Brief government shutdown ushered in before Christmas as Senate works to advance House bill
A partial government shutdown began at 12:01 on Saturday morning after Congress failed to pass a stopgap spending measure before the deadline and send it to President Biden’s desk. However, the Senate is actively working through amendment votes and other considerations in order to send the measure to Biden. The stopgap bill is expected to be passed in the Senate in the coming hours. The partial shutdown comes only days before Christmas and New Year’s. As of Thursday, the U.S. national debt was at $36,167,604,149,955.61 and was continuing to climb rapidly. During a partial government shutdown, federal agencies and non-essential services are stopped, but some functions that are considered “essential” will continue. Certain national security functions, such as border patrol, law enforcement and disaster response, will remain active during the shutdown. However, because the Senate is expected to move the bill forward imminently, the disruption to government function will be minimal, if at all noticeable. An original agreement on a short-term spending bill was released earlier in the week, totaling 1,547-pages and including a number of policy provisions and disaster aid. TOP SENATE DEMS POUR COLD WATER ON LATEST GOP SPENDING BILL PLANS: ‘READY TO STAY’ THROUGH CHRISTMAS But soon after its release, billionaire Elon Musk and other conservative critics publicly blasted the measure, ultimately resulting in it being condemned by President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance. The initial spending measure would have extended government funding levels for fiscal year 2024 through March 14 and provide over $100 billion in disaster aid for those affected by storms Helene and Milton in the U.S. Southeast earlier this year. There was also a $10 billion provision for economic assistance to farmers in the bill. TIM SCOTT’S SENATE CAMPAIGN ARM STAFF REVEALED AHEAD OF CRUCIAL 2026 SWING STATE RACES The size of the bill, along with several of its other provisions, including a cost of living raise for lawmakers, prompted the public reaction from Musk and others. After heading back to the drawing board, House Republicans emerged on Thursday with a new proposal. The revised measure would have extended current funding levels for three months and included a debt limit suspension for two years, per the request of Trump. ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN’ CAUCUS LAUNCHED BY SEN MARSHALL AFTER RFK JR MEETING Additionally, it had economic relief for farmers and about $110 billion in disaster aid. But the bill failed on the House floor Thursday night as Democrats united against it and a significant group of Republicans opted to oppose it as well. By Friday morning, there appeared to be no agreement between Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work together on a new bill. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the government would go into a partial shutdown at midnight if Republicans did not return to the original stopgap bill. DOGE CAUCUS LEADER JONI ERNST EYES RELOCATION OUT OF DC FOR THIRD OF FEDERAL WORKERS “I’m ready to stay here through Christmas because we’re not going to let Elon Musk run the government,” Murray said in a statement. The House managed to pass a third version of the spending bill on Friday. It was similar to the second version, including both economic relief for farmers and disaster aid, but did not have the debt ceiling suspension that Trump had been adamant about. The bill received broad bipartisan support in the House and the green light from Biden, as the White House said he’d support it. Even Schumer released a statement after the House’s passage, saying he was “confident” it would pass the Senate.
South Texas coal-fired power plant to switch to clean energy after receiving more than $1 billion in federal money
San Miguel Electric Cooperative’s plan to turn into a solar and battery plant will leave only 14 coal-fired power plants in the state.
Biden considers commuting the sentences of federal death row inmates: report
As President Biden’s term comes to an end, he is reportedly considering commuting the sentences of most, if not all, of the 40 men on the federal government’s death row. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the move would frustrate President-elect Trump’s plan to streamline executions as he takes office in January. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees federal prisons, recommended that Biden commute all but a handful of egregious sentences, the sources said. The outlet reported that possible exceptions could include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber who killed three and wounded more than 250; Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people in the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh; and Dylann Roof, who in 2015 killed nine at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. TRUMP EXPECTED TO END BIDEN-ERA DEATH PENALTY PAUSE, EXPAND TO MORE FEDERAL INMATES Those who could see their death sentences commuted to life in prison include an ex-Marine who killed two young girls and later a female naval officer, a Las Vegas man convicted of kidnapping and killing a 12-year-old girl, a Chicago podiatrist who fatally shot a patient to keep her from testifying in a Medicare fraud investigation and two men convicted in a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme that resulted in the killings of five Russian and Georgian immigrants. TRUMP VOWS TO CREATE COMPENSATION FUND FOR VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME The move came after Biden, a lifelong Catholic, spoke with Pope Francis Thursday. In his weekly prayer, Pope Francis asked for the commutation of America’s condemned inmates. A decision from the president could come by Christmas, some of sources said. The outlet noted that the biggest question is the scope of the commutation of the death row inmates. Biden is the first president to openly oppose capital punishment, and his 2020 campaign website declared he would “work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example.” In January 2021, Biden initially considered an executive order, sources familiar with the matter told The Associated Press, but the White House did not issue one. Six months into the administration, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study it further. The narrow action has meant there have been no federal executions under Biden.
