President Trump signed legislation Wednesday night to reopen the federal government after the House voted 222-209 to approve the Senate-passed stopgap funding bill. The measure ends the longest shutdown in U.S. history, allowing 670,000 furloughed federal employees to return to work and paying 730,000 essential workers who continued working without pay. (Story URL)
Democrat Adelita Grijalva was sworn in as a member of Congress on Wednesday, seven weeks after winning Arizona’s special election. House Speaker Mike Johnson administered the oath before debate began on a funding bill to reopen the government. His repeated delays in scheduling the ceremony prompted criticism and a lawsuit from Arizona’s attorney general. (Story URL)
House Democrats released emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate that include references to President Trump. In one 2019 message to journalist Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls” and mentioned Mar-a-Lago. Democrats said the documents raise new questions about Epstein’s ties to powerful figures, including Trump. (Story URL)
The final U.S. penny was produced Wednesday at the Philadelphia Mint, closing a 238-year chapter for the one-cent coin. President Trump ordered the Treasury Department in February to end penny production, calling it wasteful. “For too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. About 250 billion pennies remain in circulation. (Story URL)
A federal judge signaled that hundreds detained in the Chicago area during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown may soon be released on bond. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings said Wednesday he would order the release of 13 detainees under a 2022 consent decree governing warrantless ICE arrests. (Story URL)