Unless a funding bill is passed today, the government shutdown will begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. NBC News investigations help families learn what happened to their loved ones. And it’s a new dawn for the “Laughter of the NFL.”
Here’s what you need to know today.
Congress scrambles to avoid shutdown as Trump and Musk disrupt funding battle
Congress must pass a spending bill by midnight to avoid a pre-holiday shutdown. Whether that will happen remains to be determined.
The House of Representatives rejected the bill yesterday by a vote of 174 to 235, well short of the required two-thirds majority, sending lawmakers back to negotiations.
Yesterday’s 116-page bill came in vocal opposition to the 1,500-page bipartisan bill announced earlier this week, with President-elect Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk posing an unexpected challenge to negotiations. It was created in a hurry in response to this. The new bill, supported by Trump and Musk, would fund the government through March 14 and extend the nation’s debt ceiling until January 30, 2027. “That would be the ‘smartest thing’ (Congress) could do,” he said in a phone interview with NBC News. The bill also included millions of dollars in disaster relief and an extension of the Farm Bill, but lacked provisions from the previous bill, such as a cost-of-living increase for lawmakers.
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“We’ll see,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said when asked by reporters last night if a new funding bill would be announced today. Meanwhile, House Democrats plan to meet this morning, according to an invitation obtained by NBC News.
Even if the deal passes the House, the Senate must pass it by the shutdown deadline and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk.
In any case, this week’s negotiations over a budget deal cemented a new political truth. Mr. Biden’s complete silence about the negotiations allowed Mr. Trump to position himself as the country’s second president. Mr. Johnson’s position as chairman depends on whether he can satisfy Mr. Trump. And Musk’s role as the power and money for the new Trump administration is no longer just a hypothesis.
Read the full story here and follow our live blog for the latest updates.
More coverage of government closures
President Trump reconsiders firing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sources say
A meeting between President-elect Trump and Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, may have delayed the president’s plans to fire Brown, two people familiar with the conversation said. . The two had a one-on-one conversation during last weekend’s Army-Navy football game, with Brown congratulating Trump on his victory and making it clear he was ready to work with the president.
Mr. Trump and his allies have for months vowed to immediately fire U.S. military leaders they deem to be too focused on diversity efforts, often citing Mr. Brown in particular. But several Republican lawmakers and retired generals have argued that firing Brown would be destabilizing, especially as Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, is fighting for confirmation. They have asked Trump not to fire him, citing concerns that it could send the wrong message to those involved. After the meeting, President Trump “changed his tone” toward Brown, two people familiar with the matter said.
How an NBC News investigation helped a family find answers
Some said they knew their loved one had died, but did not know what happened to their bodies. For others, after years of searching, it was discovered that their relatives had spent their final hours alone, with no one to call for help. Almost all said that if they had known, they would have honored the deceased at the funeral.
Instead, these mothers, fathers, sons and daughters were outraged to learn that their relatives’ bodies had been provided to the University of North Texas Health Science Center for research and autopsy, a year-long NBC News investigation found. It turns out. Nearly a dozen of these families received the hard, gruesome truth not from coroners, hospitals or police officers, but from NBC News and Noticias Telemundo. Among them are six people who found their relatives’ names on a list published by news organizations in October.
Among the dead was Denzil “Dale” Leggett, a man with a warm demeanor and dry sense of humor but an intensely private person who avoided most social gatherings. He said he was avoiding it. When Leggett passed away in May 2023, his family was not notified, but his younger brother was stunned to find his brother’s name on the NBCNews.com list.
One of the reasons Dale was so private was his deep distrust of government and the medical industry.
Read more of their stories.
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Luigi Mangione, the suspect charged in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been extradited to New York to face new federal charges. US officials arrived in Damascus on the first diplomatic mission to the Syrian capital since the fall of dictator Bashar al-Al. Asad. After Oklahoma carried out its last execution this year, opponents of the death penalty are focused on whether President Joe Biden will commute the sentence. Big Lots, the discount furniture and home decor retailer, will begin a going-out-of-business sale at its remaining stores after a deal to find a buyer collapsed. A major report released this week added to the confusion. The answer to the question: Is moderate alcohol consumption good for your health or dangerous?
Staff Pick: The NFL’s ‘Laughter’ suddenly started winning.
If you’re a young fan of Washington’s NFL franchise, you may not have had a pleasant experience. Since previous owner Dan Snyder took over in 1999, the team has had more name changes (three) than playoff wins (two). There are 27 different starting quarterbacks and 10 different head coaches. But in 2023, with the addition of a new ownership group, general manager, coach and signal caller, the team’s fortunes began to change. The coaches are 9-5 this season, their best start since 1992, and a berth in the postseason. Fans like actor Jeffrey Wright are finally reaping the benefits. The Golden Globe winner called Jaden Daniels’ Hail Mary touchdown earlier this season “a stamp that marks the beginning of a new era.” — Greg Rosenstein, Sports Editor
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