Morning Report is The Hill’s a.m. newsletter. Subscribe here.
In today’s issue:
▪ Senate reaches deal to end shutdown
▪ Trump pardons Giuliani, others over 2020 election
▪ President set to meet Syrian leader
▪ Israeli soldier’s remains returned after 11 years
The Senate has voted to advance legislation to reopen the government after 40 days of a funding gap following a breakthrough between Republicans and Democrats.
Eight Democrats voted with almost all Republicans to advance the legislative package late Sunday night, clearing the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster and teeing up a final vote.
The legislation will still need to pass the House and be signed by President Trump, which could take several days.
The Senate voted to open debate on a House-passed bill that would be amended to include three full-year spending bills funding military construction, veterans’ affairs, the Department of Agriculture and the legislative branch, along with a continuing resolution to fund the remaining parts of the government through Jan. 30.
It includes a reversal of the layoffs that the Trump administration has conducted during the shutdown and guarantees backpay for federal workers who have been furloughed or forced to work without pay.
The deal also includes a promise for a vote in December on a Democratic proposal to extend expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies by one year.
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that a group of centrist Democrats, led by Sens. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), negotiated the deal with Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and GOP leadership.
Shaheen worked with Collins on the funding bills, while King and Hassan played a key role in getting Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to promise a vote on extending the subsidies, Bolten reports.
The Democrats who voted in favor of the legislation are King, Shaheen, Hassan and Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (Nev.).
Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was the lone Republican to vote against it.
The overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats voted against the bill, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), noting the legislation doesn’t take steps to lower health care costs and the deal only includes a promised vote on health subsidies but no guarantee they will be extended.
“America is in the midst of a Republican-made health care crisis—a crisis so severe, so urgent, and so devastating for American families that I cannot support a continuing resolution that fails to address it,” Schumer said in a post on the social platform X.
Some of the votes against the bill came from Democrats who were involved in negotiations to reopen the government — Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.) and Gary Peters (Mich.).
Democrats broadly dug in saying they would not compromise in their demand for extended ACA subsidies following their party’s success in last week’s elections. That emboldened position guaranteed that the shutdown, already the longest-ever, would continue for days.
And with the president pushing Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster to reopen the government without needing Democratic votes, an idea they’ve been hesitant to accept, last week ended with an even deeper impasse on government funding.
But Thune chose to keep the Senate in session through the weekend, and a breakthrough started to emerge on Sunday.
Progressives have voiced fury over the deal, after spending weeks pressing for the party to hold out for bigger concessions on extending health subsidies instead of a simple promise for a vote.
“This was a very, very bad vote,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a video posted to X, calling out the eight Democratic colleagues who voted for the bill.
“I’m voting no on the continuing resolution that would double healthcare premiums for 20 million Americans, kick 15 million people off Medicaid & allow 50,000 Americans to die unnecessarily every year,” Sanders wrote in another post. “All to give $1 trillion in tax breaks for billionaires.”
The legislation still needs a final vote in the Senate before it goes to the GOP-controlled House, which has been out of Washington for seven weeks and where Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hasn’t made a commitment on a subsidies vote.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) preemptively declared his opposition to the deal before the Senate voted, saying House Democrats won’t support legislation that doesn’t extend the ACA tax credits.
If it clears the House, it would then head to Trump’s desk for a signature.
The opportunity to bring an end to the standoff comes at a critical time. Flight delays and cancellations have surged over the past few days after the Federal Aviation Administration reduced the flight capacity at 40 major airports throughout the country, citing safety concerns as air traffic controllers face staffing issues.
The Trump administration on Sunday ordered states to “undo” full payments to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for November. This came after the Supreme Court temporarily paused a lower court order directing the administration to pay full benefits.
An order for the administration to issue partial benefits from contingency funds remains in effect. The back-and-forth had left those who rely on SNAP in limbo.
But Republicans scrambled for alternative ideas to reopen the government after their pressure tactics failed, while the White House began getting more involved in behind-the-scenes conversations with Democrats to find a path forward.
▪ The Hill: Read the full text of the Senate’s plan.
▪ The Hill: Air traffic controllers retiring daily during shutdown.
Smart Take with Blake Burman
The takeaway from last week’s elections was loud and clear: The same issue of affordability that dominated in 2024 is still front and center for voters in 2025 and will likely remain through 2026. Over the weekend we saw two potential reactions from the Trump administration. The president posted about a tariff “dividend” to the tune of $2000. Some would call that a stimulus check.
