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A partial shutdown of the federal government began at midnight after Congress failed to enact six remaining appropriations bills before the deadline, leaving multiple agencies without authorized funding.

The lapse occurred even though the Senate moved late Friday to approve a package covering five funding bills and to temporarily extend funding for the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks, the key point of contention in negotiations. That agreement, reached between Senate Democrats and the White House, still requires approval from the House, which is scheduled to return to Washington on Monday.

The dispute that led to the shutdown has centered largely on immigration enforcement policy under President Donald Trump. Following the longest government shutdown in U.S. history last fall, lawmakers have been working bill by bill to fund federal agencies through September 2026. Six of the twelve required spending measures have already cleared Congress and been signed into law. The remaining six became the focus of the current standoff.

In recent weeks, bipartisan talks appeared close to producing a resolution. Draft legislative text for the outstanding measures was released on January 20. Five of the bills were bundled together, while the legislation funding DHS was kept separate. House Democrats warned they would not back the broader package if DHS funding was included, arguing that it failed to impose sufficient limits on Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.

When the House voted last week, the DHS measure passed with support from only seven Democrats, while the larger funding package advanced with strong bipartisan backing. Lawmakers then combined the measures and sent them to the Senate in an effort to speed passage.

That strategy unraveled after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last weekend. Senate Democrats sharply opposed approving DHS funding without additional reforms, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Democrats would withhold the votes needed to advance the package unless the DHS funding was removed.

Senators returned to Washington this week without a clear path forward. On Wednesday, Schumer outlined Democratic demands, including ending roving immigration patrols, banning the use of masks by agents, and tightening warrant requirements. Republicans, including some who criticized the events in Minneapolis, urged Democrats to take those concerns directly to the Trump administration.

Republican leaders initially pressed ahead with a procedural vote on the full funding package, which failed Thursday. Hours later, Senate Democrats and the White House reached a compromise. Under the deal, Democrats agreed to support the five non-DHS spending bills, while DHS funding would be extended at current levels for two weeks as negotiations over reforms continue.

The Senate approved the five-bill package Friday by a 71–29 vote and cleared a short-term funding extension for DHS by voice vote. Because of the changes, the House must now act on the revised package, but it is not scheduled to reconvene until Monday.

As a result of the funding lapse, several major departments and their subagencies are now unfunded. In addition to DHS, those affected include the Defense Department, State Department, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service.

Despite the shutdown, the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations are not expected to be disrupted. DHS received approximately $165 billion in additional funding last year through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including $75 billion for ICE and $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection. That funding exceeds typical annual allocations and allows operations to continue without new appropriations.

Other parts of the federal government remain fully funded. The six spending bills already enacted cover agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, legislative branch operations, Department of Commerce, Justice Department, NASA, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Federal shutdowns occur under the Antideficiency Act, which bars agencies from spending money that Congress has not authorized. Each year, Congress must pass twelve appropriations bills before the fiscal year begins on October 1. Lawmakers often delay final action and package bills together or pass temporary funding extensions to allow negotiations to continue.

Last year, Congress missed the deadline without passing any funding measures or a short-term extension, triggering a shutdown that lasted 43 days.

When a shutdown takes effect, agencies without funding must halt nonessential activities. Each department determines which employees are considered essential. Essential personnel continue working without pay during the shutdown but are entitled to back pay once funding is restored. Nonessential employees are typically furloughed and also receive back pay after the government reopens.

Because the current funding lapse began over the weekend, most shutdown procedures will be implemented at the start of the next workweek. The impact is expected to be limited if the House approves the revised funding package quickly.

The most significant strain during shutdowns often falls on essential workers who must continue working without pay. During last year’s shutdown, the administration relied on alternative funding sources to pay members of the military. Air traffic controllers and airport security personnel, also deemed essential, continued working as staffing shortages led to flight delays and cancellations, with some workers reporting they had to take on second jobs to cover expenses.

