What we covered here
• Funding bill blocked on Day 22: Senate Democrats have again blocked Republicans’ stopgap funding bill from advancing in a 54 to 46 vote after making clear earlier today they believe it is on Republicans, including President Donald Trump, to change strategy and negotiate with them.
• NATO leader at White House: Trump said he has canceled an anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he met NATO chief Mark Rutte at the White House. The Treasury also announced sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies.
• Airport delays: More delays are possible tonight as the FAA reports short-staffing at two major facilities. There have been at least 196 air traffic controller staffing shortages since the start of the shutdown, more than four times the number on the same dates last year.
Our live coverage of the Trump administration and the government shutdown has ended. Get the latest reporting here.
Johnson says he's open to meeting with Grijalva after refusing to swear her in
House Speaker Mike Johnson said today that he would be open to meeting with Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, whom he has yet to swear in to Congress amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Grijalva later said she no longer wants to meet with Johnson, citing Arizona’s lawsuit against the House of Representatives over the speaker’s refusal to swear her in.
The lawsuit accuses Johnson of delaying Grijalva’s swearing in because he is attempting to prevent a petition that would force a vote in the House on releasing records around Jeffrey Epstein as well as “strengthen his hand in the ongoing budget and appropriations negotiations.”
Grijalva went on to say, “If (the swearing-in) is just ceremonial and just a procedure then why can’t I — can I sign the Epstein files then?”
Johnson also told Collins that while Grijalva waits to be sworn in, “She can be serving her constituents and trying to help them through this chaos, just like the House Republicans are doing,” adding that she has a 16-person staff and access to phones and computers.
Rubio says US still wants to meet with Russia after imposing sanctions
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US still wants to meet with Russia despite the Trump administration imposing sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies.
“I think the president has said repeatedly for a number of months now that at some point he will have to do something if we don’t make progress on the peace deal. Today was the day he decided to do something,” Rubio said.
Earlier Wednesday, President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, telling reporters in the Oval Office he “felt it was time” for the sanctions, and noting he “waited a long time” to impose them.
Trump also said Wednesday that he’d “canceled” an anticipated meeting with Putin, telling reporters, “It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get – so I canceled it, but we’ll do it in the future,”, “It just didn’t feel right to me.”
