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Happy Valentine’s Day: Little love in the air as uncertainty swirls on the Hill
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«We’ll have the votes,» said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House approached a vote to end a three-day, partial government shutdown Tuesday morning. «That was never in doubt.»
Oh really?
Well, Johnson was right. Republicans finally conjured up the votes to pass a retooled spending package to end the brief shutdown. Certainly better than the record 43-day shutdown in the fall.
But it wasn’t necessarily easy.
SHUTDOWN AVERTED FOR NOW, BUT SENATE WARNS DHS FIGHT COULD TRIGGER ANOTHER IN DAYS
«We’ll have the votes,» Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., assured in the leadup to a vote to end a partial government shutdown. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
Passing bills in the House is a challenge for Republicans with their narrow majority. What’s increasingly becoming even more problematic is a procedural vote known as the «rule.» Adopting the rule to set the terms of debate is essential before bringing a bill to the floor. And conservatives who are upset with the GOP leadership are regularly converting what was a routine preliminary vote into a regular adventure.
«That’s where you’re going to see some friction,» predicted Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., on Fox.
She was right. While there was drama passing the bill, the rule was a roller coaster.
GROUNDHOG DAY AND FRIDAY THE 13TH
Democrats said they would not help Republicans adopt the rule. They argued that the rule is the responsibility of the majority. It’s historically been that way in the House for decades.
«On rare occasion, have we stepped in to deal with Republican dysfunction,» said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
When the vote started, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was quick to vote no for the GOP.
It’s about the math. With the House at 218-214, Republicans could only adopt the rule with one defection if all Members voted. Two defections would produce a 216-216 tie. By rule, ties lose in the House.
With Republicans holding an incredibly slim House majority, there exists little room for defection. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
Colleague Kelly Phares tracked the procedural vote from the House gallery. After a few moments, Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., became the second GOP nay. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., swooped in to converse with Rose. On X, Rose declared he wanted the GOP to attach the SAVE Act to the revised spending bill. Note that Rose is running against Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., for Tennessee governor. The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship to vote. Latching such a provision to the bill would only prolong the shutdown. That’s because the House and Senate would remain out of alignment, having approved different bills. Moreover, there was no pathway to break a filibuster on the issue in the Senate.
So the rule was failing with two GOP nays and four Republicans who hadn’t voted yet: Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Byron Donalds, R-Fla., Troy Nehls, R-Texas and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. The Republican brass would need all four nonvoters to switch to yes. Plus, they’d need Massie or Rose to change. The vote froze at 216 nays to 212 yeas.
If this blew up, the partial government shutdown would continue.
HOUSE SENDS BILL ENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN TO TRUMP’S DESK AFTER 21 DEMS BREAK WITH JEFFRIES
Donalds and Spartz then went up on the board as yeas. That made the tally 214 yeas to 216 noes. Nehls voted yea a few moments later. So 215 yeas to 216 noes. Massie and Rose remained the only Republican nays. And Ogles remained on the sidelines.
But then Rose changed his vote to yes. Ogles finally voted and was a yea. Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-Penn., presided over the vote. He rapped the gavel, closing the vote at 217-215. The House approved the rule, paving the way for the House to debate the spending plan and end the shutdown. Massie was the only GOP no.
Things were also tight on passage of the bill. The yeas ran behind the nays for most of the allotted time before barely passing at 217-214. 21 Republicans voted nay. But 21 Democrats voted yea, making up the difference. Had one more Member voted no, the tally would have been 216-215. The bill would have failed had an additional two Members voted no.
But with that, the second government shutdown since autumn ended.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., touted the «win» that is fully funding 96% of the federal government. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
«We have fully 96% of the federal government funded. So that’s a that’s a good win,» bragged Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., more than four months after Congress was supposed to have funded everything.
But that remaining four percent is the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats demand changes at ICE before funding expires – on Valentine’s Day.
How do I love thee? Let me count the appropriations bills. 11 of the 12 are done. And unless lawmakers can craft an agreement, another shutdown looms, albeit just for DHS.
«A shutdown of Homeland Security. I’m okay with that,» declared Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Penn.
A DHS-centric shutdown means no pay for TSA. And more volatility at ICE – even though its operations are funded through the Big, Beautiful Bill.
Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, had a message for DHS employees.
«You will be paid because this continues your pay. But the uncertainty – until we get this resolved – you must live with,» warned Case.
PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENDS AS DHS FUNDING FIGHT CONTINUES
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. He’s one of 193 Democrats who opposed the bill.
«This is an opportunity to demonstrate your opposition,» said Thompson.
But former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was one of those 21 Democrats who voted to re-open the government. He represents thousands of sidelined federal workers in his district not far from the nation’s capital.
«Today is a time to fund the majority of government for the American people,» said Hoyer.
But negotiating an agreement on such a nettlesome issue in a week-and-a-half is nearly impossible in Congress. House and Senate Democrats will release their concrete demands Thursday. Republicans have their requests, too.
«I’m not willing to just give them every reform they ask for. Or even some without getting some reforms ourselves,» said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
Some Republicans want an end to sanctuary cities. Others want to include the SAVE Act.
Johnson called any attempts to keep other government agencies closed a «fool’s errand,» accusing Democratic colleagues of playing a «dangerous game.» (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
Republicans are suspect of the Democrats’ motives.
«If they have any intention of trying to keep these other agencies of government closed, it will be a fool’s errand,» said Johnson. «It’s a very dangerous game that they’re playing.»
Jeffries declared he was a «hard no on a year-long CR (an interim spending plan),» for DHS. Jeffries reiterated that «the deadline is February 13th.»
But is there realistically enough time to fix this?
«You can get to where you want to go if you have the will to get there,» said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the leading Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.
She added that there would be «a vote» of some sort related to DHS funding «on the 13th.
But time to get an agreement is dripping off the clock as Democrats still haven’t made specific, legislative requests.
«That’s an indication to me they’re trying to figure out what they need to do here,» said Thune. «Trying to do this with a two-week deadline makes no sense here.»
Thune added that he believes Democrats wanted to have a «political issue» for the midterms.
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So Valentine’s Day is the deadline for DHS funding. There’s nothing more romantic than a partial government shutdown. But don’t expect lawmakers to give each other Dove chocolate bars or boxes of Russell Stover.
Rather than trading legislative proposals, perhaps lawmakers can exchange candy hearts with specific requests emblazoned on the top of each one. Rather than «Be mine» or «Hug me,» the hearts can say «No roving patrols» or «Voter ID.»
congress,house of representatives politics,government shutdown
INTERNACIONAL
Manifestantes se movilizan hacia la Casa Blanca con críticas a Trump por los ataques a Irán
Cientos de manifestantes de distintas organizaciones sociales se movilizan este sábado hacia la Casa Blanca con críticas al presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, por los ataques a Irán.
Mientras crece el conflicto en Medio Oriente y también el temor en Estados Unidos a una guerra prolongada, en las inmediaciones de la casa del gobierno estadounidense se concentran cientos de personas que, con banderas y carteles, protestan contra la decisión de Trump de atacar Irán.
El mandatario estadounidense es blanco de críticas en Washington por haber ordenado la Operación Furia Épica (Operation Epic Fury) que, según un comunicado del Comando Central de Estados Unidos, es «la mayor concentración regional de poderío militar estadounidense en una generación».
Entre los manifestantes que gritan «no a la guerra en Irán» y sostienen carteles reclamándole a Trump que no arroje bombas a ese país también hay una buena cantidad de latinos que, en español, cantan «el pueblo unido jamás será vencido».
Mientras cada vez más manifestantes se suman a las protestas en la capital estadounidense, Trump sigue desde su residencia en Mar-a-Lago el minuto a minuto de la escalada de tensión tras el ataque a Irán.
La portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Karoline Leavitt, informó que Trump ha estado toda la noche siguiendo la operación, bautizada por Estados Unidos como «Furia Épica», y que tuvo una llamada telefónica con el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu.
«El presidente y su equipo de seguridad nacional continuarán monitoreando de cerca la situación durante todo el día», declaró Leavitt.
President Donald J. Trump Monitors U.S. Military Operations in Iran: Operation Epic Fury, February 28, 2026 pic.twitter.com/OfnMkmBZ8G
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 28, 2026
El Gobierno distribuyó una primera fotografía que muestra una sala de crisis improvisada en Mar-a-Lago con cortinas negras y un mapa de Irán. Trump con saco y camisa pero sin corbata y una gorra con las siglas de USA (EE.UU., en inglés), estuvo acompañado por el secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio; el director de la CIA, John Ratcliffe, y la jefa de gabinete de la Casa Blanca, Susie Wiles, además de otros asesores.
Desde la Casa Blanca, en Washington, siguieron el operativo el vicepresidente, JD Vance, junto a la directora de Inteligencia Nacional, Tulsi Gabbard, y el secretario del Tesoro, Scott Bessent, entre otros.
President Trump monitored the situation overnight at Mar a Lago alongside members of his national security team. The President spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu by phone.
Prior to the attacks, Secretary Rubio called all members of the gang of eight to provide congressional…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) February 28, 2026
Mar-a-Lago es la residencia donde Trump suele pasar los fines de semana y desde allí ofreció de madrugada el mensaje en video en el que anunció el lanzamiento del ataque contra Irán, cuyo objetivo último es la caída del régimen. Desde esa misma mansión, monitoreó el pasado 3 de enero el ataque estadounidense contra Venezuela que terminó con la captura de Nicolás Maduro.
Estados Unidos e Israel lanzaron este sábado un ataque contra objetivos en Teherán y otras ciudades en Irán, que respondió con el lanzamiento de misiles hacia territorio israelí y bases militares estadounidenses en toda la región.
Según el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, hay «señales» que apuntan a que el líder supremo iraní, Alí Jamenei, «dejó de existir» tras el ataque israelí a su residencia de este sábado.
El secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio, notificó del ataque con antelación a siete de los ocho congresistas del llamado Grupo de los Ocho, del que forman parte los líderes republicanos y demócratas de la Cámara de Representantes y del Senado.
Varios legisladores demócratas han denunciado no haber sido avisados del ataque y acusan al Gobierno de iniciar una guerra encubierta sin pasar por el Congreso, que tiene la potestad de autorizar un conflicto bélico en el exterior.
Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want. Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice.
Read my full statement: pic.twitter.com/JmxZaC8vBr
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 28, 2026
Además de las críticas de legisladpres opositores y de las manifestaciones en las inmediaciones de la Casa Blanca, en las últimas horas se multiplicaron los cuestionamientos a Trump.
La exvicepresidenta Kamala Harris dijo que Trump «está arrastrando a Estados Unidos a una guerra que el pueblo estadounidense no desea». Y cerró: «Seamos claros: me opongo a una guerra de cambio de régimen en Irán, y nuestras tropas están siendo puestas en peligro por la guerra predilecta de Trump».
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The first missile in the U.S. arsenal used against Iranian targets in Saturday’s pre-dawn strike was the Tomahawk, a long-range cruise missile launched from Navy ships and submarines.
About half the length of a standard telephone pole, the Tomahawk flies at the speed of a commercial airliner and can carry a 1,000-pound warhead about the distance from Washington, D.C., to Miami.
Fired from destroyers or submarines positioned hundreds of miles away, the missiles allow a president to respond rapidly to a crisis without sending pilots into contested airspace or deploying ground forces.
The Tomahawk has become a go-to option for limited military action, because it offers precision and flexibility while keeping the U.S. footprint small. The missiles can hit fixed targets with high accuracy, reducing the risk of broader escalation.
Presidents of both parties have used Tomahawks in the opening hours of military operations, from strikes in Iraq in the 1990s to more recent operations in Syria and elsewhere.
Defense officials and military analysts say the weapon’s long range, reliability and relatively low risk to American personnel make it an attractive first-strike option when the White House wants to send a message quickly but stop short of a wider war.
That combination of speed, distance and precision has kept the Tomahawk at the center of U.S. military planning for decades.
The Tomahawk missile is manufactured by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, also known as RTX. (U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
Manufactured by defense titan Raytheon — now RTX — the Tomahawk has been a mainstay of the Navy’s arsenal since the 1980s. It was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War and has since become a go-to option for presidents seeking to strike from long range without putting U.S. service members in harm’s way.
«Year in and year out, administration in and administration out, it’s the long-range land attack cruise missile that presidents reach for first in a crisis,» Thomas Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.
But heavy use has taken a toll. «We’ve been using them far more frequently than we’ve been producing them,» Karako said.
Prior to Saturday’s operation, the missile was used in June 2025 during a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Smoke rises after reported Iranian missile attacks, following strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Overall, the Tomahawk has been deployed more than 2,350 times.
At roughly $1.4 million apiece, the Tomahawk missile has an intermediate range of 800 to 1,553 miles and can be launched from more than 140 U.S. Navy ships and submarines.