Here’s what’s different in the new spending legislation approved by the House
House lawmakers voted Friday to approve a newly negotiated spending bill that included many of the same components of the earlier legislation — but without the debt limit provision that had sparked consternation among many in the party. Republican leaders shared the text late Friday, shortly before lawmakers approved the spending legislation, 366-34. Lawmakers were scrambling for a path forward after an initial bill was tanked by President-elect Trump and his allies on Wednesday, and a later bill approved by Trump failed on the House floor Thursday. HOUSE PASSES SPENDING BILL TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN The bill, unlike the version rejected Thursday night, removes a debt limit extension sought by President-elect Donald Trump, which would have included a two-year suspension of the debt limit. That version failed to garner support among Democrats, who were more broadly opposed to the idea, and from fiscal conservatives within the Republican Party. The new legislation includes provisions such as $10 billion in aid to farmers and agriculture subsidies included in the earlier version of the bill — which were considered must-pass provisions by many lawmakers. It also includes $100 billion in disaster aid for U.S. residents, including victims of devastating hurricanes in some U.S. states. “We will not have a government shutdown, and we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for the disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services, and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck is paid over the holidays,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters before Friday’s vote. The bill now heads to the Senate for a vote.
The 34 House Republicans who voted against a bill to avert a partial government shutdown
Over 30 House Republicans voted Friday against a bill to avert a partial government shutdown. Lawmakers scrambled to reach consensus on a spending package ahead of the looming partial government shutdown deadline Friday. An initial 1,547-page bipartisan deal that would have extended the government funding deadline until March 14 was released Tuesday night, but the proposal crumbled after Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy criticized the spending bill. A more condensed, Trump-backed version was brought to the floor Thursday night but failed to pass. In a last-minute vote Friday, the House succeeded in passing a funding bill with 34 Republicans voting against the legislation and zero Democrats voting against it. One Democrat, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, voted present. HOUSE PASSES FUNDING BILL WITH JUST HOURS UNTIL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN Among those who voted against the bill was Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who told Fox News Digital, “I don’t know why we’re giving Joe Biden $100 billion to play with in 30 days. “Oddly enough, it didn’t have what Trump wanted most of all.” Other House members who voted against the bill: WHITE HOUSE PRESSED ON BIDEN REFUSING TO SPEAK PUBLICLY AHEAD OF SHUTDOWN Rep. and Sen.-elect Jim Banks, R-Ind. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. Asked why she voted against the bill, Boebert told Fox News Digital, “I’m just ready for president Trump to be back.” Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo. Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga. Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz. Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn. Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas Rep. Bob Good, R-Va. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz. Rep. Greg Lopez, R-Colo. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga. Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas After passing in the House, the bill will head to the Senate for a vote. President Biden signaled his intention to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
Aurora, Colorado, police say home invasion ‘without question’ Tren de Aragua gang activity
Aurora Police have confirmed that several members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) were involved in an “incredibly violent” armed home invasion and kidnapping that left two victims seriously injured in an apartment complex this week. “I will say without question, in my opinion, that this is TdA activity. Some of these individuals have been identified as TdA gang members,” Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said. “It’s something that we are working very close with our partners in HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] and DHS [Homeland Security] to establish their relationship with gangs.” Chamberlain said authorities have little way of confirming that a suspect is a member of TdA since gang members do not typically broadcast their affiliation. “It is a real challenge to try to say, ‘Hey, 100%, you are a gang member,’” he said. TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBERS ARRESTED IN NYC APARTMENT NEXT TO DAYCARE FACILITY Chamberlain said it was not a “big step” for him to identify them as members of the notorious Venezuelan gang. “But when you look at the circumstances of this, when you look at the events of this, when you look at the individuals involved in this, when you look at the veracity and the violence involved in this, again, it is not a big step for me to say that they are TdA gang members,” he said. The gang members allegedly forced their way into a couple’s apartment at the Edge at Lowry Apartments in the Denver suburbs