Month: November 2025

President Trump signed a government funding package at the White House late Wednesday, formally ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. (per CBS News.) The President, surrounded by Republican members of Congress and some members of his Cabinet,  signed the funding bill that the House passed earlier Wednesday evening.

After 43 days, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history came to an end Wednesday night as the House voted 222–209 to pass a Republican-backed funding bill, sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature. Two Republicans opposed the measure, while six Democrats crossed party lines to support it.

The legislation, already approved by the Senate in a 60–40 vote earlier this week, extends funding for most federal agencies through January 30. It also provides full-year appropriations for veterans programs, military construction, and nutrition assistance programs such as SNAP and WIC. Additionally, it guarantees back pay for furloughed federal workers and reverses Trump administration firings that occurred during the shutdown.

The bill’s passage followed a tense standoff that paralyzed Washington for weeks. The Senate’s breakthrough came after eight Democrats joined Republicans to move the legislation forward, ending the prolonged impasse that had disrupted millions of government employees and services.

House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized Democrats for holding out in hopes of attaching an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits to the bill, calling the strategy “utterly pointless and foolish.” He added, “This outcome was totally foreseeable. I said this would be the outcome when all this began back in mid-September. They did it anyway.”

Democratic leaders pushed back, vowing to continue their fight for health care affordability. “House Democrats will continue our fight to lower the high cost of living, decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” said Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark, and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar in a joint statement.

Jeffries said he intends to introduce a discharge petition that would force a House vote to extend ACA subsidies for three years, urging moderate Republicans to join Democrats in the effort. “Over the past several weeks, a handful of Republicans claimed to be interested in addressing the healthcare crisis that they have created in America … Now is the time for so-called traditional Republicans to join with House Democrats, sign the discharge petition and force a vote on our bill to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years,” he said.

Johnson, however, declined to guarantee a future vote on the issue, arguing that the ACA’s subsidy system needs reform. “Am I going to guarantee a vote on ACA unreformed COVID-era subsidies that is just a boondoggle to insurance companies and robs the taxpayer? We got a lot of work to do on that,” Johnson said. “We, the Republicans, would demand a lot of reforms before anything like that was ever possible.”

Wednesday marked the House’s first full session in 54 days, after Johnson had sent members home in late September. Lawmakers were called back to Washington earlier this week amid nationwide travel disruptions caused by unpaid air traffic controllers affected by the shutdown.

While the funding bill ends the immediate crisis, it leaves unresolved disputes over health care and spending priorities that are expected to resurface by mid-December, when Senate Democrats are due a promised vote on the expiring ACA tax credits — setting up the next budget showdown on Capitol Hill.

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House Democrats on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday released newly obtained emails between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and author Michael Wolff, some of which reference President Trump.

The batch of emails — part of more than 23,000 documents turned over by Epstein’s estate — includes multiple exchanges spanning from 2011-2019. The material, which lawmakers say they are still reviewing, features messages that appear to touch on Trump’s past interactions with Epstein and his awareness of Epstein’s trafficking activities. Portions of the emails were redacted to protect victims’ identities.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said the newly released emails raise serious questions about Trump’s connection to Epstein and the possible withholding of related documents. Garcia said in a statement: “The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the president.”

Garcia also urged the Department of Justice to make all Epstein-related materials public. “The Department of Justice must fully release the Epstein files to the public immediately,” he said, adding that the committee “will continue pushing for answers and will not stop until we get justice for the victims.”

In one message dated April 2, 2011, Epstein wrote to Maxwell, “i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump..[victim] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75 % there.” Maxwell responded, “I have been thinking about that…”

Another email exchange from December 2015 — months after Trump launched his first presidential campaign — shows Epstein and Wolff discussing how the then-candidate might respond if asked about Epstein on CNN. Wolff wrote, “I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you—either on air or in scrum afterwards.” Epstein replied, “if we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?” Wolff responded, “I think you should let him hang himself… If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you valuable PR and political currency… Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he’ll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime.”

A later message from January 1, 2019, again mentions Trump: “[Victim] mara lago. [redacted]. trump said he asked me to resign. never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”

Epstein and Trump were known to have socialized in overlapping circles in New York and Florida during the 1980s and 1990s, but Trump has long said he severed ties with Epstein around 2004. Epstein was later indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 and died by suicide in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in his trafficking network.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back sharply, accusing Democrats of “selectively leaking emails to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.” She claimed the redacted name in the messages was Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April and who “repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions.”  Leavitt reiterated that Trump expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago decades ago “for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre,” and dismissed the latest revelations as “bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments.”

The latest disclosures come as lawmakers continue pressing for full transparency on Epstein’s ties to powerful figures. The House’s return to session this week could advance a bipartisan push to force the Justice Department to release the complete Epstein files.  Trump has not personally commented on the newly released emails.

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More than 1,200 flights were canceled across the U.S. on Tuesday as the impact of the ongoing government shutdown rippled through the nation’s air travel system, despite the Senate having approved a bipartisan measure aimed at ending the impasse.

According to FlightAware, cancellations affected about 6% of flights at 40 of the country’s busiest airports on Tuesday, including hubs in Chicago, New York, Washington, Atlanta, and Dallas-Fort Worth. Another 2,000 flights faced delays, with United Airlines publishing a lengthy list of affected routes stretching from early morning through late evening.