The Tomahawk strike was just one piece of a broader U.S. military posture in the region.
Ahead of the strikes, the U.S. military amassed what Trump previously called an «armada» in Iran’s backyard. Mapped out across the Persian Gulf and beyond, the deployment tells its own story, one of calculated pressure backed by credible capability.
THE ONLY MAP YOU NEED TO SEE TO UNDERSTAND HOW SERIOUS TRUMP IS ABOUT IRAN
The deployment coincided with indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. Trump has warned that the regime must fully dismantle its nuclear infrastructure or face consequences.
An F-35B takes off from the USS America flight deck. (Cpl. Isaac Cantrell/U.S. Marine Corps)
At the center of the U.S. presence are two aircraft carrier strike groups — the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford — each supported by guided-missile destroyers and cruisers and capable of sustained air and missile operations.
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More than a dozen additional U.S. warships are also operating in the region in support roles, according to defense officials.
It was not immediately clear how or when Tehran might respond, though Iranian leaders have previously warned of retaliation in the event of direct U.S. military involvement.
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war with iran,iran,middle east,donald trump,israel,defense
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Iranian ‘top target’ hit in $10M precision strike; US kamikaze drones used to ‘overwhelm’
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Israel struck its key target in Tehran Saturday in what a defense expert has described as a multimillion-dollar precision-guided attack alongside a broader offensive involving U.S. waves of lower-cost kamikaze drones.
Cameron Chell, CEO of drone manufacturer Draganfly, told Fox News Digital the campaign would have likely paired advanced and costly assets against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound, while U.S. forces used cheaper drones to «overwhelm» on land, air and sea.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) also confirmed that the drones were deployed for the first time in history.
«CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike — for the first time in history — is using one-way attack drones in combat during Operation Epic Fury,» it said in an X post before adding that the «low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution.»
«Saturday saw an overwhelming daytime attack with incredible intelligence to target the leadership and a strike on the compound possibly costing tens of millions,» Chell said.
«That would likely have included expensive, precision-strike drones or manned aircraft in highly coordinated attacks to ensure success, not necessarily the lower-cost, one-way version of the suicide drones,» he explained.
«The U.S. has this lower-cost alternative to hit everything at once, but then the very expensive, high-precision assets would likely have gone directly after leadership on Saturday,» Chell added.
A map of Western strikes against Iran (Fox News)
A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the compound strike was a «wildly bold daytime attack.»
«It caught the senior leadership off guard on a Saturday morning during Ramadan and on Shabbat in the daytime,» the official added.
«We hit the senior leaders right out of the gate,» the source told Fox national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin.
Iran’s military, government and intelligence sites were targeted, an official briefed on the operation also told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
A handful of top Iranian leaders were killed, including the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
AYATOLLAH’S ARSENAL VS. AMERICAN FIREPOWER: IRAN’S TOP 4 THREATS AND HOW WE FIGHT BACK
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses the public on the 47th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, according to Iranian state television in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 9, 2026. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump also announced Saturday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in the strike.
«If drones were involved in that top target attack, it would have been the very sophisticated MQ-type or Global Hawk-type drones,» Chell said.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said other attacks across the country were being done «to remove threats.»
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, those targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command and control centers, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.
Chell described how those secondary targets would have been hit by the U.S. with the cheaper one-way «kamikaze» drones before adding that the strikes «seemed to be an excellent example of mass overwhelm at a new level.»
IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT US BASES ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AFTER AMERICAN STRIKES ON NUCLEAR, IRGC SITES
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine monitors U.S. military operations in Iran after an Israeli strike in Tehran alongside several Cabinet members Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (@WhiteHouse/X)
Chell suggested Iran’s defenses were likely degraded well before the strike began because of the coordination.
«I think likely the defense systems, communication systems, were overwhelmingly compromised,» he added. «And so I think they just overwhelmed them,» he said.
«I’m sure there would have been days, if not even weeks, of work and preparation to take out those defense communication systems.
«They would have compromised those defense communications in some way through electronic warfare or cyberattack.
«The battlefield now is so multidimensional,» Chell emphasized.
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«It’s about cyber warfare, misinformation and electronic warfare as well.
«This was seemingly so swift because it was incredibly well-planned and coordinated by the U.S. and Israel on a massive level that’s not been seen before.»
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war with iran,iran,ali khamenei,military,us navy,wars
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