WASHINGTON (AP) — A $1.7 trillion spending bill financing federal agencies through September and providing more aid to a devastated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Ukraine</a>&nbsp;cleared the House on Friday as lawmakers race to finish their work for the year and avoid a partial government shutdown.

The bill passed mostly along party lines, 225-201. It now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

Passage of the bill represented a closing act for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nancy-pelosi">Rep. Nancy Pelosi's</a>&nbsp;second stint as House speaker, and for the Democratic majority she led back to power in the 2018 election. Republicans will take control of the House next year and Rep. Kevin McCarthy is campaigning to replace her.

He is appealing for support from staunch conservatives in his caucus who have largely trashed the size of the bill and many of the priorities it contains. He spoke with a raised voice for about 25 minutes, assailing the bill for spending too much and doing too little to curb illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border.

“This is a monstrosity that is one of the most shameful acts I've ever seen in this body," McCarthy said of the legislation.

The speech prompted a quick quip from Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who said “after listening to that, it's clear he doesn't have the votes yet," a reference to McCarthy's campaign to become speaker.

Pelosi said “we have a big bill here because we had big needs for the country," then turned her focus to McCarthy:

“It was sad to hear the minority leader say that this legislation is the most shameful thing to be seen on the House floor in this Congress," Pelosi said. “I can't help but wonder, had he forgotten January 6th?”

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-4ce3cf1ee887747b13fe8d007b8ffd75">Senate passed the defense-heavy measure</a>&nbsp;with significant bipartisan support on Thursday, but the vote was much more split in the House. Some 30 GOP lawmakers promised to block any legislative priority that comes from those Republican senators who voted for the bill and leadership urged a no vote.

The bill runs for 4,155 pages, not including amendments the Senate added. It contains about a 6% percent increase in spending for domestic initiatives, to $772.5 billion. Spending on defense programs will increase by about 10% to $858 billion.

The bill's passage came only hours before financing for federal agencies expires. Lawmakers have passed two stopgap spending measures to keep the government operating so far for this budget year and a third was set to pass Friday as well to ensure services continue until Biden could sign the full-year measure, called an omnibus, into law.

The massive bill wraps together 12 appropriations bills, aid to Ukraine and disaster relief for communities recovering from hurricanes, flooding and wildfires. It also contains scores of policy changes that lawmakers worked to include in the final major bill being considered by the current Congress.

Lawmakers provided roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies, more than even Biden requested, an acknowledgment that future rounds of funding are not guaranteed with a new GOP-led House.

In a dramatic address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday night,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-biden-68c65b3274e552f36f16853f24fedbb9">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;told lawmakers that the aid was not charity, but an investment in global security and democracy.

Though Ukraine aid has largely had bipartisan support, some House Republicans have been critical of the effort, arguing the money is better spent on priorities in the U.S.

“How can we send an additional $47 BILLION to Ukraine for security while terrorists, drugs, and criminals flood our southern border?” tweeted Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.

“$100 billion to Ukraine. Let’s put that in perspective,” tweeted Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who included past rounds of aid in his count. “That’s more than $200 million this year from each Congressional district. What could your congressman have done for your district with $200 million?”

McCarthy has warned that Republicans would not write a “blank check” for Ukraine in the next Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after Thursday's vote he’s having trouble understanding the concerns.

“I’m just befuddled by some of these right-wing Republicans who don’t want to help Ukraine,” Schumer said. “It’s always been, the more hard right you were, the more anti-Soviet you were, but all of a sudden, they’re pro. I hope it’s not a residue of Trump.”

The Senate passed the funding package Thursday by a vote of 68-29 but it takes time for the Senate clerk's office to review the bill and include amendments that were added that day. As a result, the bill ended up passing with a half-empty House chamber. More than 220 lawmakers sought the option to vote by proxy, and many raced to get out of town before risking canceled flights and spending Christmas in Washington.

Republicans have vowed that abolishing the practice of remote voting will be among their first acts in the majority next year.

The funding bill also contains roughly $40 billion in emergency spending in the U.S., mostly to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes and other natural disasters.

And it has scores of policy changes largely unrelated to spending that lawmakers worked furiously behind the scenes to include, else they start from scratch next year in a divided Congress where Republicans will be returning to the majority in the House.

One of the most notable examples was a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-susan-collins-west-virginia-c9c15562ad910bbc0ba6ef1eecbfc158">historic revision</a>&nbsp;to federal election law that aims to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election.

The bipartisan overhaul of the Electoral Count Act is in direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to persuade Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.

Among the spending increases Democrats emphasized: a $500 increase in the maximum size of Pell grants for low-income college students, a $100 million increase in block grants to states for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, a 22% increase in spending on VA medical care and $3.7 billion to provide emergency relief to farmers and ranchers hit by natural disasters, just to name a few.

The bill also provides roughly $15.3 billion for more than 7,200 projects that lawmakers sought for their home states and districts. Under revamped rules for community project funding, also referred to as earmarks, lawmakers must post their requests online and attest they have no financial interest in the projects. Still, many fiscal conservatives criticize the earmarking as leading to unnecessary spending.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671663729826.png" alt="The bill passed mostly along party lines, 225-201. It now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.-photo courtesy Architect of the Capitol" />
 <figcaption>The bill passed mostly along party lines, 225-201. It now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.-photo courtesy Architect of the Capitol</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — A $1.7 trillion spending bill financing federal agencies through September and providing more aid to a devastated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Ukraine</a>&nbsp;cleared the House on Friday as lawmakers race to finish their work for the year and avoid a partial government shutdown.The bill passed mostly along party lines, 225-201. It now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.Passage of the bill represented a closing act for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nancy-pelosi">Rep. Nancy Pelosi's</a>&nbsp;second stint as House speaker, and for the Democratic majority she led back to power in the 2018 election. Republicans will take control of the House next year and Rep. Kevin McCarthy is campaigning to replace her.He is appealing for support from staunch conservatives in his caucus who have largely trashed the size of the bill and many of the priorities it contains. He spoke with a raised voice for about 25 minutes, assailing the bill for spending too much and doing too little to curb illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border.“This is a monstrosity that is one of the most shameful acts I've ever seen in this body," McCarthy said of the legislation.The speech prompted a quick quip from Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who said “after listening to that, it's clear he doesn't have the votes yet," a reference to McCarthy's campaign to become speaker.Pelosi said “we have a big bill here because we had big needs for the country," then turned her focus to McCarthy:“It was sad to hear the minority leader say that this legislation is the most shameful thing to be seen on the House floor in this Congress," Pelosi said. “I can't help but wonder, had he forgotten January 6th?”The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-4ce3cf1ee887747b13fe8d007b8ffd75">Senate passed the defense-heavy measure</a>&nbsp;with significant bipartisan support on Thursday, but the vote was much more split in the House. Some 30 GOP lawmakers promised to block any legislative priority that comes from those Republican senators who voted for the bill and leadership urged a no vote.The bill runs for 4,155 pages, not including amendments the Senate added. It contains about a 6% percent increase in spending for domestic initiatives, to $772.5 billion. Spending on defense programs will increase by about 10% to $858 billion.The bill's passage came only hours before financing for federal agencies expires. Lawmakers have passed two stopgap spending measures to keep the government operating so far for this budget year and a third was set to pass Friday as well to ensure services continue until Biden could sign the full-year measure, called an omnibus, into law.The massive bill wraps together 12 appropriations bills, aid to Ukraine and disaster relief for communities recovering from hurricanes, flooding and wildfires. It also contains scores of policy changes that lawmakers worked to include in the final major bill being considered by the current Congress.Lawmakers provided roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies, more than even Biden requested, an acknowledgment that future rounds of funding are not guaranteed with a new GOP-led House.In a dramatic address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday night,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-biden-68c65b3274e552f36f16853f24fedbb9">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;told lawmakers that the aid was not charity, but an investment in global security and democracy.Though Ukraine aid has largely had bipartisan support, some House Republicans have been critical of the effort, arguing the money is better spent on priorities in the U.S.“How can we send an additional $47 BILLION to Ukraine for security while terrorists, drugs, and criminals flood our southern border?” tweeted Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.“$100 billion to Ukraine. Let’s put that in perspective,” tweeted Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who included past rounds of aid in his count. “That’s more than $200 million this year from each Congressional district. What could your congressman have done for your district with $200 million?”McCarthy has warned that Republicans would not write a “blank check” for Ukraine in the next Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after Thursday's vote he’s having trouble understanding the concerns.“I’m just befuddled by some of these right-wing Republicans who don’t want to help Ukraine,” Schumer said. “It’s always been, the more hard right you were, the more anti-Soviet you were, but all of a sudden, they’re pro. I hope it’s not a residue of Trump.”The Senate passed the funding package Thursday by a vote of 68-29 but it takes time for the Senate clerk's office to review the bill and include amendments that were added that day. As a result, the bill ended up passing with a half-empty House chamber. More than 220 lawmakers sought the option to vote by proxy, and many raced to get out of town before risking canceled flights and spending Christmas in Washington.Republicans have vowed that abolishing the practice of remote voting will be among their first acts in the majority next year.The funding bill also contains roughly $40 billion in emergency spending in the U.S., mostly to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes and other natural disasters.And it has scores of policy changes largely unrelated to spending that lawmakers worked furiously behind the scenes to include, else they start from scratch next year in a divided Congress where Republicans will be returning to the majority in the House.One of the most notable examples was a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-susan-collins-west-virginia-c9c15562ad910bbc0ba6ef1eecbfc158">historic revision</a>&nbsp;to federal election law that aims to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election.The bipartisan overhaul of the Electoral Count Act is in direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to persuade Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.Among the spending increases Democrats emphasized: a $500 increase in the maximum size of Pell grants for low-income college students, a $100 million increase in block grants to states for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, a 22% increase in spending on VA medical care and $3.7 billion to provide emergency relief to farmers and ranchers hit by natural disasters, just to name a few.The bill also provides roughly $15.3 billion for more than 7,200 projects that lawmakers sought for their home states and districts. Under revamped rules for community project funding, also referred to as earmarks, lawmakers must post their requests online and attest they have no financial interest in the projects. Still, many fiscal conservatives criticize the earmarking as leading to unnecessary spending.