and bound, beat, stabbed and kidnapped the victims, leaving them hospitalized. The perpetrators also allegedly stole jewelry from the victims. SANCTUARY CITY DENVER SPENDING A WHOPPING $356 MILLION ON MIGRANTS: STUDY While the department cannot yet confirm whether all 19 of the suspects detained in the incident are TdA members, Chamberlain said he could categorically confirm that several are part of the gang that has been terrorizing Aurora residents in recent months. WATCH: Chamberlain said one of the detained TdA members was also involved in the violent apartment takeover in Aurora earlier this year. According to Chamberlain, this was not an isolated incident. He said the TdA members and their affiliates have regularly mistreated the couple and were extorting them for $500 every two weeks. He believes the couple were not the only victims being intimidated and extorted by the gang members. Chamberlain also said Aurora Police are fully cooperating with ICE, DHS and Homeland Security Investigations to determine the identities and potential gang affiliation of those involved in the incident. A total of 19 suspects were detained for questioning, three of whom have since been released and eight of whom are now in ICE custody. He said eight are still under investigation. “Those pending charges range from everything from second-degree kidnaping, aggravated robbery, first-degree assault, extortion and burglary,” he said. Police have not released the names of the 16 arrested individuals. The police chief reiterated that authorities did not conduct a “mass sweep” for the suspects, but instead went door to door to thoroughly investigate all parties involved. During a press conference, Chamberlain emphasized that Aurora Police would respond to calls and help any victim in trouble “regardless of immigration status.”
Erdogan urges end of foreign support for Kurdish fighters in Syria
Turkish president compares Kurdish YPG fighters to ISIL and says neither group has a future in Syria. Turkiye expects foreign countries to withdraw support for Kurdish fighters in Syria after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says, as Germany warns against an escalation in fighting with Kurdish forces. Speaking to reporters on a flight home from a summit in Egypt, Erdogan said there was no longer any reason for outsiders to back Kurdish fighters with the People’s Protection Units (YPG). His comments were released by his office on Friday. The YPG is the main force in a United States-backed alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria. Turkiye considers the YPG an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has long fought the Turkish state and is designated as a “terrorist” group by Ankara, Washington and the European Union. In his remarks, Erdogan compared YPG fighters to ISIL (ISIS), an armed group also known as Daesh, and said neither group has a future in Syria. SDF forces operating in the neighbourhood of Ghwayran in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah [File: AFP] “In the upcoming period, we do not believe that any power will continue to collaborate with terrorist organisations. The heads of terrorist organisations such as Daesh and PKK-YPG will be crushed in the shortest possible time.” Advertisement The US still has 2,000 soldiers on the ground in Syria working alongside the SDF. The alliance played a major role on the ground defeating ISIL forces in 2014-2017 with US air support and still guards ISIL fighters in prison camps. Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the SDF in northern Syria while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halts support for the fighters. Hostilities have escalated since President al-Assad was toppled less than two weeks ago with Turkiye and Syrian groups it backs seizing the city of Manbij from the SDF on December 9, prompting the US to broker a fragile ceasefire. Erdogan told reporters that Turkiye wanted to see a new Syria in which all ethnic and religious groups can live in harmony. To achieve this, ISIL, “the PKK and its versions, which threaten the survival of Syria, need to be eradicated”, he said. Security for Kurds ‘essential’ Later on Friday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told her Turkish counterpart that security for the Kurdish people is critical for Syria. “Security, especially for Kurds, is essential for a free and secure future for Syria,” she told journalists after meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan while warning of the dangers of any “escalation” with Kurdish forces in Syria. Baerbock also raised the alarm over new violence in northern Syria. “Thousands of Kurds from Manbij and other places are on the run in Syria or are afraid of fresh violence,” the German minister said. “I made it very, very clear today that our common security interests must not be jeopardised by an escalation with the Kurds in Syria.” Advertisement Fidan told Baerbock that it was essential for Kurdish groups including the PKK and YPG to lay down their arms and dissolve, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said. Meanwhile, a senior US diplomat said on Friday that Washington was urging a ceasefire between Turkish-backed forces and the SDF around the flashpoint Syrian city known as Kobane in Kurdish and Ain al-Arab in Arabic. “We are working energetically in discussions with Turkish authorities, also with the SDF. We think the best way ahead is for a ceasefire around Kobane,” Barbara Leaf, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, told reporters after her first visit to Damascus since the fall of al-Assad. Adblock test (Why?)
