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“Beginning of the end” of govt shutdown may be upon us as Senate advances deal. Today is the 41st day of the shutdown, but last night, in a rare Sunday session, senators returned to Capitol Hill to advance a funding agreement that could reopen the government through at least January. Enough Democratic senators agreed to vote for the deal to clear a 60-vote threshold. It’s rumored to include a guarantee of a vote on a bill related to Affordable Care Act credits by the end of the second week of December (but not an extension of the credits themselves), a reversal of all permanent layoffs of government employees that have transpired since the shutdown, and the funding of SNAP, among other provisions. The plan still needs to pass in the House and be signed into law by President Trump, which would likely take at least a few days.
Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers indicted in alleged pitch-rigging scheme. The Eastern District of New York, the same US Attorney’s office that charged NBA figures with similar crimes last month, accused Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz with throwing specific pitches in an arrangement with a gambler so the person betting could win prop bets and provide the pitchers with kickbacks. Prosecutors said that the scheme began with Clase in May 2023 and Ortiz joined in June 2025, with gamblers winning at least $450,000 by wagering on the pitches. US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said, “The defendants deprived the Cleveland Guardians and Major League Baseball of their honest services. They defrauded the online betting platforms where the bets were placed. And they betrayed America’s pastime.” Ortiz’s attorney denied the charges in a statement to ESPN. A message ESPN placed to Clase’s attorney was not returned.
Visa and Mastercard near settlement with merchants that might lower transaction fees. In an exclusive report, the Wall Street Journal stated that the two major credit card companies are close to settling a 20-year legal dispute with merchants that would enable them to reject certain cards and be charged lower interchange fees. Under the deal, merchants would not have to accept every type of credit card that Visa or Mastercard offers, meaning they could refuse rewards credit cards, which cost them more to process than other types because the rewards are funded in part by the higher interchange fees. Anonymous sources told the WSJ that Visa and Mastercard would lower interchange fees overall by an average of 0.1 percentage point over several years. The uptick of merchants charging customers for credit card processing fees goes back to this dispute.—HVL
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