TV News LIES

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a centrist Democrat and champion of liberal causes who was elected to the Senate in 1992 and broke gender barriers throughout her long career in local and national politics, has died. She was 90.

Feinstein died on Thursday night at her home in Washington, D.C., her office said on Friday. Opening the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that “earlier this morning, we lost a giant in the Senate.”

“Dianne Feinstein was one of the most amazing people who ever graced the Senate, who ever graced the country,” Schumer said, his voice cracking. “As the nation mourns this tremendous loss, we know how many lives she impacted and how many glass ceilings she shattered along the way.”

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The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a short-term funding measure to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the week.

The Senate voted 77 to 19 to advance the legislative vehicle they will use for a continuing resolution funding government until Nov. 17.

The vote puts the Senate on a path to pass a continuing resolution (CR) later this week that it could then send to the House to avoid a shutdown on Oct. 1.

The House has been stuck on how to move forward with funding the government amid disputes among Republicans in the majority.

If the Senate does approve a CR, it could put pressure on the House to bring it to the floor and avoid a shutdown, particularly in the lower chamber has not made much progress on its own.

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Speaker Kevin McCarthy is backtracking on his plan to remove Ukraine aid from a massive military spending bill as Republicans scramble to find a way forward on funding the government.

The California Republican’s U-turn comes a day after he told reporters he would remove the roughly $300 million from the Pentagon bill and give it a separate vote as he faced GOP pushback on its inclusion.

But in the Capitol on Saturday, McCarthy said the bill will move forward with the Ukraine aid included, arguing it would be too complicated to remove because of the Republicans’ funding strategy of bringing the Defense bill to the floor with other measures. The decision injects fresh doubt into whether the Pentagon spending bill will come up for debate at all after failing twice in recent weeks.

“It became too difficult to do that, so we’re leaving it in,” McCarthy told reporters about the Ukraine funds.

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Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Jaime Harrison said he thinks “history will show” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as “the most inept Speaker of the House in my lifetime.”

Harrison made the comments while appearing on The Saturday Show with Jonathan Capehart when asked about the current chaos roiling the House over spending bills and a looming government shutdown. Harrison responded by saying he has “worked on the floor of the House” and has “never seen anything like it.”

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced Friday that he will strip funding for Ukraine out of a Pentagon spending bill after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) joined conservatives in blocking the legislation from advancing earlier this week.

McCarthy said he would remove the $300 million for Ukraine currently in the Pentagon appropriations bill and hold a separate vote on the funding.

“It would be out and voted on by itself,” McCarthy said when asked about the Ukraine aid in the Pentagon appropriations bill.

The Speaker’s announcement comes one day after a band of five conservatives opposed a procedural vote for the Pentagon appropriations bill, sinking the effort and preventing the legislation from moving forward. It was the second time this week that hard-liners blocked the funding bill from advancing.

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New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was charged Friday with corruption-related offenses for the second time in 10 years. He previously fought off conspiracy, bribery and honest services fraud charges from the Justice Department related to alleged personal favors.

Menendez is up for reelection next year. He has been in the Senate since 2006. Senate Democratic Caucus rules will force Menendez to step aside as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, but he can still serve on the panel.

Here's what to know about the charges announced Friday — and what is expected to happen next in the case: