Today’s Headlines: The government’s still shut down—but hey, the Senate finally passed a funding package, which now heads to the House so they can, you know, maybe reopen the country. The deal only funds things until January and gives Democrats a pinky promise to hold a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies next month. Meanwhile, hidden inside the bill is a clause letting senators sue the government for $500,000 if their phone records were searched in the January 6th probe. There’s also a proposal to recriminalize THC and hemp-derived products, which would basically nuke a $30 billion industry overnight. The Supreme Court just extended the Trump administration’s ability to block SNAP payments through Thursday, so… no rush on feeding people. Elsewhere, the House is finally about to have enough signatures to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files once Adelita Grijalva finally gets sworn in today. But don’t get too excited—it probably won’t happen until December, if ever. Trump, meanwhile, is asking the Supreme Court to toss out the $5 million he owes E. Jean Carroll, and one of his pardoned Jan. 6 guys just got re-arrested for kidnapping and sexual assault. So that’s going great. Overseas, the BBC is melting down after an independent report found major bias issues and a Hamas-adjacent narrator situation. Two execs have already resigned, and Trump’s threatening to sue them for $1 billion because a documentary made him look bad (like, worse than usual). And in D.C., plastic surgeons say “Mar-a-Lago face” is the latest cosmetic trend—apparently, looking filler-blind is in.

Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode:

Axios: Senate passes package to end record government shutdown

MSNBC: Republicans use spending bill to empower themselves to sue over phone records searches

The Hill: Federal THC ban send hemp companies scrambling

CBS News: Democrat Adelita Grijalva to be sworn in 7 weeks after winning House election

Axios: Trump asks Supreme Court to toss $5 million E. Jean verdict

NY Post: Former Jan. 6 defendant who shot gun in air during Capitol riot charged with kidnapping and sexual assault?

Telegraph: US may deny visas for fat foreigners

Telegraph: BBC’s bias ‘pushed Hamas lies around the world’

WSJ: BBC Director General and News Chief Resign After Criticism of Editorial Practices

Axios: DC plastic surgeons getting "Mar-a-Lago face" requests from Trump insiders

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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