Politics
House plans Thursday vote on government funding bill to extend spending through November
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This is cobbled together from speaking to multiple sources on both sides of the Capitol.
The House is now aiming to vote Thursday on the “clean” interim spending bill which would fund the government through November 27. But Republicans must first get the bill through the House. Several senior House Republican sources said that they were still talking to the “usual suspects.” Republicans can only lose two votes pass a bill on their own. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) expressed confidence he could hold all of his Democrats together and oppose the bill. Jeffries said that will be the focus of a Democratic Caucus on Thursday.
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It is also still not a done deal that the House would move on Thursday. This could slip to Friday.
There is now the distinct possibility of a weekend session in the Senate, potentially Saturday.
Here’s why:
If the House approves the government funding package, this must go through two rounds of “cloture” to break a filibuster. That needs 60 yeas. It is advantageous to Senate Republicans to have the House approve the bill Thursday. If so, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) can file cloture to set up a test vote on Saturday. By rule, the Senate cannot take that test vote without an “intervening day.”
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To wit:
Let’s say the House theoretically approves the bill on Thursday. Thune gets the bill on Thursday and files cloture to cut off debate and break a filibuster. Friday is the “intervening day.” That tees up a procedural vote just to get onto the bill (needing 60 yeas) on Saturday in the Senate.
A split image of President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. ((Left) REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst, (Right) REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
But if the House votes (and passes) the CR on Friday, none of this can happen until Sunday.
There’s the rub:
Multiple Senate Republicans want to attend Charlie Kirk’s funeral in Arizona on Sunday.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., right, joined by Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., center left, leads a vigil to honor conservative activist Charlie Kirk who was shot and killed at an event in Utah last week, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
So, a Saturday scenario is much better for the GOP.
Why not wait until Monday, you may ask?
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Well, the Senate is scheduled to be out for Rosh Hashanah next week. Same with the House. Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown Monday and runs through nightfall Wednesday. So the Senate could punt and deal with next Thursday. However, the Senate also needs to take another procedural vote down the road if it could ever get 60 yeas (more on that in a moment) to finish the bill. So it may be helpful to do this sooner rather than later.
That said, one senior Senate GOP source suggested to Fox that the Senate could remain in session through Rosh Hashanah to deal with the procedural steps. That could be interpreted as a direct sleight to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Jewish figure in American political history.
Former Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.V., wanted Republicans to win the Senate in 2024 to halt Democrats from getting rid of the Senate filibuster. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Keep in mind, the government is funded through 11:59:59 pm et on September 30. So they have time. But the period is collapsed because of the scheduled recess next week.
Regardless, the Senate needs 60 yeas to break a filibuster. Republicans only have 53 votes in the Senate. 52 if Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) opposes an interim spending bill.
This is why Republicans are trying to blame a potential shutdown on the Democrats. And Democrats are saying they need something (likely a renewal of Obamacare subsidies) in exchange for their votes.
And there will likely be a lot more drama between now and the end of the month.
Politics
Trump announces peace deal with Iran, declares Strait of Hormuz will reopen: ‘Let the oil flow!’
JUST IN: Trump announces Iran deal opens Strait of Hormuz, lifts naval blockade
Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst covers President Donald Trump’s major announcement of a peace deal with Iran. Trump’s ‘Truth Social’ post details the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz and removal of the U.S. naval blockade, allowing for increased oil flow. The deal aims to bring peace to the Middle East after months of conflict.
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President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the United States and Iran have officially reached a peace agreement, marking a major diplomatic breakthrough that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.
“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has served as a mediator, was the first to announce the peace deal, saying a signing ceremony is scheduled to take place Friday in Switzerland.
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President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on June 11, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump added that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen once the parties formally sign the agreement.
“With the opening of the Strait upon the signing of the Deal on Friday, for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the Region, and the World!” he said.
IRAN REVEALS 10-POINT PLAN FOR PEACE WITH THE US – HERE’S WHAT’S IN IT
President Donald Trump looks at Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaking in Egypt in 2025, following the signing of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
According to Sharif, the deal includes the termination of military operations across the region, including in Lebanon, where Iran-backed terrorist proxy Hezbollah has been engaged in conflict with Israel.
“Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” he said.
Additional details of the agreement, including any provisions related to Iran’s nuclear program, were not immediately released.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said talks with the United States on a final and more comprehensive agreement will take place during a 60-day ceasefire period, according to Reuters.
The outlet reported that the future of Iran’s nuclear program will be addressed in upcoming negotiations. Trump has long maintained that Iran cannot be in possession of a nuclear weapon and has repeatedly vowed to prevent Tehran from developing, acquiring or obtaining one.
Trump further praised his administration for securing the agreement.
“This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region,” he said. “Many presidents have tried to make Peace with Iran, and all have failed before me. The Leaders of the Region have, for the first time, found a President who can help them achieve real Peace.”
Sharif also thanked the United States and Iran for their “commitment to finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict,” as well as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey for their contributions to the mediation effort.
With the agreement now in place, mediators are expected to facilitate a series of meetings this week that could lay the groundwork for technical negotiations and the official signing ceremony, Sharif said.
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The peace deal would formally end the high-stakes conflict that began on Feb. 28, which disrupted roughly 20% of global oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz and contributed to higher energy prices worldwide.
