legislation considered pursuant to a rule (12. 875)

Following Sunday night’s vote in the senate which saw eight political safe Democrats side with Republicans to overcome the filibuster threshold on a bill to reopen the US federal government after a stalemate of over forty days, in exchange for the protecting the right of the Government Accountability Office to sue the president for misappropriation of funds against the wishes of congress and a hollow promise to vote on whether to extend expiring health care subsidies (citing hardships and potential ruined holidays that were nonetheless being redressed by other means), which was the instigator of the standoff in the first place and now seems all for nothing, a self-own when the Democrats were ahead with their strategy and rather chuffed over a slate of election victories, the measure was returned to the house of representatives, recalling them from a recess of seven weeks to avoid the swearing in of an Arizona member whose vote in favour of releasing the Epstein files could force the matter to be brought to a floor vote, despite the speaker’s directive. Congress was recalled, again delaying the swearing in of the new representative and focusing on the legislation that they were just handed, with the bi-partisan oversight committee releasing a tranche of new documents, including some rather incriminating emails that refute Trump’s claim over a split with the pedophile and disgraced financial fixer. Whilst members on both sides of the aisle are enraged about postponing the discharge petition, it has also come to light Ghislaine Maxwell, already serving her sentence in a minimum security, is seeking a full commutation for her crimes. The president for his first meaningful interaction with the legislative branch outside of approving cabinet nominations, has cleared his schedule to sign the continuing resolution once it reaches his desk. The house is set to vote later in the afternoon but the entire ordeal is poised to repeat at the end of January when funding again runs out and it remains unclear whether the bill will pass, the Republican caucus only able to suffer no more than three defections and a provision to outlaw hemp-based products may cause some from agricultural states who have grown reliant on this industry to vote against the measure as it stands and torpedo its chances.