Friday morning news: December 20, 2024

Spending bill » On Capitol Hill,  Speaker Mike Johnson is scrambling to avoid a pre-Christmas government shutdown. But Republicans and Democrats have continued to lock horns over a government spending bill, with the deadline now just hours away.

Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise:

SCALISE:  The ultimate goal is to get a bill that addresses our immediate needs, uh, but also sets President Trump up for success when he comes into office.

A massive bipartisan spending bill was expected to come to the floor earlier this week. But a conservative revolt, which Donald Trump joined at the 11th hour, torpedoed that legislation.

The top Democrat in the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said last night:

JEFFRIES:  Extreme Magga Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.

But conservatives said the 15-hundred page bill was stuff full of reckless deficit spending on pet projects, as well as a pay raise for members of Congress.

On Thursday, Speaker Johnson brought a considerably slimmed down bill to the floor, but …

AUDIO: On this vote, the yeas are 174. The nays are 235. The bill is not passed.

Dozens of Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in shooting that down.

The bill would have averted a shutdown largely keeping government funding at the same levels for one month.

The deadline to pass a new funding bill is midnight tonight.

Fani Willis removed from election interference case » The prosecutor who launched the election interference case against Donald Trump and others in Georgia is off the case. WORLD’s Paul Butler has more.

PAUL BUTLER: A state appeals court in Georgia has removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case, reversing a lower court’s decision.

The court cited a "significant appearance of impropriety"... related to Willis' relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Thursday’s ruling leaves the future of the prosecution uncertain.

It will now be up to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to find another prosecutor to take over the case … and to decide whether to continue to pursue it.

However, Fani Willis could appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, which would delay that process.

For WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

SCOTUS SC abortion » The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case arguing Planned Parenthood should not be eligible for federal Medicaid funds.

The state of South Carolina is arguing in the case Kerr v. Edwards that taxpayer dollars should not go to abortion facilities.

Attorneys for the state’s Department of Health and Human Services contend that states have the right to choose which providers are qualified to receive Medicaid funding.

Planned Parenthood argues that cutting off funding violated the Medicaid Act’s provision to let beneficiaries choose their provider.

Putin at annual news conference » In Moscow …

PUTIN: [Speaking Russian]

Vladimir Putin boasted of military gains in Ukraine during his annual news conference.

He denied that the war has weakened Russia.

PUTIN (translated): I think that Russia became much stronger over the past two or three years. Why? Because we are becoming a truly sovereign country.

The Russian leader used the tightly choreographed event to reinforce his authority and demonstrate a sweeping command of everything from consumer prices to military hardware.

Israel latest » Meantime in central Israel …

SOUND: [Israeli school]

Crews surveyed damage at an elementary school in Tel Aviv after a missile attack from Yemen.

Air defenses partially intercepted the missile, but debris collapsed a portion of the school. No casualties were reported.

SOUND: [Houthi missiles]

Also on Thursday, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen released a video which claims to show two hypersonic missiles blasting off taking aim at targets in the Israeli port city of Jaffa.

But Israeli jets were already in the air launching their own strikes in Yemen. The Israeli military says it carried out strikes on ports and energy sites targeting infrastructure the Houthis used to stage attacks in the Red Sea.

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

Israeli Prime Minister says the Houthis are learning a hard lesson that anyone who harms Israel will pay a very heavy price.

Mangione extradition » Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down the CEO of United Healthcare on a Manhattan sidewalk landed in New York City on Thursday.

He was cuffed and shackled in an orange jumpsuit. And he was flanked by investigators, who walked him slowly to another port, where he was then taken here to the federal courthouse.

He faces numerous charges, including murder “in the furtherance of terrorism.”

Mayor Eric Adams:

ADAMS: This act of terrorism and the violence that stems from it is something that will not be tolerated in this city.

Mangione previously fought extradition from Pennsylvania, where he also faces weapons charges. But he dropped those objections on Thursday. His lawyer, Thomas Dickey, explained …

DICKEY:  We're ready to do this now. Uh, we didn't do it before because we weren't ready. Today was the day to do it. This is in his best interest.

And Mangione now faces federal charges as well. The feds have charged him with stalking and murder including a murder by firearm charge that carries the possibility of the death penalty.

I'm Kent Covington.

What leads a troubled teen to bring a gun to school? That’s straight ahead on Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, Word Play for December with George Grant.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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