Christmas: House OKs $1.7 trillion spending bill; $45 billion for Ukraine 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The drawn-out saga of Title 42, the set of emergency powers that allows border officials to quickly turn away migrants, has been chaotic at the U.S.-Mexico border. In Washington, it hasn't unfolded much better.

The Supreme Court is weighing whether to keep the powers in place following months of legal battles brought on by Republican-led states after President Joe Biden's administration moved to end the Trump-era policy, which was set to lapse this week until the court agreed to take it up.

The administration has yet to lay out any systemic changes to manage an expected surge of migrants if the restrictions end. And a bipartisan immigration bill in Congress has been buried just as Republicans are set to take control of the House.

In short, America is right back where it has been. A divided nation is unable to agree on what a longer-term fix to the immigration system should look like. Basic questions — for example, should more immigrants be allowed in, or fewer? — are unanswered. Meantime the asylum system continues to strain under increasing numbers of migrants.

The Biden administration has been reluctant to take hardline measures that would resemble those of his predecessor. That's resulted in a barrage of criticism from Republicans who are using Title 42 to hammer the president as ineffective on border security. The rules were introduced as an emergency health measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“The Democrats have lost the messaging war on this," said Charles Foster, a longtime immigration attorney in Texas who served as an immigration policy adviser to Republican George W. Bush but now considers himself independent. "The tragedy is, Democrats more than anyone should focus on this issue, because unless and until it can be fixed, and the perception changes, we’ll get nothing ever through Congress."

Anyone who comes to the U.S. has the right to ask for asylum, but laws are narrow on who actually gets it. Under Biden, migrants arriving at the border are often let into the country and allowed to work while their cases progress. That process takes years because of a 2-million-case backlog in the immigration court system that was exacerbated by Trump-era rules.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-mexico-2d6872921b9d21347175b50f30d31539">Title 42 allows border officials</a>&nbsp;to deny people the right to seek asylum, and they have done so 2.5 million times since March 2020. The emergency health authority has been applied disproportionately to those from countries that Mexico agreed to take back: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and more recently Venezuela, in addition to Mexico.

“There is not going to be a good moment, politically speaking,” to end the restrictions, said Jorge Loweree of the American Immigration Council. The administration should have been preparing all along to create a better system for asylum seekers," Loweree said.

“It has allowed the other side to weaponize this issue. And the longer it remains in place, the longer the weapon will remain effective.”

The authority was first invoked at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic by President Donald Trump, whose immigration policies were aimed at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-politics-f106b3351f6148a98f8f24c536f464ed">keeping out as many migrants as possible</a>. He also drastically reduced the number of refugees allowed into the country, added restrictions to the asylum process&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/courts-az-state-wire-tx-state-wire-ma-state-wire-ut-state-wire-7851364613cf0afbf67cf7930949f7d3">that clogged the system and kept migrants in detention</a>, and reduced legal immigration pathways.

Biden has been working to expand legal immigration and has undone some of the most restrictive Trump policies. But the administration kept the policy in place until this spring, and even&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-venezuela-donald-trump-mexico-409a67bb33d547bc5438a4d7160576f6">expanded its use</a>&nbsp;after announcing it would end.

Republican say there will be even more chaos if it's lifted. But even with Title 42 in place, border officials have been encountering more migrants than ever before. In the budget year that ended Sept. 30, migrants were stopped 2.38 million times, up 37% from 1.73 million times the year before.

“I don’t know why it’s taking them so long to get serious about deterrence,” Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said of the Biden administration. Capito is an incoming member of the Senate Republican leadership and the top GOP senator on the committee that oversees money for Homeland Security, the federal agency that manages border security.

Border officials have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-28ce8e9b1cb7b99d73c8043badbbe270">braced for an expected increase</a>, and migrants who have arrived are unsure of how asylum processes will work when the policy ends. Homeland Security officials have reported faster processing for migrants in custody on the border, more temporary detention tents, staffing increases and more criminal prosecutions of smugglers.

They say progress has been made on a plan announced in April but large-scale changes are needed. Meanwhile, the Senate's Republican leadership killed a bipartisan immigration bill that would have addressed some of these issues.

The split isn't just inside Congress.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-2022-midterm-elections-covid-health-media-2ebbd3849ca35ec76f0f91120639d9d4">One in 3 U.S. adults believes</a>&nbsp;an effort is underway to replace native-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gains, according to an AP-NORC survey.

Biden and his aides have said they are working to divert migrants coming out of Central America and helping provide aid to poorer nations that are bleeding people headed for the U.S. But the president is limited without action from Congress.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration is surging assistance to the border and will continue to do so. But “the removal of Title 42 does not mean the border is open,” she said. "Anyone who suggests otherwise is simply doing the work of these smugglers who again are spreading misinformation, which is very dangerous.”

A year-long appropriations bill passed the Senate on Thursday that would give the Border Patrol 17% more money, as well as 13% more for the Justice Department to develop an electronic case management system for immigration courts.

But Citizenship and Immigration Services, central in the asylum process, only got one third of what Biden had proposed to speed up the system.

Democrats, for their part, say they want policies that reflect America's reputation as a haven for those fleeing persecution. But they can’t agree on what that looks like.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has been working on the issue for 20 years. This week, he stood on the Senate floor, sounding dejected as he talked about how Congress couldn't push through reform.

“It is a humanitarian and security nightmare that is only getting worse,” he said. “We're being flooded at the border by people who want to be in the United States, safely in the United States.”

Why, he asked, can't Washington figure out a better way?

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632317817548.png" alt="The Supreme Court is weighing whether to keep the powers in place following months of legal battles-photo Rep. Tony Gonzales" />
 <figcaption>The Supreme Court is weighing whether to keep the powers in place following months of legal battles-photo Rep. Tony Gonzales</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The drawn-out saga of Title 42, the set of emergency powers that allows border officials to quickly turn away migrants, has been chaotic at the U.S.-Mexico border. In Washington, it hasn't unfolded much better.The Supreme Court is weighing whether to keep the powers in place following months of legal battles brought on by Republican-led states after President Joe Biden's administration moved to end the Trump-era policy, which was set to lapse this week until the court agreed to take it up.The administration has yet to lay out any systemic changes to manage an expected surge of migrants if the restrictions end. And a bipartisan immigration bill in Congress has been buried just as Republicans are set to take control of the House.In short, America is right back where it has been. A divided nation is unable to agree on what a longer-term fix to the immigration system should look like. Basic questions — for example, should more immigrants be allowed in, or fewer? — are unanswered. Meantime the asylum system continues to strain under increasing numbers of migrants.The Biden administration has been reluctant to take hardline measures that would resemble those of his predecessor. That's resulted in a barrage of criticism from Republicans who are using Title 42 to hammer the president as ineffective on border security. The rules were introduced as an emergency health measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.“The Democrats have lost the messaging war on this," said Charles Foster, a longtime immigration attorney in Texas who served as an immigration policy adviser to Republican George W. Bush but now considers himself independent. "The tragedy is, Democrats more than anyone should focus on this issue, because unless and until it can be fixed, and the perception changes, we’ll get nothing ever through Congress."Anyone who comes to the U.S. has the right to ask for asylum, but laws are narrow on who actually gets it. Under Biden, migrants arriving at the border are often let into the country and allowed to work while their cases progress. That process takes years because of a 2-million-case backlog in the immigration court system that was exacerbated by Trump-era rules.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-mexico-2d6872921b9d21347175b50f30d31539">Title 42 allows border officials</a>&nbsp;to deny people the right to seek asylum, and they have done so 2.5 million times since March 2020. The emergency health authority has been applied disproportionately to those from countries that Mexico agreed to take back: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and more recently Venezuela, in addition to Mexico.“There is not going to be a good moment, politically speaking,” to end the restrictions, said Jorge Loweree of the American Immigration Council. The administration should have been preparing all along to create a better system for asylum seekers," Loweree said.“It has allowed the other side to weaponize this issue. And the longer it remains in place, the longer the weapon will remain effective.”The authority was first invoked at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic by President Donald Trump, whose immigration policies were aimed at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-politics-f106b3351f6148a98f8f24c536f464ed">keeping out as many migrants as possible</a>. He also drastically reduced the number of refugees allowed into the country, added restrictions to the asylum process&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/courts-az-state-wire-tx-state-wire-ma-state-wire-ut-state-wire-7851364613cf0afbf67cf7930949f7d3">that clogged the system and kept migrants in detention</a>, and reduced legal immigration pathways.Biden has been working to expand legal immigration and has undone some of the most restrictive Trump policies. But the administration kept the policy in place until this spring, and even&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-venezuela-donald-trump-mexico-409a67bb33d547bc5438a4d7160576f6">expanded its use</a>&nbsp;after announcing it would end.Republican say there will be even more chaos if it's lifted. But even with Title 42 in place, border officials have been encountering more migrants than ever before. In the budget year that ended Sept. 30, migrants were stopped 2.38 million times, up 37% from 1.73 million times the year before.“I don’t know why it’s taking them so long to get serious about deterrence,” Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said of the Biden administration. Capito is an incoming member of the Senate Republican leadership and the top GOP senator on the committee that oversees money for Homeland Security, the federal agency that manages border security.Border officials have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-28ce8e9b1cb7b99d73c8043badbbe270">braced for an expected increase</a>, and migrants who have arrived are unsure of how asylum processes will work when the policy ends. Homeland Security officials have reported faster processing for migrants in custody on the border, more temporary detention tents, staffing increases and more criminal prosecutions of smugglers.They say progress has been made on a plan announced in April but large-scale changes are needed. Meanwhile, the Senate's Republican leadership killed a bipartisan immigration bill that would have addressed some of these issues.The split isn't just inside Congress.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-2022-midterm-elections-covid-health-media-2ebbd3849ca35ec76f0f91120639d9d4">One in 3 U.S. adults believes</a>&nbsp;an effort is underway to replace native-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gains, according to an AP-NORC survey.Biden and his aides have said they are working to divert migrants coming out of Central America and helping provide aid to poorer nations that are bleeding people headed for the U.S. But the president is limited without action from Congress.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration is surging assistance to the border and will continue to do so. But “the removal of Title 42 does not mean the border is open,” she said. "Anyone who suggests otherwise is simply doing the work of these smugglers who again are spreading misinformation, which is very dangerous.”A year-long appropriations bill passed the Senate on Thursday that would give the Border Patrol 17% more money, as well as 13% more for the Justice Department to develop an electronic case management system for immigration courts.But Citizenship and Immigration Services, central in the asylum process, only got one third of what Biden had proposed to speed up the system.Democrats, for their part, say they want policies that reflect America's reputation as a haven for those fleeing persecution. But they can’t agree on what that looks like.Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has been working on the issue for 20 years. This week, he stood on the Senate floor, sounding dejected as he talked about how Congress couldn't push through reform.“It is a humanitarian and security nightmare that is only getting worse,” he said. “We're being flooded at the border by people who want to be in the United States, safely in the United States.”Why, he asked, can't Washington figure out a better way?

