Posted by Matt Kiser
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2026/01/29/day-1836/
Today in one sentence: Trump and Senate Democrats said they reached a tentative agreement to fund most federal agencies through Sept. 30 while splitting Department of Homeland Security funding from the broader government spending package; earlier in the day, Senate Democrats blocked a six-bill spending package from advancing, demanding new limits on the Department of Homeland Security and ICE after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis; Trump’s border czar said federal agencies were drafting a plan to “draw down” the roughly 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol officers deployed to Minnesota under Operation Metro Surge; Trump held a White House Cabinet meeting, but didn’t call on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem or Attorney General Pam Bondi, and he ended the session without taking reporters’ questions; and 37% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, down from 40% in the fall.
1/ Trump and Senate Democrats said they reached a tentative agreement to fund most federal agencies through Sept. 30 while splitting Department of Homeland Security funding from the broader government spending package. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the deal would advance five spending bills to fund the government and extend DHS funding at current levels for two weeks as lawmakers negotiate new restrictions on immigration enforcement operations, including proposals to bar masks and require body cameras. “This is a moment of truth,” Schumer said. “What the nation witnessed […] in the streets of Minneapolis was a moral abomination […] And Congress has the authority and the moral obligation to act.” Trump urged lawmakers support the deal, saying “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.” Senate leaders are setting up a Thursday night vote, but the package would require unanimous consent from all 100 senators and still needs to go through the House, which is in recess until Monday, before it can be sent to Trump’s desk for his signature. Federal funding is set to expire Friday at midnight, meaning a partial shutdown could begin early Saturday. (Axios / NBC News / New York Times / Bloomberg / Politico / CNN / CBS News / The Hill / Associated Press)
2/ Earlier in the day, Senate Democrats blocked a six-bill spending package from advancing, demanding new limits on the Department of Homeland Security and ICE after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. The procedural vote failed 45–55 as Democrats insisted that DHS funding be split off from the rest of the package and renegotiated to include bans on masks, required body cameras and visible IDs, tighter warrant rules, and standardized use-of-force policies. (New York Times / Politico / Associated Press / CNN / ABC News / Axios / NPR / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Axios / Washington Post / Bloomberg / The Hill / CNBC)
3/ Trump’s border czar said federal agencies were drafting a plan to “draw down” the roughly 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol officers deployed to Minnesota under Operation Metro Surge. While Tom Homan conceded the crackdown “hasn’t been perfect,” he also conditioned the potential “redeployment” of agents with expanded access to state and county jails and cast, calling it “commonsense cooperation.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said a drawdown would be “a step in the right direction,” but repeated that Metro Surge “must end.” Frey also urged other mayors to “speak up” against the Trump administration after two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by federal agents during the operation. (New York Times / NPR / Wall Street Journal / CNBC / Axios / CBS News / Associated Press / Washington Post / Bloomberg)
- Sen. Susan Collins said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told her that ICE had ended its “enhanced” immigration enforcement in Maine and that “there are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations” in the state. The operation began last week and ICE arrested more than 200 people in Maine, including more than 50 on the first day.(Politico / Axios / CBS News)
4/ Trump held a White House Cabinet meeting, but didn’t call on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem or Attorney General Pam Bondi, and he ended the session without taking reporters’ questions. The situation in Minnesota didn’t come up during the televised session, which comes following federal agents shooting and killing two U.S. citizens during immigration enforcement operations. Trump, however, opened the meeting by calling his last cabinet meeting “pretty boring,” but claimed “I didn’t sleep. I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell out of here.” (CNBC / New York Times / The Hill / NBC News / Associated Press)
- An appeals court ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her authority by ending Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans and Haitians. The court said TPS lets the secretary grant protections, but they can’t vacate an existing designation. The ruling, however, doesn’t immediately restore protections because the Supreme Court had already put the lower court’s decision on hold, pending an appeal. DHS called the ruling “lawless and activist.” (NBC News / New York Times)
poll/ 37% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, down from 40% in the fall. 50% say the administration’s actions have been worse than they expected, compared with 21% who say better than they expected. 27% say they support all or most of Trump’s policies and plans, down from 35% last year. (Pew Research Center)
The 2026 midterms are in 278 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 1,013 days; and it’s been 42 days since the Trump administration was required by law to release the Epstein files.
📍 The Pinboard.
On Monday, I asked newsletter subscribers how they were making sense of yet another U.S. citizen being killed by ICE. I received more than 200 emails and here are few anonymous reflections that stood out to me and felt representative.
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“I feel like I’m in Anne Frank’s diary. I want to speak out, I want to call my senators and tell them to do something, but at the same time I’m confident I’ll be a target.”
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“We The People are the ones being murdered in the streets by our government.”
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“As someone living in Minneapolis, it’s kind of a hellscape. Everyone’s struggling with stress and anxiety. The sense of community helps, but things are starting to feel hopeless when just being on the streets can get you shot.”
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“Under Trump, America is a wealth of embarrassments. We don’t have the right to criticize other countries any more.”
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“I’m too scared to protest anymore. As a nurse working in a pediatric hospital, my norm is to run toward the danger to take care of my kids, but I’m feeling more and more defeated without action at the federal level to stop this.”
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“This is America today.”
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