At least two dead as car slams into crowded Christmas market in Germany
At least two people are dead and as many as 68 injured after a car rammed into a crowded Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, the capital of the central German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Officials on Friday night described the incident as an intentional attack and announced that the driver had been taken into custody at the scene. An investigation is under way. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was among the many offering their condolences in the immediate aftermath of the incident. His office indicated that he would be visiting the scene on Saturday. “The reports from Magdeburg suggest something terrible has happened. My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Scholz wrote on the social media platform X. “We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.” A police officer speaks with a man outside a cordoned-off area after a suspected attack in Magdeburg, Germany, on December 20 [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo] The interior minister for Saxony-Anhalt, Tamara Zieschang, identified the suspect as a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who arrived in Germany in 2006. He was previously unknown to security services. Advertisement Another state official, Premier Reiner Haseloff, told a local news outlets that one of the dead was a child and the other an adult. He added that he could not say whether there would be further deaths as a result of the suspected attack. “That is speculation now. Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many,” Haseloff told reporters. He said that officials currently believe the suspect in custody was the sole perpetrator behind the car ramming. “As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know, there is no further danger to the city,” Haseloff told reporters. Among the injured, 15 were identified as being in critical condition, according to the city government’s website. Another 37 people had injuries of medium severity and 16 were lightly injured. Local media reports indicate the car involved was seen driving at high speeds before striking the crowd at about 7pm local time (18:00 GMT). A police officer blocks a road near the scene of a suspected attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on December 20 [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo] Christmas markets are a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages in German-speaking parts of Europe. In Magdeburg, a city of about 240,000 residents, the market was set up in a town square, with stalls selling regional food and drink. “It’s a terrible tragedy. This is a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg and for the state, and for German generally as well,” Haseloff said. “It is really one of the worst things one can imagine, particularly in connection with what a Christmas market should bring.” Advertisement Al Jazeera correspondent Dominic Kane, who was headed to the scene of Friday’s suspected attack, said the Christmas market would have been especially crowded when the car struck. “ It’s the last Friday before Christmas. It’s the tradition all over Germany that Christmas markets are places that people go to, especially on Friday night,” Kane said. “And then think about the physical geography of the market concerned, where it is. It’s not that far from the town… not that far from the river Elbe, in quite a picturesque city actually. So there will have been lots of reasons for people to be in the centre of the city at the time.” Kane added that the suspect’s reported use of a rental car would provide investigators an avenue to learn more about his actions in the lead-up to the attack. “Obviously, there will be a record of when the car was picked up, where it was picked up and what documentation was used to get the car in the first place. These are all lines of inquiry,” Kane said. Friday night’s suspected attack comes eight years after a similar car ramming in the German capital of Berlin on December 19, 2016. In that case, a Tunisian suspect, 24-year-old Anis Amri, intentionally drove a truck into a Christmas market in a major public square, Breitscheidplatz. Twelve people were killed in that attack and as many as 56 were wounded. Amri was eventually killed in a shootout in Milan, after fleeing to Italy. Raphael Bossong, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, speculated that the two incidents will likely be seen as related, though it is too early to speculate. “ Unfortunately, this is a very sad anniversary, and I’m sure the perpetrator chose this thing for that purpose, to bring up this memory,” Bossong told Al Jazeera shortly after the news broke. He added that Friday’s suspected attack was likely to have political repercussions in Germany, which is slated to hold federal elections in February 2025. Advertisement “We are entering an election period, and the German debate is already very polarised around these issues of migration,” Bossong explained. “I’m sure this will only add fuel to the fire, as sad as it is.” In particular, security arrangements – both at the market and in the country as a whole – are likely to come under scrutiny. “All Christmas markets and all these facilities in general now are supposed to be cordoned off against traffic, in the sense that since no car and no lorry could drive into them,” Bossong told Al Jazeera. “Probably the authorities will have to do some explaining.” Already, the billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk – an increasingly prominent figure on the far right – has used the attack to call for Chancellor Scholz’s resignation. “Scholz should resign immediately,” he wrote in a comment on his social media platform X. “Incompetent fool.” Earlier in the day, Musk had announced he would back the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Germany’s upcoming elections. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” he posted, signalling
