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House Approves Funding Package, Ending Government Shutdown; Clintons Agree to Testify in Epstein Investigation
Washington – The House of Representatives voted 217 to 214 on Tuesday to approve a funding package, ending a four-day partial government shutdown. The agreement came as Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, averting a contempt of Congress vote.
The funding legislation includes five full-year spending bills and extends funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through Feb. 13, according to CBS News. President Trump urged Republicans to support the legislation and is expected to sign it into law. Speaker Mike Johnson faced challenges in securing enough GOP votes but ultimately convinced holdouts to advance the measure. Democrats are seeking reforms to immigration enforcement agencies like ICE, a point of contention that will likely resurface during the DHS funding debate.
Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton will appear for a deposition on Feb. 27, and Hillary Clinton will appear on Feb. 26, the House Oversight Committee said. Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the committee's chairman, stated, "Once it became clear that we would hold them in contempt, the Clintons completely caved and will appear for transcribed, filmed depositions this month," according to CBS News. The Clintons had initially resisted the committee's request but submitted a letter agreeing to testify after facing the threat of contempt proceedings. The committee said it would put the contempt proceedings on hold to ensure their compliance.
In other news, the family of Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein's accusers, criticized the Justice Department's handling of the release of Epstein files. Sky and Amanda Roberts, Giuffre's brother and sister-in-law, told "CBS Mornings" that the department failed to protect survivors by unredacting names in the documents. "I mean these are intimate details in these documents that their family members are going to see, their kids are going to see, and to unredact their names is incredibly insensitive and retraumatizing," Sky Roberts said, according to CBS News. He added that he believes the Justice Department is putting women at risk who did not want their names publicized. Giuffre died by suicide in 2025.
Separately, in Arizona, the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie, is being investigated as a crime. A law enforcement source told CBS News that a small amount of blood was found inside her home in Tucson. The blood is being tested to determine its origin. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said that evidence collected from Guthrie's home was still being processed and that none of it pointed toward a suspect. "I'm not saying there's blood inside that house or outside that house," Nanos told reporters, declining to provide further details about the evidence collected. Nancy Guthrie is 84 years old.
In Colombia, authorities seized 115.7 kilograms of cocaine from a "go-fast" vessel in the Pacific Ocean, the country's navy said in a statement. The crew of the speedboat tossed over 100 packages of cocaine into the sea while fleeing the Colombian navy, according to CBS News. The incident occurred 55 nautical miles from Colombia's Pacific coast during an operation against international drug trafficking. Naval officials recovered 116 packages from the ocean. The seizure occurred as the leader of Colombia was visiting President Trump in Washington amid mounting pressure from the U.S. to curb drug trafficking. Colombia is the world's largest cocaine-producing nation.
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