Trump signs legislation to reopen the government
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Several federal agencies are asking employees to return to work tomorrow.
What to know today
- TRUMP SIGNS BILL: President Donald Trump has signed legislation to reopen the government. Earlier, the House voted to pass the legislation in a 222-209 vote.
- GRIJALVA SWEARING-IN: Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn in this afternoon, nearly two months after the Arizona Democrat won her late father’s seat in a special election. Democrats now have 214 members to the Republicans' 219. Grijalva became the 218th signature on a discharge petition to force a House vote on whether the Justice Department should release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
- VIRGINIA BATTLEGROUND: Former Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., a member of the Jan. 6 committee who lost re-election in 2022, told NBC News that she's launching a bid for her old congressional seat against GOP Rep. Jennifer Kiggans, one of the most competitive districts in next year's election.
Trump doesn't respond to questions on Epstein emails at bill-signing event
Trump did not respond to questions at tonight's bill-signing event where NBC News' Garrett Haake asked him about newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails.
Trump, who often speaks at length with reporters during Oval Office events, referred to Epstein's case as a "Hoax" in a Truth Social post earlier in the day, suggesting that Democrats would "do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects."
Trump has not made public remarks about the latest tranche of Epstein records that include emails mentioning him.
In response to questions from reporters at today's briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong.”
Trump signs funding bill into law, ending record-long government shutdown
Trump this evening signed into law legislation that reopens the federal government and ends an acrimonious 43-day shutdown, the longest in American history.
His signature, which restores funding that has been frozen or halted for weeks, came shortly after the House voted 222-209 to send him the measure. Six Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in voting yes, and two Republicans joined most Democrats in voting no.
The Senate approved the same legislation Monday when eight Democrats peeled off and voted with Republicans to break a filibuster and end the shutdown.
The successful House vote came after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., brought the Republican-controlled chamber back into session Wednesday for the first time since Sept. 19, wrapping up an extraordinarily long and unscheduled recess.
Federal agencies are asking employees to report to work tomorrow
Multiple federal agencies are directing their employees to report to work tomorrow as Trump is expected to sign a short-term funding bill tonight, according to three administration officials.
Government workers at Departments of Health and Human Services, Interior, Housing and Urban Development and Justice were all advised to come in tomorrow, regardless of when the measure is signed tonight.
One of the emails referred to the funding lapse as the “Democratic shutdown,” continuing a trend of partisan language on display from various agencies leading up to and during the 43-day government shutdown.
It’s unclear when furloughed workers will get their back pay or how fast paychecks might resume.
House votes to end the record-long government shutdown, sending bill to Trump
The House on Wednesday night voted to pass legislation to reopen the federal government and end an acrimonious 43-day shutdown, the longest in American history.
The successful vote came after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., brought the Republican-controlled chamber back into session for the first time since Sept. 19, wrapping up an extraordinarily long and unscheduled recess.
The House passed the measure in a 222-209 vote. The Senate had approved the same legislation Monday when eight Democrats peeled off and voted with Republicans to break a filibuster to end the shutdown.
The bill now heads to Trump’s desk to become law and reopen the government, restoring funding that has been frozen or halted.
Jesse Jackson hospitalized in Chicago
The Rev. Jesse Jackson has been hospitalized in Chicago, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive health matter.
Jackson has a high pulse and a “rattle in his chest,” the source said, but no fever.
FAA freezes flight cancellations at 6% as House is set to vote to end shutdown
The Department of Transportation announced today that flight reductions will freeze at 6% thanks to strong staffing levels and a “rapid decline” in air traffic controller callouts.
The new emergency freezing order will scrap the previous plan to ramp up reductions to 10% by Friday, and will remain in place “as the FAA continues to assess whether the system can gradually return to normal operations,” the Department of Transportation said.
Officials attributed the freeze to favorable staffing conditions, with just 11 staffing triggers reported yesterday and four today — down from a high of 81 on Saturday. Those strong staffing numbers “suggest a further ramp up in-flight reductions are not necessary to keep the traveling public safe,” the Transportation Department said.
The 6% reduction impacts flights at 40 high-traffic airports, including those in the New York area and in cities including Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez offers privileged disapproval of fellow Democrat — Rep. Chuy Garcia
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., offered a privileged resolution that would express the House’s disapproval of Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Ill., for withdrawing his nominating petitions to run for re-election after the filing deadline once his chief of staff had submitted her own paperwork.
That makes his chief, Patty Garcia (no relation), the only Democrat to run in the primary.
Speaking on the House floor, Gluesenkamp Perez said his actions “are beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the Constitution.”