The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered airlines to cut flights incrementally—6% this week, with reductions rising to 8% on Thursday and potentially 10% by Friday—to ease pressure on the national airspace system. The agency’s move comes as both air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration employees have now worked more than six weeks without pay.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA’s decision to reduce flight operations was a direct response to safety concerns and staffing shortages, as thousands of air traffic controllers continued working without pay. “Safety data was going in the wrong direction,” Duffy said, noting increases in runway incursions, pilot complaints, and instances of aircraft flying too close together.

Although the Senate’s late Monday vote signaled potential relief, the measure still requires passage in the House and President Donald Trump’s signature to reopen the government fully. Duffy said he hoped the agreement would be finalized soon, allowing air travel to normalize, but warned that recovery would not be immediate. “Flight restrictions will be reduced or removed when the data says we should.”  He added that the shutdown had already led most controllers to miss a second paycheck, leaving many struggling to cover basic expenses. Once the government reopens, Duffy said that controllers should receive about 70% of their owed pay within 48 hours in a lump-sum payment. “They’ll get a good lump sum of what they’re due, which is helpful. They don’t have to wait another two weeks to be paid,” he said.

Airlines, meanwhile, have pledged to increase flexibility for passengers and expedite refunds for canceled flights. Duffy emphasized that “stringent requirements” for refunds have been suspended, ensuring travelers are reimbursed for grounded flights.  Officials caution that even if the shutdown ends this week, it could take time for the aviation system to fully stabilize. “For anyone to say that we did too much, they are sorely mistaken,” Duffy said. “We’ll continue to manage through this crisis.”

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President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a $5 million civil judgment that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.

The petition seeks to undo a 2023 federal jury verdict that concluded Trump sexually abused Carroll during a mid-1990s encounter in a Manhattan department store and later defamed her by dismissing her allegations as a “hoax” and a “con job.” Trump’s lawyers argue the trial was fundamentally flawed, claiming U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan made several evidentiary errors that unfairly influenced the jury.

Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll’s claims, which first became public in 2019 when she published excerpts of her book in New York Magazine. The jury found that while Trump did not commit rape under New York law, the evidence showed he sexually abused Carroll.

Trump’s legal team wrote in the filing that “there were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, and no police report or investigation,” calling Carroll’s allegations “facially implausible, politically motivated.” They further contend that “Carroll waited more than 20 years to falsely accuse Donald Trump, who she politically opposes, until after he became the 45th president, when she could maximize political injury to him and profit for herself.”

Trump has long vowed to fight the case “all the way” to the nation’s highest court after multiple defeats in lower courts. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in December 2024, ruling that Kaplan had not “abused his discretion” in allowing testimony from two other women — Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff — who accused Trump of sexual misconduct. The court also denied Trump’s request for a full en banc rehearing in June.

A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said, “The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes. President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again.”

Carroll’s attorney has not commented on the Supreme Court filing. Her legal team has previously noted that while a nonprofit linked to a Democratic donor helped fund parts of her case, Carroll herself played no role in securing those funds, and the support came nearly a year after she filed her initial lawsuit.

The Supreme Court has not yet indicated whether it will hear the case. Trump is also appealing a separate $83 million defamation verdict awarded to Carroll in January 2024 for additional statements he made about her after the first trial. Combined, the two jury awards total more than $88 million.

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President Donald Trump has issued broad pardons to several key allies, including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, as well as dozens of others accused of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

The pardons were first reported by Politico’s Kyle Cheney, who cited a social media post from Ed Martin, the Justice Department’s pardon attorney.  The pardons, described as “full, complete, and unconditional,” was later confirmed by the White House.  The sweeping move follows earlier mass pardons of those convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

More than 70 individuals — among them former Trump advisers, attorneys, and self-described alternate electors who falsely claimed to represent Trump in states won by Joe Biden – were listed in the proclamation, which declares that the pardons “end a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 Presidential Election and continue the process of national reconciliation.” It explicitly states, however, that the pardon does not apply to Trump himself, sidestepping questions over whether a president can pardon his own actions.

Among those granted clemency are Giuliani, Trump’s former personal attorney; Meadows, his onetime White House chief of staff; Sidney Powell, John Eastman, and Jeffrey Clark — figures central to efforts to challenge Biden’s victory. Also included are Republicans who signed documents falsely asserting they were legitimate presidential electors in battleground states such as Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin.

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and one of Trump’s most outspoken defenders, was a central figure in promoting false claims of election fraud. He has since been disbarred in both New York and Washington, D.C., and lost a $148 million defamation suit filed by two Georgia election workers targeted by his conspiracy theories. A spokesperson for Giuliani, Ted Goodman, said, “Mayor Giuliani never sought a pardon but is deeply grateful for President Trump’s decision,” adding that Giuliani “stands by his work following the 2020 presidential election.”

Eastman, a former law professor and legal adviser to Trump, authored a memo outlining a plan for then–Vice President Mike Pence to reject certified electoral votes during the congressional session on January 6. Powell, Jenna Ellis, and attorney Kenneth Chesebro — all of whom helped craft or promote strategies to contest the election — were also among those pardoned. Powell, Ellis, and Chesebro previously pleaded guilty in Georgia’s state case over efforts to overturn the election.  In addition, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, another recipient, was accused of pushing to send false letters to states claiming the department had found evidence of election irregularities.

In a statement Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “These great Americans were persecuted and put through hell by the Biden Administration for challenging an election, which is the cornerstone of democracy.”

Trump himself had faced federal charges over his alleged role in a scheme to block the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 loss. That indictment, led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, accused him of spreading “lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won.” The case was dropped in November following Trump’s return to the White House, in line with Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

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