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House Speaker Faces Tight Margin as Government Funding Advances Amidst Multiple National Security Developments
Washington D.C. – The House of Representatives narrowly advanced a government funding package aimed at ending the partial government shutdown on Saturday, February 3, 2026, amidst a backdrop of heightened national security concerns both domestically and abroad. The procedural vote passed 217-215, setting the stage for debate and a final vote on the package.
The vote highlighted the precarious position of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who could only afford to lose one Republican vote with all members present and voting, according to ABC News. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky voted against the measure, joining all Democrats in opposition. The vote was held open for approximately 45 minutes, underscoring the difficulty in securing passage.
The advancement of the funding package occurred as the Pentagon stood down more than 1,500 federal troops who had been placed on alert for potential deployment to Minneapolis, according to two U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the situation, ABC News reported. These troops, from the 11th Airborne Division at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, had been ordered to prepare for a possible mission to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Additional units, including approximately 200 Texas National Guard troops, had also been directed to make preparations. No specific mission was ever outlined.
Simultaneously, tensions escalated in the North Arabian Sea. A U.S. fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone as it approached the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Tuesday, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command, ABC News reported. Earlier that day, a Navy destroyer assisted a U.S.-flagged tanker that was being harassed by multiple Iranian small boats as it transited the Strait of Hormuz.
Domestically, political shifts are also impacting the landscape. Democrats celebrated victories in a pair of special elections in Texas, raising hopes for the upcoming November elections, CBS News reported. One race narrowed Speaker Johnson's already slim majority in the House, while the other sent shockwaves through the Republican Party. In a congressional runoff, Christian Menefee, a Democrat, won a vacant seat in a deep-blue district in the Houston area, reducing the House Republicans' majority to 218-214. This means Johnson can now only afford to lose a single Republican on party-line votes if all members are present. A state Senate race in Fort Worth's Tarrant County saw Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeat Republican Leigh Wambsganss by a 57-43 margin. According to CBS News, these victories are causing Texas Republican voters to realize they "cannot take anything for granted."
In other news, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have jointly urged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to reconsider plans to relocate and reduce resources for a Pentagon team investigating "Anomalous Health Incidents," or AHI, commonly known as Havana Syndrome, CBS News reported. In a letter to Hegseth, the senators expressed concern that such a move would undermine care for affected personnel and impede ongoing research. The senators specifically cited concerns 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.
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