Last Paid Day
At midnight, regular appropriations lapse for the Department of Homeland Security, including the Coast Guard, TSA, and FEMA, as the standoff continues over limiting what immigration forces can do.
Democrats want to enact requirements such as unmasking, wearing body cameras, and getting judicial warrants. “Without legislation, Donald Trump could choose to put a rogue force in any city and have them operate without guardrails,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the chamber floor. “We need legislation to rein in ICE and stop the violence.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the White House countered with “an extremely serious offer.” When Democrats didn’t jump on it, the Senate gaveled out for its holiday recess.
Trump said Democrats’ demands would put law enforcement in danger, Mica Soellner reports. But in in today’s Congress Tracker, Jonathan Tamari reports Democrats don’t think the GOP fully grasps what this fight is about.
See Also:
- House Members Banned From Congress-Paid Trips If DHS Shuts Down
- Statehouses Push Laws to Hinder Trump Immigration Enforcement
- ICE Detention Center Buying Spree Skirts Oversight, Transparency
- Judge in Haiti Migrant Protections Case Received Violent Threats
Cost of Tariffs
The big number coming out today measures what happened with consumer prices in January. The Consumer Price Index will in part indicate whether companies offset tariff costs by charging customers more.
María Paula Mijares Torres reports that economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that nearly 90% of the economic burden from tariffs in 2025 was borne by US companies and consumers.
Using data through November 2025, the study finds that about 94% of the tariff costs were passed through to US firms and consumers in the first eight months of the year. By November, foreign exporters were absorbing slightly more — a 10% tariff was associated with a 1.4% decline in export prices — but pass-through still stood at 86%.
These higher costs in tariffs also accelerated supply chain shifts away from China toward countries like Mexico and Vietnam, the study found.
Speaking of tariffs, a week from today, Feb. 20, is the next potential day for a Supreme Court decision on the validity of using emergency powers to impose levies.
See Also:
House Seats on the Line
Two layers of redistricting action are happening in Utah, where Republicans are trying to get an initiative on the ballot that would ask voters to undo their 2018 anti-gerrymander law.
The pro-repeal forces have until Sunday to gather 141,000 verified signatures to place the question on the ballot. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel is scheduled to hear a request to stop the use of a court-imposed congressional district map.
GOP Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens are among those seeking the preliminary injunction. They have a lot at stake because that map radically changed their districts.
The suit accuses Judge Dianna Gibson of violating the US Constitution with a remap that wasn’t approved by the Utah Legislature. Gibson ruled in a case contesting the Legislature’s decision to first make the redistricting commission’s recommendations nonbinding, and then to reject the panel’s suggestions and split Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County four ways.
The federal panel won’t have a lot of time to ponder next week’s arguments; Greg Giroux reports that the state’s chief elections officer said she needs to know what map’s in use by Feb. 23 to prepare for candidate filing, which begins March 9.
See Also: Crypto Industry Super PAC Targets Texas Democrat
Peace Talking
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he accepted a US offer to host more talks next week. Daryna Krasnolutska and Aliaksandr Kudrytski report that the focus will be the Trump administration’s proposal to set up a buffer zone in the eastern Donbas region.
Trump’s envoys are intensifying efforts to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as it approaches its fifth year. Control of land is the key sticking point; the Kremlin is standing by its demand to control the entire Donbas region, including parts it’s been unable to seize militarily.
“If it is our territory — and it is our territory — then the country whose territory it is should govern it,” Zelenskiy said. Read More
See Also:
- Trump Steps Up Push for Israel President to Pardon Netanyahu
- Ukraine Gets $35 Billion in Military Aid Pledges After Attacks
Govs in Town
Other talks to watch next week will be between Trump and a to-be-determined number of governors.
The National Governors Association will be in town beginning Thursday, and their Friday activities are supposed to include a meeting with the president and dinner at the White House.
Trump has said that Wes Moore and Jared Polis, the Democratic governors of Maryland and Colorado, aren’t welcome for dinner. The other 18 Democratic governors now have to decide about following through on staying away in a show of solidarity.
Before You Go
Goldman Sachs Lawyer Ruemmler to Leave Over Jeffrey Epstein Ties
Texas Airspace Closure Fallout Grows, Senators Seek Answers
Key US senators are seeking answers from the
SALT Cap Boost in Trump Tax Bill Supersizes New Yorkers’ Refunds
Many New York, New Jersey and California residents are enjoying supercharged tax savings this year from a provision in President
Protecting Geolocation Data Emerges as State Privacy Priority
State legislatures are weighing a wave of protections for sensitive geolocation data that would redefine comprehensive privacy legislation.
HHS Proposal Floats Significant Changes for Obamacare Market
The Trump administration’s proposed rule governing the Affordable Care Act exchanges attempts to introduce uncommon insurance plans into the market, including plans without a traditional doctor network or with multiyear terms.
Trump Yet to Announce Judicial Nominations in Some Red States
The White House has yet to announce nominees for district court vacancies in three states with two Republican senators as conservatives push to fill as many seats as possible before the midterm elections.
NASA Sends Crew to Space Station for Meditation Research
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Fifth Circuit Overturns Injunction on Texas Vote Harvesting Ban
Texas can continue to ban paid campaign workers from assisting voters in submitting mail-in ballots, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
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