The duration of the current shutdown will depend largely on House action. Some conservative lawmakers have signaled they want changes to the DHS bill or amendments to the overall package, but they could relent if the president pressures holdouts to support the measure. With Republicans holding only a narrow majority, Democrats could also step in to help pass the legislation if internal GOP divisions persist.

The next procedural step is scheduled for Monday afternoon, when the House Rules Committee is set to meet at 4 p.m. Eastern Time to consider the funding package. If it clears the committee, the bill would move to a rule vote on the House floor, typically decided by a simple majority. Some conservatives have warned they may block that vote if their demands are not addressed.

If the package stalls, House Speaker Mike Johnson could bring it to the floor under suspension of the rules, a process that would require a two-thirds majority for passage. Should the House ultimately approve the funding measures, President Trump is expected to sign them promptly, bringing the shutdown to an end.

{Matzav.com}

Video shows a bystander at an airport spring into action, body-slamming a suspect who had pushed past agents at a TSA checkpoint.

A time-lapse shows winter settling over Greenville, North Carolina, as snowfall rolls in and gradually covers streets and sidewalks.

A federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds. Judge Katherine M. Menendez on Saturday denied a preliminary injunction sought in a lawsuit filed this month by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It […]

SEC NOEM: “Under Joe Biden’s administration, millions of people came into the United States that were completely unvetted.”

Harrowing footage captures police intervening as a driver speeds the wrong way down a highway, with the driver suffering minor injuries and reportedly facing felony charges for fleeing and DWI.

A dramatic rescue unfolded Thursday after a car plunged off a cliff along a scenic Los Angeles roadway, sending the 30-year-old driver to a trauma center in serious but stable condition.

Anti-ICE rioters set a dumpster on fire outside a federal building in Los Angeles on Friday night after a standoff with law enforcement, with multiple arrests made, including a suspect accused of using a slingshot to fire hard metal objects at officers.

A crash involving nearly 60 vehicles in Central California’s Tulare County forced the closure of Highway 99 in both directions at the scene, according to the California Highway Patrol. At least 10 people were taken to a local hospital.

President Trump said today that his administration will not deploy federal forces to confront protests or riots in what he described as “poorly run” Democratic-led cities unless local officials formally request assistance.

The president laid out his policy in a Truth Social post, one day after anti-ICE demonstrations broke out in Los Angeles and Eugene, Oregon.

Trump said cities are expected to prevent lawless behavior, including assaults on officers, and are responsible for safeguarding federal property within their jurisdictions.

“I have instructed Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, that under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat Cities with regard to their Protests and/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help,” Trump wrote this afternoon.

“We will, however, guard, and very powerfully so, any and all Federal Buildings that are being attacked by these highly paid Lunatics, Agitators, and Insurrectionists. Please be aware that I have instructed ICE and/or Border Patrol to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property.”

Trump’s comments came as his administration faces legal challenges from Minneapolis, Chicago, and other cities that have opposed the presence of federal forces, including ICE. He also recently urged de-escalation following the shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis last weekend.

“If Local Governments are unable to handle the Insurrectionists, Agitators, and Anarchists, we will immediately go to the location where such help is requested, and take care of the situation very easily and methodically,” Trump said.

“It is your obligation to also protect our Federal Property, Buildings, Parks, and everything else. We are there to protect Federal Property, only as a back up, in that it is Local and State Responsibility to do so,” he added.

“Therefore, to all complaining Local Governments, Governors, and Mayors, let us know when you are ready, and we will be there — But, before we do so, you must use the word, ‘PLEASE.’”

Trump, who referred to the demonstrations opposing his immigration enforcement policies in Los Angeles as “The Los Angeles riots,” used sharp language throughout his post and warned of aggressive federal responses if federal sites are attacked.

“Remember that I stated, in the strongest of language, to BEWARE — ICE, Border Patrol or, if necessary, our Military, will be extremely powerful and tough in the protection of our Federal Property. We will not allow our Courthouses, Federal Buildings, or anything else under our protection, to be damaged in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote.

