Washington Just hours after President-elect Donald Trump destroyed the first bipartisan accord, House Republicans on Thursday seemed to have hammered out a second spending deal to stave an impending government shutdown. Republicans had reached a new agreement on government spending, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters Thursday afternoon. However, he did not elaborate on the specifics of the agreement, which had included everything from government funding to changes to prescription drug plans to facilitating the relocation of an NFL football stadium. As he walked out of the speaker's office on Capitol Hill, Cole stated, "We have an agreement, and we expect to have a vote on Thursday." A few minutes later, Republicans unveiled the 116-page plan, which provides gove...

According to officials Thursday, the former top adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams was accused of accepting bribes from a real estate company in a traditional "quid pro quo" arrangement that benefited her and her son monetarily. In a Manhattan Supreme Court filing, DA Alvin Bragg claimed that Ingrid Lewis-Martin "engaged in a long-running bribery, money laundering and conspiracy scheme" to "illegally influence Department of Buildings and other city decisions in exchange for more than $100,000 in cash and benefits for herself and her son, Glenn Martin II." In a Manhattan courtroom Thursday afternoon, Lewis-Martin, Martin, and two real estate investors, Mayank Dwivedi and Raizada Vaid, entered not guilty pleas to a number of offenses related to their purported pay-to-play scam. Lewis-...

After a plan to find a buyer fell through, troubled discount furniture and home decor company Big Lots will start going-out-of-business sales at its remaining sites. Big Lots stated in a release on Thursday that it no longer expects to be able to finalize a previously disclosed deal with a private equity firm to save the business. Nonetheless, it stated that it is still working to finalize a different deal with that group, Nexus Capital Management, a company based in Los Angeles, or another partner. After experiencing ongoing losses, Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in September. This year, hundreds of shop closures have been announced by the Columbus, Ohio-based company. According to data from Coresight Research, a consumer insights group, the retail industry suffere...

The suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, was flown from Pennsylvania to New York Thursday afternoon to face federal charges after he renounced his right to an extradition hearing. Mangione, 26, was arrested by the New York City Police Department after appearing Thursday morning in Blair County, Pennsylvania, for a preliminary hearing and waiving extradition. New federal accusations against the suspect were also unveiled on Thursday, including two counts of stalking, murder by firearm, and firearms offense. A neat cut Mangione wore a white shirt underneath a black V-neck and beige trousers when she appeared in federal court in lower Manhattan on Thursday afternoon. Mangione picked up the charging sheet and seemed to read it attentively before the hea...

Millions of government workers would not be paid if the federal government shut down on Friday, and operations at many publicly sponsored institutions would slow down or cease completely. However, Social Security payments would continue to be made. The shorter-term continuing-resolution measures that have kept the government running in recent years amidst political impasse in Washington do not pay Social Security, which is seen as a required program. Social Security benefits are paid to over 72.8 million people each month. Retirees receive the majority of such payments, but disabled individuals and the dependents of dead pensioners also receive them. Benefit checks will continue to be sent, but if SSA staff start to be furloughed, those who need to get in touch with the agency for help may...

Oklahoma executed a former grocery store stocker found guilty of killing a 10-year-old girl in 2006 Thursday morning, marking the country's last execution of 2024. Kevin Ray Underwood's bid for clemency in the killing of his young neighbor Jamie Rose Bolin last week was unanimously denied by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, leading to his execution by lethal injection on his 45th birthday. Despite being expected, the decision was noteworthy: the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center reports that this year is the first time since 2016 that no state has granted mercy to a person who has been given a death sentence. According to the Center's annual report on death sentences and execution trends, which was released Thursday, the use of the death penalty has expanded this year amid a ...

Following repeated complaints about brightly colored and mostly inexplicable flying devices dominating the night sky over the Garden State, the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday banned drone flights over almost two dozen cities in New Jersey. "Prohibiting drone flights over critical New Jersey infrastructure," the FAA said in a statement announcing the temporary flying restrictions (TFR). A vast area of central and northern New Jersey, the 11th most populous state in the country with almost 9 million people, is covered by the TFRs, which are scheduled to end on January 17. Drones are prohibited as far north as Cedar Grove and Clifton and as far south as Hancocks Bridge. The port city of Bayonne, Philadelphia's neighbor Camden, and Elizabeth, the fourth most populous city in the ...

Massachusetts's Chelsea. Before dawn, the operation starts. In a suburban Boston parking lot, over a dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents prepare for what the government refers to as targeted enforcement. One of those activities was made available to NBC News this week. The time and labor-intensive effort required for federal agents to capture people who may be deportable was made evident by the hours that agents waited for their targets to leave their homes and go to work. Five immigrants who were allegedly undocumented, had criminal history, and had been released on bail by local jurisdictions rather than being turned over to federal authorities were arrested by roughly 16 ICE agents over the course of a morning. Todd Lyons, acting assistant director of field operatio...

Washington Unless Congress devises a plan and takes immediate action, the U.S. government will shut down this weekend. After entrepreneur Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump blew up their original bill and then a backup plan failed to pass Thursday night, congressional Republicans are starting over as federal funding ends at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. Government operations that people depend on and the salaries of millions of federal employees are at risk while Congress considers a course ahead. The following information will help you understand what a government shutdown is and how it can impact you: What is a government shutdown? Since Congress has the power of the purse under the Constitution, nearly all decisions on government finance are made on Capitol Hill. Every year, the ...

Following repeated complaints about brightly colored and mostly inexplicable flying devices dominating the night sky over the Garden State, the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday banned drone flights over almost two dozen cities in New Jersey. "Prohibiting drone flights over critical New Jersey infrastructure," the FAA said in a statement announcing the temporary flying restrictions (TFR). A vast area of central and northern New Jersey, the 11th most populous state in the country with almost 9 million people, is covered by the TFRs, which are scheduled to end on January 17. Drones are prohibited as far north as Cedar Grove and Clifton and as far south as Hancocks Bridge. The port city of Bayonne, Philadelphia's neighbor Camden, and Elizabeth, the state's fourth most populated cit...