Title 42 border rules confound Washington, migrants alike

WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure of inflation closely watched by the Federal Reserve slowed last month, another sign that a long surge in consumer prices seems to be easing.

Friday's report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose 5.5% in November from a year earlier, down from a revise 6.1% increase in October. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation was up 4.7% over the previous year.

On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 0.1% from October to November after rising 0.4% the previous month. Core prices rose 0.2%.

The Fed is believed to monitor the Commerce Department's inflation gauge that was issued Friday, called the personal consumption expenditures price index, even more closely than it does the Labor Department's better-known consumer price index. CPI rose 7.1% in November from 12 months earlier, down from June’s 9.1% year-over-year increase, which had been the biggest such jump in four decades.

The PCE index tends to show a lower inflation rate than CPI. In part, that is because rents, which have soared, carry double the weight in the CPI that they do in the PCE.

The PCE price index also seeks to account for changes in how people shop when inflation jumps. As a result, it can capture, for example, when consumers switch from pricey national brands to cheaper store brands.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671814441174.png" alt="On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 0.1% from October to November after rising 0.4% the previous month. Core prices rose 0.2%.-Google image" />
 <figcaption>On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 0.1% from October to November after rising 0.4% the previous month. Core prices rose 0.2%.-Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure of inflation closely watched by the Federal Reserve slowed last month, another sign that a long surge in consumer prices seems to be easing.Friday's report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose 5.5% in November from a year earlier, down from a revise 6.1% increase in October. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation was up 4.7% over the previous year.On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 0.1% from October to November after rising 0.4% the previous month. Core prices rose 0.2%.The Fed is believed to monitor the Commerce Department's inflation gauge that was issued Friday, called the personal consumption expenditures price index, even more closely than it does the Labor Department's better-known consumer price index. CPI rose 7.1% in November from 12 months earlier, down from June’s 9.1% year-over-year increase, which had been the biggest such jump in four decades.The PCE index tends to show a lower inflation rate than CPI. In part, that is because rents, which have soared, carry double the weight in the CPI that they do in the PCE.The PCE price index also seeks to account for changes in how people shop when inflation jumps. As a result, it can capture, for example, when consumers switch from pricey national brands to cheaper store brands.

Report: Inflation is slowing according Fed's preferred measure

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee's final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a "multi-part conspiracy" to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection two years ago.

<a href="https://january6th.house.gov/sites/democrats.january6th.house.gov/files/Report_FinalReport_Jan6SelectCommittee.pdf">Click here to read</a> the report

Trump "lit that fire," the committee's chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, writes.

The 814-page report released Thursday comes after the panel interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained more than a million pages of documents. The witnesses — ranging from many of Trump's closest aides to law enforcement to some of the rioters themselves — detailed Trump's "premeditated" actions in the weeks ahead of the attack and how his wide-ranging efforts to overturn his defeat directly influenced those who brutally pushed past the police and smashed through the windows and doors of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The central cause was "one man," the report says: Trump.

The insurrection gravely threatened democracy and "put the lives of American lawmakers at risk," the bipartisan nine-member panel concluded, offering so far the most definitive account of a dark chapter in modern American history. It functions not only as a compendium of the most dramatic moments of testimony from months of hearings, but also as a document meant to be preserved for future generations.

In a foreword to the report, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the findings should be a "clarion call to all Americans: to vigilantly guard our Democracy and to give our vote only to those dutiful in their defense of our Constitution."

The report's eight chapters tell the story largely as the panel's hearings did this summer — describing the many facets of the remarkable plan that Trump and his advisers devised to try and void President Joe Biden's victory. The lawmakers describe the former president's pressure on states, federal officials, lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to game the system or break the law.

In the two months between the election and the insurrection, the report says, "President Trump or his inner circle engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either State legislators or State or local election administrators, to overturn State election results."

Trump's repeated, false claims of widespread voter fraud resonated with his supporters, the committee said, and were amplified on social media, building on the distrust of government he had fostered for his four years in office. And he did little to stop them when they resorted to violence and stormed the Capitol, interrupting the certification of Biden's victory.

The massive, damning report comes as Trump is running again for the presidency and also facing multiple federal investigations, including probes of his role in the insurrection and the presence of classified documents at his Florida estate. This week is particularly fraught for him, as a House committee said it will release his tax returns after he has fought for years to keep them private. And Trump has been blamed by Republicans for a worse-than-expected showing in the midterm elections, leaving him in his most politically vulnerable state since he was elected in 2016.

In a series of policy recommendations, the seven Democrats and two Republicans on the committee suggest that Trump should be barred from future office, noting that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution holds that anyone who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution can be prevented from holding office for engaging in insurrection or rebellion.

"He is unfit for any office," writes the committee's vice chairwoman, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

Posting on his social media site, Trump called the report "highly partisan" and falsely claimed it didn't include his statement on Jan. 6 that his supporters should protest "peacefully and patriotically." The committee did include that statement, though, and noted that he followed that comment with election falsehoods and charged language exhorting the crowd to "fight like hell."

The report details a multitude of failings by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, noting that many of the rioters came with weapons and had openly planned for violence online. "The failure to sufficiently share and act upon that intelligence jeopardized the lives of the police officers defending the Capitol and everyone in it," the report says.

At the same time, the committee makes an emphatic point that security failures are not the primary cause for the insurrection.

"The President of the United States inciting a mob to march on the Capitol and impede the work of Congress is not a scenario our intelligence and law enforcement communities envisioned for this country," Thompson wrote.

"Donald Trump lit that fire," Thompson writes. "But in the weeks beforehand, the kindling he ultimately ignited was amassed in plain sight."

The report details Trump's inaction as his loyalists were storming the building, detailing the hours when he watched the violence on television but did nothing to stop it.

A White House photographer snapped a picture of Trump at 1:21 p.m., learning of the riot from the employee after he returned to the White House after his speech — and after his own security officials had rebuffed his efforts to go to the Capitol himself. "By that time, if not sooner, he had been made aware of the violent riot," the report states.

In total, 187 minutes elapsed between the time Trump finished his speech at the Ellipse and his first effort to get the rioters to disperse, through an eventual video message in which he asked his supporters to go home even as he reassured them, "We love you, you're very special."

That inaction was a "dereliction of duty," the report says, noting that Trump had more power than any other person as the nation's commander-in-chief. "He willfully remained idle even as others, including his own Vice President, acted."

During those hours, Pence huddled in the Capitol, begging security officials for a quicker National Guard response as rioters outside called for his hanging because he would not illegally try to thwart Biden's win. And inside the White House, dozens of staffers and associates pleaded with Trump to make a forceful statement.

"We all look like domestic terrorists now," longtime aide Hope Hicks texted Julie Radford, who served as Ivanka Trump's chief of staff, in the aftermath.

The report says "virtually everyone on the White House staff" interviewed by the committee condemned a tweet by Trump at 2:24 p.m. that day — just as the rioters were first breaking into the Capitol — that Vice President Mike Pence "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution."

"Attacking the VP? Wtf is wrong with him," Hicks texted another colleague that evening.

The investigation's release is a final act for House Democrats who are ceding power to Republicans in less than two weeks, and have spent much of their four years in power investigating Trump. Democrats impeached Trump twice, the second time a week after the insurrection. He was acquitted by the Senate both times. Other Democratic-led probes investigated his finances, his businesses, his foreign ties and his family.

On Monday, the panel officially passed their investigation to the Justice Department, recommending the department investigate the former president on four crimes, including aiding an insurrection. While the criminal referrals have no legal standing, they are a final statement from the committee after its extensive, year-and-a-half-long probe.

The committee has also begun to release hundreds of transcripts of its interviews. On Thursday, the panel released transcripts of two closed-door interviews with former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified in person at one of the televised hearings over the summer and described in vivid detail Trump's actions and inaction inside the White House.

In the two interviews, both conducted after her June appearance at the hearing, Hutchinson described how many of Trump's allies, including her lawyer, pressured her not to say too much in her committee interviews.