His statement followed a night of large and sometimes chaotic protests in Los Angeles and came a week after Pretti’s death, which set off a wave of violent demonstrations in Minneapolis.

“If Local Governments are unable to handle the Insurrectionists, Agitators, and Anarchists, we will immediately go to the location where such help is requested, and take care of the situation very easily and methodically, just as we did the Los Angeles Riots one year ago, where the Police Chief said that, ‘We couldn’t have done it without the help of the Federal Government.’”

“In the meantime, by copy of this Statement, I am informing Local Governments, as I did in Los Angeles when they were rioting at the end of the Biden Term, that you must protect your own State and Local Property,” Trump added.

Trump also pointed to unrest in Eugene, Oregon, saying protesters there caused significant damage Friday night.

“These criminals broke into a Federal Building, and did great damage, also scaring and harassing the hardworking employees. Local Police did nothing in order to stop it.”

Police in Eugene confirmed that demonstrators “breached the building and went inside,” though officials said officers acted to keep the situation “de-escalated.”

{Matzav.com}

Kash Patel says FBI had ‘PROBABLE CAUSE’ for Georgia election probe.

Pakistan’s military said Saturday that multiple suicide and gun attacks by “terrorists” across the restive southwestern province of Balochistan killed 33 people, including civilians, while security forces responding to the violence killed 92 assailants. Analysts described it as the deadliest single day for militants in decades. During the attacks, Baloch insurgents targeted civilians, a high-security […]

Dramatic video shows the moment a rodeo arena roof at an Arkansas fairground collapsed under the weight of heavy snow from a winter storm; the arena will now be demolished and rebuilt.

Travelers without a Real ID could soon be hit with a new $45 fee starting Feb. 1, as the TSA plans to charge passengers lacking the enhanced identification to help cover the cost of additional screening.

Sen. Chuck Schumer said the Trump administration “is behaving no differently than police states and authoritarian regimes across history” following the arrests of journalist Don Lemon and independent Minnesota journalist Georgia Fort.

A town in Sicily is on the brink after days of cyclone-driven heavy rain triggered a massive landslide, destroying homes and forcing more than 1,500 residents to evacuate.

The United States and Israel both rejected any involvement in a series of unexplained explosions across Iran on today that killed six people and injured more than a dozen, amid heightened regional tensions.

U.S. officials told CNN that an explosion in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas had no connection to military activity, despite reports that a large U.S. naval “armada” is expected to enter the Persian Gulf as friction with Tehran intensifies.

Israeli officials likewise dismissed allegations that Israel carried out a targeted drone strike against an Iranian military site, according to the report.

In Bandar Abbas, one child was killed and 14 others were wounded when an explosion tore through a residential building on today. Iranian state media initially attributed the blast to a gas leak, saying authorities were still investigating the cause.

Separately, on the opposite side of the Strait of Hormuz, another explosion struck Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, where five people were killed in what was also described as a gas-related incident, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Additional reports of explosions elsewhere in Iran circulated online, though these claims were not independently confirmed.

Iranian state media today rejected viral social media claims that naval officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been killed in targeted drone attacks.

The incidents occurred as United States Central Command issued a warning to Iran ahead of planned live-fire military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz scheduled for Sunday.

“Any unsafe and unprofessional behavior near US forces, regional partners, or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation, and destabilization,” CENTCOM wrote on X on Friday.

Even as tensions remain elevated, Iranian officials insisted that diplomatic efforts with Washington continue to advance.

“Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing,” wrote Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in a post on X today.

{Matzav.com}

An Iranian operative working for Israel’s intelligence service revealed new details about clandestine actions carried out inside Iran during Israel’s 2025 campaign against Tehran’s nuclear program, describing how he joined the agency and participated in preemptive attacks ahead of Israeli airstrikes, Times of Israel reports.

The agent, whose identity was withheld for security reasons, gave the interview to Israel’s Channel 12 investigative program “Uvda,” where he recounted his personal motivations, his recruitment into the Mossad, and the events surrounding June 13, 2025, when Israel launched strikes it said were aimed at neutralizing an immediate existential threat posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

In the early hours of June 13, as Israeli fighter jets began heading toward targets in Iran, a coordinated series of rocket and drone attacks launched from within Iran knocked out critical air defense systems, ballistic missile launchers, and struck senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists.

