Chapter 1: What updates are there on the U.S. government's funding situation?
Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder.
Chapter 2: What major steps are being taken to end the government shutdown?
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have taken a major step toward bringing the longest-running government shutdown in U.S. history to an end. The Senate tonight approved a stopgap measure that would reopen the government. Here's NPR's Sam Greenglass.
At the core is a resolution funding parts of the government through the end of January. The Senate has been voting on a version of that for weeks now. What's new is this stopgap is now paired with three full-year appropriations bills that would fund some agencies, including ones providing food assistance and services for veterans.
The package also has a provision to reverse the firings of federal employees during the shutdown. That same section would prevent more layoffs through January 30th. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has also promised a vote on expiring health insurance subsidies.
House Speaker Mike Johnson urging lawmakers to return to Washington, saying the House must vote as quickly as possible. to send the measure to President Trump's desk. President Trump says he wants to issue what he's calling $2,000 dividends from tariff revenue. But NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports the Treasury Secretary says there's no formal proposal yet.
President Trump on social media has twice in recent days suggested the payments for low- and middle-income people. However, on ABC's This Week on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said the money may not take the form of payments, but could simply include tax cuts already passed into law.
It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president's agenda. You know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, deductibility of auto loans.
NPR asked the White House for any specifics on a plan. An official not authorized to speak on the record said, quote, Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News.
President Trump's ability to levy tariffs is being challenged before the Supreme Court. The president says he wants to give Syria's new leader a chance to succeed, calling him a tough guy with a rough past. This comes after the U.S. and the U.N. lifted sanctions allowing his visit to the White House, as NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports.
Ahmed al-Sharah once set up an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, and last year he led the insurgents who toppled Bashar al-Assad. Now he's promising to work with the U.S. on counterterrorism, joining the International Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and Trump's Treasury Department is suspending U.S. sanctions. President Trump says you have to be tough in the Middle East, and he likes al-Sharah.
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