Deal to End Shutdown Hangs in Limbo

Speaker Mike Johnson
Reuters
By Yuval Rosenberg and Michael Rainey

Good evening. A couple of prognosticating rodents today predicted we'll have six more weeks of winter. We predict we'll have at least one more day of a partial government shutdown. And we don't need a groundhog to tell you that the Kennedy Center will definitely be shuttered for longer, as President Trump said Sunday that the performing arts center will close for two years of renovations starting in July. Trump's latest move to remake the center, which now also bears his name, follows a string of cancellations by artists who had been scheduled to appear there. Here's your evening update.

Deal to End Shutdown Hangs in House Limbo

The partial government shutdown that began on Saturday will continue until at least Tuesday - and possibly longer, depending on whether President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson can round up the necessary votes to pass a $1.2 trillion funding package modified by the Senate.

Trump pressures lawmakers: Trump made clear Monday afternoon that he wants House lawmakers to pass the bill.

"I am working hard with Speaker Johnson to get the current funding deal, which passed in the Senate last week, through the House and to my desk, where I will sign it into Law, IMMEDIATELY!" he wrote in a social media post. "We need to get the Government open, and I hope all Republicans and Democrats will join me in supporting this Bill, and send it to my desk WITHOUT DELAY. There can be NO CHANGES at this time. We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly - One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!"

Trump and Johnson will need GOP unity because the speaker is looking to pass the package, including five full-year funding bills and a two-week extension for the Department of Homeland Security, without having to rely on massive Democratic support. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries made clear to Johnson on Saturday that his members won't be lining up to back the deal cut by Senate Democrats and the White House. House Democrats are hesitant to help pass the package because it includes money for DHS but does not require major reforms to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics. The two-week funding extension is meant to buy time for further negotiations on Democratic demands.

Democratic and Republican divisions: Some House Democrats have said that they support the package, but Democratic opposition was sizable enough that it precluded Johnson from trying to pass the bill under a suspension of the rules, a process that requires a two-thirds majority.

Instead, Johnson will try to muscle the package through the normal process with help from President Trump, despite intense opposition from a group of conservative Republicans, some of whom are demanding changes of their own to the funding package. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida is leading a bloc of hardliners demanding that Johnson attach the SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, to the legislation.

"We all want the SAVE Act. We also look at the reality of the numbers here," Johnson reportedly said Monday afternoon. "But this is a funding package right now, and I don't think we need to be playing games with government funding. We still have winter storms. We've FEMA and TSA and troop pay and everything else wrapped into this. So we need to get the job done."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated that a bill that includes the SAVE Act wouldn't get through the Senate and would only lengthen the shutdown. "The SAVE Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise millions of Americans," Schumer wrote in a post on X. "Every single Senate Democrat will vote against any bill that contains it. Speaker Johnson should tell SAVE Act Republicans to stand down or else this shutdown will be on them."

Setting up the vote: The first procedural test began Monday at an afternoon hearing of the House Rules Committee, which will have to pass the rule governing consideration of the bill. If or when the funding package gets to the House floor, Johnson will have little room for GOP defections. Democrat Christian Menefee of Texas, who won a special election to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, is expected to be sworn in to his House seat on Monday night, leaving Republicans with a 218-214 majority. Johnson would not be able to lose more than one Republican on a party-line vote.

The next fight will be even harder: Longer-term funding for DHS will likely prove even more problematic. Johnson on Sunday rejected a Democratic demand that federal immigration agents be barred from wearing masks and required to wear identification. He also indicated he's opposed to a Democratic call for tighter requirements for judicial warrants for immigration enforcement.

The bottom line: It's not clear yet whether the funding package to reopen the government will pass on Tuesday, but one senator was confident it'll get done within days. "I think that by the end of the week, the House and the Senate will have passed 11 of the 12 appropriations bills," Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told CNN. "Now, it'll be a bumpy road for the House. It'll be a clown circus for a few days, but I think they'll ultimately pass."

Trump Unveils $12 Billion Mineral Stockpile

President Trump on Monday established the U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, a $12 billion stockpile of minerals that are essential components of a variety of high-tech products, including car batteries and weapons systems.

The effort, known as Project Vault, aims to reduce U.S. dependence on China, which dominates the supply of critical materials, including rare earths, and to stabilize prices for U.S. manufacturers. Currently, China controls about 70% of rare earth mining, and an even higher percentage of rare earth processing. During a trade dispute earlier this year, China used its control over the critical materials as leverage as it pushed back against U.S. demands.

The U.S. currently maintains a stockpile of critical minerals for the defense industry, Bloomberg reports, but this would be the first such reserve for civilian use. Multiple major corporations have agreed to participate, including General Motors, Boeing, GE Vernova and Alphabet. The stockpile will reportedly be funded by a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, along with a $1.67 billion investment of private capital, and will be managed by three commodities trading houses, which will arrange for purchases and allocations of materials.

The board of the Export-Import Bank approved the plan Monday. The $10 billion loan will be more than twice as large as any previous deal made by the federal agency.

Later this week, in another effort targeting China's dominance in rare earths, the White House has planned a summit with dozens of countries to discuss new mineral supply deals.

Trump Announces Tariff Cut for India

President Trump said Monday that he would reduce the punishing tariff he has imposed on goods imported from India in exchange for pledges from India to reduce tariffs on American goods and to stop buying Russian oil.

Trump announced the arrangement on his social media platform, saying Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to buy more oil from the U.S. - "and, potentially, Venezuela." Trump added that Modi had agreed to buy "over $500 BILLION DOLLARS" in U.S. products, including technology, agriculture and coal.

As a result of the agreement, Trump said he would reduce the U.S. tariff from 25% to 18%. In August, Trump imposed the 25% tariff on goods from India, which he then doubled to 50% as punishment for India's use of Russia as a major oil supplier.

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