Those internal attacks cleared the way for the Israeli air campaign and delayed Iran’s ability to mount an immediate missile and drone response, though retaliatory strikes followed in subsequent days.

The operative, identified on the program only by the alias “Arash,” appeared in heavy disguise to prevent recognition. The program did not disclose where the interview was filmed, noting only that it was recorded before anti-regime protests erupted inside Iran in late December.

According to the report, Arash is about 40 years old. He said his opposition to the Iranian regime began in childhood, when school lessons were dominated by indoctrination against Israel and the United States. He recalled that when he was 11, his 17-year-old sister was arrested and beaten for failing to wear a hijab. Although his father paid to secure her release, the incident led the family to flee Iran for an unnamed Western country.

Arash said the experience left him determined to act against the regime and to assist friends who remained in Iran. At age 30, he said he searched for the Mossad online and found the agency’s website, sending a message without knowing what would come of it. Within days, he was contacted by an agent, and in 2015 he formally began working with the Mossad, receiving training abroad. While details were not disclosed, the report indicated that Arash visited Israel and has some command of Hebrew.

In the lead-up to the June 2025 operation, Arash was dispatched back into Iran, where he headed one of the teams responsible for internal strikes. He said his unit was instructed to transport a missile and launcher by car to a designated location.

He described driving through Tehran and stopping at a red light when a police vehicle pulled up next to them.

“If I make a mistake, everything is gone,” he recalled, describing the fear of exposure, before the police car drove off without incident.

Once in position, the team assembled the weapon and waited for further instructions. Arash said he remained in direct contact with Mossad handlers in Israel, though he declined to explain how. He said the team did not know the identity of the target, having been given only coordinates.

For two hours, the team waited in darkness for the final order.

“I was scared, scared about everything,” he said.

At around 3 a.m., the command was given and Arash launched the missile. He said the weapon was equipped with a camera, allowing him to see the target moments before impact.

That target, he later learned, was a ballistic missile prepared for launch toward Israel.

He told his handlers, “I did the job,” and said they immediately replied, “Yes, you did.”

The team withdrew at once to a safe apartment. Arash said that the following day he observed people in Tehran expressing happiness that the regime had suffered a setback. The operatives were eventually extracted from Iran, and Arash said he was taken to Israel, where he shared a celebratory toast with his handlers.

The brief conflict that followed lasted 12 days, during which Israel carried out extensive strikes on Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile facilities. Iran responded with missile attacks on Israeli military targets and population centers.

One major site, however, remained beyond Israel’s reach: the Fordo uranium enrichment facility, buried deep beneath a mountain and protected from conventional Israeli airstrikes.

That challenge, officials said, had led the Mossad years earlier to devise an elaborate plan to smuggle a large quantity of explosives into Fordo and destroy it from within.

Several former intelligence and defense officials discussed the plan with “Uvda,” including former Mossad directors Yossi Cohen and Tamir Pardo, who led the agency from 2016 to 2021 and from 2011 to 2016, respectively.

They said Israel first uncovered the full scope of activities at Fordo in 2010, after which the Mossad began designing what Cohen described as an operation that, if executed, “would have been the greatest operation in the history of the country.”

According to the officials, the plan encountered serious reservations because of the massive resources required, its extreme complexity, the need for precisely synchronized actions, the large number of operatives involved, and the challenge of extracting them from Iran afterward. The Mossad favored relying on its own trained operatives rather than locally recruited agents, further complicating the mission, which Cohen indicated would have required dozens of participants.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to have strongly supported the plan and pushed for preparations to continue.

However, when Cohen became Mossad chief in 2016, the Obama administration had signed a nuclear agreement with Iran. Cohen said that by that point he had lost confidence that the operation could be carried out successfully, and the plan was shelved in favor of having the Israel Defense Forces prepare a direct strike.

