Senators voted Friday to pass legislation to prevent cuts to the District of Columbia’s local budget after city officials warned the District faced a $1 billion hit under a stopgap government funding bill approved by the Senate moments earlier.

The bill, which allows D.C. to continue operating at its adopted fiscal 2025 budget, passed by voice vote.

The Education Department said Tuesday it will slim down to fewer than 2,200 employees, a nearly 50% reduction from what it looked like when President Trump took office.

The department said nearly 600 employees took buyouts and nearly 1,400 others will be notified they are on administrative leave.

“Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

Vice President JD Vance told House Republicans hours ahead of an expected vote on a seven-month funding patch on Tuesday that Republicans will take the blame for a government shutdown if they don't pass the legislation, according to three people who were in the room for the comments.

Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrats are ready to seize on the first big leverage point of President Donald Trump’s second term, lining up against a bill to avert a government shutdown this week.

But the party’s position is far murkier in the Senate, showcasing stark divisions within the party over how far Democrats are willing to go against Trump.

The ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus threw its backing behind a stopgap funding package, bolstering Speaker Mike Johnson’s attempt to pass the bill without the help of House Democrats and avert a government shutdown on March 15.

The vote on the stopgap is set for Tuesday and Johnson can likely only afford to lose two Republicans on the measure if Democrats line up uniformly against it.

House Republicans released a 100-page stopgap spending bill Saturday afternoon that will fund the government through the end of September at levels slightly below last year's.

Why it matters: The bill represents a coordinated effort by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and President Trump to avoid a shutdown after March 14. A vote is planned for Tuesday.

A second federal judge on Thursday extended a block barring the Trump administration from freezing grants and loans potentially totaling trillions of dollars.

U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island granted the preliminary injunction in the lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen Democratic states after a Trump administration plan for a sweeping pause on federal spending stirred up a wave of confusion and anxiety across the United States.

The announcement by the new Donald Trump administration to suspend foreign aid spending — approximately $68 billion annually — has sent shock waves across the world. This decision will not only affect military aid, which makes up a large percentage of the total, but also threatens funding for development aid, human rights campaigns, and initiatives that support democratic institutions — even as US foreign policy tends to undermine the stated goals of its aid.

At a Feb. 10 editorial meeting of Hungarian investigative outlet Atlatszo, journalists discussed how they might raise money after their grants from USAID intermediaries were halted amid U.S. President Donald Trump's drive to shutter the agency.

"Without these funds it would be very hard to maintain independent media here (in Hungary)," Atlatszo's managing editor Tamas Bodoky told Reuters, adding that they would seek new donors and try to increase crowdfunding.

Fired USAid employees and advocates for people with HIV staged a protest in a Capitol office building on Wednesday, warning that Donald Trump’s drive to dismantle the agency tasked with implementing Washington’s foreign aid agenda imperils the fight against the virus.