We also learned over the weekend that the president is pushing the concept of a 50-year mortgage. Bill Pulte, the director of federal housing, posted an article titled “Trump proposes 50-year mortgage to help affordability.” That would mean consumers could get a lower monthly mortgage in exchange for more total payments and a higher final price tag if the mortgage is fully satisfied.
Keep in mind, we aren’t even a full week past last week’s elections. However, this is what you are likely to see: the administration trying to address concerns that costs are too high. It’s a headline we’ve seen over and over again in recent elections, and an issue that the administration seems to be trying to ease before next year’s cycle.
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 Things to Know Today
1. Trump has issued a pardon for a long list of individuals involved in alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a letter posted by the Justice Department’s Pardon Attorney, Ed Martin. The list includes Rudy Giuliani, former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump attorney Sidney Powell.
2. Ghislaine Maxwell has requested Trump commute her sentence for child sex trafficking charges, according to documents provided by a whistleblower. The revelation comes after Maxwell was transferred to a lower-security prison that prison employees say has allowed her to receive “concierge-style treatment.”
3. Trump spoke with NFL commentators in the broadcast booth Sunday while attending a game between the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions. His attendance followed reports that he wants the new Commanders stadium named after him.
Leading the Day
A WHITE HOUSE FIRST: History will be made Monday when Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Trump in Washington, the first visit by a Syrian president to the White House.
Trump and al-Sharaa previously met in May in Saudi Arabia, the first meeting between the leaders of the United States and Syria in 25 years. But the conference Monday will mark a further development in Syria’s potential reemergence in the international community following former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s ouster last December.
Al-Sharaa himself has undergone a significant transformation, going from a jihadist with ties to al Qaeda fighting U.S. troops in Iraq to a statesman pushing for reform in Syria as it reemerges on the global stage.
In the year since al-Sharaa led an offensive to topple Assad, the Biden and Trump administrations both embraced him as the best chance for a new Syria coming off more than a decade of civil war.
The Hill’s Laura Kelly reports that Syria’s inclusion on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism is likely to end next month after more than 40 years, as Trump works to lift all sanctions on the country.
The State Department announced on Friday that it would lift the terrorist designation for al-Sharaa, along with Syrian Interior Minister Anas Hasan Khattab.
“These actions are being taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership after the departure of Bashar al-Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement, saying that it “recognizes Syria’s transition to a new chapter.”
At the meeting, al-Sharaa is expected to announce that Syria will join the international coalition to defeat the Islamic State group. Although the group has lost essentially all the territory it once held in Syria, remnants have continued a counterinsurgency and still pose a threat across the region.
But some lawmakers remain skeptical about Trump’s approach to al-Sharaa and his intention to reduce sanctions, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.).
Mast is part of a small bipartisan group cautious about a full repeal of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, enacted in 2019 to impose sanctions and essentially block international financing for Syria’s government under Assad amid evidence of major atrocities committed by his regime.
But Kelly reports that a larger group has said the legislation served its purpose and would hinder the new government’s attempts to rebuild the country.
▪ The Guardian: Syria conducts pre-emptive raids on Islamic State.
▪ The Jerusalem Post: Video of al-Sharaa playing basketball goes viral.
DEMS EYEING MOMENTUM: Democrats are bullish about their chances in the 2026 midterms following their sweeping success in last week’s election.
That’s particularly true in the battleground state of Georgia, where they flipped two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission in special elections. Those are relatively low-profile positions, but it was notable as they were the first Democratic wins in a statewide election for state office in almost 20 years.
The Hill’s Caroline Vakil reports that Democrats are pointing to the results as reason to feel optimistic about their chances in the state’s key Senate and gubernatorial races next year. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) is set to run for a second term in one of the most competitive Senate elections of 2026, while Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is term-limited, leaving the governor’s race open.
Democrats had framed the public service commissioner races as a referendum on the high cost of living in the state and the GOP-controlled commission, with Georgia Power customers having seen six rate increases over two years.
But Republicans brushed off the results, arguing that municipal elections drove stronger Democratic turnout. The city of Atlanta also had its mayoral election, in which voters overwhelmingly reelected Mayor Andre Dickens (D) to a second term.
Comparing off-year elections to midterms can be difficult as more voters turn out in midterm years, changing the electorate.
But Democrats also broadly received a boost from their performance among Latino voters, a key group that the GOP made significant gains with in 2024. CNN exit polling shows New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill (D) won 68 percent of Latino votes, while Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) won 67 percent.
