Bill averts government shutdown
WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump signed a short-term bill extending government funding, acting hours before a deadline for a partial federal shutdown, the White House said Friday.
The stopgap, which passed the House and Senate on Thursday, extends current funding levels through Dec. 22. It does not resolve an ongoing standoff between Republicans and Democrats over federal spending levels, nor does it include any agreement on immigration or other policy issues that have divided the parties.
Congressional leaders emerged from a White House meeting on those issues Thursday without any deal, but said they would continue negotiating ahead of the new deadline.
While Republicans control the House, Senate and the White House, they need some Democratic votes to push any spending bill through Congress.
The short-term measure Mr. Trump signed Friday passed the House 235-193, then passed the Senate 81-14.
Franks ‘contract’ revealed
WASHINGTON— Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., offered a female staff member $5 million if she would bear his child, said a woman who helped bring the matter to the attention of House leaders, prompting Mr. Franks’ immediate resignation Friday.
Andrea Lafferty said she encouraged the Franks aide, who had left his office after the alleged conduct, to bring the story to the attention of the House Republican leadership and was present when the aide was interviewed last week by House lawyers.
Mr. Franks indicated that he had drawn up a written contract for the woman to sign, Ms. Lafferty said: “She didn’t want any part of it, and she rejected that.”
Conyers seat vacant
DETROIT — Michigan’s Republican governor announced Friday that Democrat John Conyers’ congressional seat won’t be filled until the regularly scheduled November election, leaving it vacant for nearly a year.
Gov. Rick Snyder decided the post will effectively be listed twice on the Aug. 7 primary and Nov. 6 general election ballots. While unlikely, it is possible voters could choose one candidate to fill the vacancy until January 2019 and elect another to a full two-year term after that.
Mr. Snyder said he opted against having an earlier special election to give potential candidates ample time to decide about running, provide voters in the predominantly Democratic district more options and save money.
Superfund site priorities
The Environmental Protection Agency released a list of Superfund sites around the country Friday that it said regulators will target “for immediate and intense attention.”
The push is part of Administrator Scott Pruitt’s promise to prioritize the decades-old cleanup program, even as the Trump administration shrinks the size and reach of the EPA. The 21 sites highlighted by the agency span the country, from a former tannery in New Hampshire, to a contaminated landfill from the World War II-era Manhattan Project in St. Louis, to an abandoned copper mine in Nevada.
The EPA said it developed the list using sites “where opportunities exist to act quickly and comprehensively.” Notably, the agency also acknowledged that “there is no commitment of additional funding associated with a site’s inclusion on the list.”