Partial Government Shutdown Begins Amid Immigration Enforcement Debate
The federal government entered a partial shutdown just after midnight on Friday, a lapse that lawmakers from both parties anticipated would likely last only through the weekend, according to Time. The shutdown occurred even as the Senate moved Friday evening to pass a bipartisan spending package that would keep most of the government funded through the end of the fiscal year while buying two more weeks to negotiate new limits on the Administration's immigration enforcement tactics, Time reported.
With the House out of session until Monday, lawmakers acknowledged there was no practical way to send the bill to President Donald Trump before the deadline, making a short shutdown all but unavoidable, according to Time. The pressure now shifts to the House, where lawmakers will have to decide whether to swiftly ratify the Senate plan or reopen a deeper fight.
In related news, a federal judge in Minnesota stated she would not halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds, according to NPR News. Judge Katherine M. Menendez on Saturday denied a preliminary injunction sought in a lawsuit filed this month by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, NPR News reported. The lawsuit argued that the Department of Homeland Security is violating the law.
Meanwhile, in California, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom filed a civil rights complaint against Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Time reported. Newsom took action after Oz accused Armenian crime groups of being responsible for health care fraud in Los Angeles. "My office is filing a civil rights complaint seeking an investigation into Dr. Oz's baseless and racist allegations against Armenian Americans in California," Newsom said, according to Time. In a letter addressed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Newsom's office alleged that Oz spewed baseless and racially charged allegations targeting the Armenian community in Los Angeles in a video he posted on Jan. 27, Time reported. The complaint stated that false public statements by anyone involved in administering these critical federal health care programs are unacceptable.
In other news, Ford CEO Jim Farley stated that America needs a wake-up call regarding the shortage of manually skilled workers, according to Fortune. Speaking on the "Office Hours: Business Edition" podcast, Farley said Ford had 5,000 open mechanic positions that it hasn't been able to fill, despite the possibility of a $120,000 salary, nearly double the American worker's median salary, Fortune reported. "We are in trouble in our country. We are not talking about this enough," Farley told host Monica Langley, according to Fortune. "We have over a million openings in critical jobs, emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, and tradesmen. It's a very serious thing."
Also, as a college student, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian walked out of his law school admission exam 20 minutes in and made the life-changing decision at Waffle House that he was going to become an entrepreneur, according to Fortune. Just months later, he and his cofounder received funding from Paul Graham, and the now-$40 billion social platform was born, Fortune reported.
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