Morning Brief: Homan Puts Anti-ICE Activists On Notice & Government Shutdown Averted?

President Donald Trump and Senate Democrats agree to a deal as Friday’s midnight deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown approaches, border czar Tom Homan puts anti-ICE activists on notice, and a federal minority contracting program bans more than a thousand companies after they refuse to prove they did any work.

It’s Friday, January 30, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:

Government Shutdown Averted?

The White House and Senate Democrats say they’ve reached a deal to avert a government shutdown as the Friday deadline inches closer. The deal would fund most government departments through September 30 and, in the short term, fund the Department of Homeland Security through a continuing resolution that expires after two weeks. In those two weeks, lawmakers are expected to negotiate over reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. President Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday evening, saying, “I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government, without delay.” He went on to say that he hopes “both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.” The deal hit a snag on Thursday night as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reportedly blocked a vote over “a House-passed provision undoing a law that allows senators to receive cash payouts if they had their phone records seized by former special counsel Jack Smith,” according to POLITICO.

Homan Vows Activist Crackdown

Border czar Tom Homan is putting anti-ICE activists on notice that they will be held accountable for obstructing law enforcement. Homan took the podium on Thursday for his first significant public remarks since being sent to clean up the mess in Minnesota. And he seemed to have a two-fold message. First, to make it clear that law and order are going to be restored. He pledged to remain on the ground “until the problem’s gone.” Then Homan also made it clear that despite the bad press coming from the shooting deaths of anti-ICE activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti, he’s not going to be deterred from investigating activist networks. Meanwhile, Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is entering the race for governor. She first filed papers a week ago, but the incredibly bad optics of the chaos on the ground in Minneapolis again – the city was ground zero for Black Lives Matter unrest in 2020 – gives Klobuchar a chance to showcase herself as a moderate who will restore order.

Government Contracting Fraud Exposed

One thousand companies were banned from the federal minority contracting program on Wednesday after they declined to provide records showing whether they were actually performing the work or simply keeping a cut while passing the contract to a larger company. The program is known as 8(a). Last month, Kelly Loeffler, the head of the Small Business Administration, which issues 8(a) status, demanded that all firms provide bank statements and payroll records. It would have been a lot of work for the SBA to go through all those records. But the agency didn’t need to look at many at all, because a lot of fraudsters may have self-identified by choosing not to turn over records that would incriminate them. A quarter of all 8(a) firms, collectively receiving $5 billion over the last four years, didn’t turn anything in.