Congress to Vote on Funding Package to End Record-Breaking U.S. Shutdown

Welcome back to the Global Brief, where we look at a possible ending to we The alleged government shutdown China-Supported piracy against AustraliaChallenges are rumored to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership.

After 43 days

The US House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill passed by the Senate late Wednesday to fund the federal government through January 30 and end the record shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republican leaders are “very optimistic about tonight’s vote tally.” If the legislation passes, it will only need final approval from US President Donald Trump, who has said he will sign it. This means that, barring any last-minute disruptions, Washington’s 43-day stalemate is coming to an end.

Welcome back to the Global Brief, where we look at a possible ending to we The alleged government shutdown China-Supported piracy against AustraliaChallenges are rumored to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership.

After 43 days

The US House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill passed by the Senate late Wednesday to fund the federal government through January 30 and end the record shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republican leaders are “very optimistic about tonight’s vote tally.” If the legislation passes, it will only need final approval from US President Donald Trump, who has said he will sign it. This means that, barring any last-minute disruptions, Washington’s 43-day stalemate is coming to an end.

congress deadlocked on October 1, when Democrats demanded that a funding bill ensure an extension of support for the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA), which helps millions of people afford health insurance. Republicans rejected the request and refused to negotiate with Democrats until after the government reopened.

But progress was finally made over the weekend, when eight centrist Democrats broke party ranks to reach a deal. The new package, which passed the Senate on Monday, will fund the government through Jan. 30 and some key agencies through the remainder of fiscal year 2026. That means if Washington shuts down again over the next few months, basic federal food aid, known as SNAP, will continue to be funded.

The interruption of that assistance has been one of the main concerns of the lockdown. More than 41 million people receive SNAP benefits each month. The Trump administration initially planned to cut SNAP entirely for November, arguing that a delay in appropriations meant there would be no program. On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court refused to force the White House to fully fund these benefits until Thursday, giving Congress time to resolve the issue through a spending bill.

This legislation also does not include Democrats’ core request to extend enhanced ACA tax breaks, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Instead, Senate Republicans confirmed, as part of the agreement, that they would hold a vote in December on the issue. Johnson has not agreed to hold a vote, making an extension unlikely.

The package contains three full-year appropriations bills, including $203.5 million in new funding to enhance security measures and protections for members of Congress and $852 million for the U.S. Capitol Police. It would also reverse federal layoffs during the shutdown and ensure that all federal employees receive the pay they are owed during that period, something the Trump administration has threatened not to guarantee.

The widespread furloughs have been marred by much of the US government shutdown, with the largest cuts occurring at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education, and the Department of Commerce. The areas of defense and national security in the United States were particularly hard hit; 62% of State Department employees and 45% of the Defense Department’s civilian workforce have been furloughed.

“With many national security agencies without significant numbers of their workforce for nearly a month, it is inevitable that many routine actions will not be implemented, and some projects will fall behind schedule,” Foreign Policy’s Rachel Oswald reported. According to a new AP-NORC poll, only 33% of American adults approve of Trump’s management of the government, down from 43% in March.

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What we follow

Espionage allegations. Australian intelligence chief Mike Burgess accused hackers linked to the Chinese government and military on Wednesday of investigating Canberra’s communications network and critical infrastructure in the country as well as stealing sensitive information. Such espionage is estimated to have cost Australia $8.1 billion last year, including about $1.3 billion in trade secrets and intellectual property. Burgess added that these actions are likely a sign of an increase in “cyber vandalism” over the next five years.

“Imagine the consequences if a nation-state removed all networks?” Burgess said. “Or cutting off the power during a heat wave? Or polluting our drinking water? Or crippling our financial system?” Burgess specifically pointed to two China-linked hacking groups, Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon, as being responsible; The United States accused the first of hacking into American communications systems late last year.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiaqun denied Burgess’ claims on Wednesday, saying the Australian official had “repeatedly spread disinformation and deliberately sowed division and confrontation” with Beijing.

A split in Downing Street? Speculation is growing that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer may face a leadership challenge within his party, Labor allies told local media on Tuesday. These claims suggest that Health Minister Wes Streeting, among other Labor members, may be willing to replace Starmer if this month’s budget announcement sparks a strong public backlash.

Treasurer Rachel Reeves is expected to break Labour’s promise not to raise taxes when she announces the new federal budget later this month. That would mark the first such increase in Britain’s basic rate of income tax in half a century and would likely hurt Starmer’s already weak poll numbers. According to an Ipsos poll in September, only 13% of voters were satisfied with Starmer while 79% were dissatisfied.

Starmer rejected the reports on Wednesday, saying: “Any attack on any member of my government is completely unacceptable.” Streeting also dismissed the allegations as “self-defeating nonsense”, adding that he “sees no circumstances in which I would do that to our Prime Minister”.

Settler violence A group of masked Israeli extremists set fire to Palestinian property, smashed windows, and attacked civilians in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, causing several injuries. The attackers then fled to a nearby Israeli industrial zone, where they targeted IDF forces and damaged a military vehicle. Local authorities initially arrested four individuals believed to be involved, but three of them were released on Wednesday; These three are still under investigation by police.

Jewish settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have escalated significantly since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. However, these incidents have particularly escalated in recent weeks, as attackers have targeted Palestinians participating in the annual olive harvest in the area. In October of this year alone, the United Nations recorded 264 settler attacks, the highest monthly toll in nearly 20 years. Nablus Governor Ghassan Douglas said: “We used to see them attacking in groups of three or four.” “Now, they are in crowds.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog issued a rare condemnation of the perpetrators on Tuesday, writing: “Such violence against civilians and IDF soldiers crosses a red line.” However, human rights groups accused the Israeli government of turning a blind eye to the violence; Of more than 1,700 police investigations into such attacks between 2005 and 2024, nearly 94 percent of the cases were closed without an indictment.

Odds and Ends

Jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu could face more than 2,000 years in prison after a Turkish prosecutor on Tuesday accused the opposition leader of running a criminal organization. The nearly 4,000-page indictment alleges that Imamoglu was involved in bribery, money laundering, fraud and other crimes in which more than 400 other suspects were considered complicit. Imamoglu has denied previous corruption charges, and his party asserts that the accusations are politically motivated in an attempt to undermine Turkish democracy and consolidate the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.