Her resolution is privileged, meaning the speaker must schedule a vote on it within two legislative days. With the House leaving tonight, she will likely have to offer it again next week.
Immediately after she spoke, the Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., went over to speak with her.
The move comes ahead of an expected final vote in the House on ending the government shutdown.
House will vote to undo provision letting senators sue over Jan. 6-related searches
Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will vote next week to repeal a provision slipped into the bill to end the shutdown that would allow senators to sue the government for potentially millions of dollars if their data is obtained without their notification.
Johnson said he was “shocked” and “angry” when he learned about the provision, which would uniquely benefit eight Republican senators, whose phone records — but not the contents of their calls or messages — were found to have been accessed as part of the investigation that led to former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
When asked today if he knew about the provision, which was tucked into the bill to reopen the government, Johnson replied, “No, I found out about it last night.”
“I was surprised. I was shocked by it, and I was angry about it, to be honest,” he said.
The House planned to pass the package to reopen the government later today, which will bring an end to the 43-day government shutdown.
House approves floor rule for funding bill, with one hour of debate to start soon
The House approved the rule for debating legislation that would reopen the government, a necessary procedural step.
The rule, which allows for an hour of floor debate before a vote on final passage, was agreed to on a party-line vote of 213 to 209.
Affordability worries and GOP infighting hover over the early race to succeed Trump
Trump has 38 months left in office and — as his occasional pining about an unconstitutional third term attests — is loath to be a lame duck anytime soon.
But the quacking from others has begun.
Democrats scored resounding victories in elections last week as voters agonized over high prices and a federal government shutdown that paused paychecks and disrupted food aid for low-income Americans. The results put Republicans, especially those interested in succeeding Trump in 2028, in a bind over how to respond to growing affordability concerns without overstepping a president who remains popular with their base.
Democrats look to expand on their record number of female governors next year
When Meghan Meehan-Draper first started working at the Democratic Governors Association, “there were more governors named John than there were women governors,” she told reporters last week.
Now, with Govs.-elect Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia poised to take office, there will be 10 female Democratic governors serving next year, along with four Republicans for a total of 14.
“We now have the highest number of Democratic women governors in the history of the United States,” Meehan-Draper, the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, told NBC News, adding: “That’s almost half the caucus, at this point, of Democratic governors.”
Following last week’s elections, Democratic strategists are already turning toward next year’s gubernatorial elections, during which they hope to keep adding women to state executive roles after Spanberger becomes Virginia’s first female governor and Sherrill becomes New Jersey’s first Democratic woman to serve as governor.
Grijalva signs Epstein discharge petition immediately after she's sworn in
In a speech on the House floor minutes after she was sworn in, Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., pledged to sign a bipartisan discharge petition urging the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files, "right now."
She signed the discharge petition, providing the 218th signature. The petition is now frozen and no member can remove their name.
"Our democracy only works when everyone has a voice," she said in her speech.
"This includes the millions of people across the country who have experienced violence and exploitation," Grijalva added, thanking several Epstein survivors for being in the gallery of the House today.
The congresswoman, who won a special election in September to fill her late father's congressional seat, said that the American people expect lawmakers to "fight for them."
"That is why I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files," Grijalva added.
During the interceding weeks between her election and her swearing-in, when the federal government was shut down, Grijalva and her Democratic allies had alleged that Speaker Mike Johnson was avoiding swearing her in because she would be the majority-making vote on the discharge petition.
Johnson denied that was the case, promising to swear her in once the government reopened.
Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva sworn in after contentious seven-week delay
More than seven weeks after her special election victory, Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva stood on the House floor and took the oath of office Wednesday, marking the end of a bitter standoff with GOP Speaker Mike Johnson, who had refused to seat her during the record government shutdown.
Johnson swore in Grijalva as the House opened Wednesday afternoon to applause from both sides of the aisle. “Congratulations, you are now a member of Congress,” he said.
Grijalva’s swearing-in shrinks the GOP majority to 219-214, where just three Republican defections can derail any piece of legislation Johnson brings to the floor.
Grijalva’s Sept. 23 landslide victory to replace her late father, the progressive leader Rep. Raul Grijalva, generated few national headlines. But in recent weeks, Democrats publicly clashed with Johnson — in news conferences, staged protests and a face-to-face impromptu meeting outside his office — as they tried to pressure him to administer the oath of office to Grijalva. Arizona’s state attorney general sued the House to try to force Johnson to take action.
Johnson says House Republicans will introduce bill to strip provision allowing senators to sue over phone records
Speaker Mike Johnson said House Republicans will introduce a stand-alone bill to repeal a provision in the funding package that would allow senators to sue the government for potentially millions of dollars if their data is obtained without their notification.