Starbucks workers’ union goes on strike in US cities
Some members of the workers’ union representing more than 10,000 baristas at Starbucks in the United States have begun a five-day strike at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, citing unresolved issues over wages, staffing and schedules. The strike, which started on Friday, is the latest in a series of labour actions in the US that have picked up pace across service industries following a period when workers of automotive, aerospace and rail manufacturers won substantial concessions from employers. The Starbucks Workers United Union, which represents employees at 525 stores across the US, said late on Thursday that walkouts would escalate daily and could reach “hundreds of stores” nationwide by Christmas Eve. “It’s estimated that 10 stores out of 10,000 company-operated stores did not open today,” Starbucks said, adding that there was no significant impact on store operations on Friday. About 20 people joined a picket line at a Starbucks location on Chicago’s north side, buffeted by snow and wind, but cheering in response to the honking horns of passing cars. Advertisement A few confused customers tried to walk into the closed store before strikers began chanting, but union member Shep Searl said the reaction had been mostly positive. Searl said 100 percent of the unionised workers at the Starbucks location in Chicago’s Edgewater neighbourhood were participating in the strike and, according to the workers, they have been subject to numerous unfair labour practices including write-ups, “captive-audience” meetings and firings. (A captive-audience meeting is a mandatory meeting organised by a firm where employees are interested in unionising and where it brings in labour relations consultants to talk about the pros and cons of unionising.) The union members said they made about $21 an hour and added that this “would have been a great wage in 2013”. It is an inadequate wage, the baristas said, given inflation and the high cost of living in a large city, especially since they rarely got 40-hour work weeks. “We’re planning to escalate if we need to,” they said. Deadlock Negotiations between the company and Workers United began in April, based on an established framework agreed upon in February, which could also help resolve numerous pending legal disputes. Starbucks workers picket outside of a closed Starbucks on Friday in Burbank, California [Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo] The company said on Thursday it has held more than nine bargaining sessions with the union since April, and reached more than 30 agreements on “hundreds of topics”, including economic issues. Advertisement The firm, whose headquarters are in Seattle, said it was ready to continue negotiations, claiming the union delegates prematurely ended the bargaining session this week. The union, however, said in a Facebook post on Friday that Starbucks had yet to present a serious economic proposal with less than two weeks remaining until the year-end contract deadline. The workers’ group also snubbed an offer of no immediate wage hike and a guarantee of a 1.5 percent increase in future years. “Workers United proposals call for an immediate increase in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64 percent, and by 77 percent over the life of a three-year contract. This is not sustainable,” Starbucks said on Friday. Hundreds of complaints have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing Starbucks of unlawful labour practices such as firing union supporters and closing stores during labour campaigns. Starbucks has denied wrongdoing and said it respects the right of workers to choose whether to unionise. Last month, the NLRB said that Starbucks broke the law by telling workers at its flagship Seattle cafe that they would lose benefits if they joined a union. “It’s [the strike] taking place during one of the busiest times of the year for Starbucks, which could magnify its impact while bringing unwanted public scrutiny into the company’s labour practices,” Rachel Wolff, an analyst with market researcher Emarketer, said. The coffee chain is undergoing a turnaround under its newly-appointed boss Brian Niccol, who aims to restore “coffee house culture” by overhauling cafes and simplifying the menu, among other measures. Advertisement “Given how much Starbucks is already struggling to win over customers, it can ill afford any negative publicity – or impact to sales – that the strike could bring,” Wolff said. The union has called for support at the picket lines in the three cities starting at about 18:00 GMT, according to a post on X. The Starbucks workers’ strike comes in the same week as Amazon workers at seven US facilities walked off the job, on Thursday, during the holiday shopping rush. There were 33 work stoppages in 2023, the most since 2000, though far lower than in past decades, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed. Adblock test (Why?)
Texas lawmaker files bill to reduce “forever chemicals” in sewage-based fertilizer
The bill would require companies to test fertilizer made from sewage sludge for PFAS and meet limits before selling them to Texas farmers and ranchers.