Congress passes a short-term funding bill with just hours left to avoid a government shutdown. And Japan looks to be the next country to land on the lunar surface with its ‘moon sniper’ explorer. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Friday, Jan. 19.
Congress passes short-term funding bill to avert government shutdown
With just hours to go before Friday’s Jan. 19 deadline, Congress passed a short-term funding bill to avert a partial government shutdown, at least for a few more weeks. The bill now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed.
By a vote of 314-108, the House passed the stopgap measure on Thursday, Jan. 18, following the Senate’s 77-18 vote, extending current spending levels as four government funding bills were set to expire at midnight on Friday, Jan. 19. Funding for those operations now extends to March 1. The other government agencies, set to run out of funding on Feb. 2, will now receive funds through March 8.
Some House Republicans met with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., earlier on Thursday, Jan. 18, to add a border security measure to the stopgap bill, but that did not come to be. Last week, Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed on overall spending levels of $1.66 trillion, with $866 billion for defense and $772.7 billion for non-defense spending. However, Johnson is experiencing opposition about the deal from within his party.
The White House said the president will sign the stopgap bill, the third short-term spending deal Congress has passed since September.
Hunter Biden agrees to deposition with Republicans behind closed doors
The House Oversight Committee has announced that the president’s son, Hunter Biden, will appear in front of Republicans for a private deposition next month. Confirmed by his legal team, Biden is slated to testify behind closed doors on Feb. 28, ending a months-long back and forth with House Republicans.
In December, Hunter Biden defied a subpoena to testify in private, which kickstarted a resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress that has since been called off. Republicans view Hunter Biden as a key witness in their investigation into President Joe Biden, alleging he profited off of his family’s foreign business dealings during his tenure as vice president during the Obama administration. Republicans have not been able to show any proof of their claim to this point.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters that the president’s son will be able to testify publicly sometime after the private deposition.
Former President Trump urges Supreme Court to keep his name on ballots
Following Colorado’s first-of-its-kind ruling to ban Trump’s name from the state’s ballot for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which led to the deadly Jan. 6 capitol riot, Trump’s lawyers are urging the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling. First, Colorado took Trump’s name off the ballot, and then Maine followed suit.
With more states looking into similar matters, Trump’s legal time submitted a filing to the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear arguments from both sides on Feb. 8. With the 2024 presidential election looming and Super Tuesday in March just around the corner, the pressure for a decision is palpable.
Trump’s attorney’s writing that efforts to bar the GOP’s top presidential candidate from ballots “threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and which promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado’s lead and exclude the likely Republican presidential nominee from their ballots.”
Now, American voters eagerly await a decision by SCOTUS. The 1872 14th amendment clause, which Colorado’s high court used to bar Trump from the ballot, is a Civil War provision that states that anyone who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it is no longer eligible to hold state or federal public office.
Trump’s attorneys contend that Trump did not engage in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Netanyahu rejects calls for a Palestinian state post-war
In a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 18, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he objects to the idea of the establishment of a Palestinian state after the war ends with Hamas, striking an opposing tone to President Biden, who has called for a two-state solution.
Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have urged Netanyahu to seek a resolution where a revitalized Palestinian Authority would run Gaza once Hamas is defeated. In a nationally televised press conference, Netanyahu said that as prime minister, he needs to be able to say no, “even to our best friends.”
“The state of Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River; that’s a necessary condition; it clashes with the principle of sovereignty; what can you do?” Netanyahu said. “I tell this truth to our American friends, and I also stopped the attempt to impose a reality on us that would harm Israel’s security.”
Netanyahu’s remarks sparked an immediate response from the White House. National Security spokesman John Kirby said, “We obviously see it differently.”
The back-and-forth shows the growing rift between the two allies, as the U.S. suggested earlier this week it’s the right time for Israel to scale back its fighting after 100 days. In his remarks, Netanyahu vowed to continue Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas and bringing all the remaining hostages home. The prime minister said Israel will not stop short of an “absolute victory.”
Macy’s cutting 2,350 jobs, closing 5 stores
Macy’s is cutting 2,350 with the largest department store chain in the country, looking to streamline its operations under a new CEO. The layoffs make up about 3.5% of Macy’s overall workforce.
In a memo sent to employees on Thursday, Jan. 18, the company said it wants to add more automation to its supply chain and will outsource some positions. In addition to the cuts, Macy’s will shut down five stores this year. The company currently operates more than 560 locations. Tony Spring, who formerly ran the company’s Bloomingdale business, will take over as CEO next month.
Japan attempts ‘pinpoint landing’ on the moon
Japan has its sights set on the moon as the country attempts to land its “moon sniper” explorer on the lunar surface on Friday, Jan. 19. If Japan’s first moon landing is successful, it will be the fifth country to pull off such a feat.
The “Smart Lander for Investigating Moon,” or Slim, was launched in September and uses “pinpoint landing” technology to reach within 328 feet of its specified target on the moon. The landing is scheduled for Friday morning, Jan. 19.
Meanwhile, a spacecraft that was intended to be the first lunar lander by a U.S. private company returned to Earth on Thursday, Jan. 18, burning up upon entering the planet’s atmosphere. A fuel leak doomed the U.S. lander’s journey early on. Another NASA-backed commercial moon mission is set to launch next month.