Signs of progress to avert partial government shutdown after DHS funding spat
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sign stands at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — There are signs of progress with negotiations over funding for the Department of Homeland Security ahead of a partial government shutdown that would begin at midnight Friday.
Talks are intensifying in the final hours between the White House and Senate Democrats to reach an agreement over how to advance a package of bills necessary to fund the government — including Democrats’ request to separate the bill that funds DHS.
Democrats want DHS removed from a package that includes five other government funding bills so that changes to the DHS bill aimed at reining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement can be made without affecting the other agencies that still need to be funded.
There were Democratic calls to separate the DHS funding following the deaths of Renee Good, a mother of three who was fatally shot by an immigration enforcement officer in Minneapolis earlier this month, and became more urgent after the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, who was killed in a shooting by federal agents over the weekend.
As of now, there is no firm deal yet, and there is plenty of time for things to fall apart.
Negotiations are centered around that request from Democrats, sources told ABC News. This would allow the military and critical programs like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Head Start — a federal program run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides early childhood education, health, nutrition and family support services to low-income children and families — to be funded through September.
A deal would temporarily extend funding for DHS through a short-term bill, which would give Democrats and the White House more time to discuss any possible policy changes.
Coming into the negotiations, Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands including: ending roving patrols, ensuring federal agents are held to the same use of force policies that apply to state and local law enforcement, preventing agents from wearing masks and requiring body cameras.
Republicans need the support of at least seven Democrats in the Senate to avert a partial shutdown.
The White House has not yet commented on the ongoing negotiations.
While sources indicate Democratic leadership is optimistic that things are headed in their direction, that same level of optimism has not been shared from the White House, sources told ABC News.
It is likely that even if a deal is reached, there will still be a short partial shutdown. Any changes to the government funding bill passed in the Senate would have to go back to the House.
The Senate is still slated to take a test vote on the larger package to fund the government (without any of the Democratic demands) Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Democrats have said they intend to block this vote unless modifications are made to meet their demands.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend de Grisogono Sponsors The 2005 Wall Street Concert Series Benefitting Wall Street Rising, with a Performance by Rod Stewart at Cipriani Wall Street on March 15, 2005 in New York City. (Patrick Mcmullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Wednesday flatly dismissed the release by House Democrats of emails from sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including one in which he wrote that President Donald Trump “spent hours at my house” with someone the Democrats alleged was a victim.
“These emails prove absolutely nothing, other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said as she faced questions on the latest developments at her Wednesday afternoon press briefing.
President Trump weighed in directly for the first time in a social media post shortly after Leavitt wrapped the briefing.
“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” Trump wrote. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”
Notably, Leavitt seemed to contradict Trump today when she said Trump kicked Epstein out of his Florida club for being a “pedophile” as well as a “creep.”
“What President Trump has always said is that he was from Palm Beach, and so was Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein was a member at Mar-a-Lago until President Trump kicked him out because Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile and he was a creep,” she said.
When asked later by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce if she was implying Trump knew what Epstein was doing with young women, Leavitt clarified in a statement: “No, Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile. That’s a fact that has now come out. The president kicked him out of his club because he thought Jeffrey was a creep to his female employees. The president has said this himself many times.”
In one message released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, Epstein appeared to touch on his relationship with Trump and whether he’d been banned from membership at Mar-a-Lago years earlier.
“Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever,” Epstein wrote in a message to author Michael Wolff, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”
After Epstein was arrested in 2019, Trump said he hadn’t spoken with him since 2015 because of a falling out. This summer, as momentum picked up in Congress to release all the Epstein files, Trump said Epstein “stole” young women (including prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre) from his Mar-a-Lago club, but that he didn’t know why.
Democrats push for release of all Epstein files; GOP says Dems trying to ‘slander’ Trump
The release of the Epstein emails referencing Trump have added fuel to a renewed push on the Epstein discharge petition.
“We won’t stop until we end this White House cover-up. Release the files, NOW,” Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, wrote on X.
Many Democrats issued similar calls.
“It’s clear as day: Trump is in the Epstein files,” New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler wrote on X. “The American people deserve the full truth.”
“The public deserves to know who enabled Epstein, who looked the other way, and who’s still being protected. Survivors have waited long enough. Release the Epstein files NOW,” wrote Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.
ABC News’ Bruce, at Wednesday’s briefing, pressed Leavitt: “In the interest of transparency, why not just go ahead, release the full files on Epstein, get this all over with?”
“This administration has done more with respect to transparency when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein than any administration ever. In fact, this administration, the Department of Justice, has turned over tens of thousands of documents to the American people. We are cooperating and showing support for the House Oversight Committee,” Leavitt said.
Though ABC News reported that top Trump administration officials met with Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert Wednesday morning in an effort to get her to change her vote on a discharge petition that would compel the Justice Department to release all the files related to Epstein.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee accused Democrats of “trying to create a fake narrative to slander President Trump.”
In a social media post, Republicans on the panel claimed in the 2011 email between Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell that said Trump spent “hours at my house” with an alleged victim, Democrats redacted the name “Virginia” — a likely reference to Giuffre, who had made extensive public comments about her exploitation by Epstein, but had never accused Trump of any wrongdoing.
“Democrats continue to carelessly cherry-pick documents to generate click-bait that is not grounded in the facts,” a House Oversight Majority spokesperson said in a statement. “The Epstein Estate has produced over 20,000 pages of documents on Thursday, yet Democrats are once again intentionally withholding records that name Democrat officials.”