Follow the AP's coverage of the Capitol insurrection at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671793065512.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee's final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a "multi-part conspiracy" to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection two years ago.<a href="https://january6th.house.gov/sites/democrats.january6th.house.gov/files/Report_FinalReport_Jan6SelectCommittee.pdf">Click here to read</a> the reportTrump "lit that fire," the committee's chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, writes.The 814-page report released Thursday comes after the panel interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained more than a million pages of documents. The witnesses — ranging from many of Trump's closest aides to law enforcement to some of the rioters themselves — detailed Trump's "premeditated" actions in the weeks ahead of the attack and how his wide-ranging efforts to overturn his defeat directly influenced those who brutally pushed past the police and smashed through the windows and doors of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.The central cause was "one man," the report says: Trump.The insurrection gravely threatened democracy and "put the lives of American lawmakers at risk," the bipartisan nine-member panel concluded, offering so far the most definitive account of a dark chapter in modern American history. It functions not only as a compendium of the most dramatic moments of testimony from months of hearings, but also as a document meant to be preserved for future generations.In a foreword to the report, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the findings should be a "clarion call to all Americans: to vigilantly guard our Democracy and to give our vote only to those dutiful in their defense of our Constitution."The report's eight chapters tell the story largely as the panel's hearings did this summer — describing the many facets of the remarkable plan that Trump and his advisers devised to try and void President Joe Biden's victory. The lawmakers describe the former president's pressure on states, federal officials, lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to game the system or break the law.In the two months between the election and the insurrection, the report says, "President Trump or his inner circle engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either State legislators or State or local election administrators, to overturn State election results."Trump's repeated, false claims of widespread voter fraud resonated with his supporters, the committee said, and were amplified on social media, building on the distrust of government he had fostered for his four years in office. And he did little to stop them when they resorted to violence and stormed the Capitol, interrupting the certification of Biden's victory.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1614042711157.png" alt="photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>The massive, damning report comes as Trump is running again for the presidency and also facing multiple federal investigations, including probes of his role in the insurrection and the presence of classified documents at his Florida estate. This week is particularly fraught for him, as a House committee said it will release his tax returns after he has fought for years to keep them private. And Trump has been blamed by Republicans for a worse-than-expected showing in the midterm elections, leaving him in his most politically vulnerable state since he was elected in 2016.In a series of policy recommendations, the seven Democrats and two Republicans on the committee suggest that Trump should be barred from future office, noting that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution holds that anyone who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution can be prevented from holding office for engaging in insurrection or rebellion."He is unfit for any office," writes the committee's vice chairwoman, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.Posting on his social media site, Trump called the report "highly partisan" and falsely claimed it didn't include his statement on Jan. 6 that his supporters should protest "peacefully and patriotically." The committee did include that statement, though, and noted that he followed that comment with election falsehoods and charged language exhorting the crowd to "fight like hell."The report details a multitude of failings by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, noting that many of the rioters came with weapons and had openly planned for violence online. "The failure to sufficiently share and act upon that intelligence jeopardized the lives of the police officers defending the Capitol and everyone in it," the report says.At the same time, the committee makes an emphatic point that security failures are not the primary cause for the insurrection."The President of the United States inciting a mob to march on the Capitol and impede the work of Congress is not a scenario our intelligence and law enforcement communities envisioned for this country," Thompson wrote."Donald Trump lit that fire," Thompson writes. "But in the weeks beforehand, the kindling he ultimately ignited was amassed in plain sight."The report details Trump's inaction as his loyalists were storming the building, detailing the hours when he watched the violence on television but did nothing to stop it.A White House photographer snapped a picture of Trump at 1:21 p.m., learning of the riot from the employee after he returned to the White House after his speech — and after his own security officials had rebuffed his efforts to go to the Capitol himself. "By that time, if not sooner, he had been made aware of the violent riot," the report states.In total, 187 minutes elapsed between the time Trump finished his speech at the Ellipse and his first effort to get the rioters to disperse, through an eventual video message in which he asked his supporters to go home even as he reassured them, "We love you, you're very special."That inaction was a "dereliction of duty," the report says, noting that Trump had more power than any other person as the nation's commander-in-chief. "He willfully remained idle even as others, including his own Vice President, acted."During those hours, Pence huddled in the Capitol, begging security officials for a quicker National Guard response as rioters outside called for his hanging because he would not illegally try to thwart Biden's win. And inside the White House, dozens of staffers and associates pleaded with Trump to make a forceful statement.But he did not."We all look like domestic terrorists now," longtime aide Hope Hicks texted Julie Radford, who served as Ivanka Trump's chief of staff, in the aftermath.The report says "virtually everyone on the White House staff" interviewed by the committee condemned a tweet by Trump at 2:24 p.m. that day — just as the rioters were first breaking into the Capitol — that Vice President Mike Pence "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.""Attacking the VP? Wtf is wrong with him," Hicks texted another colleague that evening.The investigation's release is a final act for House Democrats who are ceding power to Republicans in less than two weeks, and have spent much of their four years in power investigating Trump. Democrats impeached Trump twice, the second time a week after the insurrection. He was acquitted by the Senate both times. Other Democratic-led probes investigated his finances, his businesses, his foreign ties and his family.On Monday, the panel officially passed their investigation to the Justice Department, recommending the department investigate the former president on four crimes, including aiding an insurrection. While the criminal referrals have no legal standing, they are a final statement from the committee after its extensive, year-and-a-half-long probe.The committee has also begun to release hundreds of transcripts of its interviews. On Thursday, the panel released transcripts of two closed-door interviews with former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified in person at one of the televised hearings over the summer and described in vivid detail Trump's actions and inaction inside the White House.In the two interviews, both conducted after her June appearance at the hearing, Hutchinson described how many of Trump's allies, including her lawyer, pressured her not to say too much in her committee interviews.___Follow the AP's coverage of the Capitol insurrection at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege

Read the Jan. 6 panel's final report on the Capitol insurrection

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed a massive $1.7 trillion spending bill Thursday that finances federal agencies through September and provides another large round of aid to Ukraine one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's dramatic address to a joint meeting of Congress.

The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, includes about $772.5 billion for domestic programs and $858 billion for defense and would finance federal agencies through the fiscal year at the end of September.

The bill passed by a vote of 68-29. Eighteen Republicans voted for the bill including Kansas Senator Jerry Moran and Missouri Senator Roy Blunt. Nebraska Senators Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley voted no.

The measure&nbsp;now goes to the House for a final vote before it can be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

“This is one of the most significant appropriations packages we have done in a very long time,” Schumer said. “The range of people it helps is large and deep," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. said moments before the vote.

Lawmakers were racing to get the bill approved before a partial government shutdown would occur at midnight Friday, and many were anxious to complete the task before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/winter-weather-storm-updates-c0d9d7a04fa48359a0a40a7b9ff1b970">a deep freeze and wintry conditions</a>&nbsp;left them stranded in Washington for the holidays. Many also want to lock in government funding before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-house-control-79475a4fc11e4375cd0dded651b9eede">a new GOP-controlled House</a>&nbsp;next year could make it harder to find compromise on spending.

Senators&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-biden-68c65b3274e552f36f16853f24fedbb9">heard from Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;about the importance of U.S. aid to his country for its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">war with Russia</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday night. The measure provides about $45 billion in military, economic and humanitarian assistance for the devastated nation and NATO allies, more than Biden even requested, raising total assistance so far to more than $100 billion.

“Your money is not charity,” Zelenskyy told lawmakers and Americans watching from home. “It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

Lawmakers were in disagreement over which amendments were to be voted upon to lock in a final vote on an expedited basis. The impasses had the potential to prevent passage of the bill before the midnight Friday deadline. But negotiations overnight led to a breakthrough and senators gathered early Thursday morning to work through more than a dozen amendments before getting to a final vote.

The spending bill is supported by Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, though for different reasons.

McConnell cited the bill's 10% boost in defense spending, which he says will give America's Armed Forces the funding and certainty needed to ensure the country's security.

“The world’s greatest military will get the funding increase that it needs, outpacing inflation," McConnell said. “Meanwhile, non-defense, non-veterans spending will come in below the rate of inflation, for a real-dollar cut."

McConnell faced pushback from many Republicans who don’t support the spending bill and resent being forced to vote on such a massive package with so little time before a potential shutdown and the Christmas holiday.

“There has not been enough time for a single person to have read this entire bill. The bill and process ignores soaring inflation, rising interest rates and our ballooning debt of $31 trillion," said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. “Enough is enough."

For two senators, the bill puts the finishing touches on their work in Washington. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is retiring after serving some 48 years in the Senate and as the current chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He negotiated the bill for months with Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the committee's ranking Republican, who was elected to the Senate in 1986 and is also retiring.

“What a capstone to a brilliant career," Schumer said.

The bill also contains roughly $40 billion in emergency spending in the U.S., mostly to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes and other natural disasters.

And, of course, it includes scores of policy changes unrelated to spending that lawmakers sought to include in what is going to be the last major bill of the Congress, else they start from scratch next year in a divided Congress where Republicans will be returning to the majority in the House.