Johnson made the announcement in a post on X, adding that the new legislation will be on “the fast track suspension calendar in the House for next week.” The suspension calendar means it will need two-thirds of the House to support the measure.
During the Rules Committee meeting last night, Reps. Austin Scott, R-Ga., Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., expressed concern about the provision being included in the funding bill.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dodges questions about Schumer: 'This problem is bigger than one person'
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., when asked if Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer should stay as minority leader, said: “This problem is bigger than one person, and it actually is bigger than the minority leader in the Senate. You have eight Senate Democrats who coordinated this, their own votes on this.”
Ocasio-Cortez said leadership is a reflection of the party. “We actually do have Senate elections this year. And my hope is that people across this country actually participate in their primary elections, in selecting their leadership.”
Schumer in recent days has faced calls to step down after eight Democrats over the weekend broke from their party to vote alongside Republicans on a stopgap funding measure to reopen the government.
Schumer himself criticized the deal and voted against it.
Rep. Shomari Figures blasts Senate deal to vote on health care subsidies
During a press conference led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on the Capitol steps, Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., blasted Senate Republicans for only offering the chance to vote on a bill to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies to several Senate Democrats who made a deal to end the government shutdown.
“In the end, what were Republicans willing to give? In the end, nothing more than a handshake deal to take a future vote on extending the health care subsidies, when we all know that that future vote is the equivalent of asking two wolves and a chicken to vote on what’s for dinner,” Figures told reporters.
House Democrats to force discharge petition vote on health care tax credits
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats will try to force a vote on a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits by using the tactic known as a discharge petition, which would require the support of a handful of Republicans.
Jeffries said three years would provide a “level of certainty to working class Americans who are on the verge of seeing their premiums, copays and deductibles skyrocket.”
The discharge petition would need 218 signatures, so if all 214 Democrats sign it, four Republicans would need to join the effort. On the vote today to reopen the government, Jeffries said, “House Democrats are strongly opposed to this partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people.”
Supreme Court schedules arguments in Federal Reserve and trans sports cases
The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear oral arguments on two closely watched issues during its January session.
On Jan. 21, the court will weigh President Donald Trump's bid to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, a significant test of the agency's independence from political interference.
The previous week, the justices will hear arguments on Jan. 13 in two consolidated cases from Idaho and West Virginia on whether states can ban transgender athletes from participation in girls' and women's sports.
Rulings on both hot-button issues are expected by the end of June.
Anti-abortion rights group pledges $80 million to protect GOP congressional majorities
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, along with the aligned Women Speak Out PAC, says it will spend $80 million "to retain pro-life majorities" in Congress in next year's midterm elections.
A press release from the groups outlines the plans, including 4.5 million door-knocks in states like Iowa, Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina, states with key House and Senate races. The group's midterm plans also include digital advertising, mailers, canvassing and "a robust early vote campaign."
Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the group aims to "fire up pro-life Americans who do not consistently vote in midterms and convince persuadable voters" to reject the Democrats' policies on abortion.
White House says it's exploring legal options to disburse tariff dividends to Americans
After Trump wrote in social media posts over the weekend that he wanted to distribute $2,000 checks to Americans using tariff revenue, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said today, "The White House is committed to making that happen, yes."
"We are currently exploring all legal options to get that done. I don’t have a timeline for you or any further details, but I can confirm for you that the president made it clear he wants to make it happen, and so his team of economic advisers are looking into it, and when we have an update, we’ll provide one," Leavitt added.
On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the president didn't have a formal proposal for distributing this money yet, but added that if the proposal were to move forward, it could be in the form of tax credits rather than direct payments.
"It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda: no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, deductibility of auto loans," Bessent told ABC's "This Week."
Trump’s Pentagon name change could cost up to $2 billion
Trump’s directive to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War could cost as much as $2 billion, according to six people with knowledge of the potential cost.
The name change, which must be approved by Congress, would require replacing thousands of signs, placards, letterheads and badges, as well as any other items at U.S. military sites around the world that feature the Department of Defense name, according to two senior Republican congressional staffers, two senior Democratic congressional staffers and two other people briefed on the potential cost.
White House responds to newly released Epstein emails
In a statement to NBC News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of “selectively" leaking emails "to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”
She added, “These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”
NBC News has also reached out to lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell and for Michael Wolff, the journalist to whom some of the emails were addressed.
