Key senators have unveiled a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown during the middle of campaign season. The bill unveiled Sunday would keep federal agencies funded past the midterm elections, through Dec. 11. The Senate is likely to vote on the measure before leaving Washington at the end of the week for its traditional August recess. Many lawmakers want to spend the coming weeks shoring up their reelection prospects rather than working in the nation’s capital. By extending government funding now, lawmakers can use the ensuing months to work out their differences on funding for the full year.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order Thursday "aimed at eliminating” the U.S. Education Department. Meanwhile a federal judge ordered the administration Thursday to provide more information about flights that took deportees to El Salvador, or make a formal “state secrets“ claim. The Justice Department has resisted, accusing the judge of encroaching on the executive branch’s “absolute and unreviewable” authority relating to national security and foreign policy. Trump's border czar has tallied 40,000 immigration-related arrests since Trump got into office. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has negotiated the release of an American hostage held for more than two years by the Taliban.