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Lawmakers react to stopgap funding and averting government shutdown

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Lawmakers react to stopgap funding and averting government shutdown

As the dust settles on Congress frantically passing a stopgap bill at the eleventh hour to avoid a government shutdown, lawmakers are having their say on a chaotic week on Capitol Hill.

President Biden signed the 118-page bill into law on Saturday, extending government funding into March, the White House announced. The bill provides over $100 billion in disaster aid for those affected by storms Helene and Milton in the U.S. Southeast earlier this year. It also includes a $10 billion provision for economic assistance to farmers. 

President Biden has not yet publicly commented on the passage of the legislation, nor has President-elect Trump, although sources tell Fox that the incoming president is not that happy about the bill, because it does not suspend the debt ceiling. 

The U.S. Capitol, on Dec. 12, 2024 in Washington D.C. It was a frantic week of tough negotiations in the nation’s capital.  (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

PRESIDENT BIDEN SIGNS STOPGAP FUNDING BILL INTO LAW, NARROWLY AVERTING SHUTDOWN

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who faced criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for his handling of the negotiations, said after the House vote that the result was “a good outcome for the country.” He said he had spoken with Trump and that the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., considered the legislation a win for his party. 

“The House Democrats have successfully stopped extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down the government, crashing the economy and hurting working-class Americans all across the nation,” Jeffries said, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., praised Democrats, including Jeffries and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., for “their unity and courage withstanding the Trump-Musk irresponsibility.”

“Democrats will always fight to protect the needs of America’s working families, veterans, seniors, farmers and first responders against the GOP’s agenda for billionaires and special interests.”

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A bulging 1,547-page continuing resolution was thrown into disarray earlier in the week following objections by Elon Musk and President-elect Trump. A slimmed-down version was then rejected by House members on Thursday before the House approved Speaker Mike Johnson’s new bill overwhelmingly on Friday by 366 votes to 34.

The Senate worked into early Saturday morning to pass the bill 85-11, just after the deadline.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who faced criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for his handling of the negotiations said after the House vote that the result is “a good outcome for the country.” (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

WHITE HOUSE PRESSED ON BIDEN REFUSING TO SPEAK PUBLICLY AHEAD OF SHUTDOWN

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised the passage of the funding legislation early Saturday.

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“There will be no government shutdown right before Christmas,” Schumer wrote on X. “We will keep the government open with a bipartisan bill that funds the government, helps Americans affected by hurricanes and natural disasters, helps our farmers and avoids harmful cuts.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said the revised funding package keeps government funded at current levels, delivers aid to Americans suffering from natural disasters and protects agricultural supply chains. 

“Not only is this straightforward bill much more palatable to me, but it respects the taxpayers we represent, unlike the previous backroom boondoggle I opposed that was over 1,500 pages long and gave unnecessary and costly giveaways to the Democrats,” Malliotakis wrote on X. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gives a thumbs up when walking out of the Senate Chamber after speaking on the floor of the Senate on Dec. 20, 2024. ((Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images))

“Passing this legislation today gives us what we need until President Trump is sworn in and settled so our Republican trifecta can deliver the results the American people voted for.”

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Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., questioned why President Biden appeared to play a limited role in negotiations.

“People fail to recognize that even though the focus has been on President Trump, Joe Biden is actually still the president, which is really mind-boggling, because nobody’s heard from him in weeks,” Lawler told Fox and Friends Weekend on Saturday, adding that the debt ceiling has been used as a “political piñata for decades.” 

“The party in the minority uses it as leverage in a negotiation, and I think what President Trump is trying to avoid is giving Democrats a loaded gun to hold to his head here.”

Elsewhere, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., applauded the Senate for approving the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, which he had introduced and helped pass in the House.

The bill would give the District of Columbia control of the 174-acre RFK campus and revive potential plans for a new Washington Commanders stadium.

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Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., applauded the Senate for approving the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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The surprising move came after a provision in the initial continuing resolution (CR) — to transfer control of the RFK campus from the federal government to the District — was eliminated from Thursday’s slimmed down version of the bill.

“The Senate’s passage of the D.C. RFK Stadium Campus Revitalization Act is a historic moment for our nation’s capital. If Congress failed to act today, this decaying land in Washington would continue to cost taxpayers a fortune to maintain,” Comer said.