One of the most notable examples was a historic revision to federal election law that aims to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election. The bipartisan overhaul of the Electoral Count Act is in direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671738424869.png" alt="Lawmakers were racing to get the bill approved before a partial government shutdown would occur at midnight Friday. -photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Lawmakers were racing to get the bill approved before a partial government shutdown would occur at midnight Friday. -photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed a massive $1.7 trillion spending bill Thursday that finances federal agencies through September and provides another large round of aid to Ukraine one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's dramatic address to a joint meeting of Congress.The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, includes about $772.5 billion for domestic programs and $858 billion for defense and would finance federal agencies through the fiscal year at the end of September.The bill passed by a vote of 68-29. Eighteen Republicans voted for the bill including Kansas Senator Jerry Moran and Missouri Senator Roy Blunt. Nebraska Senators Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley voted no.The measure&nbsp;now goes to the House for a final vote before it can be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.“This is one of the most significant appropriations packages we have done in a very long time,” Schumer said. “The range of people it helps is large and deep," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. said moments before the vote.Lawmakers were racing to get the bill approved before a partial government shutdown would occur at midnight Friday, and many were anxious to complete the task before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/winter-weather-storm-updates-c0d9d7a04fa48359a0a40a7b9ff1b970">a deep freeze and wintry conditions</a>&nbsp;left them stranded in Washington for the holidays. Many also want to lock in government funding before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-house-control-79475a4fc11e4375cd0dded651b9eede">a new GOP-controlled House</a>&nbsp;next year could make it harder to find compromise on spending.Senators&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-biden-68c65b3274e552f36f16853f24fedbb9">heard from Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;about the importance of U.S. aid to his country for its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">war with Russia</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday night. The measure provides about $45 billion in military, economic and humanitarian assistance for the devastated nation and NATO allies, more than Biden even requested, raising total assistance so far to more than $100 billion.“Your money is not charity,” Zelenskyy told lawmakers and Americans watching from home. “It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”Lawmakers were in disagreement over which amendments were to be voted upon to lock in a final vote on an expedited basis. The impasses had the potential to prevent passage of the bill before the midnight Friday deadline. But negotiations overnight led to a breakthrough and senators gathered early Thursday morning to work through more than a dozen amendments before getting to a final vote.The spending bill is supported by Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, though for different reasons.McConnell cited the bill's 10% boost in defense spending, which he says will give America's Armed Forces the funding and certainty needed to ensure the country's security.“The world’s greatest military will get the funding increase that it needs, outpacing inflation," McConnell said. “Meanwhile, non-defense, non-veterans spending will come in below the rate of inflation, for a real-dollar cut."McConnell faced pushback from many Republicans who don’t support the spending bill and resent being forced to vote on such a massive package with so little time before a potential shutdown and the Christmas holiday.“There has not been enough time for a single person to have read this entire bill. The bill and process ignores soaring inflation, rising interest rates and our ballooning debt of $31 trillion," said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. “Enough is enough."For two senators, the bill puts the finishing touches on their work in Washington. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is retiring after serving some 48 years in the Senate and as the current chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He negotiated the bill for months with Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the committee's ranking Republican, who was elected to the Senate in 1986 and is also retiring.“What a capstone to a brilliant career," Schumer said.The bill also contains roughly $40 billion in emergency spending in the U.S., mostly to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes and other natural disasters.And, of course, it includes scores of policy changes unrelated to spending that lawmakers sought to include in what is going to be the last major bill of the Congress, else they start from scratch next year in a divided Congress where Republicans will be returning to the majority in the House.One of the most notable examples was a historic revision to federal election law that aims to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election. The bipartisan overhaul of the Electoral Count Act is in direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.

Sasse, Fisher vote no; Senate OKs $1.7T spending bill

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government’s road safety agency says it is investigating allegations that Hertz rented vehicles to customers without getting required recall repairs.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in a document posted Tuesday on its website that it has information indicating Hertz rented Nissan and Ford vehicles with unrepaired safety recalls.

The agency says that would violate the federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act. It has opened an investigation to audit Hertz’s recall record.

Hertz said that it’s reviewing NHTSA’s request for information. “We are committed to providing safe rentals for our customers,” the Florida company said.

NHTSA said Tuesday that it began getting information late last year that Hertz may have rented vehicles with open recalls. “Information gathered by the agency to date, including from vehicle manufacturers, suggests repairs required under multiple NHTSA safety recalls were not made prior to the rental of such affected vehicles to Hertz customers,” the agency said in a prepared statement.

NHTSA says the vehicles are from the 2018 through 2020 model years.

In 2016, Congress passed a transportation bill with a provision that stops companies from renting vehicles unless recall repairs have been made.

The measure was originally named the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act. The sisters were killed in a 2004 head-on crash when a power steering hose defect in a rented Chrysler PT Cruiser caused a fire and the car went out of control.

The vehicle was rented from Enterprise and had an open safety recall that had not been repaired.

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government’s road safety agency says it is investigating allegations that Hertz rented vehicles to customers without getting required recall repairs.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in a document posted Tuesday on its website that it has information indicating Hertz rented Nissan and Ford vehicles with unrepaired safety recalls.The agency says that would violate the federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act. It has opened an investigation to audit Hertz’s recall record.Hertz said that it’s reviewing NHTSA’s request for information. “We are committed to providing safe rentals for our customers,” the Florida company said.NHTSA said Tuesday that it began getting information late last year that Hertz may have rented vehicles with open recalls. “Information gathered by the agency to date, including from vehicle manufacturers, suggests repairs required under multiple NHTSA safety recalls were not made prior to the rental of such affected vehicles to Hertz customers,” the agency said in a prepared statement.NHTSA says the vehicles are from the 2018 through 2020 model years.In 2016, Congress passed a transportation bill with a provision that stops companies from renting vehicles unless recall repairs have been made.The measure was originally named the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act. The sisters were killed in a 2004 head-on crash when a power steering hose defect in a rented Chrysler PT Cruiser caused a fire and the car went out of control.The vehicle was rented from Enterprise and had an open safety recall that had not been repaired.

US probes reports that Hertz rented cars with open recalls

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/12/22/aududon-decries-state-ruling-denying-it-standing-to-object-to-diversion-from-platte-river/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Audubon Nebraska is condemning a decision to deny it and 
several other parties legal standing to object to an interbasin transfer
 of water from the Platte River to the Republican Basin.

One Audubon official called the ruling a “dishonor” to a state 
treasure — the annual migration of tourists to view hundreds of 
thousands of Sandhill cranes roosting in and around the central Platte 
River.

The Lower Republican and Tri-Basin natural resources districts have 
applied to divert 150 cubic feet per second of water from the Platte to a
 tributary of the Republican River so the water can help Nebraska comply
 with a compact requirement to deliver flows to Kansas.

But Audubon has objected, saying that reducing flows in the Platte 
would harm its Rowe Sanctuary and damage habitat used by Sandhill cranes
 and endangered Whooping Cranes.

Also objecting were the North Platte, Central Platte and Lower Loup 
natural resources districts, the Nebraska and Loup River public power 
districts, and a Cozad ditch irrigation district. They worry that lower 
flows in the Platte River would damage power generation and other users 
of the water.

But on Dec. 12, Tom Riley, director of the Nebraska Department of 
Natural Resources, ruled that the objectors had not proven that such an 
interbasin transfer would harm them, and that merely speculating about 
potential damage wasn’t enough.

Riley, in a 30-page ruling made 17 months after a hearing on the 
issue, said that the interbasin transfer would not impact so-called 
“target” flows already designated for wildlife because it only targets 
excess, unappropriated flows from the Platte.

Thus, he dismissed the objections, and ruled that Audubon and the 
other objectors would not be granted legal “standing” to argue against 
the water transfer when it finally gets to a hearing before the DNR.

Officials with Audubon and the other objectors said this week that 
they are considering whether to appeal the ruling. That could delay a 
hearing on whether to grant the interbasin transfer.

Such an interbasin transfer — diverting water from one river drainage to another — would be a first for Nebraska.

And an official with Audubon Nebraska said it would result in diverting water from “one overused river to another,” while failing to provide long-term benefits to either basin.

 Melissa Mosier, Audubon Nebraska’s 
Platte River program manager, said that such a diversion would damage 
wildlife habitat developed by the organization for the hundreds of 
thousands of cranes that visit central Nebraska each spring.

 “This decision is a dishonor to one of Nebraska’s natural gems and a huge driver of ecotourism in the state,” Mosier said.

A 2017 report estimated the annual economic impact to central 
Nebraska by crane watching was $14.3 million, and that it sustained more
 than 180 full-time jobs.

Mosier said the proposed diversion 
would also strain water resources that communities, power companies and 
irrigators along the Platte rely on.

But an official with the Lower Republican Natural Resources District,
 one of the two NRDs seeking the interbasin transfer, said that such 
transfers, while new to Nebraska, aren’t uncommon in states like 
Colorado.

Nick Simonson, assistant
 general manager of the Lower Republican NRD, said the right to transfer
 water from the Platte, if granted, would always be junior to other 
water rights on the river, so it’s hard to say how it would harm others.
 And getting more water into the Republican River would help Nebraska 
comply with its compact obligations with Kansas in dry years, he said.

“We have way more water going out of 
the state than coming in,” Simonson said. “We need to harness that water
 for the good of the state.”

But Mosier said that any excess flows in the Platte are beneficial, 
by sustaining habitat along the river and recharging aquifers.

More than 70% of the historic flows 
of the Platte are diverted before they reach central Nebraska, she said,
 which has meant that target flows for endangered species are falling 
short.&nbsp;

