Live updates: House returns for government shutdown vote after Senate advances bill – NBC News

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.

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 and was 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.

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.

Read the full story here.

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, 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.

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 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.”

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.

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.

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 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.

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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.

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.

Read the full story here.

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.

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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.

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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.”

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.

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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.”

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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.”

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 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 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.”

Read the full story here.

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.

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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.

Read the full story here.

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.

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.

Read the full story here.