After the release by House Democrats, House Republicans on the Oversight panel released an additional 20,000 pages of documents they received from the Epstein estate.
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, one of a handful of Republican women backing the effort to compel the release of all Epstein files, defended Trump and said the focus should be on the victims.
“How pathetic that Democrats are using Epstein’s victims to bury headlines on their vote against reopening the government,” Mace wrote on X.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna are leading the discharge petition to force a vote on compelling the Justice Department to release all the Epstein files.
Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, set to be sworn in on Wednesday, is expected to become the decisive 218th signature needed for the petition.
“Why did Justice or the FBI not get & release these?” Khanna wrote on X about the Epstein emails made public by House Democrats. “Today, [Massie] & my petition gets 218!”
U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., speaks after being sworn in during a ceremony in the Broward County Commission chambers in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Jan. 27, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) —Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, of Florida, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, which she is accused of laundering to support her 2021 congressional campaign.
The indictment was announced by the Justice Department on Wednesday.
The indictment alleges Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, 51, received a $5 million overpayment in FEMA funds directed to their family health care company in connection with a contract for COVID-19 vaccination staffing in 2021.
Afterward, Cherfilus-McCormick and other co-defendants allegedly conspired to use the overpaid funds to benefit her campaign by routing it through multiple accounts to disguise its source, according to the DOJ.
They further are alleged to have arranged a series of straw donors that included their friends and relatives to funnel the COVID-19 contract money in the form of donations to her campaign.
“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement announcing the indictment. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”
If convicted, Cherfilus-McCormick faces a maximum sentence of up to 53 years in prison.
She did not immediately have an attorney listed representing her on her case docket as of Wednesday evening.
The federal investigation into Cherfilus-McCormick dates back to the Biden administration, multiple current and former administration officials told ABC News.
The House Ethics Committee said publicly in January 2025 that it was also investigating Cherfilus-McCormick after receiving a referral from Office of Congressional Ethics in September 2023.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday evening, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Cherfilus-Mccormick is “innocent until proven guilty,” when asked for his reaction to the indictment and said he had yet to speak with her but planned to do so.
Cherfilus-Mccormick will “take leave” from her position as ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa “while this matter is ongoing,” Jeffries’ spokesperson Christie Stephenson said in a statement.
House Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida said Wednesday he will file a resolution Thursday morning to censure his Democratic counterpart.
The resolution would also remove the congresswoman for all her committee assignments, including Foreign Affairs and Veterans Affairs committees.
“This is one of the most egregious abuses of public trust I have ever seen,” Steube said in a statement on X. “Stealing $5 million in taxpayer disaster funds from FEMA of all places is beyond indefensible. Millions of Floridians have relied on FEMA after devastating hurricanes, and that money was supposed to help real disaster victims.”
ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol, January 30, 2026, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Friday is one step closer to passing a funding package after Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham ended his blockade — still a partial government shutdown is all but certain to happen.
After intense negotiations proceeded throughout the day, an 11th-hour deal struck by Senate Democrats and White House, which would see the Department of Homeland Security funding bill separated from a package of five other funding bills, obtained the consent of all 100 senators to advance ahead of Friday night’s deadline.
But it is likely that even if the Senate passes the bills, there will still be a short partial shutdown as the legislation would need to go back to the House for reconsideration.
Sen. Graham earlier Friday had outlined his demands for lifting his blockade: a promise of a vote at a later date on his bill to end so-called sanctuary cities that resist the administration’s immigration policies, and a vote related to controversial Arctic Frost provisions, which allow members of Congress to sue the government if federal investigators gain access to their phone records without their knowledge. Those provisions were stripped out of the funding package passed by the House.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, Graham said Senate Majority Leader John Thune was supportive of his stipulations.
“I will lift my hold and vote for the package,” Graham said.
Thune said the Senate is set to vote on the slate of amendments Friday evening.
Meanwhile, the House is in recess until Monday, and Speaker Mike Johnson told ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang on Thursday night that bringing lawmakers back before then “may not be possible.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the chamber’s top Democrat, earlier Friday would not say whether he supported the spending agreement reached between Senate Democrats and the White House.
“There’s no agreement that’s been before us,” Jeffries said. “Right now, Lindsey Graham apparently is holding up the agreement, threatening to shut down the government, because apparently Senate Republicans still support using taxpayer dollars to brutalize American citizens and on top of it to make matters worse.”
The agreement announced Thursday would see most of the federal government funded through September, while DHS would be funded for two additional weeks at current spending levels to allow lawmakers to negotiate on other provisions in the package.
The funding fight over DHS erupted in the aftermath of the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, who was killed in a shooting involving federal law enforcement in Minneapolis over the weekend.
Jeffries insisted Democrats will not back down on their demands for reform at the department, including obtaining judicial warrants — rather than the lower bar of administrative warrants, barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel from wearing masks and mandating that body-worn cameras be turned on, and ending roving raids by ICE.
“Democrats in the Senate, led by Chuck Schumer, supported by the House, made a clear demand: Separate out the five bills that clearly have bipartisan support, and then separately we can deal with making sure that ICE is brought under control in a variety of different ways, including our demand, which we will not walk away from, which is that judicial warrants should be required before ICE can storm homes and rip people out of their cars,” Jeffries said.
