What to know today
- SHUTDOWN STATUS: A bipartisan bill to end the government shutdown heads to the House after the Senate passed the measure last night with support from eight Democrats and the backing of President Donald Trump. The House could vote as soon as tomorrow, the 43rd day of the shutdown.
- TRUMP APPEALS CARROLL VERDICT: Trump asked the Supreme Court to review a $5 million civil judgment that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
- UTAH REDISTRICTING: A Utah judge late last night rejected new congressional district lines drawn by Republican state lawmakers, instead approving a new map drawing a solidly Democratic seat with voters from Salt Lake City that’s likely to flip in next year’s midterms.
House Rules Committee will meet tonight to set rule for floor debate on the bipartisan government funding bill
The House Rules Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. to take up the Senate-passed funding package to reopen the government.
The rules panel is a necessary step before the legislation can make it to the House floor. The committee will create a rule that will dictate how floor debate goes tomorrow, including how long it takes.
Trump administration tells judge that CFPB will run out of funding early next year
The Justice Department today notified U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who oversaw the lawsuit on the dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that the independent agency may be out of money as soon as early 2026.
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau anticipates exhausting its currently available funds in early 2026,” DOJ attorneys wrote. They cited an Office of Legal Counsel opinion out this week that says beyond Dec. 31, 2025, “there are no funds available from CFPB’s congressionally authorized source of funding.”
“Because the only lawful source of funding from the Federal Reserve has dried up, the proper method for additional funds is to request them from Congress pursuant to the Appropriations Cause, not to draw from the Federal Reserve without a congressional appropriation,” T. Elliot Gaiser of the Office of Legal Counsel wrote this week.
In light of the Office of Legal Counsel opinion, the DOJ writes, “the Acting Director of the Bureau anticipates preparing a report to the President and to congressional appropriations committees, as statutorily required, identifying the funding needs of the Bureau.”
“The Bureau does not know whether and the extent to which Congress will appropriate funding to pay the expenses of the Bureau,” the Justice Department added.
Trump lauds Department of Veterans Affairs' efforts to cut benefits backlog
Trump claimed in his remarks at Arlington National Cemetery today that his administration has made headway in addressing a yearslong backlog of veterans' benefit requests, saying the department has reduced unprocessed claims by half since he took office in January.
"That’s a big achievement, and Doug is going to get it down to zero," Trump said, referring to Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins.
Trump vowed to eliminate "100% of that backlog. We’re moving at that pace, and already we processed more than 3 million backlog claims," he said.
In August, the VA said that it had processed about 2.5 million claims this fiscal year and was "completing them 17.8% faster" than in fiscal 2024 despite what it said was a 10% uptick in claims.
Asked for more recent figures, VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz shared a graph that he said supports Trump's claim. Kasperowicz said there were 264,717 claims still not processed at the end of the Biden administration. While the graph shows that figure is down to 134,000, Kasperowicz said the graph lags the latest number, which he said is now less than 120,000.
USS Gerald R. Ford joins U.S. military operations against drug cartels
The aircraft carrier strike group that the Defense Department deployed as part of the administration's military actions against drug cartels has arrived in the Latin American region.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement today that the enhanced presence in the region "will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to move last month from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean to support Trump's efforts to dismantle alleged drug-carrying operations.
The strike group's area of responsibility is known as SOUTHCOM, which encompasses Latin America south of Mexico, the waters next to Central and South America, and the Caribbean, according to the Pentagon.
Republicans demand tougher abortion restrictions to extend Obamacare funds
Senate Republicans say they’re open to extending a pot of Affordable Care Act funds that will expire at the end of the year — but only if Democrats acquiesce to stricter abortion restrictions on insurance plans.
The demand presents a significant hurdle to reaching a bipartisan deal to extend ACA funding, designed to avoid major premium hikes next year for more than 20 million Americans, as Democrats are adamant that existing abortion guardrails under Obamacare are sufficient.
What to expect after the House comes back tomorrow
For the first time since Sept. 19, the House will be in session and holding votes tomorrow.
In order to reopen the government, the House needs to pass the same legislation that the Senate passed last night. This package extends government funding through Jan. 30 and also includes a “minibus” of three full-year appropriations bills and fully funds SNAP benefits through the end of next September.
Members of the House were notified last night to return to D.C. for votes as early as 4 p.m. tomorrow. Here’s what will happen next:
The Rules Committee will meet at some point, likely this evening. to approve the short-term funding bill and pass a rule that will dictate floor debate. As of this writing, the committee has not finalized its meeting time.
Tomorrow, the House is expected to convene at 12 p.m. ET. House Speaker Mike Johnson told Republicans that the first order of business will be swearing in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz. The House will take up the bill sometime after that.
After she is sworn in, the House breakdown will be 219 Republicans and 214 Democrats. This means a majority is 217, so Republicans can only afford to lose two of their own on a party-line vote.
When the House passed the measure in September, the vote was 217-212 with two Republicans opposing it: Rep. Tom Massie and Rep. Victoria Spartz. Only one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, supported the measure.
Trump touts actions to reduce veteran homelessness
Trump touted his administration's efforts to reduce veteran homelessness, including his executive order in May to establish the National Center for Warrior Independence, which provides housing, job training and substance abuse services to veterans in the Los Angeles area.
He also highlighted his signing of the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act in July, which aims to help veterans avoid foreclosures.
Trump pointed to veteran unemployment rates, which fell from 4.2% in January to 3.1% in August, the last month of available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Trump notes other countries celebrate 'Victory Day,' but 'we’re the one that won the wars'
In his remarks, Trump noted that several countries hold annual celebrations to commemorate the victories in World War I and World War II while the U.S. typically did not participate in similar celebrations.
"They were all celebrating, we're the one that won the wars," Trump said, calling out France in particular.
Shortly after, he mentioned the United Kingdom and Russia as well.
"When I see other countries celebrating Victory Day — I watched it. I watched U.K., I watched Russia, they were celebrating Victory Day in World War II, and I said, 'We got to have a Victory Day,'" Trump said. "Nobody even talked about it in our country. But from now on, we're going to be celebrating Victory Day."
Cabinet members attend Trump's Veterans Day speech
Trump pointed out several members of the Cabinet who are at his Veterans Day speech.
The speech appeared to be attended by Secretaries Doug Collins, Pete Hegseth, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Doug Burgum, Chris Wright, Linda McMahon and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Trump also shouted out to Budget Director Russ Vought, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
Watchdog group files ethics complaints against Lindsey Halligan
The watchdog group Campaign for Accountability has filed formal complaints with the Florida and Virginia bar associations against the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan.
The left-leaning group accuses Halligan, a former Trump personal attorney who has brought criminal cases against his political adversaries James Comey and Letitia James, of violating multiple rules of professional conduct, including the prohibition of the prosecution of a charge the prosecutor knows is not supported by evidence.
"Ms. Halligan’s actions appear to constitute an abuse of power and serve to undermine the integrity of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and erode public confidence in the legal profession and the fair administration of justice," the complaint says.
The complaint does not seek any specific penalty against Halligan, but calls for the bar associations to investigate her and “impose appropriate disciplinary measures” if they find any ethical violations occurred.
Halligan's conduct "undoubtedly will erode public trust in the legal system if permitted without consequence,” the complaint says.
Halligan's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
