News briefs

Tribune News Service on Dec 17, 2025

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House Republicans join Democrats to force vote on ACA subsidies

WASHINGTON — An effort to force a vote on Democrats’ proposal to extend expiring tax subsidies for three years reached the required signatures, after four Republicans signed on to the discharge petition Wednesday morning.

The discharge petition triggers a vote on a clean three-year extension of the enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire Dec. 31.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., filed the petition last month to attempt to force a vote on Democrats’ bill after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would not commit to holding a vote on any sort of subsidy extension, even if one were to pass the Senate.

The petition requires 218 signatures to be “discharged” for floor consideration, but it must wait an additional seven legislative days before a member who signed it may notify an intention to offer the discharge motion on the floor. That likely pushes any action into January, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., noted in a speech on the floor Wednesday.

—CQ-Roll Call

Trump moves to shut down Colorado climate research lab

DENVER — The Trump administration plans to shut down and dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, a global leader in climate and Earth systems research — a move that drew sharp rebuke from elected officials in Colorado.

“This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country,” Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement on social media Tuesday evening. “A comprehensive review is underway & any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.”

Vought said the National Science Foundation “will be breaking up” NCAR. The Boulder lab is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research on behalf of the NSF. The foundation previously announced plans to cut NCAR’s budget by 40%, which would have resulted in “large-scale cuts” to the lab in Boulder.

Federal efforts to dissolve NCAR will begin immediately, White House officials told USA Today, which first reported the administration’s decision Tuesday. The plan, the newspaper reported, includes full closure of the center’s iconic I.M. Pei-designed Mesa Laboratory, which opened in 1967 and overlooks south Boulder.

—The Denver Post

‘Super flu’ variant is circulating and raising concern. Here’s what to know about it

DALLAS — A new version of the common flu is spreading globally, and health officials are monitoring this evolving strain of influenza A(H3N3) Subclade K, which has been increasingly detected worldwide.

Seasonal influenza activity has increased globally in recent months, with influenza A viruses accounting for the majority of detections, according to the World Health Organization.

Health officials are closely monitoring a growing subgroup of influenza A(H3N2) viruses known as J.2.4.1, also referred to as Subclade K. The WHO says detections of this subclade have risen rapidly since August 2025 based on genetic sequence data shared through the global GISAID database.

Current epidemiological data do not indicate increased disease severity associated with subclade K, the WHO says, though its spread reflects the continued evolution of seasonal influenza viruses.

—The Dallas Morning News

Putin confident of victory in Ukraine amid ongoing push for peace

MOSCOW — Russian leader Vladimir Putin expressed confidence in victory for his war in Ukraine during a meeting with senior military officials Wednesday amid a renewed diplomatic push to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict.

He said that more than 300 localities in the neighboring country have been conquered this year alone. "Among them are also large cities that have been turned by the enemy into fortress nodes with permanent defensive installations," Putin said.

The Russian president said his country's army is on the rise, in contrast to the Ukrainian forces. The pace of conquests will only increase thanks to experience, the 73-year-old said. While Russia prefers diplomacy, Putin said it is ready to "regain (Russia's) historical territories by military means."

He also reiterated his intention to establish a "buffer zone," that is, to occupy a strip about 30 kilometers, or 18 miles, long in northern Ukraine along the Russian border.

—dpa