National News Roundup: Government Shutdown Ends, Artemis II Launch Delayed, and More
Washington D.C. – A busy Tuesday saw President Donald Trump sign a funding bill to end a partial government shutdown, while NASA announced a delay in the Artemis II moon launch, and controversy arose over Trump's comments on federal involvement in state elections.
President Trump signed a massive funding bill Tuesday, ending a partial government shutdown that lasted four days. The House approved the package with a vote of 217 to 214, with 21 Republicans and 21 Democrats crossing party lines, according to CBS News. Speaker Mike Johnson faced challenges in securing enough GOP votes but ultimately convinced a handful of holdouts to advance the measure. The legislation includes five full-year spending bills and a two-week extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats are pushing for reforms to immigration enforcement agencies like ICE.
In space news, NASA announced that the Artemis II moon launch, initially targeted for February, is now delayed until March at the earliest. The decision came after a dress rehearsal countdown for the Artemis II rocket was called off early Tuesday due to an out-of-limits hydrogen leak, according to CBS News. "With the conclusion of the wet dress rehearsal today, we are moving off the February launch window and targeting March for the earliest possible launch of Artemis II," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a post on X. Isaacman added, "We fully anticipated encountering challenges. That is precisely why we conduct a wet dress rehearsal. These tests are designed to surface issues before flight and set up launch." NASA plans to conduct an on-pad repair of the fuel leak before attempting another fueling test and a possible launch in March. Lori Glaze, a senior manager in NASA's Exploration Systems Development office, stated, "We are still in the process of assessing the data that we collected yesterday and developing the (repair) plan. We do believe...at this point that the work that's in front of us can be conducted out at the pad, and that's what we anticipate."
Meanwhile, President Trump doubled down on his suggestion that the federal government should "get involved" in state elections, continuing to make unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud from the 2020 election, according to ABC News. "If a state can't run an election, I think the people behind me should do something about it," Trump said during a bill signing in the Oval Office. "Because, you know, if you think about it, the state is an agent for the federal government in elections. I don't know why the federal government doesn't do something about it." Trump specifically mentioned Atlanta, Detroit, and Philadelphia, repeating his unsubstantiated claims of fraud in those cities.
In other news, Ori Solomon, a property manager in Las Vegas, was arrested in connection with a possible illicit biological lab operation and faces a federal firearm charge, according to ABC News. A criminal complaint alleges that "numerous firearms" were seized from Solomon's home, which he was not legally allowed to possess. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the case. Approximately 1,000 samples were sent for testing after the possible biological lab was discovered.
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