Mosier said that granting such an interbasin diversion of water from the Platte would be “a
 giant step backward” after decades of work with the federal government,
 Colorado, and Wyoming to restore flows to the Platte River.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671722945763.png" alt="The many-braided channels of the Platte River. ( Cody Wagner/Audubon)" />
 <figcaption>The many-braided channels of the Platte River. ( Cody Wagner/Audubon)</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/12/22/aududon-decries-state-ruling-denying-it-standing-to-object-to-diversion-from-platte-river/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Audubon Nebraska is condemning a decision to deny it and 
several other parties legal standing to object to an interbasin transfer
 of water from the Platte River to the Republican Basin.One Audubon official called the ruling a “dishonor” to a state 
treasure — the annual migration of tourists to view hundreds of 
thousands of Sandhill cranes roosting in and around the central Platte 
River.The Lower Republican and Tri-Basin natural resources districts have 
applied to divert 150 cubic feet per second of water from the Platte to a
 tributary of the Republican River so the water can help Nebraska comply
 with a compact requirement to deliver flows to Kansas.<h2>Diversion would harm crane sanctuary</h2>But Audubon has objected, saying that reducing flows in the Platte 
would harm its Rowe Sanctuary and damage habitat used by Sandhill cranes
 and endangered Whooping Cranes.Also objecting were the North Platte, Central Platte and Lower Loup 
natural resources districts, the Nebraska and Loup River public power 
districts, and a Cozad ditch irrigation district. They worry that lower 
flows in the Platte River would damage power generation and other users 
of the water.But on Dec. 12, Tom Riley, director of the Nebraska Department of 
Natural Resources, ruled that the objectors had not proven that such an 
interbasin transfer would harm them, and that merely speculating about 
potential damage wasn’t enough.<h2>30-page ruling</h2>Riley, in a 30-page ruling made 17 months after a hearing on the 
issue, said that the interbasin transfer would not impact so-called 
“target” flows already designated for wildlife because it only targets 
excess, unappropriated flows from the Platte.Thus, he dismissed the objections, and ruled that Audubon and the 
other objectors would not be granted legal “standing” to argue against 
the water transfer when it finally gets to a hearing before the DNR.Officials with Audubon and the other objectors said this week that 
they are considering whether to appeal the ruling. That could delay a 
hearing on whether to grant the interbasin transfer.Such an interbasin transfer — diverting water from one river drainage to another — would be a first for Nebraska.<h2>‘One overused river to another’</h2>And an official with Audubon Nebraska said it would result in diverting water from “one overused river to another,” while failing to provide long-term benefits to either basin. Melissa Mosier, Audubon Nebraska’s 
Platte River program manager, said that such a diversion would damage 
wildlife habitat developed by the organization for the hundreds of 
thousands of cranes that visit central Nebraska each spring. “This decision is a dishonor to one of Nebraska’s natural gems and a huge driver of ecotourism in the state,” Mosier said.<h2>$14.3 million impact of cranes</h2>A 2017 report estimated the annual economic impact to central 
Nebraska by crane watching was $14.3 million, and that it sustained more
 than 180 full-time jobs.Mosier said the proposed diversion 
would also strain water resources that communities, power companies and 
irrigators along the Platte rely on.But an official with the Lower Republican Natural Resources District,
 one of the two NRDs seeking the interbasin transfer, said that such 
transfers, while new to Nebraska, aren’t uncommon in states like 
Colorado.Nick Simonson, assistant
 general manager of the Lower Republican NRD, said the right to transfer
 water from the Platte, if granted, would always be junior to other 
water rights on the river, so it’s hard to say how it would harm others.
 And getting more water into the Republican River would help Nebraska 
comply with its compact obligations with Kansas in dry years, he said.<h2>Need to harness water</h2>“We have way more water going out of 
the state than coming in,” Simonson said. “We need to harness that water
 for the good of the state.”But Mosier said that any excess flows in the Platte are beneficial, 
by sustaining habitat along the river and recharging aquifers.More than 70% of the historic flows 
of the Platte are diverted before they reach central Nebraska, she said,
 which has meant that target flows for endangered species are falling 
short.&nbsp;Mosier said that granting such an interbasin diversion of water from the Platte would be “a
 giant step backward” after decades of work with the federal government,
 Colorado, and Wyoming to restore flows to the Platte River.&nbsp;

Audubon decries Neb. ruling over Platte River diversion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Wednesday it will release doses of prescription flu medicine from the Strategic National Stockpile to states&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-covid-flu-6b5b3a2e04f2c63683e44013e7814177">as flu-sickened patients</a>&nbsp;continue to flock to hospitals and doctors' offices around the country.

This year's flu season has hit hard and early. Some people are even noticing bare shelves at pharmacies and grocery stores when they make a run for over-the-counter medicines as cases have spiked. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the flu has resulted in 150,000 hospitalizations and 9,300 deaths so far this season.

“Jurisdictions will be able to get the support they need to keep Americans healthy as flu cases rise this winter,” Dawn O’Connell, an assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the CDC, said in a statement.

States will be able to request doses of the prescription flu medication Tamiflu kept in the Strategic National Stockpile from HHS. The administration is not releasing how many doses will be made available. Antiviral medications were released from the stockpile more than a decade ago during the H1N1, also known as swine flu, pandemic.

Last week, the federal agency also announced it would allow states to dip into statewide stockpiles for Tamiflu, making millions of treatment courses available. Tamiflu can be prescribed to treat flu in people over the age of 2 weeks old.

This flu season is coming on the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/white-house-reveals-winter-covid-plans-test-kits-2b015ef4e3c97520a3981c47d00467c3">heels of a nasty spike of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, cases in children and just as COVID-19 cases are climbing</a>&nbsp;— again.

Spot shortages of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-business-prescription-drugs-children-422dca9684a866ff06bcd537a0dd740d">over-the-counter pain relievers and medicines</a>&nbsp;have been reported at stores around the country, particularly for children.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf hosted conversations Tuesday with leaders representing pharmaceutical companies to discuss how manufacturers are working to keep in-demand remedies available. The companies told the agencies that they are not seeing widespread shortages. Meanwhile, major drug makers like Johnson &amp; Johnson and Perrigo report their production lines are running around the clock.

Pharmacies, however, are limiting purchases of certain medicines, the Associated Press reported Monday. CVS Health, for example, has placed a two-product limit on all children’s pain relief products bought through its pharmacies or online. Walgreens is limiting customers online to six purchases of children’s over-the-counter fever reducing products.

The FDA has not reported a shortage of Tamiflu. However, the federal agency says the prescription antibiotic amoxicillin is in short supply due to increased demand.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671488759640.jpeg" alt="A sign is placed near the section for children's medicine, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022 at a CVS in Greenlawn, N.Y. Caring for a sick child has become even more stressful than usual for many U.S. parents in recent weeks due to shortages of Children’s Tylenol and other medicines. (AP Photo/Leon Keith)" />
 <figcaption>A sign is placed near the section for children's medicine, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022 at a CVS in Greenlawn, N.Y. Caring for a sick child has become even more stressful than usual for many U.S. parents in recent weeks due to shortages of Children’s Tylenol and other medicines. (AP Photo/Leon Keith)</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Wednesday it will release doses of prescription flu medicine from the Strategic National Stockpile to states&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-covid-flu-6b5b3a2e04f2c63683e44013e7814177">as flu-sickened patients</a>&nbsp;continue to flock to hospitals and doctors' offices around the country.This year's flu season has hit hard and early. Some people are even noticing bare shelves at pharmacies and grocery stores when they make a run for over-the-counter medicines as cases have spiked. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the flu has resulted in 150,000 hospitalizations and 9,300 deaths so far this season.“Jurisdictions will be able to get the support they need to keep Americans healthy as flu cases rise this winter,” Dawn O’Connell, an assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the CDC, said in a statement.States will be able to request doses of the prescription flu medication Tamiflu kept in the Strategic National Stockpile from HHS. The administration is not releasing how many doses will be made available. Antiviral medications were released from the stockpile more than a decade ago during the H1N1, also known as swine flu, pandemic.Last week, the federal agency also announced it would allow states to dip into statewide stockpiles for Tamiflu, making millions of treatment courses available. Tamiflu can be prescribed to treat flu in people over the age of 2 weeks old.This flu season is coming on the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/white-house-reveals-winter-covid-plans-test-kits-2b015ef4e3c97520a3981c47d00467c3">heels of a nasty spike of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, cases in children and just as COVID-19 cases are climbing</a>&nbsp;— again.Spot shortages of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-business-prescription-drugs-children-422dca9684a866ff06bcd537a0dd740d">over-the-counter pain relievers and medicines</a>&nbsp;have been reported at stores around the country, particularly for children.HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf hosted conversations Tuesday with leaders representing pharmaceutical companies to discuss how manufacturers are working to keep in-demand remedies available. The companies told the agencies that they are not seeing widespread shortages. Meanwhile, major drug makers like Johnson &amp; Johnson and Perrigo report their production lines are running around the clock.Pharmacies, however, are limiting purchases of certain medicines, the Associated Press reported Monday. CVS Health, for example, has placed a two-product limit on all children’s pain relief products bought through its pharmacies or online. Walgreens is limiting customers online to six purchases of children’s over-the-counter fever reducing products.The FDA has not reported a shortage of Tamiflu. However, the federal agency says the prescription antibiotic amoxicillin is in short supply due to increased demand.___

As flu rages, US releases medicine from national stockpile

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a body found in rural Shawnee County.

On Wednesday, officials with the Douglas County Nebraska Sheriff's office contacted the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office for assistance, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.

Just before 3pm, law enforcement officers with the Shawnee County Criminal Investigations Division began an investigation in the 2200 block of SW 57th Street

 A search warrant was executed. A deceased human body was discovered. Authorities have not made a positive identification of the body, according to Christian. The Topeka Police Department and Shawnee County Coroner’s Office are assisting.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671675110683.png" alt="Photo Shawnee Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Photo Shawnee Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a body found in rural Shawnee County.On Wednesday, officials with the Douglas County Nebraska Sheriff's office contacted the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office for assistance, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.Just before 3pm, law enforcement officers with the Shawnee County Criminal Investigations Division began an investigation in the 2200 block of SW 57th Street<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671675092235.png" alt="Photo Shawnee Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Photo Shawnee Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure> A search warrant was executed. A deceased human body was discovered. Authorities have not made a positive identification of the body, according to Christian. The Topeka Police Department and Shawnee County Coroner’s Office are assisting.

Nebraska sheriff asks for help after body found in rural Kansas

WASHINGTON (AP) — Momentum toward passing a $1.7 trillion government funding bill with more aid for Ukraine slowed considerably Wednesday as lawmakers struggled to reach an agreement on amendments needed to get to a final vote and avoid a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate was making progress, but lawmakers exited the chamber late in the evening looking glum and talking of a standoff.

“This bill is hanging by a thread," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

At issue is a proposed amendment from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, seeking to extend pandemic-era restrictions on asylum seekers at the border, also referred to as Title 42.

“Sen. Schumer doesn't want to have a vote on Title 42 because he presumably knows it will pass," Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said. But the House won't go along, he said, and “everything falls apart."