The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports that Republicans are sounding the alarm over the shift after they had hoped last year’s presidential election could mark a turning point with this demographic.
“Unfortunately, Latinos are leaving the Republican Party after giving us a monumental chance in 2024,” Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) said in a video posted on X, adding this is “our wake-up call.”
Some said the community’s concerns about affordability and immigration enforcement and a lack of “authenticity” in outreach from Republicans caused the shift. But some Republicans said they weren’t as concerned, pointing to how the group has changed politically since Trump was first elected in 2016.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has already started appealing to Hispanic voters with ads tying Democrats to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (D), who identifies as a democratic socialist.
▪ The Hill: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) says redistricting battle shows Democratic energy.
▪ The Hill: Bill O’Reilly says anger drove Democrats’ sweep.
TRUMP TARIFF CHECKS? Trump said people will receive at least $2,000 each from the revenue the administration has collected through tariffs.
The president made the announcement in a Truth Social post on Sunday, adding that it won’t go to “high income people.” He has previously raised the idea of Americans receiving tariff checks, though it has been controversial among members of both parties.
That type of proposal would likely need congressional authorization to reach fruition.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R) introduced a bill this summer to provide $600 tariff rebates to almost all Americans and their dependent children.
But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said paying down the national debt, which totals more than $38 trillion, is the administration’s priority. Trump said in his Sunday post that tariff revenue would also pay down the debt.
The Treasury Department has taken in $195 billion from tariffs through the first three quarters of the year, according to a statement in September.
But the tariffs themselves have also hit consumers hard as other countries have responded to them, leading to rising costs for goods. The Yale Budget Lab reported last month that consumers face an average effective tariff rate of 18 percent, the highest level since 1934.
▪ The Hill: What if the Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariffs?
JUDGE RESIGNS: A federal judge has resigned from his position in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, citing that he wanted to speak out against an “existential threat to democracy” posed by Trump.
Mark L. Wolf, an appointee of former President Reagan who had been serving in senior status for a decade, wrote in The Atlantic to explain why he felt he needed to step down.
“My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom,” Wolf said. “President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment.”
“This is contrary to everything that I have stood for in my more than 50 years in the Department of Justice and on the bench,” he continued. “The White House’s assault on the rule of law is so deeply disturbing to me that I feel compelled to speak out. Silence, for me, is now intolerable.”
Wolf told The New York Times in an interview that he resigned to allow himself to speak not just about his own views but those of his colleagues who cannot speak out as well.
He slammed Trump’s alleged politicization of the Justice Department, pointing to a Truth Social post in which Trump publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring charges against three of his political opponents, former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
Comey and James have since both been indicted and denied the allegations against them.
“Americans proudly say that we live in the longest-lived democracy in the world,” Wolf told the Times. “But that should teach us that all the others failed.”
Where & When
The president will participate in a bilateral meeting with al-Sharaa at 11 a.m. He will participate in a swearing-in ceremony for Sergio Gor as ambassador to India at 3 p.m.
The Senate will meet at 11 a.m.
The House will convene at noon for a pro forma session.
Zoom In
REFUGEE PROGRAM CUTS: The Trump administration’s massive cuts to the U.S. refugee program may face litigation as refugee advocates consider their next steps, The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reports.
Last week, Trump set a cap on the number of refugees admitted to the U.S. at 7,500, a 94 percent drop from former President Biden’s goal of 125,000. That is the lowest ceiling in the refugee program’s history and still a large drop from the range of 70,000 to 80,000 seen during George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s presidencies.
Beitsch reports that the White House seems to have sidestepped Congress in the policy shift, posting the notice on the Federal Register a month after it was signed without consulting congressional Democrats.
Advocates said the law requires the president to consult with specific committees in Congress, made up of members of both parties. House Democrats said they weren’t consulted about the significant decline or the shift to prioritize white Afrikaners from South Africa.
Legal challenges could occur based on the administrative issues or the content of Trump’s directive, as advocates argue it’s unfairly based on race and not the dangerous conditions in home countries.
Trump has repeatedly expressed concern about the white minority group in South Africa, alleging they face “hateful rhetoric” and “disproportionate violence.” He signed an executive order in February encouraging the U.S. to accept Afrikaners as refugees.
South Africa’s government has rejected Trump’s claims as “completely false.”
▪ Axios: How past presidents’ refugee policies compare.
RURAL HEALTH FUNDING RACE: States are engaging in a mad dash to try to claim as much of a $50 billion rural health fund as they can in the face of potentially steep Medicaid funding cuts.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law earlier this year, created the fund as a backstop for states set to lose almost $1 trillion in Medicaid funding over the next decade. The five-year fund was a last-minute addition to the legislation to get some skeptical Republicans from rural states to support it.
