WASHINGTON — Although President-elect Donald Trump won't take office for another month, concerns about a potential government shutdown are causing Washington to wonder how a funding lapse may impact Trump's inauguration, the certification of his election, and the start of the next Congress. In a nutshell, probably not much. This is due to the fact that gaps in service do not affect the personnel or operations that uphold the constitutional responsibilities of the president, Congress, life, and property. Go here to watch live political coverage. Congress and previous administrations, including Trump's, have plenty of experience with continuing to function during a shutdown, even though the federal government has never been closed for business in the January after a presidential election. Pa...

After a car crashed into a crowd at a Christmas market on Friday, authorities in an eastern German city said a "extensive" police operation was in progress. Up to 80 individuals were hurt in the event, according to news agency AFP, which cited rescue personnel on the ground. Whether any had been killed was unknown. "The Magdeburg Christmas market is currently the scene of intense police operations. "The city center's Christmas market is closed," the police posted on X. The incident took place in Magdeburg, the capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, west of Berlin. As a precaution and in reaction to the event in Germany, police in New York City have stepped up security at holiday markets, a senior NYPD official told NBC News on Friday. More resources will be dispatched to various festive ma...

Nearly eight years after the bodies of two middle school girls were discovered next to a hiking trail, Richard Allen, an Indiana man convicted of their murder in 2017, was sentenced to 130 years in prison on Friday. Following a four-week trial, Allen, 52, was found guilty of murder in November for the deaths of Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13. The murders of the girls, who were close friends, remained unexplained for years until their remains were discovered on February 14, 2017, adjacent to a hiking trail. Allen was given the longest punishment possible. According to Judge Frances C. Gull, it is among the most heinous offenses. "Your carnage will be with these families forever," the court declared. According to Liberty's grandfather and legal guardian, Mike Patty, the girls h...

OpenAI's 12 Days of Shipmas, which concluded on Friday, provided a lighthearted way to close out the year. The well-known and contentious AI startup used the marketing campaign to demonstrate that it could deliver a wide range of new tools and capabilities while still having a good time. However, as the year progresses, the business encounters some significant obstacles. Most notably, co-founder Elon Musk, who currently leads competing startup xAI, is embroiled in a contentious legal dispute with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that may significantly affect the company's future. Given how much power the richest person in the world is expected to wield as a member of the future Trump government, Musk's threat to OpenAI is much more serious. Musk has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft-backed OpenAI in ...

Washington In an attempt to prevent a shutdown hours before a deadline that would require millions of federal employees, including air traffic controllers, border patrol agents, and U.S. troops, to work unpaid over the holidays, House Republican leaders on Friday advanced a fresh plan. Bipartisan House and Senate leaders reached a deal just three days ago to keep the government running, but President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk sabotaged the agreement at the last minute, demanding that the debt limit be extended or eliminated to accommodate Trump's agenda for the following year. Stay tuned for real-time updates. On the House floor, a backup plan that Trump and Musk had supported was thwarted by Democrats and 38 Republicans who opposed the debt extension. In an e...

Washington In an attempt to prevent a shutdown hours before a deadline that would require millions of federal employees, including air traffic controllers, border patrol agents, and U.S. troops, to work unpaid over the holidays, House Republican leaders on Friday advanced a fresh plan. Bipartisan House and Senate leaders reached a deal just three days ago to keep the government running, but President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk sabotaged the agreement at the last minute, demanding that the debt limit be extended or eliminated to accommodate Trump's agenda for the following year. Stay tuned for real-time updates. On the House floor, a backup plan that Trump and Musk had supported was thwarted by Democrats and 38 Republicans who opposed the debt extension. Beleagu...

The three biggest banks in America are being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for allegedly failing to safeguard consumers from fraud on Zelle, the payment network they co-own. The lawsuit claims that over the course of the network's seven-year existence, Zelle users have lost approximately $870 million as a result of these purported failings. It also targets Early Warning Services LLC, Zelle's official operator. According to a statement by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, the country's biggest banks hurried to launch Zelle because they felt threatened by rival payment apps. Zelle became a gold mine for scammers by neglecting to implement appropriate precautions, sometimes leaving victims on their own. Charges include: Poor identity verification methods, which have allowed ...

Congress is considering raising or removing the debt ceiling as one of the ways to prevent a government shutdown. In an attempt to prevent a significant disruption in government right before the holidays, President-elect Donald Trump and fellow Republicans have made what is perhaps the most extraordinary demand. The reason for this is because Republicans, who claimed that government spending was out of control, attempted to use debt ceiling rises to pressure Democrats into making concessions in recent decades. Why has the Republican Party's perspective on this uncommon limit abruptly shifted? Debt limit and default The U.S. government borrows money to help pay its costs, much like a lot of other organizations. The debt ceiling stipulates that the U.S. Treasury will eventually run out of...