“Revitalizing this RFK Memorial Stadium site has been a top economic priority for the city, and I am proud to have partnered with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to get this bill across the finish line and to the President’s desk. This bipartisan success is a testament to the House Oversight Committee’s unwavering effort to protect taxpayers and our full commitment to ensuring a capital that is prosperous for residents and visitors for generations to come,” he added.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Video: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

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Video: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

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Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota abandoned his re-election bid to focus on handling a scandal over fraud in social service programs that grew under his administration.

“I’ve decided to step out of this race, and I’ll let others worry about the election while I focus on the work that’s in front of me for the next year.” “All right, so this is Quality Learing Center — meant to say Quality ‘Learning’ Center.” “Right now we have around 56 kids enrolled. If the children are not here, we mark absence.”

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Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota abandoned his re-election bid to focus on handling a scandal over fraud in social service programs that grew under his administration.

By Shawn Paik

January 6, 2026

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Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu

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Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu

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A San Francisco Democrat demanded the impeachment of President Donald Trump, accusing him of carrying out a “coup” against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, seen as the likely congressional successor to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, also took a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Wiener has frequently drawn national attention for his progressive positions, including his legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom designating California as a “refuge” for transgender children and remarks at a San Francisco Pride Month event referring to California children as “our kids.”

In a lengthy public statement following the Trump administration’s arrest and extradition of Maduro to New York, Wiener said the move shows the president only cares about “enriching his public donors” and “cares nothing for the human or economic cost of conquering another country.”

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KAMALA HARRIS BLASTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S CAPTURE OF VENEZUELA’S MADURO AS ‘UNLAWFUL AND UNWISE’

California State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a rally. (John Sciulli/Getty Images)

“This lawless coup is an invitation for China to invade Taiwan, for Russia to escalate its conquest in Ukraine, and for Netanyahu to expand the destruction of Gaza and annex the West Bank,” said Wiener, who originally hails from South Jersey.

He suggested that the Maduro operation was meant to distract from purportedly slumping poll numbers, the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents, and to essentially seize another country’s oil reserves.

“Trump is a total failure,” Wiener said. “By engaging in this reckless act, Trump is also making the entire world less safe … Trump is making clear yet again that, under this regime, there are no rules, there are no laws, there are no norms – there is only whatever Trump thinks is best for himself and his cronies at a given moment in time.”

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GREENE HITS TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES, ARGUES ACTION ‘DOESN’T SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’

In response, the White House said the administration’s actions against Maduro were “lawfully executed” and included a federal arrest warrant.”

“While Democrats take twisted stands in support of indicted drug smugglers, President Trump will always stand with victims and families who can finally receive closure thanks to this historic action,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.

Supporters of the operation have pushed back on claims of “regime change” – an accusation Wiener also made – pointing to actions by Maduro-aligned courts that barred top opposition leader María Corina Machado from running, even as publicly reported results indicated her proxy, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the vote.

“Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela isn’t about drugs, and it isn’t about helping the people of Venezuela or restoring Venezuelan democracy,” Wiener added. “Yes, Maduro is awful, but that’s not what the invasion is about. It’s all about oil and Trump’s collapsing support at home.”

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EX-ESPN STAR KEITH OLBERMANN CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT OF TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES THAT CAPTURED MADURO

Around the country, a handful of other Democrats referenced impeachment or impeachable offenses, but did not go as far as Wiener in demanding such proceedings.

Rep. April McClain-Delaney, D-Md., who represents otherwise conservative “Mountain Maryland” in the state’s panhandle, said Monday that Democrats should “imminently consider impeachment proceedings,” according to TIME.

McClain-Delaney said Trump acted without constitutionally-prescribed congressional authorization and wrongly voiced “intention to ‘run’ the country.”

SCHUMER BLASTED TRUMP FOR FAILING TO OUST MADURO — NOW WARNS ARREST COULD LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’

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One frequent Trump foil, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., cited in a statement that she has called for Trump’s impeachment in the past; blaming Republicans for letting the president “escape accountability.”

“Today, many Democrats have understandably questioned whether impeachment is possible again under the current political reality. I am reconsidering that view,” Waters said. 