Bipartisan funding bill would allow senators to sue over government searches of their phone records
A provision tucked into the the funding package that the Senate passed Monday night as a part of a bipartisan deal to reopen the government would allow senators to sue the federal government for potentially millions of dollars if their data is obtained without notifying them.
The legislative language would uniquely benefit eight Republican senators who were recently found to have had their phone records — but not the contents of their calls or messages — accessed as a part of the investigation that led to former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
While the bill does not explicitly mention Smith’s probe, the language would retroactively apply to data requests that were made on or after Jan. 1, 2022, meaning the request of the Republican senators’ data, which was made Sept. 27, 2023, would be susceptible to a lawsuit.
The eight senators who had their phone records accessed are: Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
Jeffrey Epstein wrote Trump ‘knew about the girls’ and referenced Mar-a-Lago in newly released emails
Jeffrey Epstein referenced Trump in emails to his associate Ghislaine Maxwell and a journalist, claiming in one that Trump “knew about the girls,” according to emails released by House Democrats.
Democrats on the House Oversight committee released three email chains, sent between 2011 and 2019, saying the documents came from the convicted sex offender’s estate as part of the committee’s investigation of the Epstein case.
Bipartisan duo expects to have signatures today to force a vote to release Epstein files
After a weekslong delay, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., today are on the cusp of securing enough signatures to bypass GOP leaders and force a floor vote to compel the Justice Department to release all the files in its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz. — who won the seat of her late father in a September special election — has vowed she’ll be the 218th signature on Massie and Khanna’s “discharge petition” after she is sworn into office at around 4 p.m. ET today.
That number represents a simple majority of the entire 435-member House chamber. Under House rules, once a discharge petition hits that magic number of 218 signatures, the House must act on it, though seven legislative days must pass before a vote can be called.
Flight delays and cancellations persist as shutdown lingers on
With the shutdown straining air travel ahead of the holidays, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is warning that even more trouble may be on the way if the government does not reopen. It comes as United Airlines announced it has already canceled almost 300 flights today and a total of 8% could be scrapped at the nation’s busiest hubs including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas and Los Angeles. NBC’s Tom Costello reports for "TODAY."
Trump officially requests pardon for Netanyahu, Israeli president's office says
Israeli President Isaac Herzog received a letter from Trump, urging him to consider granting a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli president’s office said today.
Netanyahu has been facing a long-running corruption trial, and Trump has repeatedly asked for a pardon for his close ally. Netanyahu denies the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
“While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli Justice System, and its requirements, I believe that this ‘case’ against Bibi, who has fought alongside me for a long time, including against the very tough adversary of Israel, Iran, is a political, unjustified prosecution,” Trump said in the letter shared by Herzog’s office.
Trump calls H-1B visas necessary to bring in ‘certain talents’ that he says the U.S. lacks
Trump defended H-1B visas during an interview that aired last night, arguing foreign labor is needed at times because U.S. workers do not have “certain talents.”
Trump made the remarks during a Fox News interview when asked whether his administration would prioritize the costly visas that allow skilled workers from overseas to temporarily work in the United States. He said the U.S. has to “bring in talent.”
When pressed by Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who said, “We have plenty of talented people here,” Trump responded: “No, you don’t have — you don’t have certain talents. And you have to — people have to learn.”
British PM Keir Starmer says he 'will always stand up for a strong, independent BBC' amid Trump's lawsuit threat
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to Trump's threat to sue the BBC, declaring in a clip posted by the Parliament’s liberal leader Ed Davey that he "will always stand up for a strong, independent BBC."
In the video posted on X, Davey said that "President Trump is trying to destroy our BBC" and accused the president of trying to undermine press freedom in the United Kingdom along the lines of attacks he has targeted toward U.S. media.
"Will the prime minister tell President Trump to drop his demand for a billion dollar settlement from the BBC, and will he guarantee that President Trump will not get a single penny from British license fee payers?" Davey asked on the floor of Parliament.
Starmer approached the microphone as lawmakers looked on.
"Let me be clear, I believe in a strong and independent BBC. Some would rather the BBC didn't exist," Starmer added, declaring he was "not one of them."
"In an age of disinformation, the argument for impartial British news service is stronger than ever," he said. "And where mistakes are made, they do need to get their house in order, and the BBC must uphold the highest standards, be accountable and correct errors quickly."
"But I will always stand up for a strong, independent BBC," he said in the clip.
Top Senate committee Democrat criticizes Trump admin for paying one of the 'most corrupt' countries to take deportees
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., questioned a $7.5 million payment the Trump administration made to Equatorial Guinea to take third-country nationals who have been deported, saying the African nation has “one of the most corrupt governments in the world.”
