The Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) late Wednesday night to fund federal agencies into early next year, temporarily averting a government shutdown just before the holiday season. The bill passed by a vote of 87-11, with 10 Republicans and only one Democrat voting no. GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Tim Scott were absent for the vote. The House of Representatives passed the CR on Tuesday by an overwhelming majority of 336-95. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

EXCLUSIVE: Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rubbed salt on the wound Wednesday by trolling his opponent, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, over her heavily scrutinized vow to require all social media users be verified.

President Biden repeated his reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “dictator” on Wednesday just hours after a spokeswoman for the Chinese government vowed her country would be “unstoppable” in eventually retaking Taiwan. Biden’s comments came at his press conference concluding the U.S.-China summit in San Francisco when a reporter asked if he would still refer to Xi using the term, which he used for the first time in June. “Well, look, he is.

The biggest question on Capitol Hill this week is whether the meanest, toughest people in the country come from Oklahoma or Tenneseee? California? Perhaps you’re dreamin’. “I’m a guy from Oklahoma first,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a former MMA fighter on Fox News Radio. Mullin rose from his seat on the dais during a Senate hearing to challenge Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to a fistfight. Mullin even loosened his wedding ring.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas may endorse former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination when the two team up Sunday near the U.S.-Mexico border.