United States

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has rushed through final passage of a bipartisan plan to fund federal operations and prevent a government shutdown. It now goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to quickly sign it into law. The House passed the package late Friday in an overwhelming vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed into the night to finish early Saturday, just after the midnight deadline. The bill would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but drops President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season. He also said Trump is happy with the outcome.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — American farmers and small business owners are among those who will suffer if Congress cannot agree on a new spending bill after President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan that included more than $100 billion in disaster aid. The money is urgently needed after Hurricanes Helene and Milton slammed the southeastern United States one after the other this fall. In North Carolina, small business owner Jessie Dean is still waiting for a U.S. Small Business Administration loan after her building was completely destroyed three months ago. She says she is determined to build back, but she speaks to friends every day who are weighing whether they can go on.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is naming former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be his ambassador to China. Trump says that as a former CEO, Perdue will bring “valuable expertise” to the U.S. relationship with China. Perdue pushed Trump’s debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for Georgia governor. Economic tensions are sure to be a big part of the U.S.-China picture for the new administration. Trump has threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate former White House aide Brooke Rollins to be his agriculture secretary. Rollins, who heads the Trump-allies America First Policy Institute, was the director of his office of American innovation in his first term. The nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans when Trump takes office Jan. 20. Rollins would succeed Tom Vilsack, President Joe Biden’s agriculture secretary who oversees the sprawling agency that controls policies, regulations and aid programs related to farming, forestry, ranching, food quality and nutrition. Rollins is the last of Trump’s picks to lead executive agencies and another choice from within his established circle of advisers and allies.

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has named former Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency as he continues to build out his future administration with loyal supporters. Trump says Zeldin, who mounted a failed bid for governor of New York in 2022, would “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards.” The announcement comes after Trump selected longtime adviser Stephen Miller to be the deputy chief of policy and named Rep. Elise Stefanik as his nominee or U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina state legislators have approved over $600 million more toward Hurricane Helene recovery and relief. The Republican-dominated General Assembly held a one-day session Thursday to consider additional funding and legislation. Four weeks ago, Helene tore across the Southeast and wreaked havoc in western North Carolina. Lawmakers had approved a $273 million package earlier this month. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has calculated overall storm damages and needs at over $53 billion and is requesting $3.9 billion in state funds. Republican leaders said they would consider Cooper’s proposal in the weeks ahead. The legislature also enacted another measure to direct two storm-affected counties to open more early-voting sites.

HOT SPRINGS, N.C. (AP) — Elections officials, poll workers and voters in western North Carolina have been adapting in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s destruction. The storm destroyed roads, bridges and homes, and left communities without power and water. Despite the widespread destruction, election workers have rallied to set up polling sites and help voters cast ballots during the early voting period in the crucial presidential battleground. Turnout during last week’s first day of early in-person voting set a record, and more than 1.3 million people have cast ballots since then. Many election workers and voters in a hard-hit Democratic-leaning county and others in a Republican-leaning one expressed a gritty determination to make sure voters’ voices are heard.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas have started walking picket lines in a strike over wages and automation that could reignite inflation and cause shortages of goods if it goes on more than a few weeks. The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight, and even though progress was reported in talks on Monday, the workers went on strike early Tuesday. The strike is affecting 36 ports. The U.S. Maritime Alliance represents the ports and said Monday evening that both sides had moved off of their previous wage offers, but when picket lines went up it was apparent there was no deal.

BELLVUE, Colo. (AP) — The U.S. is struggling to replant forests destroyed by increasingly destructive wildfires, with some areas unlikely to recover. Researchers are studying which species are likely to survive — and where — as climate change makes it difficult or impossible for many forests to regrow. But researchers say the U.S. also lacks enough seed collection, nursery capacity to grow seedlings and workers trained to plant them on a scale needed to stem accelerating losses. The Forest Service says the biggest roadblock is the yearslong task of completing environmental and cultural assessments and preparing severely burned land for replanting.

CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Helene has made landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm as forecasters warn of “catastrophic” flooding along the Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center says Helene came ashore Thursday evening in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Officials have forecast storm surges of up to 20 feet and warned they could be particularly “catastrophic and unsurvivable” in Florida’s Apalachee Bay. Hurricane warnings and flash flood warnings extend far beyond the coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared emergencies in their states.