Narrower GOP Majority Faces Test to End Shutdown: Starting Line

Another Shutdown Vote

We’ll see today just how tight a grip Speaker Mike Johnson has on his now-even-narrower majority — and whether there’s a limit to how often congressional Republicans obey when President Donald Trump tells them how they should vote.

As Erik Wasson reported, Trump implored House Republicans in a social media post to clear the Senate-passed spending measure “IMMEDIATELY!” and with “NO CHANGES.”

No changes would mean the package speeds to Trump’s desk, ending the partial federal shutdown by funding most agencies through Sept. 30. It would fund to the Department of Homeland Security only through Feb. 13 while lawmakers negotiate changes to enforcement policies.

One of Democrats’ demands was answered yesterday when DHS Secretary Kristi Noem promised to put body cameras on her agents, beginning in Minneapolis, where they fatally shot two American citizens.

To pass the bill, Johnson will need to cobble together a bipartisan coalition of moderates in each party by focusing on support for defense spending and reversing cuts to research by Elon Musk’s “efficiency” effort.

The vote may also expose cracks in the House Democratic caucus, where the deal reached between Senate Democrats and Trump is not going over well, Maeve Sheehey reports in today’s Congress Tracker.

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Clintons Make an Offer

Facing a potential contempt finding for defying a House subpoena, Bill and Hillary Clinton now say through their lawyers they will appear before a committee investigating disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer says the Clintons’ terms for appearing “lack clarity,” however, and no dates were provided. But Ranking Democrat Robert Garcia said Comer “has no choice but to accept” the offer to appear. Read More

Also Read: NFL to Review Emails Between NY Giants Co-Owner and Epstein

Hollywood on the Hill

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee today will be asking questions about control over America’s entertainment choices.

At issue: the practical effect — and potential antitrust issues — if the movie-making and streaming power of Warner Brothers and HBO (not to mention the cable mainstays CNN and TNT) become part of Netflix.

Lucas Shaw explains that the proposed $82.7 billion deal would let the most valuable entertainment company in the world buy one of its biggest competitors in streaming, as well as one of its biggest suppliers.

Scheduled to respond to senators’ concerns: Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

On the Lobbying Front:

• Paramount Hires Veteran DC Lawyer Amid Warner Bros. Deal Battle
• Netflix Boosts Federal Lobbying as It Competes for Warner Bros.

Ted Sarandos at a Dec. 15, 2025 premiere.

Photographer: Blanca CRUZ / AFP via Getty Images

Kelly’s First Day in Court

Later today, a federal judge will hear Sen. Mark Kelly’s arguments for stopping Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from downgrading his Navy retirement rank and pension.

The Arizona Democrat wants an injunction to tie Hegseth’s hands while the lawsuit proceeds. Kelly contends that the Pentagon chief lacks legal grounds for “subjecting a sitting Senator to military discipline to punish him for his public statements.”

Hegseth’s unusual move was in response to a video in which Kelly and other military veterans in Congress — without getting into specifics — reminded those now serving that they’re allowed to refuse illegal orders. Hegseth termed the video “reckless and seditious.”

Eye on the Fed

This could get sticky. If Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, isn’t confirmed by the time Jerome Powell’s term as chair ends in mid-May, it’s not clear who would get to name a temp.

Whether a stand-in chair should be named by the White House or the Fed’s Board of Governors is an unresolved legal question, Saleha Mohsin and Enda Curran report.

Recent precedents aren’t much help, either; the board installed Powell “pro tempore” in 2022, pending his confirmation for a second term, but approval was seen as locked-in and nobody paid much attention.

This time’s different. The Justice Department launched an unprecedented criminal probe, and Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C), a Senate Banking Committee Republican, said he’ll block Trump’s Fed pick until that investigation’s “fully resolved.” Assuming Democrats on the banking committee line up with Tillis, they’d have the votes to hold up a nomination. Read More

The 119th Congress is busy and distracted, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for lobbyists to get their job done, Tonya Saunders of Mid-Tier Advocacy writes in this week’s Business of Lobbying Insight. Effective strategies for keeping work moving include setting realistic expectations with clients, offering clients alternative strategies, and knowing when to pivot.

“Even though challenges exist, some of the most productive lobbying I’ve seen has happened when Congress appeared to be standing still,” writes Tonya, who says lobbyists also need to know when to consider other options—such as lobbying the administration. Read More

Before You Go

Trump Says Republicans Should Federalize State Voting Rules

President Donald Trump called on Republicans to seize control of election processes from individual states, signaling that he may push for drastic measures to change the dynamics of the midterm elections.

Texas Democrat’s Shock Win Powered by Latinos, 31-Point Flip

Big shifts among Latino voters fueled a Texas Democrat’s upset victory in a state senate district in the Fort Worth area that’s been dominated by Republicans for more than three decades, according to an analysis of results from the Jan. 31 election.

NY-NJ Tunnel Project Says It’s Suing US Over Funding Freeze

The public commission building the $16 billion Gateway rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey said it sued the Trump administration over a federal funding freeze that could halt work on one of the nation’s biggest infrastructure projects.

Trump Says He’s Seeking $1 Billion From Harvard University

President Donald Trump said he’s seeking $1 billion in “damages” from Harvard University after the New York Times reported that his administration had backed off demands for $200 million to satisfy accusations of wrongdoing by the Ivy League institution.

Gabbard Scorns Critics of Her Role in FBI Election Office Raid

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard rebuked Democratic lawmakers and others who expressed alarm over her participation in an FBI raid of a Georgia county election office, saying that President Donald Trump had asked her to be there.

US Paid to Settle Bias Claim for Labor Secretary’s Former Office

The US Treasury paid $98,650 last year to settle a discrimination claim against Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s former congressional office.

Musk’s French X Office Searched in Prosecutor’s Grok, Bias Probe

Elon Musk’s X offices in Paris were searched by French law enforcement’s cybercrime unit as part of an ongoing probe into alleged misuses of the social media platform.

Turkey Is Preparing to Host US-Iran Talks in Istanbul

Turkey plans to host high-level talks between the US and Iran on Friday aimed at de-escalating tensions between the two countries.

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