The “highly unusual” payment to the West African nation “raises serious concerns over the responsible, transparent use of American taxpayer dollars,” Shaheen said in a letter Monday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, noting that the payment “would far exceed” total U.S. foreign assistance to Equatorial Guinea in the last eight years.
Equatorial Guinea ranks 173rd out of 180 countries for corruption, according to the research group Transparency International, and a 2025 State Department report cited “multiple credible sources” who accused government officials of involvement in human trafficking, including for sex. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power for nearly a half-century, is accused of siphoning money meant for his impoverished nation to fund his family’s lavish lifestyle.
Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she was concerned that the U.S. payment could be used to facilitate human trafficking, and that the third-country nationals the U.S. sends to Equatorial Guinea could end up being trafficked themselves. She asked what the State Department was doing to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Democrat Jordan Wood pivots to House bid after Maine Rep. Jared Golden declines to seek re-election
Democrat Jordan Wood announced he was pivoting from a bid for Maine's U.S. Senate seat to a competitive U.S. House seat after Rep. Jared Golden announced last week that he would not seek re-election.
"I'm stepping up where I'm needed most, right here in the second district," Wood said in a video posted on X.
In his video, Wood highlighted rising prices, saying, "That's not bad luck, that's a betrayal by the people who were elected to serve us."
He also took a jab at Republican candidate Paul LePage, who previously served as the state's governor.
"There is no way I'm letting Paul LePage represent my hometown of Lewiston," he said.
NOTUS previously reported that Wood was considering switching his candidacy from the Senate to the House.
Trump says he has an ‘obligation’ to sue the BBC over edited Jan. 6 speech
Trump has said he has an obligation to proceed with his threatened $1 billion lawsuit against the BBC for editing a speech he made before his supporters’ violent Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the presidential election result.
The BBC’s top executive, Director-General Tim Davie, and its news CEO, Deborah Turness, resigned Sunday amid a growing scandal over this and other alleged editorial misjudgments.
Trump celebrated the news, though his legal team also wrote to the corporation Sunday demanding a “full and fair retraction” and gave a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday for a response. A BBC spokesperson said: “We will review the letter and respond directly in due course.”
Former Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria launches bid for her old seat in Virginia
Former Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., a member of the Jan. 6 committee who lost re-election in 2022, is launching a bid for her old congressional seat against GOP Rep. Jennifer Kiggans.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News announcing her plans, Luria said the “chaos” in Washington compelled her to run again for the battleground district.
“I’ve watched the chaos here in Washington — really, it’s a do-nothing Republican Congress, and they haven’t even been to work for about 50 days,” Luria said. “I said to myself, this is the time for me to continue to serve in that capacity and go back to being representative for Virginia’s 2nd District again.”
Luria will likely face several opponents in the Democratic primary before the general election in what is expected to be one of the most competitive seats in the 2026 midterms, when control of the House is up for grabs.
Jack Schlossberg, member of Kennedy political dynasty, is running for Congress
Jack Schlossberg, the only grandson of the late President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, announced last night that he’s running for U.S. Congress.
The 32-year-old son of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg said he’s running for the New York City seat long held by U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who in September announced he will retire.
“I’m running for Congress to represent my home, New York’s 12th congressional district, where I was born and raised, where I took the bus to school every single day from one side of the district to the other,” Schlossberg said in a video announcing his candidacy.
“This is the best part of the greatest city on Earth,” he said.
Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva to be sworn in today, nearly two months after she was elected
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is scheduled to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva today — nearly two months after the Arizona Democrat won her late father’s seat in a special election.
Johnson has consistently said he would administer the oath of office to Grijalva when Democrats vote to reopen the government. The Senate passed a bipartisan measure to do just that Monday night, with the House expected to vote on the legislation this evening.
When Grijalva is sworn in, the House breakdown will be 219 Republicans to 214 Democrats.
Grijalva is expected to be the 218th signature on the discharge petition to force a House floor vote requiring the Justice Department to publicly release all the files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. There is still an additional waiting period of seven legislative days before any of the signers of the petition can force a vote on it. The House speaker then has two legislative days before he must call up the measure for a vote on the floor.
What Democrats say they won in the 43-day government shutdown
Democrats shut down the federal government to secure a key demand: extending health care subsidies for millions of Americans.
After a more than 40-day standoff, they threw in the towel — with no guarantee from Republicans that they would agree to renew the expiring Obamacare tax credits.
Progressive activists and their Democratic allies in Congress, who had wanted the party to fight on longer, decried it as a monumental “cave” to an authoritarian in Donald Trump.
But others in the party see a silver lining in the six-week standoff.
