on criminals and gang members and people with active deportation orders. I don’t think we should have been focusing on people that have been here for a long time, grandmothers, et cetera, that happen to be in a neighborhood when you’re doing an enforcement action,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) on Fox Business. “I think that that was a mistake and I think it’s coming back to haunt us right now.”

So there’s bipartisan agreement on addressing ICE. But those reforms must make it through both the House and Senate by Friday the 13th.

Only Congress could create a nightmare like this.

Making his first major post-arrest television interview Monday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Don Lemon detailed the moments surrounding his incarceration and his experience as a journalist becoming the center of a news story.

“There’s a lot that I cannot say,” Lemon told Kimmel. “But what I will say is that I’m not a protester. I went there to be a journalist. I went there to chronicle and document and record what was happening … I do think that there is a difference between a protester and a journalist.”

The appearance arrived less than a week after the former CNN anchor — now an independent journalist who hosts a YouTube show — was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles following his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church earlier this month. Lemon, 59, was released without bond Friday and is expected to plead not guilty, according to his attorneys.

On Monday’s show, Kimmel began the conversation by asking Lemon how he was feeling: “I don’t know — that’s an honest answer,” Lemon said. “I’m OK. I’m not going to let them steal my joy, but this is very serious. These are federal criminal charges.”

Lemon was arrested — along with three others in attendance at the protest — at the direction of Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, who said on X that it was in connection to what she described as a “coordinated attack” on the church, located in St. Paul. Lemon is charged with conspiracy to deprive the church congregants of their rights and interfering by force with someone’s First Amendment rights. Lemon has denied participating in the protest at the church — assembled to decry that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field officer apparently serves as a pastor there — saying he was present in a journalistic capacity.

Playfully acknowledging that he hasn’t been a favorite of President Trump’s since his time on CNN, Lemon said he hadn’t been concerned about his possible arrest — even with a re-post by Trump calling for it — until it gained steam by members of Trump’s cabinet, including Bondi and Todd Blanche, the U.S. deputy attorney general. Lemon said that after retaining a lawyer and volunteering to turn himself in to handle the matter without fanfare, he “never heard back from them.”

“That is customary in a situation like this, that someone would be allowed to turn themselves in,” Lemon said. “People who are who are accused of much worse things than I am accused of doing, they are allowed the courtesy. I mean, Donald Trump was allowed the courtesy to turn himself in …”

Lemon went on to detail the moments leading up to his arrest Thursday, which came after a night of covering a Grammys event for the Black Music Collective and attending a post-party celebration.

“I got back to the hotel, I walked in with my swag bag from the thing … and I pressed the elevator button and all of a sudden I feel myself being jostled, people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs,” he recounted. “And I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ And they said, ‘We came to arrest you.’ I said, ‘Who are you?’ Then finally they identified themselves. And I said, ‘If you are who you are, then where’s the warrant?’ And they didn’t have a warrant, so they had to wait for the someone from outside, an FBI guy, to come in to show me a warrant on a cell phone … They took me outside FBI guys were out there. It had to be maybe a dozen people, which is a waste, Jimmy, of resources … They want to embarrass you. They want to intimidate you. They want to instill fear.”

He said he hadn’t realized how much attention his arrest had generated until he saw CNN broadcasting the story on a TV monitor where he was being held.

“I could see ‘Former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested in Los Angeles,’” he said. “I said to the guy, ‘Is that happening a lot?’ He goes, ‘You’ve been on all morning, yeah. And he says, ‘This is a big deal.’”

During the conversation, Kimmel criticized what he felt was a lack of attention to the recent search by FBI agents of the home of a Washington Post reporter who covers the federal government. Lemon, who parted ways with CNN in 2023, attributed it to a fear among the leaders of corporate press enterprises.

“Corporate media has been neutered right now. They are afraid, and that’s the reason I’m so happy with what I do, because I’m closer to the ground,” he said. “This is not time for folly. It’s not time for false equivalence, and putting people on television and on news programs, giving them a platform, who come on just to lie. …. Some things are objectively bad and I think its important in this time to point that out.”

Lemon hitting the late-night circuit intensifies its spotlight as a free-speech battleground. The Trump era has prompted more pointed and passionate takes from most of the major hosts that, in turn, have captured the attention and ire of the president, who has provoked threats against them and their broadcasters.

Last year, CBS announced it was canceling “The Late Show” after a three-decade run — a decision the company attributed to financial reasons and not, as many have speculated, because of host Stephen Colbert’s criticism of a settlement between the Trump administration and Paramount, the parent company of CBS, over a 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

More recently, Kimmel faced a brief suspension last fall over comments regarding the killing of right-wing activist and influencer Charlie Kirk (ABC ultimately reinstated Kimmel following public backlash.) In fact, Lemon referenced that situation prior to his arrest, when a judge dismissed prosectors’ initial charging effort: “This is not a victory lap for me because it’s not over. They’re gonna try again,” Lemon told his followers on his YouTube show after the judge’s ruling. “Go ahead, make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel, if you want.”

Last Friday, addressing a crowd outside the courthouse upon his release, Lemon said, “There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable. I will not stop now, I will not stop ever.”

The Justice Department (DOJ) has removed its pardon attorney from an internal “Weaponization Working Group,” even as officials say the politically sensitive panel is now meeting more frequently, Fox News has learned.

Ed Martin currently serves as the DOJ’s pardon attorney, a role appointed by President Donald Trump that involves reviewing clemency applications and advising the White House on pardons and commutations. He had also participated in the department’s internal Weaponization Working Group.

A DOJ spokesperson confirmed to Fox News on Monday that Martin had been removed from the working group, though it was not immediately clear why.

“President Trump appointed Ed Martin as Pardon Attorney and Ed continues to do a great job in that role,” a DOJ spokesperson said.

JUDGE ON THE CLOCK AS NY AG LETITIA JAMES CHALLENGES US ATTORNEY’S AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE HER LAWSUITS

Trump nominated Martin, a former defense attorney who represented Americans charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in February of last year.

But after concerns from lawmakers stalled Martin’s confirmation, Trump withdrew the nomination.

Trump instead nominated Jeanine Pirro for the role, and she was ultimately confirmed.

FEDERAL JUDGE DISQUALIFIES US ATTORNEY, TOSSES SUBPOENAS TARGETING NY AG LETITIA JAMES

Martin was appointed to serve as U.S. pardon attorney on May 14, 2025, and was named by Trump at the time to serve as director of the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group, a role he held until his removal was announced Monday.

The working group was formed in early 2025 and is now meeting more frequently, with the goal of eventually meeting daily. It is an internal review body created to examine claims that federal law enforcement and prosecutorial powers were misused for political or partisan purposes.

DOJ OPENS GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION INTO LETITIA JAMES TIED TO TRUMP CIVIL CASE

Martin has previously drawn scrutiny over his actions involving New York Attorney General Letitia James. In August, a lawyer representing James criticized Martin for visiting her Brooklyn residence and publicly suggesting she resign, calling the visit a “made-for-media stunt.”

Martin later said he visited the property to “lay eyes on it” and shared images of the visit on social media.

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He was subsequently granted special prosecutorial authority to pursue mortgage fraud investigations involving James and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., both of whom have denied wrongdoing and described the probes as politically motivated.

Martin also urged James to step down in a letter he described as “confidential” but later shared publicly on X.