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Right now’s prime tales
The Senate voted in a single day to fund a lot of the Division of Homeland Safety, which may probably finish a 42-day standoff over immigration enforcement techniques. The deal does not embrace funding for the company’s primary immigration enforcement operations nor any adjustments like banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from carrying masks. The partial authorities shutdown has pressured tens of hundreds of staff, together with Transportation Safety brokers, to work with out pay or give up. Now, the laws heads to the Home for a vote.
Senate Majority Chief Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. spoke to reporters on Tuesday throughout a information briefing following a weekly Senate Republican Coverage Luncheon on the Capitol.
Alex Wong/Getty Photographs North America
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Alex Wong/Getty Photographs North America
- 🎧 The funding deal consists of TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and cybersecurity, however Democrats have stood agency on refusing to fund ICE and border management, NPR’s Sam Gringlas tells Up First. Democrats’ goal with this partial shutdown was to push for adjustments in immigration enforcement techniques. Some Democrats consider they may lose their negotiating energy as soon as DHS receives funding. Regardless of the Senate’s refusal to allocate funds for ICE and Customs and Border Safety, Republicans had already secured $75 billion for ICE final summer time, which means the company is comparatively insulated from any ongoing funding disruption.
President Trump introduced yesterday that he’s delaying the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy crops. On Fact Social, he says ongoing talks with Iran prompted this second extension, which now pushes the deadline to April 6.
- 🎧 Iranians supplied to permit some oil tankers to move by the essential Strait and Trump is decoding this as a significant signal of progress, NPR’s Tamara Keith says. Iran has downplayed the talks, which has Pakistan appearing because the go-between. Throughout a cupboard assembly yesterday, Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, shared that the U.S. has crafted a 15-point motion plan that might function the inspiration for a peace settlement. Iran has its personal set of calls for. Keith says the 2 plans do not look like shut.
The Conservative Political Motion Convention, or CPAC, is going on this week in Dallas, with members of the Republican devoted gathering for the occasion. The annual convention often showcases among the greatest names within the MAGA motion, however this yr Trump is just not in attendance. The occasion comes because the U.S. continues its strikes in opposition to Iran after almost a month, which has divided the president’s traditionally loyal base.
- 🎧 Most CPAC attendees are die-hard Trump supporters, NPR’s Elena Moore says. Whereas there are actually vocal conservative critics, like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, on the occasion, even these with reservations are displaying willingness to provide the president an opportunity. Andrew Belcher, a Miami College pupil in Ohio, informed Moore he believes Trump is higher geared up than earlier presidents to deal with the warfare with Iran. Nevertheless, Belcher acknowledges there are political dangers concerned if Trump’s efforts with the warfare fail and will result in catastrophe for his presidency.
Welcome to NPR’s Newsmakers
NPR’s Newsmakers is a brand new video podcast and cross-platform present bringing audiences in-depth conversations with an important voices of the second.
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Go nose to nose with the particular person of the second. NPR’s Newsmakers brings the most important names in politics, enterprise, sports activities, arts, and tradition out of the headlines and into the interview chair to debate the mark they’re making on the world.
For the premiere of our Newsmakers video podcast, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore spoke with NPR’s Steve Inskeep on the Maryland State Home. Throughout the dialog, Moore mentioned the Iran warfare, his ideas on pardon energy and what his political future holds. The premiere Newsmakers episode will likely be accessible later right this moment.
Comply with the Newsmakers podcast or subscribe to NPR’s YouTube channel to get new episodes as quickly as they’re accessible.
Weekend picks
Samara Weaving in Prepared or Not 2: Right here I Come.
Pief Weyman/Searchlight Footage
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Pief Weyman/Searchlight Footage
Take a look at what NPR is watching, studying and listening to this weekend:
🍿 Films: Prepared or Not 2: Right here I Come continues straight from the place the primary movie ended, however this time with much more lore, gore and stars like Elijah Wooden and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
📺 TV: The brand new sequence Bait focuses on Shah, a struggling British Pakistani actor. After he lands an audition to be the subsequent James Bond, Shah’s life begins to resemble Bond’s, besides he’s chasing acceptance as an alternative of a villain.
📚 Books: In The Most Fantastic Horrible Particular person: A Memoir of Homicide within the Golden State, Debra Miller displays on her traumatic childhood and its lingering results after her mom, Lucille Miller, was convicted of killing her husband in 1965.
🎵 Music: Flea, the bassist of the Pink Sizzling Chili Peppers, has launched his debut solo album, Honora. The brand new physique of labor showcases the musician’s love for jazz.
❓ Quiz: Take a look at how effectively you recognize AI, Washington landmarks, and TSA wait occasions with this quiz.
3 issues to know earlier than you go
Employees react to the media after updating signage outdoors the Kennedy Middle on Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Photographs
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Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Photographs
- Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio is asking a federal courtroom to power Trump and the Kennedy Middle board and workers to revert the humanities advanced’s title to “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” from “The Trump-Kennedy Center.”
- The Kennedy Middle says Invoice Maher will obtain the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The information ends confusion over whether or not he would obtain the award after White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to as it “fake news.”
- The Worldwide Olympic Committee introduced yesterday that it is banning transgender athletes, based mostly on the outcomes of necessary genetic screening, from competing in girls’s occasions.
This text was edited by Yvonne Dennis.
