Friday morning news: January 19, 2024

Spending bill » In Washington, lawmakers have sent a short-term spending bill to President Biden’s desk that will avert a partial government shutdown.

AUDIO: On this vote, the yeas are 77. The nays are 18. The 60-vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed.

The vote heard there on the Senate floor Thursday. The House passed the measure on a vote of 314-108.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said passing the stopgap measure is good news for the nation.

SCHUMER: No chaos, no spectacle, no shutdown.

But some conservatives complained that the bill did nothing to address Washington’s spending problem or the border crisis.

The bill will continue current spending levels into March for some federal agencies whose funding was to expire tonight.

Uvalde report » The Justice Department released a scathing report Thursday on the law enforcement response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

The report chronicled what it called a series of “cascading failures.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland:

GARLAND: That failure meant that law enforcement officials prioritized a protracted evacuation of students and teachers in other classrooms, instead of immediately rescuing the victims trapped with the active shooter.

An 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 19 students and two teachers in May of 2022 before officers shot and killed him more than an hour later.

The DOJ found that hundreds of first responders who arrived on scene did not treat the incident as an active shooter event.

Instead, they left children trapped inside the room with the shooter treating it like a “barricaded suspect” situation.

Several responding officers have since been fired, and local prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into the police response.

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

Netanyahu: no two-state » Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rejecting the Biden administration’s call to move toward creating an independent Palestinian state when the war in Gaza is over.

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

Netanyahu made the case that to ensure its own safety Israel “must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River.”

And he added, “I put the brakes on the attempt to coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel.”

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters:

KIRBY: This is not a new comment by Prime Minister Netanyahu. We obviously see it differently. We believe that the Palestinians have every right to live in an independent state with peace and security. And the president is going to continue to work on that.

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken argued this week that Israel can never achieve peace or security without allowing an independent Palestinian state.

EU Parliament Israel » Meantime, amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza European lawmakers are calling for an end to Israel’s war with Hamas on one condition. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more:

KRISTEN FLAVIN: The EU Parliament has adopted a resolution demanding two things: A permanent cease-fire in Gaza and the dismantling of Hamas along with the release of the hostages the terror group’s still holding.

The resolution sparked division among EU factions. The original version of the proposal called only for a cease-fire. But conservative lawmakers forced an amendment demanding the destruction of Hamas and the freeing of all hostages.

Israeli leaders say the resolution reflects competing objectives and that the only way to dismantle Hamas is to continue the fight.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Houthis » The United States conducted a fifth strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday as the Iran-backed group continues attacks on commercial ships in the crucial Red Sea corridor.

Reporters at the White House asked President Biden if the U,S. counter-strikes are working.

BIDEN: When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.

But the White House said, “the strikes will continue for as long as they need to continue.”

Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said the United States does not want war or conflict with the Iran-backed terror group.

SINGH: The Houthis are the ones who continue to launch cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles at innocent mariners, at commercial vessels. 

U.S. officials said Navy F-18 fighter jets destroyed two Houthi anti-ship missiles that “were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch.”

Fani Willis hearing » A judge in Georgia has scheduled a hearing related to alleged wrongdoing by the district attorney prosecuting Donald Trump and numerous co-defendants in the state. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: The judge set the hearing for February 15. And he has ordered Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to file a response to allegations from an attorney for Trump co-defendant Michael Roman.

His attorney filed a motion to dismiss all charges against Roman claiming Willis improperly hired her romantic partner to work on the prosecution.

He’s identified as special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Roman’s filing also alleges that Willis has financially profited from her offices’ payment to Wade saying the couple used the cash to take vacations together.

Willis denies any wrongdoing.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Hunter Biden to provide deposition » House Republicans say Hunter Biden has agreed to testify privately before two House Committees.

Hunter will reportedly be deposed by the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees.

House Republicans were prepared to vote to hold the president’s son in contempt of Congress after he defied a congressional subpoena last month.

Lawmakers ordered him to testify behind closed doors, while Hunter Biden demanded he be allowed to testify publicly.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, Word Play with George Grant.

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