Congress ended the shutdown but now faces a tight deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security, with Democrats and Republicans far apart over immigration enforcement reforms after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents in Minnesota.
Russia has resumed heavy strikes on Ukraine’s power grid during extreme cold, despite President Trump saying Vladimir Putin agreed to pause attacks, putting new strain on fragile diplomatic efforts.
And President Trump is calling for the federal government to “take over” elections in some states, escalating concerns among election officials about interference ahead of the midterms.

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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukhananov, Miguel Macias, Ben Swasey, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.

It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas.

We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

Our Supervising Producer is Michael Lipkin.

(0:00) Introduction
(01:52) DHS Funding Negotiations
(05:27) Ukraine Peace Talks
(09:26) Trump Nationalizing Elections

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