But The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports that some providers are worried that a lack of guardrails on the program and a rushed timeline could cause those who need the money the most to be overshadowed by larger, politically connected health systems.
“There’s just some concern that, in the end, when you have these sort of insider systems, that the people who need it the most aren’t going to get it, and there’s going to be, either intentionally or unintentionally, some missed opportunities to really deliver health care,” said Michael Chameides, a county supervisor in Columbia County, N.Y.
The fund doesn’t include a requirement for states to direct funding to rural providers. The Federation of American Hospitals urged Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz in August to require states to prioritize rural hospitals.
Although experts said the funding isn’t nearly enough to cover the pending Medicaid cuts, all 50 states had submitted their applications for funding by last week. Federal officials must review the applications and distribute the funding by Dec. 31.
The program stipulates that $25 billion will be allocated to all states equally, with states whose applications are approved receiving the same amount regardless of their rural population size. Another $25 billion will be distributed at Oz’s discretion, based on criteria like whether states have adopted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” policies.
The Medicaid funding cuts primarily come through stricter work requirements and reductions in how states can fund their programs through provider taxes and state-directed payments, making any additional funding helpful, Weixel reports.
Elsewhere
ISRAELI SOLDIER RETURNED: The remains of an Israeli soldier killed in the Gaza Strip have been returned to Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement more than a decade after he was killed.
Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old, was killed in Gaza in 2014 two hours after a ceasefire began, ending the war that took place that year. His family had spent years advocating for his return.
The return of his remains is considered a major development in keeping the peace that has been in place for a month since the ceasefire that stopped more than two years of fighting that began following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
Dozens gathered along the streets where a police convoy carrying Goldin’s body drove, while many others gathered outside the home of his parents.
With Goldin’s remains returned, the remains of just four hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack remain in Gaza. The return of the bodies of deceased hostages has been a sticking point in some continued tensions between Israel and Hamas, leading on a few occasions to a brief resumption of fighting since the ceasefire began.
But both sides have recommitted to keeping the ceasefire in place after the fighting stopped each time.
Meanwhile, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has reportedly returned to Israel to continue with the ceasefire efforts, a person familiar with the matter said.
▪ The Times of Israel: Return of Goldin’s body may bring closure to nation.
▪ The Associated Press: Gaza death toll tops 69,000.
BBC RESIGNATIONS: The head of the BBC and its top news executive have resigned following criticism over how the news outlet edited a speech that Trump gave on Jan. 6, 2021, ahead of the Capitol riot.
Critics of a documentary that BBC produced argued that it was misleading and cut out a part where Trump said during his speech at the Ellipse that he wanted the demonstrators to protest peacefully. BBC Director-General Tim Davie and news CEO Deborah Turness both said they chose to resign.
“Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility,” Davie said in a letter to staff, ending his five-year run leading the outlet.
“In public life leaders need to be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down,” Turness said in a note to staff. “While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”
Trump chimed in on the resignations in a post on Truth Social, thanking The Daily Telegraph for “exposing these corrupt ‘journalists,’” posting a link to a story from the outlet about the editing.
“These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election,” he said. “On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!”
▪ BBC: Why has Davie resigned and what was the Trump documentary edit?
▪ The Guardian: Will Davie’s resignation be enough to restore trust in the BBC?
Opinion
Mamdani’s victory shows how Democrats can win the midterms, former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) writes in The Hill.
Why America can’t recapture the optimism of this bygone era, opinion columnist Megan McArdle writes in The Washington Post.
The Closer
And finally … A major indictment in the sports world was unveiled Sunday as Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been charged in a case accusing them of participating in a sports betting and money laundering scheme.
Prosecutors allege in the indictment, unveiled in the Eastern District of New York, that Clase and Ortiz provided bettors with inside information about their pitches, leading their alleged co-conspirators to bet on them. Clase and Ortiz sometimes received bribes and kickbacks in return, the indictment alleges.
The indictment states that Clase began providing information about the speed, type and result of his pitches in advance in May 2023, while Ortiz joined the scheme in June 2025. Both were suspended from Major League Baseball in July as an internal investigation took place.
Ortiz’s attorney told The Associated Press that his client is innocent and would never “improperly influence” a game. An attorney for Clase told the AP that his client has “devoted his life to baseball” and helping his team win, vowing that Clase is innocent and will clear his name in court.
