Government Shutdown Imminent: Trump-Endorsed Plan Fails In US House
Plus, more than 50 men convicted in horrifying rape trial in France and first severe human case of bird flu in U.S.
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📌 GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WATCH: HOUSE VOTES NO ON TRUMP-BACKED SPENDING MEASURE
The holiday drama is beginning early for Congress. House Republicans failed to pass a new spending proposal to keep the government open. The vote came 24 hours after President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk derailed the original deal that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) negotiated with Democrats. Congress has until midnight tonight to pass a bill, or bring on a government shutdown.
On Thursday night, nearly all Democrats and 38 Republicans voted against the new GOP proposal, which leaders put together on Thursday in an attempt to appease Trump’s demands for less spending and an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit. The president-elect called the new plan a “very good Deal for the American People.”
Democrats were frustrated that the original carefully-negotiated bill was blown up, and some conservative Republicans took issue with the bill’s inclusion of a two-year debt limit suspension, which Trump specifically pushed for. The debt ceiling is the borrowing limit the government sets for itself – something conservative fiscal hawks do not support eliminating.
Democrats called the new proposal “laughable” before the vote, and are now calling on lawmakers to shift focus back to the original bill.
HOW THE ORIGINAL DEAL DIED
On Wednesday, a carefully negotiated 1,500+ page bipartisan deal House Republicans and Democrats agreed to was on the verge of a vote. The stopgap spending plan was aimed to keep the government running until March 14.
What happened? Trump and Musk swooped in at the 11th hour to convince Republicans to oppose the measure, saying it got too bloated with Democrats’ agenda items.
Throughout Wednesday, Musk posted on X to “Kill the Bill” and even threatened Congress by saying, “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!”
Later, Trump and Vance chimed in with a joint statement urging a slimmed-down spending bill “WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS.”
Some Congress members expressed confusion as to why Speaker Mike Johnson didn’t clear the original deal with the president-elect. Now Johnson’s job may be on the line, as Republicans (who have a very narrow majority) are set to vote on the next Speaker in two weeks.
THE ORIGINAL DEAL
The original spending bill was 1,547 pages long and was criticized as being a “Christmas tree” package, loaded with unrelated policy measures. The proposal maintained current government funding levels, while adding more than $100 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion in aid for farmers.
It also included health care reforms, funding to rebuild the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, a deal to help the Washington NFL team get a new stadium, and Congress members’ first pay raise in 15 years, among many other measures.
End-of-year spending bills have long become magnets for last-minute add-ons, as lawmakers rush to pass their final priorities before deadlines. But with a new administration looming, the move drew fierce criticism from hard-line Republicans.
The GOP is now pushing for a “clean,” short-term spending plan that is stripped of Democrats’ additions. (Their latest proposal was just 116 pages long.) This would essentially punt policy items to a later date in March, when Republicans control both chambers of Congress.
WHAT A SHUTDOWN LOOKS LIKE
If Congress fails to extend government funding by the midnight deadline, hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be told not to work – and may not get paid over the holidays. Essential workers would still need to report to their jobs, but many U.S. government services would be disrupted or shut down.
National parks and monuments would likely be closed to the public.
Roughly 2 million U.S. military personnel would remain at their stations, but another 800,000 civilian employees working at the Pentagon would be ordered not to work.
One Mo News community member who was formerly a federal contractor said, “I’ve been out of work – largely because the companies who would hire me are having to put hiring on hold because of this nonsense…We are real people suffering under the weight of this BS political tit for tat.”
What won’t shut down: The mail will still be delivered because the U.S. Postal Service does not depend on Congress for funding.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and nutrition programs would continue.
TSA agents and air-traffic-control workers will be required to work – though without pay. TSA is warning that the shutdown could cause delays at airports over the holidays. During the last major shutdown, TSA agents and air traffic controllers stopped going to work—leading to major delays that pushed Congress to resolve the shutdown.
📌 DOZENS OF MEN SENTENCED IN MASS RAPE TRIAL THAT HAS SHOCKED THE WORLD
A gruesome and widely publicized rape trial in France has come to a close after months: Dominique Pelicot, 72, was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison after admitting to drugging his then-wife, Gisèle Pelicot, 72, for nearly a decade and inviting strangers he met online to assault her.
