Washington Roundup (Jan. 24): House Lawmakers Avert Partial Government Shutdown

House lawmakers this week averted a government shutdown and rejected a Democrat-led effort to curtail President Trump's authority to take action in Venezuela. The votes happened alongside high-profile hearings probing Minnesota fraud and Jack Smith's efforts to prosecute President Trump. NTV's Melina Weiskopf has this week's takeaways from Capitol Hill. Lawmakers racing the clock once again to avoid a partial government shutdown. On Thursday, the House overwhelmingly approved the last package of spending bills. Republicans will have finally replaced the last of any Biden-era spending levels with Trump-era spending levels and policies. We've spent less. We've saved more taxpayer dollars. We've codified efforts to remove waste and fraud and abuse. Several Democrats bucked party leadership, joining Republicans to fund the DHS against a backdrop of leftist ICE protests. Now the Senate needs to approve the funds before a January 30 deadline. Republicans also banded together to tank a Democrat-led effort to block Trump from taking military action in Venezuela. The people who we serve within Congress ought to grow a spine and stand up for the American people and the war powers that rest with the Congress and the American people. Republicans called the issue moot since there are no troops currently in Venezuela defending the administration's Maduro capture. There is nobody at war, no forces in hostilities in Venezuela. It would be like them calling me today to take a pie out of the oven that we all ate a month ago. In the House Oversight Committee, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle voted to hold contempt of Congress proceedings against Bill and Hillary Clinton. The two have refused to comply with investigations into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. No one's accused Bill Clinton of any wrongdoing, but we have a lot of questions. The resolutions now move to the full House for a vote. In the Judiciary Committee, former DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith was in the hot seat. Democrats have been going after President Trump for 10 years, for a decade, and the country should never, ever forget what they did. We observed legal requirements and took actions based on the facts and the law. I made my decisions without regard to President Trump's political association. Mr. Smith, you mishandled documents, pressured defense lawyers, and dumped a massive trove of so-called evidence right before the election, and you did it. You did it to sway voters. That's why you did it. Republicans grilled the former special counsel over his request to surveil several lawmakers' phone records. In a separate hearing, lawmakers invited independent journalist Nick Shirley to further testify on the billion-dollar fraud scheme in Minnesota. Since my reporting, the HHS department froze over $185 million, and to this day, not a single business has been able to prove proof of legitimacy. Minnesota's Governor Tim Walz has insisted that his office has spent years cracking down on fraudsters. But investigators say the fraud could have been actively covered up from within the government. They started investigating you, is that right? Yes, we were interviewed by an outside firm for a report given to the office of legislative auditor. A separate committee that oversees public health opened an investigation this week into alleged Medicaid fraud in Minnesota. If state officials don't comply, lawmakers warn Medicaid funds will be withheld from the state.