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“What we are witnessing is an unprecedented escalation of an unlawful invasion, the detention of foreign leaders, and a president openly asserting power far beyond what the Constitution allows,” she said, while appearing to agree with Trump that Maduro was involved in drug trafficking and “collaborat[ion] with… terrorists.”

Wiener’s upcoming primary is considered the deciding election in the D+36 district, while a handful of other lesser-known candidates have reportedly either filed FEC paperwork or declared their candidacy, including San Francisco Councilwoman Connie Chan.

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California Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP margin in Congress

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California Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP margin in Congress

California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has died, GOP leadership and President Trump confirmed Tuesday morning.

“Jacquie and I are devastated about the sudden loss of our friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, in a post on X. “Our prayers are with Doug’s wife, Jill, and their children.”

LaMalfa, 65, was a fourth-generation rice farmer from Oroville and staunch Trump supporter who had represented his Northern California district for the past 12 years. His seat was one of several that was in jeopardy under the state’s redrawn districts approved by voters with Proposition 50.

Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from LaMalfa’s residence at 6:50 p.m. Monday, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. The congressman was taken to the Enloe Medical Center in Chico, where he died while undergoing emergency surgery, authorities said.

An autopsy to determine the cause of death is planned, according to the sheriff’s office.

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LaMalfa’s district — which stretches from the northern outskirts of Sacramento, through Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley and Alturas in the state’s northeast corner — is largely rural, and constituents have long said they felt underrepresented in liberal California.

LaMalfa put much of his focus on boosting federal water supplies to farmers, and seeking to reduce environmental restrictions on logging and extraction of other natural resources.

One LaMalfa’s final acts in the U.S. House was to successfully push for the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act, a long-standing financial aid program for schools surrounded by untaxed federal forest land, whose budgets could not depend upon property taxes, as most public schools do. Despite broad bipartisan support, Congress let it lapse in 2023.

In an interview with The Times as he was walking onto the House floor in mid-December, LaMalfa said he was frustrated with Congress’s inability to pass even a popular bill like that reauthorization.

The Secure Rural Schools Act, he said, was a victim of a Congress in which “it’s still an eternal fight over anything fiscal.” It is “annoying,” LaMalfa said, “how hard it is to get basic things done around here.”

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In a statement posted on X, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said he considered LaMalfa “a friend and partner” and that the congressman was “deeply committed to his community and constituents, working to make life better for those he represented.”

“Doug’s life was one of great service and he will be deeply missed,” Schiff wrote.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement called LaMalfa a “devoted public servant who deeply loved his country, his state, and the communities he represented.”

“While we often approached issues from different perspectives, he fought every day for the people of California with conviction and care,” Newsom said.

Flags at the California State Capitol in Sacramento will be flown at half-staff in honor of the congressman, according to the governor.

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Before his death, LaMalfa was facing a difficult reelection bid to hold his seat. After voters approved Proposition 50 in November — aimed at giving California Democrats more seats in Congress — LaMalfa was drawn into a new district that heavily favored his likely opponent, State Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents the state’s northwest coast.

LaMalfa’s death puts the Republican majority in Congress in further jeopardy, with a margin of just two votes to secure passage of any bill along party lines after the resignation of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday evening.

Adding to the party’s troubles, Rep. Jim Baird, a Republican from Indiana, was hospitalized on Tuesday for a car crash described by the White House as serious. While Baird is said to be stable, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, will not be able to rely on his attendance. And he has one additional caucus member – Thomas Massie of Kentucky – who has made a habit of voting against the president, bringing their margin for error down effectively to zero.

President Trump, addressing a gathering of GOP House members at the Kennedy Center, addressed the news at the start of his remarks, expressing “tremendous sorrow at the loss of a great member” and stating his speech would be made in LaMalfa’s honor.

“He was the leader of the Western caucus – a fierce champion on California water issues. He was great on water. ‘Release the water!’ he’d scream out. And a true defender of American children.”

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“You know, he voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump added.

A native of Oroville, LaMalfa attended Butte College and then earned an ag-business degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and the California State Senate from 2010 to 2012. Staunchly conservative, he was an early supporter of Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in California, and he also pushed for passage of the Protection of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriage in California.

While representing California’s 1st District, LaMalfa focused largely on issues affecting rural California and other western states. In 2025, Congressman he was elected as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which focuses on legislation affected rural areas.

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