The case also convicted 50 co-defendants – who ranged in age from 26 to 74, and included a journalist, soldiers, and firefighters – charged with raping and assaulting Gisèle. They were handed sentences from three to 15 years.
INSIDE THE CASE
Dominique was arrested in late 2020 for trying to film under women’s skirts at a supermarket. Police seized his electronic devices and found thousands of video clips and photos of he and other men raping his wife in a digital folder labeled “abuse.”
Police used those images to identify and track down other perpetrators.
They are still looking for an additional 20 men that appeared in the videos.
Dominique later admitted to crushing sleeping pills into his wife’s food and drink before the assaults.
He was further convicted for raping another woman and for distributing illicit photos of Gisèle, their daughter, and two daughters-in-law.
Gisèle said she had no idea what was happening to her until she was approached by police. The couple had been married for about 50 years. However, she had been experiencing memory loss, blackouts, extreme fatigue, an inflamed cervix, and abdominal pain that neither she nor her doctors could explain.
PUBLIC OUTCRY
Gisèle waived her anonymity in order to make the trial public, and is being praised as a feminist icon. She also insisted that the videos of her rape were played on large screens in the court as evidence.
This 15-week trial, which began in September, exposed deep societal issues: 75% of women in France report not feeling like they are treated equally, a 2024 government study found.
Only about 15 of 50 convicted men have acknowledged guilt. Many will walk free due to time served, fueling public outrage.
📌 FIRST SEVERE HUMAN CASE OF BIRD FLU IN U.S.
A person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with bird flu (H5N1), marking the country’s first severe human infection.
The patient, who is over age 65 with underlying medical conditions, is in critical condition with severe respiratory illness.
The news comes as California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency “to prevent the spread of this virus.” California has become the epicenter of the outbreak, with more than 300 dairy herds testing positive in the last month.
MORE ON THE CASE
Officials believe the individual was exposed to the virus through contact with sick or dead birds in their backyard flock – the first time this has happened in the U.S.
The CDC is investigating the virus’s genome to determine whether it has developed mutations that could enable person-to-person transmission – and has said that risk “remains low at this time.”
So far, no such transmission has been documented, and most human cases globally have been mild, with symptoms like pink eye, coughing, and sneezing.
This year, 61 human cases of avian influenza have been reported worldwide.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 U.S. files murder charge against Mangione that could bring death penalty (FOX)
📌 Georgia appeals court disqualifies Fulton County DA Fani Willis from prosecuting Trump (CNN)
📌 Wisconsin school shooting victims named as teacher Erin West and student Rubi Vergara (NBC)
📌 FAA temporarily bans drones in parts of New Jersey, notice threatens 'deadly force' for 'imminent security threat' (ABC)
📌 Top aide to Eric Adams indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges (POLITICO)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Putin says he’s ‘ready’ for potential talks with Trump during year-end news conference (PBS)
📌 French President Emmanuel Macron met with anger from Mayotte residents, days after devastating cyclone (CNN)
📌 Swedish police to go aboard Chinese ship that was seen near Baltic cable ruptures (AP)
📌 Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen after missile attack (BBC)
📌 An Uzbek man is charged in Moscow with killing a Russian general in a bombing claimed by Ukraine (ABC)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Thousands of Amazon drivers have gone on strike in the thick of the holiday package season (CNN)
📌 Frito-Lay recalls Lay's Classic Potato Chips over undisclosed ingredient (CBS)
📌 You can now talk to OpenAI’s chatbot by dialing 1-800-ChatGPT (CNN)
📌 U.S. life expectancy rose significantly last year, hitting highest level since pandemic (NBC)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Prince William and Princess Kate's Christmas card features sweet photo with their kids (USA TODAY)
📌 Lizzo breaks silence and says she was 'blindsided' by sexual harassment lawsuit (PEOPLE)
📌 Ethan Slater’s ex-wife, Lilly Jay, writes about navigating divorce ‘in the shadow’ of his relationship with Ariana Grande (YAHOO)
📌 Meet the 12 teams of the College Football Playoff (CNN)
🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN WKND
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