The shutdown is over - but the fighting isn’t

President Trump put his signature on a bill that will fund the
government through the end of January. The bill brought an end to
a 43-day shutdown of the federal government. A group of eight
Democratic senators negotiated with Senate Majority leader John
Thune to get concessions for furloughed and laid off government
workers, and the funding of several federal agencies. The deal
did not include the extensions for healthcare subsidies that had
become a key messaging point for Democrats throughout the
shutdown. Will working out a deal without a big win hurt the
political leverage the party seemed to be building? What will it
mean for the position of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer?





Next, Congress turns back to the Epstein files, with new emails
emerging that appeared damning for President Trump. 





The president signed off on several pardons this week. Among
those receiving the pardons were Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows and
other members of the president’s inner circle who faced scrutiny
for their roles in undermining the 2020 election. None of the 70
individuals pardoned were facing federal charges. So what was the
point? Does the pardon process need a facelift? 



The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a Kentucky county clerk
who wanted them to reconsider the landmark same-sex marriage case
Obergefell v. Hodges. Concerns on the left about the case’s
standing were high after the court overturned Roe v. Wade in
2022. KCRW discusses why Obergefell may not be overturned anytime
soon, and answers a question from a listener looking for insight
from last week’s election margins.