Sen. John Fetterman stated "I will never vote to shut our government down" between 7:16 PM and 7:45 PM UTC on Jan. 26, 2026, emerging as the only Senate Democrat breaking from caucus opposition to the Department of Homeland Security funding bill, according to an X post by reporter Andrew Desiderio. Fetterman's position follows statements by seven other Senate Democrats between 6:46 PM and 7:15 PM UTC opposing the DHS bill over Immigration and Customs Enforcement conduct, including Sen. Maggie Hassan's 7:09 PM UTC declaration that ICE must change its practices, as reported by reporter Emma Wilkins. In a separate development during the same 29-minute window, the U.S. Department of Education and Health and Human Services referred Minnesota to the Department of Justice for Title IX enforcement due to the state's refusal to protect women's sports, stating the Trump Administration will uphold the law, according to an X post by @usedgov. Former Washington Post colleagues reported that editors informed foreign staff in a Zoom meeting on Jan. 26 that up to half the newsroom faces imminent cuts, with the largest reductions in foreign and sports sections, per an X post by farhip.
