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Government Shutdown Looms as House Considers Funding Package; Trump Announces Mineral Stockpile and Kennedy Center Closure
Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives reconvened Monday to consider a revised funding package aimed at ending the partial government shutdown that began over the weekend, while President Trump announced a new strategic mineral reserve and the impending closure of the Kennedy Center for renovations.
The House is working to pass a five-bill package to fund the Departments of Defense, State, Treasury, and other agencies. The package also includes a two-week extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to CBS News. The DHS funding has been a central point of contention, with Democrats demanding reforms to immigration enforcement agencies like ICE. House Speaker Mike Johnson faces the challenge of uniting the GOP conference to pass the plan. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries reportedly told Johnson that Democrats would not provide the votes needed to fast-track the package.
In other news, President Trump announced the creation of a $12 billion U.S. strategic critical minerals reserve for non-military civilian purposes. This initiative aims to reduce reliance on Chinese rare earth minerals and limit Beijing's leverage in trade negotiations. "Today we're announcing the creation of the U.S. strategic critical minerals reserve, the first-ever stockpile of the critical minerals that you've been hearing so much about," Trump said in the Oval Office, alongside business executives, according to CBS News. He added that the reserve would be "for civilian use in times of emergency." The reserve mirrors existing strategic petroleum and defense mineral stockpiles, aiming to secure American industry's access to essential resources.
President Trump also announced that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will close for approximately two years for "Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding," according to CBS News. The complete closure is scheduled to begin on July 4. The project is expected to cost around $200 million. While the extent of the changes remains unclear, Trump stated, "I'm not ripping it down. I'll be using the steel. So we're using the structure, we're using some of the marble and some of the marble comes down." The decision to fully close the center, rather than pursue partial construction, followed a year-long review.
Meanwhile, Target's new CEO, Michael Fiddelke, is facing pressure to take a public stance against ICE's actions in Minneapolis, where the retailer is headquartered. American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten criticized Target's "silence" on ICE's activities in a public letter addressed to Fiddelke on Sunday, according to CBS News. Weingarten demanded that the company "clearly state" that it wants federal immigration agents to leave the city. "The AFT is deeply concerned about the company's silence on ICE's continuing operations in Minneapolis following ICE and Border Patrol agents' murders of two Minneapolis residents," she said.
In other developments, NASA's Artemis II moon rocket fueling test experienced a setback due to a hydrogen leak at the base of the rocket on Monday, CBS News reported. The leak interrupted a "wet dress" rehearsal, a test intended to pave the way for a possible weekend launch of four astronauts on a flight around the moon. The practice countdown began Saturday evening, two days late due to frigid weather along Florida's Space Coast. Engineers had begun pumping over 750,000 gallons of supercold liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel into the Space Launch System rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.
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