It comes roughly one year after Israel initiated massive strikes on Iran during Operation Rising Lion. The strikes sparked a 12-day conflict between the nations before Trump ordered strikes on a trio of nuclear facilities later that same month.
Fox News’ Ashley J. DiMella and Reuters contributed to this report.
Politics
U.S. and Iran reach agreement to end war, Trump says
WASHINGTON — President Trump said Sunday that the United States and Iran have reached a framework agreement to end the war in the Middle East, a breakthrough in months of negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.
The deal, described by diplomats as a memorandum of understanding, commits Tehran to forgo the development or acquisition of nuclear weapons in exchange for helping reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and the paced release of its assets frozen overseas, upon the signing of the deal Friday in Switzerland.
Trump said he has also authorized “the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade” on Iranian imports.
“Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” Trump wrote in a social media post Sunday evening. It was the president’s 80th birthday.
The full details of the agreement have not been released. Many details — including how Tehran would give up, destroy or dilute its fissile material, or whether Iran would continue treating the international strait as its sovereign waters — will continue to be negotiated in the coming days.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Sunday that mediators are planning to hold a series of meetings this week to “lay the foundation for the technical talks and the official signing ceremony.”
“We would like to thank the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran for their commitment to finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict,” Sharif wrote in a post on X.
The Associated Press reported that negotiations on outstanding issues like Iran’s nuclear program would continue over the next 60 days, according to two senior Pakistani officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that the White House is “still figuring out the logistics” on whether he or Trump will attend the signing ceremony.
“What we know is that we have a lot of work to do, but a very big win for the American people tonight,” Vance said.”We are just going to keep on working at it, keep on driving energy prices down, keep on ensuring that region of the world is less than a basket case and finally, and most importantly, celebrate, that we can say with confidence Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed the agreement on state television but said Iran would not start implementing it until it was signed on Friday. He said the deal followed over 14 hours of talks in Tehran with a representative from Qatar, another mediator.
Iranian state TV showed a banner asserting: “US was forced to sign an agreement to end the war.”
Iran’s commitment to refrain from pursuing nuclear weapons would simply repeat a vow Iran has made several times before, including in its signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its nuclear deal brokered with international powers under the Obama administration over 10 years ago.
Iran has 972 pounds of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Under the 2015 international agreement with Iran abandoned by the first Trump administration, Iran’s uranium enrichment was capped at less than 4%, monitored by IAEA inspectors.
The vagueness of the new agreement, the demand for further negotiations to flesh out its details, and the pacing of sanctions relief for Iran are all likely to draw criticism of the president, who launched his political career in 2015 by attacking President Obama’s newly signed nuclear deal as a historically bad agreement.
That deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, followed two years of painstaking negotiations that were predicated on a similar, yet more detailed framework, called the JCPOA.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a Sunday morning interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the the difference between the JCPOA and how the Trump administration is handling negotiations is the “threat of military force.”
“The huge difference is we did this from a position of strength,” Hegseth said. “That military might will stay as long as necessary.”
And, as in 2015, Israeli leadership across the political aisle remains deeply skeptical of the agreement, pronouncing they will not be bound by a deal to which they are not a party.
In a phone interview with the New York Times on Sunday afternoon, Trump called Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, a “very difficult guy.”
“To be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this. Because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn’t be around for two hours,” Trump said.
Since the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran that started the war Feb. 28, there have been 3,468 confirmed deaths in Iran, according to independent monitors. In addition, 13 U.S. service members have been killed, and the Israeli war with Hezbollah has killed 2,679 in Lebanon as well as 23 Israelis, including eight civilians.
Politics
How Trump and the U.F.C. Transformed the White House Lawn for a Fight
It was back in late May that construction began on the towering, claw-like superstructure that now sits complete on the South Lawn of the White House, ready to stage Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts on Sunday, President Trump’s 80th birthday.
The spectacle is estimated to cost more than $60 million, according to Mark Shapiro, who is the president of U.F.C.’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings. (Mr. Trump purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of stock in TKO weeks ahead of this event at the White House that he has been promoting for months).
Here’s a look at the fighting arena.
The Claw
The Claw is a 600-ton steel arch built in Belgium. Jumbo-sized and star-spangled, with huge television screens hanging from every corner, it coexists strangely with the rest of its environs.
It towers over the old willow oaks and magnolia trees planted long ago by past presidents on the gentle slope of the South Lawn. It towers over the White House itself. Spectators seated in the topmost section on Sunday night will be on eye level with the Truman balcony.
The Octagon
This is the Octagon, the caged ring in which men will beat one another to a pulp.
The cage is an eight-sided feat of marketeering, its every angle prominently displaying the name of some sponsor who’d paid big bucks to have their brands juxtaposed against the ultimate backdrop.
Among them: Live Trade on Polymarket, Bud Light, Pit Boss Grills, Total Wireless, Morgan & Morgan (“Dial #Law”) and Toyo Tires. “Crypto.com” is carved into each metal step leading into the ring.
The Venue
The Claw is not all. That venue can only fit a little more than 4,000 people, so a space for a watch party capable of hosting more than 70,000 people has been set up on The Ellipse, which is the park just south of the White House gates.
Back on the White House lawn, just behind the Claw, there are large tents set up. On Saturday afternoon, the day before the fight, a crew of six motocross riders will be performing stunts on the lawn, including backflips 45 feet in the air.
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