Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a special election, flipping a district that Trump had won by 17 percentage points in 2024.

By reaching the agreement, the Senate has only prolonged a partial government shutdown. As Senate Democrats have begun to demand a DHS spending bill currently attached to the spending package be stripped as they work to reform the agency following Alex Pretti's death.

With ballots tallied from all but a handful of voting centers, Rehmet had 57% of the vote, besting the 43% for his GOP opponent, Leigh Wambsganss, who had a massive spending advantage.

House leaders are aiming to expedite consideration of the Senate's deal to fund the government as a shutdown looms after midnight.

While lawmakers hoped to advance the rest of the government’s annual funding bills to the House of Representatives, the Senate did not vote to move them forward. The chamber is set to reconvene at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 30, according to the Senate Press Gallery.

The pressure now moves to the House, which is in recess, as the government enters at least a limited funding lapse.

Senate Democrats say Republicans have agreed to separate DHS funding from a package of five other appropriations bills that have already passed the House but have not yet cleared the Senate.

The Senate’s hopes of voting to avert a shutdown hit the skids late Thursday night as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has a hold on the package, putting final passage into question. Graham told reporters the chamber would not be voting,

With now just a month to go until Election Day, the Democratic primary for US Senate in Texas has become so fraught that a TikToker’s accusations have roiled the race and prompted a major endorsement in the backlash.