In 2018, after the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, Israel once again had room to plan for an attack. Officials said that after current Mossad director David Barnea took office, work on the internal sabotage plan was revived.

That effort was delayed again after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war. Officials said the IDF assets required for the Mossad operation were diverted to fighting in Gaza, leading Barnea to postpone the plan once more.

When Israel ultimately launched its strikes in 2025, officials said there was still no viable Israeli-only solution for Fordo. The expectation was that the United States, which possesses the necessary capabilities to strike deeply buried targets, would join the operation. Although Washington initially hesitated over concerns about Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces in the region, the U.S. ordered strikes on several Iranian nuclear sites, including Fordo, on June 22. A ceasefire brokered by the United States later brought the conflict to an end.

In response to the television report, Netanyahu’s office, which oversees the Mossad, said that “in contrast to what has been claimed, the prime minister led the preparation of a variety of plans for striking all elements of the program.” Regarding Fordo, the Prime Minister’s Office said that “attack plans were developed, some of which were not possible because of October 7,” while highlighting the close cooperation between Israel and the United States during the war.

{Matzav.com}

The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday suspended the search for seven people who were aboard a commercial fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Massachusetts in rough, frigid waters. The Coast Guard launched a search and rescue mission early Friday after receiving an alert from the 72-foot (22-meter) Lily Jean about 25 miles (40 […]

At least 32 Palestinians were reported killed overnight and into this morning in a series of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, marking one of the deadliest episodes since the October ceasefire. The Israeli military said the attacks were carried out after what it described as a “violation of the ceasefire agreement,” and said the targets included senior terror operatives and weapons sites.

The Israel Defense Forces said the operation focused on four commanders from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, along with a weapons storage facility, an arms production location, and two rocket launch positions.

“The terror organizations in the Strip systematically violate international law, while brutally exploiting civilian institutions and operating in the presence of the local population,” the military said in a statement.

Hamas’s civil defense agency reported that it recovered the bodies of 32 people killed at seven separate sites since this morning. According to Hamas officials, roughly a quarter of those killed were children, about one-third were women, one was an elderly man, and five were members of the Hamas-run police force.

The Hamas-controlled health ministry said an additional 30 people were injured in the strikes, with some listed in critical condition.

Those figures could not be independently confirmed, and Israel did not publish its own casualty numbers.

One of the reported attacks struck the Sheikh Radwan police station in Gaza City, which Hamas’s interior ministry said was hit this morning. Palestinian media outlets said 16 people were killed at the site, including police officers and detainees.

Hamas’s interior ministry said several civilians were among the dead at the police station, along with at least five police officers — one holding a rank equivalent to colonel, two equivalent to major, and two equivalent to lieutenant. The ministry added that at least 15 other officers were wounded.

In another incident, Palestinian media reported that three people were killed in an Israeli strike near a UNRWA school in the Nasser neighborhood of western Gaza City.

Hamas accused Israel of committing a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” claiming that 12 of those killed overnight were children. Hamas also said seven of the dead belonged to a single family sheltering in a displaced persons camp in Khan Younis.

According to the Israeli military, the airstrikes followed an incident on Friday in which eight gunmen emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah area. The IDF said three of the gunmen were killed in subsequent strikes and that a fourth, described as a senior Hamas commander, was captured.

The army said the Rafah incident constituted a breach of the ceasefire.

After the escalation, Egypt’s foreign ministry issued a statement condemning Israel’s “repeated violations” of the truce and called on all sides to “exercise the utmost restraint,” ahead of the anticipated reopening of the Rafah Crossing.

The surge in violence came one day before Israel was set to reopen the Rafah Crossing — the only pedestrian passage between Gaza and Egypt — early next week, in line with the ceasefire agreement.

Qatar also denounced the Israeli strikes, saying: “The State of Qatar expresses its strong condemnation of the repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip… in a dangerous escalation that will inflame the situation and undermine regional and international efforts aimed at consolidating the truce.”

{Matzav.com}