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President Biden signs stopgap funding bill into law, narrowly averting shutdown

The White House has announced that President Biden signed a stopgap funding bill into law on Saturday, extending government funding into March and avoiding a shutdown.

The bill provides over $100 billion in disaster aid for those affected by storms Helene and Milton in the U.S. Southeast earlier this year. There was also a $10 billion provision for economic assistance to farmers in the bill. 

The Senate worked into early Saturday morning to pass the bill 85-11, just after the deadline following a chaotic week on Capitol Hill. 

SENATE PASSES BILL TO STOP SHUTDOWN, SENDING IT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN'S DESK

President Biden has not yet publicly commented on the passage of the legislation. 

"H.R. 10545, the ‘American Relief Act, 2025,’ which provides fiscal year 2025 appropriations to Federal agencies through March 14, 2025, for continuing projects and activities of the Federal Government; provides disaster relief appropriations and economic assistance to farmers; extends the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018; and extends several expiring authorities," a White House statement reads. 

WHITE HOUSE PRESSED ON BIDEN REFUSING TO SPEAK PUBLICLY AHEAD OF SHUTDOWN

President-elect Trump has not spoken publicly since the bill’s passage either, although sources tell Fox that the incoming president is not that happy about the bill because it does not suspend the debt ceiling.

Trump had called on Republicans to act on the debt limit as part of their talks to avert a government shutdown, a demand that dozens of conservative GOP lawmakers bristled at given their concerns about the national debt — which has exceeded $36 trillion.

A bulging 1,547-page continuing resolution (CR) was thrown into disarray earlier in the week following objections by Elon Musk and President-elect Trump. A slimmed-down version was then rejected by House members on Thursday before the House approved Speaker Mike Johnson’s new bill overwhelmingly by 366 votes to 34 on Friday.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre warned on Friday that a shutdown could have disrupted the incoming administration's presidential transition process.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised the passage of the funding legislation early Saturday.

"There will be no government shutdown right before Christmas," Schumer wrote on X. "We will keep the government open with a bipartisan bill that funds the government, helps Americans affected by hurricanes and natural disasters, helps our farmers and avoids harmful cuts.

Fox News' Julia Johnson and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

Florida city council changes mind on paying to repair Tampa Bay Rays' ballpark after hurricane ripped roof off

Just hours after voting to finance repairs to the home stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays, the St. Petersburg City Council reversed course. 

The Rays will now pay the division rival New York Yankees $15 million to play their home regular-season games at New York's spring training ballpark. That is now the only certain home the Rays will have until further notice. 

The stadium's fiberglass roof was ripped clean off Oct. 9 when Hurricane Milton swept ashore just south of Tampa Bay. Then came the destructive water damage inside the venue, causing an estimated $55.7 million in damage. The extensive repairs cannot be finished before the 2026 season, city documents show.

The city at least would have supplied some funding and started the process with its initial vote, which was a 4-3 decision.

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The initial vote Thursday was to get moving on the roof portion of the repair. Once that was done, crews would begin working on laying down a new baseball field and fixing damaged seating and office areas and a variety of electronic systems, which would require another vote to approve money for the remaining restoration.

Members who opposed it said there wasn’t enough clarity on numerous issues, including how much would be covered by the ballpark’s insurance and what amount might be provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

TRUMP TO PRESIDE OVER HISTORIC SPORTING EVENTS — WHICH TEAMS AND STARS COULD SKIP WHITE HOUSE VISITS?

The reversal on fixing Tropicana Field came after the council voted to delay consideration of revenue bonds for a proposed new $1.3 billion Rays ballpark. Just two days earlier, the Pinellas County Commission postponed a vote on its share of the new stadium bonds, leaving that project in limbo.

"This is a sad place. I’m really disappointed," council Chair Deborah Figg-Sanders said. "We won’t get there if we keep finding ways we can’t."

The Rays say the lack of progress puts the new stadium plan and the future of Tropicana Field in jeopardy.

"I can’t say I’m confident about anything," Rays Co-President Brian Auld told council members.

The reversal now means the city and Rays must work on an alternative in the coming weeks so that Tropicana Field can possibly be ready for the 2026 season.

"I’d like to pare it down and see exactly what we’re obligated to do," council member John Muhammad said.

Several council members said before the vote on the $23.7 million to fix the roof that the city is contractually obligated to do so.

"I don’t see a way out of it. We have a contract that’s in place," council member Gina Driscoll said. "We’re obligated to do it. We are going to fix the roof."

The team's planned new stadium would be ready for the 2028 season, if that project advances, the team said Tuesday.

Rays top executives said in a letter to the Pinellas County Commission that the team has already spent $50 million for early work on the new $1.3 billion ballpark and cannot proceed further because of delays in approval of bonds for the public share of the costs.

"The Rays organization is saddened and stunned by this unfortunate turn of events," a letter, signed by co-presidents Auld and Matt Silverman, said. They noted the overall project was previously approved by the County Commission and the City of St. Petersburg.

Asked if Major League Baseball can survive long term in the Tampa Bay area, Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg said the outlook is "less rosy than it was three weeks ago. We're going to do all that we can, as we've tried for 20 years, to keep the Rays here for generations to come."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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FEMA must be 'completely revamped,' House Republican from hurricane-battered district tells agency chief

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., took aim at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), arguing that its recent response to multiple deadly storms shows the agency needs to be "completely revamped."

"The No. 1 thing that hurts FEMA’s reputation is the fact that so many citizens are denied when they apply the first time they come through the FEMA portal. And if they have to go through congressional offices to get help… if that is going to be the protocol for our citizens to get help, from the emergency management agency, then it needs to be completely revamped," Donalds said during a House Oversight Committee hearing on FEMA Tuesday.

Donalds' comments came during questioning of FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who was peppered by Republican members of the Oversight Committee to provide answers on FEMA’s response to recent storms and accusations that the agency discriminated against supporters of President-elect Trump.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS EYE FEMA FUND OVERHAUL AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES HEARING ON HELENE RECOVERY

FEMA has been under fire over the agency’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which earlier this year made landfall in the southeastern U.S. and caused widespread destruction across multiple states.

While the agency’s overall performance during the response to the two storms has been the center of controversy, members of the Oversight Committee repeatedly asked Criswell to answer to potential "systemic bias" against Trump supporters in its response.

The questions come after now-fired FEMA employee Marn'i Washington told relief workers to skip houses that had signs supporting Trump during the agency’s cleanup and recovery effort after Hurricane Milton, an incident Criswell insisted was isolated in multiple responses during the hearing.

FEMA OFFICIAL SAID TO AVOID HOMES WITH TRUMP SIGNS: ‘TO SAY I WAS SURPRISED WOULD BE A LIE’

"There is nothing in any of our policies, our training, or our information sent out to field workers, to avoid any home for whatever reason, especially not because of a political affiliation," Criswell said in response to questioning from Donalds. "The actions of this one individual are not representative of the work that we do at FEMA."

But Donalds, whose district was hit hard by Milton, said he had "an issue" with the answer, pointing to a New York Post report that featured an anonymous FEMA employee who claimed that such discrimination on the basis of political affiliation is an "open secret" at FEMA.

Criswell argued that the incident in question was investigated by FEMA and that an investigation into if such issues are more widespread is still ongoing, prompting even more fierce pushback from Donalds.

"You told me at the beginning of this questioning that there is nothing in your policies that would dictate that this is to occur, yet you have one official who was fired, who said it does occur. You have another official under your purview… talking to the press, that it does occur, but you can’t verify to this committee that these practices do or do not occur," Donalds said.

FEMA did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

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