Tuesday, February 3 | By Cate Martel |
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It's Tuesday. It's finally above freezing in the DMV. 🙌 Be gone, pesky snowcrete! |
House moves closer to reopening government Speaker Johnson corrals GOP votes Trump denies backtracking on Harvard threat Search for Savannah Guthrie's mom intensifies Disney announces next CEO NASA mission delayed after rehearsal New Olympic sport debuts in Milan
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Shall we turn those lights back on?: |
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite |
The partial government shutdown may end this afternoon when the House votes on whether to fund the government. The vote will be a big loyalty test for House Republicans. Conservatives are angry the Senate made changes to the bill. However, President Trump is pressuring them to drop their demands and vote to turn the lights back on. The House has teed up the final vote after narrowly clearing a procedural hurdle just now in a party-line vote. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had told NBC News this morning that he had the votes to adopt the procedural rule. More on that procedural hurdle: Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.) was the lone GOP "no" vote after Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) flipped at the last minute to support it. All 214 House Democrats voted against advancing the funding package. GOP leaders kept the vote open while huddling with holdouts, per The Hill's Emily Brooks. There will now be one hour of debate before the final vote to reopen the government.
💬 for breaking updates as this evolves. Who's trying to sink today's funding package?: Conservative Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). They're unhappy about the compromise that leaves Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding in limbo after mid-February. But even if the four-day shutdown ends (and that's still a big 'if'): The real test will happen over the next 10 days. This package funds the rest of the federal government through September, except for DHS, which is only funded through Feb. 13. That's where negotiations get tricky for Democrats. If no deal is reached over the next 10 days, DHS would run out of funding. Notably, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) got tens of billions of dollars in funding in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, which could keep it running for months. Interesting read on DHS spending, via The Wall Street Journal: 'How DHS Spent $35 Billion Since Trump Retook Office' |
➤ HAPPENING ON CAPITOL HILL: |
Top Democrats will host a forum on DHS's immigration tactics at 3 p.m. The brothers of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE officer last month, will be speaking. 💻 Livestream |
Bill and Hillary Clinton's noon contempt deadline: |
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer's (R-Ky.) noon deadline for former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has passed. They are required to either clarify their deposition terms in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation or face contempt charges. What has happened since the deadline passed?: Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, says the Clintons have offered to appear for depositions on Feb. 26 and 27, per Punchbowl's Melanie Zanona, who notes we are still waiting to see if Comer accepts those terms. Timing: "The deadline comes after the Clintons reversed course at the last minute as the House prepared to bring contempt of Congress resolutions to the House floor for a vote this week. The Clintons' lawyers sent an email Monday night saying the two would agree to the Republicans' terms." Read more on how we got here |
➤ AND WITH THAT, HOUSE REPUBLICANS' MARGIN SHRINKS TO ONE: |
Rep. Christian Menefee (D-Texas) was sworn in on Monday after winning the special election runoff last week to succeed the late Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas). That means Speaker Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican vote when passing legislation. |
The New York Times reported on Monday that President Trump dropped his demand for a $200 million settlement from Harvard University to resolve their issues. Well, a few hours later, Trump denied that he had backed off and then made new threats against the university, including demanding $1 billion "in damages." Trump now argues the Harvard investigation should be criminal, not civil. "Strongly Antisemitic Harvard University has been feeding a lot of 'nonsense' to The Failing New York Times," Trump posted, adding, "We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University." 🔎 Read Trump's full post |
➤ HAPPENING AT THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY: |
Trump is meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro to discuss Venezuela and the flow of drugs. Oh, and later this afternoon, Trump is participating in "Signing Time." Every time I see this on the calendar, I get Semisonic's "Closing Time" stuck in my head. |
I have a pit in my stomach over this: |
Pima County Sheriff's Department via AP/Steven Hirsch/New York Post, AP, Pool |
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie, is missing. Investigators believe she has been abducted from her home in Tucson, Ariz. Why investigators believe she was abducted: The sheriff said law enforcement found a "very concerning" scene at her house. However, they did not elaborate on what that meant. Could she have wandered off?: Her family has stressed she does not have any cognitive issues or dementia. She does have physical limitations, and the sheriff said she cannot walk more than 50 yards by herself. Another scary layer to this: Nancy Guthrie needs to take a daily medication. If she misses it, "it could be fatal," the sheriff said. When was she last seen?: She was last seen Saturday around 9 p.m. when her family brought her home after dinner. She did not show up at church on Sunday morning. How is Savannah Guthrie doing?: She is asking for prayers to bring her mother home. Guthrie was set to fly to Italy for NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics until she got "the worst phone call of her life," per CNN. Instead, she flew to Arizona to help with the search. She has not been on air for the "Today" show. |
The New York Times: In Trump's Fraud Crackdown, Political Foes Face Harshest Scrutiny The Atlantic: The Longevity Influencer Who Went Into 'Withdrawal' Without Jeffrey Epstein The Washington Post: Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon Politico: Congress is about to overhaul the drug market. Consumers may never feel it. The Wall Street Journal: Mikaela Shiffrin Is Skiing's GOAT. Can She Get Her Olympic Revenge? |
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The House and Senate are in. President Trump is at the White House. (All times EST) |
12:30 p.m. Senators meet for weekly caucus meetings.📆 Today's agenda 1 p.m. Last House votes for the day. 📆 Today's agenda 2 p.m. Trump participates in "Signing Time." 2:30 p.m. The Netflix CEO testifies on the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. 💻 Livestream 2:15 p.m. Two judicial confirmation votes in the Senate. 2 p.m. Friday: The 2026 Winter Olympics' opening ceremony! How to watch |
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🥕 Celebrate: Today is National Carrot Cake Day! ⛷️ A new sport at the Winter Olympics: Ski mountaineering, or "skimo," is making its debut at the 2026 Winter Olympics. It's basically skiing without a chairlift, racing up the hill and then back down. Read Time magazine's explainer 🍗 Hope you like country-fried steak, gravy and biscuits: Cracker Barrel is now requiring its employees on work trips to exclusively eat at Cracker Barrel, per The Wall Street Journal. |
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