News

The Hill reports: The partial shutdown will drag into next week after the Senate adjourned on Saturday without taking action to end the funding lapse and reopen the federal government. The chamber will next meet for a pro forma session on Monday morning, then will reconvene after Christmas on Thursday, Dec. 27, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced. The …

CBS News reports: Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales, Inc., is recalling more than 164,000 pounds of raw ground turkey products over possible salmonella, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Friday. The items that might be contaminated were shipped across the U.S. and produced on two days: October 22 and 23. “The products subject to recall bear …

The Hill reports: Vice President Pence, incoming White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House adviser Jared Kushner met with Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) on Friday afternoon in a last-ditch effort to avoid a partial government shutdown. Funding for 25 percent of the federal government is due to expire at the end of Friday absent a …

CNN reports: Incoming White House acting-chief of staff Mick Mulvaney once called President Donald Trump’s views on a border wall and immigration “simplistic” and “absurd and almost childish.” A physical barrier would not stop undocumented immigrants from crossing the Mexican border and ranchers at the border say they don’t need a fence, Mulvaney said in a 2015 interview uncovered by …

The Hill reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is calling for hearings on President Trump’s plans to withdraw troops from Syria and possibly Afghanistan. Graham has been a staunch Trump defender but broke with him over the Syria decision, saying it would spark “chaos” and likening it to former President Obama’s decision to …

Charlotte’s NPR affiliate reports: Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill that would’ve required a new primary election in the 9th District Friday, saying it would make it harder to root out corruption in elections and campaigns. The elections bill, House Bill 1029, aimed to restore the governor’s control of the state elections board, an action Cooper was pleased by, but …

ABC News reports: Senate Republicans quickly rejected President Trump’s push that they go “nuclear” and change Senate rules to eliminate the legislative filibuster in order to pass a funding bill with $5 billion for his wall on the Mexican border. “I’ve long said that eliminating the legislative filibuster would be a mistake,” said outgoing Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) …

Bloomberg reports: As Nikki Haley finishes her tenure this month, the woman who has spent the last two years representing the U.S. at the United Nations has a question for the American public: Should the U.S. remain a member? “The American people need to decide if it’s worth it,” she said in an interview with a small group of journalists …

The Hill reports: “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade on Friday said President Trump had “re-founded ISIS” and was giving Russia “a big win” with his decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria. Kilmeade made the remarks during an interview with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “He also is doing exactly what he criticized President Obama for doing. …

CBS Los Angeles reports: A portion of the 134 Freeway between Glendale and Pasadena is now officially named the President Barack H. Obama Highway. Caltrans crews have installed signs renaming the busy stretch of the 134 Freeway. Obama attended Occidental College from 1979 to 1981 and lived in Pasadena during his sophomore year. State Senator Anthony J. Portantino, who co-authored …

NBC News reports: The House voted Thursday to advance a spending bill with money for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, further muddying the scramble to dodge a partial government shutdown by Friday. The chamber approved the measure in a 221-179 vote. It suggests the House can pass the short-term spending legislation in an expected vote later Thursday night. But …

Bloomberg News reports: Democrats will hold at least a dozen presidential primary debates starting in June 2019 and running through April 2020, with party Chairman Tom Perez promising rules that will give everyone in a potentially large field a fair shot at voters’ attention. Making public his first in a series of decisions over the 2020 debate calendar, Perez said …

TechCrunch report: After a long year fighting underage use of its products, Juul Labs has today struck a deal with Altria Group, the owners of Philip Morris USA and makers of Marlboro cigarettes. The deal values Juul at $38 billion, according to Bloomberg, and injects the company with a fresh $12.8 billion in exchange for a 35 percent stake in …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. population grew in the past year at its slowest rate in over eight decades, with growth in the South and West continuing to outpace the Northeast and Midwest, according to figures the Census Bureau released Wednesday. The numbers, which cover the year ended July 1, show the country’s population rose by 0.6% to …

The New York Daily News reports: Barack Obama has already tackled the second-hardest job in the world as U.S. President, but on Wednesday he donned the hat of the busiest guy in the world — Santa Claus. Hauling a festively colored bag, Obama, 57, made a surprise visit to Children’s National hospital in Washington to distribute gifts — remote-control cars, …

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration is setting out to do what this year’s farm bill didn’t: tighten work requirements for millions of Americans who receive federal food assistance. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday is proposing a rule that would restrict the ability of states to exempt work-eligible adults from having to obtain steady employment to receive …

Mediaite reports: Co-host Brian Kilmeade did not hold back in criticizing the Commander in Chief’s stunning announcement via Twitter plans to withdrawal 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, saying it was “stunning and irresponsible” and blindsided Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. As many commentators have pointed out, in no way has ISIS been “defeated” in Syria — contrary to what is …

The BBC reports: A drone attack at one of the UK’s busiest airports has left tens of thousands of passengers facing major disruption. Gatwick’s runway has been shut since Wednesday night, when two devices were seen flying over the perimeter fence. The airport said a drone had been spotted “in the last hour” and the runway would not open “until …

AM New York reports: More than two dozen people with criminal records for misdemeanor marijuana possession received new leases on life Wednesday as the Brooklyn district attorney moved to erase the cumbersome convictions. District Attorney Eric Gonzalez agreed to vacate 28 convictions in court Wednesday morning as well as 1,422 outstanding warrants related to misdemeanor marijuana possession cases, which he …

The San Antonio Express News reports: A yard sign displaying two of President Donald Trump’s oft-used phrases, “Fake News,” and “#MAGA” — with an arrow pointing to the marquee of the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio — was removed Tuesday morning from the Campus of the San Antonio Jewish Community, officials said. The sign was placed so its arrow …