Monday morning news: February 2, 2026

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Governmet shutdown » The latest partial government shutdown is likely to stretch at least at least into the middle of this week.

That as House Speaker Mike Johnson says a full vote on government funding is still days away.

Democrats blocked funding last week, forcing another shutdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries:

JEFFRIES:  The Department of Homeland Security needs to be dramatically reformed. We share that view, as does Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats... in a variety of different ways.

That follows a pair of fatal shootings involving federal immigration agents in Minnesota.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says GOP members are on board with some of the proposed changes.

JOHNSON:   We want body cameras on immigration, custom enforcement, uh, agents. In fact, in the bill that the Democrats are currently rejecting, we put $20 million into that legislation to allow for that.

But Republicans largely oppose some other demands, such as prohibiting ICE agents from wearing masks. They say that would open up federal agents to targeted attacks.

In the Senate, some Democrats agreed with Republicans last week to give DHS a two-week funding extension. That buys time for talks on immigration enforcement policy.

However, the House was not in session last week to take up the Senate bill.

Speaker Johnson said he is optimistic that this will not be another prolonged shutdown.

Fed chair replacement » The White House is expressing optimism that the Senate will confirm President Trump’s pick to be the next Federal Reserve Chairman, Kevin Warsh.

And National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett believes more interest rate cuts could be on the way with Warsh at the helm.

HASSETT:  He's a very independent, data-driven person. Uh, the president believes that if you are data-driven and not partisan—he thinks the Fed has been partisan— uh, that rates could be a lot lower, and I think that, uh, Warsh agrees with that, and I agree with that.

For months, President Trump has sharply criticized current Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, for being, in the view of the White House, too slow to cut interest rates.

At least one Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis, says he’ll oppose Warsh to chair the central bank. But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt calls Warsh …

LEAVITT:  A highly qualified and distinguished economist, uh, with a very exceptional resume. Uh, and the White House is going to work with the Senate to quickly confirm him…

Kevin Warsh is a former Federal Reserve board member.

The now 55-year-old Warsh became the youngest Fed governor ever at the age of 35 when President George W. Bush tapped him to serve on the board.

Iran supreme leader warning » Iran’s supreme leader warned Sunday that a U.S. attack would spark a broad war across the Middle East. He said Iran does not want war but will hit back hard if attacked.

President Trump responded to those remarks by Ayatollah Khamenei, telling reporters:

TRUMP:  We have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world over there, very close, couple of days, and, uh, hopefully we'll make a deal. If we don't make a deal, then we'll find out whether or not he was right.

The U.S. has been relocating military assets to the Middle East in recent weeks.

The president is calling on Iran to make a deal to halt its nuclear weapons program. He said the two sides are talking.

Iran’s supreme leader spoke in Tehran as national events began marking the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Trump on Cuba » President Trump has also sharply escalated pressure on Cuba, saying he’s now “starting to talk to Cuba.” That comes as his administration cut off key oil supplies.

TRUMP:  I think we're gonna work a deal with Cuba. I think, you know, we'll be kind. We have a situation that's very bad for Cuba. They have no money, they have no oil...they lived off Venezuela money and oil, and none of that's coming now.

Last week he ordered tariffs on goods from any country that sells oil to Cuba, a move aimed at choking off energy for the communist-run country.

Mexico is among the nations supplying fuel to the island nation.

Trump says his goal is to have serious negotiations — though he has not said publicly what he’s looking for in a deal with Cuba.

Winter storm » A powerful winter storm has left a huge stretch of the U.S. digging out from under heavy snow, bitter cold, and travel chaos.

STEIN:  We had the kind of snowstorm that we don't get very often in North Carolina.

And the storm dumped nearly a foot of snow on Charlotte. The governor said the Department of Transportation had 2,500 people working overtime to clear snow.

The “bomb cyclone” triggered thousands of flight cancellations across the country.

And Peter Mullinax with the National Weather Service said Sunday:

MULLINAX:  Some locations are still going to be contending with occasionally gusty winds today, bitterly cold wind chills, and that's gonna be felt also, uh, uh, farther north even into parts — portions of the Mid-Atlantic.

Roughly 150 million people from the Gulf Coast into New England were under cold alerts, and wind chills dropped near zero in parts of the South.

Even Florida saw rare snow flurries, along with icy fruit crops and cold-stunned iguanas falling from trees as temperatures plunged.

More than 110 deaths nationwide are linked to the storm, and many in the South still lack power days later.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: A major gun-rights case at the Supreme Court — on Legal Docket. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat with David Bahnsen.

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