The impasse came just hours after Ukrainian&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-biden-68c65b3274e552f36f16853f24fedbb9?utm_source=apnews&amp;utm_medium=featuredcard&amp;utm_campaign=leadsubstory_01">President Volodymyr Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;sought to assure lawmakers during a joint meeting of Congress that the aid the U.S. is providing was much appreciated and could “speed up our victory.” He projected confidence throughout and even told lawmakers in his closing: “Merry Christmas and a happy victorious New Year."

“Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” Zelenskyy said.

The measure includes $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, above even President Joe Biden’s request, and ensures that funding flows to the war effort for months to come. The measure would also boost U.S. defense spending by about 10% to $858 billion, addressing concerns from some lawmakers that more investment in the nation's military is needed to ensure America's security.

Schumer’s hope was that the chamber would approve the bill as soon as Wednesday night, but several lawmakers exited the chamber saying they didn't expect any more votes that night. Once the Senate votes, the House will then have to take it up and pass the measure before midnight Friday to avoid a partial-government shutdown.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., emerged from a late-night meeting in Schumer's office saying she was optimistic “about putting together a path" that would lead to the bill's passage in the Senate on Thursday.

Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took to the floor Wednesday morning urging colleagues to vote for the measure, though they emphasized different priorities.

Schumer said the worst thing Congress could do now is give Russian President Vladimir Putin any signal that the U.S. was wavering in its commitment to defend Ukraine.

He doubled down on that message in the evening, saying he had just met with Zelenskyy.

“He made it clear that without this aid package, the Ukrainians will be in real trouble and could even lose the war," Schumer said. “So that makes the urgency of getting this legislation done all the more important."

McConnell is facing pushback from many Republicans who don't support the spending bill and resent being forced to vote on such a massive package with so little time before a potential shutdown and the Christmas holiday. He highlighted the bill's spending boost for defense and said that non-defense spending, when excluding a big boost for veterans health care, would increase below the rate of inflation.

“If Republicans controlled this chamber, we would have handled the appropriations process entirely differently from top to bottom," McConnell said. “But given the reality of where we stand today, senators have two options this week, just two: we will either give our Armed Forces the resources and the certainty that they need, or we will deny it to them."

The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, includes about $772.5 billion for non-defense, discretionary programs and $858 billion for defense and would finance agencies through September.

Lawmakers worked to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-3e0fef206f524f6b1b67f7c36178a688">stuff as many priorities</a>&nbsp;as they could into the sprawling package, likely the last major bill of the current Congress. That includes $27 billion in disaster funding to help communities recovering from disasters and extreme weather events as well as an overhaul of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-susan-collins-west-virginia-c9c15562ad910bbc0ba6ef1eecbfc158">federal election law</a>&nbsp;that aims to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election.

The bipartisan electoral overhaul was a direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.

The spending bill also contains scores of policy changes that lawmakers worked furiously to include to avoid having to start over in the new Congress next year.

Examples include a provision from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-politics-d33e58c76bb3c13297c72816ef4e6231">that bans TikTok</a>&nbsp;on government cell phones due to security concerns. Another provision supported by the Maine delegation was added to aid the state's lobster and Jonah crab fisheries, delaying regulations proposed to help save endangered North Atlantic right whales. And, on the health care front, the bill requires states to keep&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-covid-304d921beee43d29f1862cd4d6ab5297">children enrolled in Medicaid</a>&nbsp;on coverage for at least a year, which advocates say increases access to preventative care.

However, millions who enrolled in the health care program for low-income Americans could start to lose coverage on April 1 because the bill&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-covid-304d921beee43d29f1862cd4d6ab5297">sunsets a requirement</a>&nbsp;of the COVID-19 public health emergency that prohibited states from booting people off Medicaid.

Some Republican senators are raising objections to the measure, not only because the amount of spending but because of Congress's habit of placing 12 separate appropriations bills into one massive package long after the fiscal year has begun and just before critical deadlines approach.

“Giving us a bill at 1:28 in the morning, that's over 4,000 pages, that nobody will have an opportunity to read, that we'll have no idea what's in it, is not the way to run your personal life, your business life or your government," said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. “This has to stop."

House Republicans, including Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., likely the next speaker of the House, are encouraging their colleagues in the Senate to only support a short-term extension. That way, they would have more ability to shape the legislation. McCarthy spoke to senators during their caucus lunch Wednesday. A notice sent by GOP leadership to House members urged them to vote against the measure when it comes to the House.

“This deal is designed to sideline the incoming Republican House Majority by extending many programs for multiple years and providing large funding increases for Democrat priorities on top of the exorbitant spending that has already been appropriated this year," the notice stated.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671577993523.png" alt="At issue is a proposed amendment from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, seeking to extend pandemic-era restrictions on asylum seekers at the border, also referred to as Title 42. - photo courtesy Rep. Tony Gonzales" />
 <figcaption>At issue is a proposed amendment from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, seeking to extend pandemic-era restrictions on asylum seekers at the border, also referred to as Title 42. - photo courtesy Rep. Tony Gonzales</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Momentum toward passing a $1.7 trillion government funding bill with more aid for Ukraine slowed considerably Wednesday as lawmakers struggled to reach an agreement on amendments needed to get to a final vote and avoid a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate was making progress, but lawmakers exited the chamber late in the evening looking glum and talking of a standoff.“This bill is hanging by a thread," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.At issue is a proposed amendment from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, seeking to extend pandemic-era restrictions on asylum seekers at the border, also referred to as Title 42.“Sen. Schumer doesn't want to have a vote on Title 42 because he presumably knows it will pass," Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said. But the House won't go along, he said, and “everything falls apart."The impasse came just hours after Ukrainian&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-biden-68c65b3274e552f36f16853f24fedbb9?utm_source=apnews&amp;utm_medium=featuredcard&amp;utm_campaign=leadsubstory_01">President Volodymyr Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;sought to assure lawmakers during a joint meeting of Congress that the aid the U.S. is providing was much appreciated and could “speed up our victory.” He projected confidence throughout and even told lawmakers in his closing: “Merry Christmas and a happy victorious New Year."“Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” Zelenskyy said.The measure includes $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, above even President Joe Biden’s request, and ensures that funding flows to the war effort for months to come. The measure would also boost U.S. defense spending by about 10% to $858 billion, addressing concerns from some lawmakers that more investment in the nation's military is needed to ensure America's security.Schumer’s hope was that the chamber would approve the bill as soon as Wednesday night, but several lawmakers exited the chamber saying they didn't expect any more votes that night. Once the Senate votes, the House will then have to take it up and pass the measure before midnight Friday to avoid a partial-government shutdown.Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., emerged from a late-night meeting in Schumer's office saying she was optimistic “about putting together a path" that would lead to the bill's passage in the Senate on Thursday.Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took to the floor Wednesday morning urging colleagues to vote for the measure, though they emphasized different priorities.Schumer said the worst thing Congress could do now is give Russian President Vladimir Putin any signal that the U.S. was wavering in its commitment to defend Ukraine.He doubled down on that message in the evening, saying he had just met with Zelenskyy.“He made it clear that without this aid package, the Ukrainians will be in real trouble and could even lose the war," Schumer said. “So that makes the urgency of getting this legislation done all the more important."McConnell is facing pushback from many Republicans who don't support the spending bill and resent being forced to vote on such a massive package with so little time before a potential shutdown and the Christmas holiday. He highlighted the bill's spending boost for defense and said that non-defense spending, when excluding a big boost for veterans health care, would increase below the rate of inflation.“If Republicans controlled this chamber, we would have handled the appropriations process entirely differently from top to bottom," McConnell said. “But given the reality of where we stand today, senators have two options this week, just two: we will either give our Armed Forces the resources and the certainty that they need, or we will deny it to them."The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, includes about $772.5 billion for non-defense, discretionary programs and $858 billion for defense and would finance agencies through September.Lawmakers worked to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-3e0fef206f524f6b1b67f7c36178a688">stuff as many priorities</a>&nbsp;as they could into the sprawling package, likely the last major bill of the current Congress. That includes $27 billion in disaster funding to help communities recovering from disasters and extreme weather events as well as an overhaul of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-susan-collins-west-virginia-c9c15562ad910bbc0ba6ef1eecbfc158">federal election law</a>&nbsp;that aims to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election.The bipartisan electoral overhaul was a direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.The spending bill also contains scores of policy changes that lawmakers worked furiously to include to avoid having to start over in the new Congress next year.Examples include a provision from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-politics-d33e58c76bb3c13297c72816ef4e6231">that bans TikTok</a>&nbsp;on government cell phones due to security concerns. Another provision supported by the Maine delegation was added to aid the state's lobster and Jonah crab fisheries, delaying regulations proposed to help save endangered North Atlantic right whales. And, on the health care front, the bill requires states to keep&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-covid-304d921beee43d29f1862cd4d6ab5297">children enrolled in Medicaid</a>&nbsp;on coverage for at least a year, which advocates say increases access to preventative care.However, millions who enrolled in the health care program for low-income Americans could start to lose coverage on April 1 because the bill&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-covid-304d921beee43d29f1862cd4d6ab5297">sunsets a requirement</a>&nbsp;of the COVID-19 public health emergency that prohibited states from booting people off Medicaid.The bill also provides roughly $15.3 billion for more than 7,200 projects that lawmakers sought for their home states and districts. Under revamped rules for community project funding, also referred to as earmarks, lawmakers must post their requests online and attest they have no financial interest in the projects. Still, many fiscal conservatives criticize the earmarking as leading to unnecessary spending.Some Republican senators are raising objections to the measure, not only because the amount of spending but because of Congress's habit of placing 12 separate appropriations bills into one massive package long after the fiscal year has begun and just before critical deadlines approach.“Giving us a bill at 1:28 in the morning, that's over 4,000 pages, that nobody will have an opportunity to read, that we'll have no idea what's in it, is not the way to run your personal life, your business life or your government," said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. “This has to stop."House Republicans, including Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., likely the next speaker of the House, are encouraging their colleagues in the Senate to only support a short-term extension. That way, they would have more ability to shape the legislation. McCarthy spoke to senators during their caucus lunch Wednesday. A notice sent by GOP leadership to House members urged them to vote against the measure when it comes to the House.“This deal is designed to sideline the incoming Republican House Majority by extending many programs for multiple years and providing large funding increases for Democrat priorities on top of the exorbitant spending that has already been appropriated this year," the notice stated.

