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House Considers Funding Package as Government Shutdown Looms; Senators Voice Concerns Over Havana Syndrome Research
Washington D.C. – The House of Representatives began considering a revised funding package on Monday to end the partial government shutdown that started over the weekend, while Senators voiced concerns regarding the Pentagon's handling of Havana Syndrome research. The House is working to pass a five-bill package to fund the departments of Defense, State, Treasury and others, as well as 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 pushing for reforms to immigration enforcement agencies like ICE. House Speaker Mike Johnson faces a challenge in uniting the GOP conference to advance the plan. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries informed Johnson that Democrats would not provide the votes needed to fast-track passage, CBS News reported.
Meanwhile, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against relocating and reducing resources for a Pentagon team investigating "Anomalous Health Incidents," or AHI, commonly known as Havana Syndrome. In a letter sent to Hegseth on Monday, the senators argued that such a move would undermine care for affected personnel and stall ongoing research, according to CBS News. The senators expressed concern about reported plans within the Department of Defense to shift the cross-functional team (CFT) that coordinates the department's response to Havana Syndrome out of its current position under the Office of the Under Secretary for Policy.
In other news, Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee is reconsidering moving forward with contempt resolutions against former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after they agreed to sit for closed-door depositions in the committee's Jeffrey Epstein investigation, ABC News reported. The House was expected to vote as soon as Wednesday on two contempt of Congress resolutions against the Clintons until they agreed to Republicans' demands on Monday evening. "They negotiated in good faith. You did not," Clinton spokesperson Angel Ureña posted on X, according to ABC News.
Internationally, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that he had instructed his country's foreign minister to pursue "fair and equitable" talks with the United States. "These negotiations shall be conducted within the framework of our national interests," Pezeshkian said on social media, according to ABC News. He added that Iran would seek talks that were "guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency."
In Vatican City, the appeals phase of the "trial of the century" resumed Tuesday after a pair of setbacks for the pope's prosecutors, potentially impacting the outcome of the case, according to the Associated Press, as reported by ABC News. The case involves Cardinal Angelo Becciu and eight other defendants, who were convicted of financial crimes in 2023 after a two-year trial. The Vatican's high Court of Cassation recently upheld a lower court's decision to throw out the prosecutors' appeal entirely, meaning the defendants can only expect a lighter sentence.
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