Fight over immigration puts $1.7 trillion spending bill in jeopardy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy told cheering U.S. legislators during a defiant wartime visit to the nation’s capital on Wednesday that against all odds his country still stands, thanking Americans for helping to fund the war effort with money that is “not charity,” but an “investment” in global security and democracy.

(Click below to watch a replay of the address)

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671671067008.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy told cheering U.S. legislators during a defiant wartime visit to the nation’s capital on Wednesday that against all odds his country still stands, thanking Americans for helping to fund the war effort with money that is “not charity,” but an “investment” in global security and democracy.(Click below to watch a replay of the address)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNancyPelosi%2Fvideos%2F593976219156848%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=906" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>The whirlwind stop in Washington — his first known trip outside his country since Russia invaded in February — was aimed at reinvigorating support for his country in the U.S. and around the world at a time when there is concern that allies are growing weary of the costly war and its disruption to global food and energy supplies.Zelenskyy called the tens of billions of dollars in U.S. military and economic assistance provided over the past year vital to Ukraine’s efforts to beat back Russia and appealed for even more in the future.“Your money is not charity,” he sought to reassure both those in the room and those watching at home. “It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”Just before his arrival, the U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-80ae774f3b7cbb3e1b88d1b728961079">announced a new $1.8 billion military aid package</a>, including for the first time&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-b90ce5a55b1f6b820d03da96612b3796">Patriot surface-to-air missiles</a>. And Congress planned to vote this week on a fresh spending package that includes about $45 billion in additional emergency assistance to Ukraine.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Honored to attend President Zelensky’s address to Congress – and to the American people. Under Zelensky’s leadership, Ukraine has fought back against Putin&#39;s unjust war and today Ukraine remains a sovereign nation.&mdash; Senator Jerry Moran (@JerryMoran) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryMoran/status/1605754587176214528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671669032864.png" alt="Kansas Senator Jerry Moran in attendance at Zelskyy's address" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Senator Jerry Moran in attendance at Zelskyy's address</figcaption>
 </figure>The speech to Congress came after President Joe Biden hosted Zelenskyy in the Oval Office for strategy consultations, saying the U.S. and Ukraine would maintain their “united defense” as Russia wages a “brutal assault on Ukraine’s right to exist as a nation.” Biden pledged to help bring about a “just peace.”Zelenskyy told Biden that he had wanted to visit sooner and his visit now demonstrates that the “situation is under control, because of your support.”The highly sensitive trip came after 10 months of a brutal war that has seen tens of thousands of casualties on both sides and devastation for Ukrainian civilians.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671673639594.png" alt="House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris. Pelosi, in turn, presented Zelenskyy with an American flag that had flown over the Capitol that day, and Zelenskyy pumped it up and down as he exited the chamber." />
 <figcaption>House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris. Pelosi, in turn, presented Zelenskyy with an American flag that had flown over the Capitol that day, and Zelenskyy pumped it up and down as he exited the chamber.</figcaption>
 </figure>Zelenskyy traveled to Washington aboard a U.S. Air Force jet. The visit had been long sought by both sides, but the right conditions only came together in the last 10 days, U.S. officials said, after high-level discussions about the security both of Zelenskyy and of his people while he was outside of Ukraine. Zelenskyy spent less than 10 hours in Washington before beginning the journey back to Ukraine.In his remarks to lawmakers, Zelenskky harked back to U.S. victories in the Battle of the Bulge, a turning point against Nazi Germany in World War II, and the Revolutionary War Battle of Saratoga, an American victory that helped draw France’s aid for U.S. independence. The Ukrainian leader predicted that next year would be a “turning point” in the conflict, “when Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom — the freedom of people who stand for their values.”Zelenskyy received thunderous applause from members of Congress and presented lawmakers with a Ukrainian flag autographed by front-line troops in Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s contested Donetsk province. The flag was displayed behind him on the rostrum by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris. Pelosi, in turn, presented Zelenskyy with an American flag that had flown over the Capitol that day, and Zelenskyy pumped it up and down as he exited the chamber.Declaring in his speech that Ukraine “will never surrender,” Zelenskyy warned that the stakes of the conflict were greater than just the fate of his nation — that democracy worldwide is being tested.“This battle cannot be ignored, hoping that the ocean or something else will provide protection,” he said, speaking in English for what he had billed as a “speech to Americans.”Earlier, in a joint news conference with Biden, Zelenskyy was pressed on how Ukraine would try to bring an end to the conflict. He rejected Biden’s framing of finding a “just peace,” saying, “For me as a president, ‘just peace’ is no compromises.” He said the war would end once Ukraine’s sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity were restored, and Russia had paid back Ukraine for all the damage inflicted by its forces.“There can’t be any ‘just peace’ in the war that was imposed on us,” he added.Biden, for his part, said Russia was “trying to use winter as a weapon, but Ukrainian people continue to inspire the world." During the news conference, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin had “no intention of stopping this cruel war.”The two leaders appeared to share a warm rapport, laughing at each other's comments and patting each other on the back throughout the visit, though Zelenskyy made clear he will continue to press Biden and other Western leaders for ever more support.He said that after the Patriot system was up and running, “we will send another signal to President Biden that we would like to get more Patriots."“We are in the war," Zelenskyy added with a smile, as Biden chuckled at the direct request. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry."Biden told Zelenskyy that it was “important for the American people, and for the world, to hear directly from you, Mr. President, about Ukraine’s fight, and the need to continue to stand together through 2023."Zelenskyy had headed to Washington after making&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-kyiv-9b7d42d3897185c0ecff222e5149e4ea">a daring and dangerous trip</a>&nbsp;Tuesday to what he called the hottest spot on the 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) front line of the war, the city of Bakhmut.Poland’s private broadcaster, TVN24, said Zelenskyy crossed into Poland early Wednesday on his way to Washington. The station showed footage of what appeared to be Zelenskyy arriving at a train station and being escorted to a motorcade of American SUVs. TVN24 said the video, partially blurred for security reasons, was shot in Przemysl, a Polish border town that has been the arrival point for many refugees fleeing the war.Officials, citing security concerns, were cagey about Zelenskyy's travel plans, but a U.S. official confirmed that Zelenskyy arrived on a U.S. Air Force jet that landed at Joint Base Andrews, just outside the capital, from the Polish city of Rzeszow.Biden told Zelenskyy, who wore a combat-green sweatshirt and boots, that ”it’s an honor to be by your side.”U.S. and Ukrainian officials have made clear they do not envision an imminent resolution to the war and are preparing for fighting to continue for some time. The latest infusion of U.S. money would be the biggest yet — and exceed Biden’s $37 billion request.Biden repeated that while the U.S. will arm and train Ukraine, American forces will not be directly engaged in the war.The latest U.S. military aid package includes not only a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-patriot-missile-system-explainer-b16125509161de8a7a3b4c38022534c7">Patriot missile battery</a>&nbsp;but precision guided bombs for fighter jets, U.S. officials said. It represents an expansion in the kinds of advanced weaponry intended to bolster Ukraine's air defenses against what has been an increasing barrage of Russian missiles.Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said the delivery of the advanced surface-to-air missile system would be&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-0cc0e5bece38007e3d9f958f536bf1fe">considered a provocative step</a>&nbsp;and that the system and any crews accompanying it would be a legitimate target for Moscow’s military.“It’s a defensive system," Biden said of sending the missile system. "It’s not escalatory — it’s defensive.”The visit comes at an important moment, with the White House bracing for greater resistance when Republicans take control of the House in January and give more scrutiny to aid for Ukraine. GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California has said his party will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine.Zelenskky appeared well aware of political divisions in the U.S. over prolonged overseas spending, and called on the House and Senate lawmakers to ensure American leadership remains “bicameral and bipartisan.”Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened the chamber's session on Wednesday by saying that passage of the aid package and confirmation of the new U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne M. Tracy, would send a strong signal that Americans stand “unequivocally” with Ukraine. Tracy was confirmed later on a 93-2 vote.The Senate's top Republican, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, said “the most basic reasons for continuing to help Ukraine degrade and defeat the Russian invaders are cold, hard, practical American interests.” He said "defeating Russia’s aggression will help prevent further security crises in Europe."Russia’s invasion, which&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-moscow-kyiv-626a8c5ec22217bacb24ece60fac4fe1">began Feb. 24</a>, has lost momentum. The illegally annexed provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia remain fiercely contested.With the fighting in the east at a stalemate, Moscow has used missiles and drones to attack Ukraine’s power equipment, hoping to leave people without electricity as freezing weather sets in.--------WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked “every American” for their support of Ukraine as he delivered an address to Congress on Wednesday aimed at sustaining U.S. and allied support for his country's defense against Russia's brutal invasion.(Click below to watch a replay of the address)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNancyPelosi%2Fvideos%2F593976219156848%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=906" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>Zelenskyy called U.S. support vital to Ukraine's efforts to beat back Russia, and thanked lawmakers and everyday citizens for tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance over the last year.The Ukrainian leader predicted that next year would be a “turning point” in the conflict, “when Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom — the freedom of people who stand for their values.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671669032864.png" alt="Kansas Senator Jerry Moran in attendance at Zelskyy's address" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Senator Jerry Moran in attendance at Zelskyy's address</figcaption>
 </figure>Zelenskyy received thunderous applause from members of Congress and presented lawmakers with a Ukrainian flag autographed by front-line troops in Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s contested Donetsk province, which was held up behind him on the rostrum by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris.