The Excerpt podcast: U.S. carries out third attack on Houthi missile sites in Yemen

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: The U.S. has carried out a third attack on Houthi missile sites in Yemen. USA TODAY Congress, Campaigns and Democracy Reporter Ken Tran has the latest on the push to avoid a government shutdown. Candidates turn to New Hampshire, despite no Thursday GOP debate. USA TODAY Money and Personal Finance Reporter Medora Lee looks at a new bipartisan bill that proposes an increase in the child tax credit and higher business deductions. What's the deal with Chicago's 'Rat Hole?'

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it.  This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Wednesday, January 17th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

Today the US has launched another strike on Houthi militants in Yemen. Whilst we have the latest on lawmakers' race to beat the clock to avoid a government shutdown. And a new proposal could expand the child tax credit.

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The US military launched its third strike yesterday against Houthi militants in Yemen. They destroyed four anti-ship ballistic missiles prepared to launch at ships in the Red Sea according to US Central Command. The US, along with Britain, have attacked dozens of missile and radar sites used by Iranian backed Houthi militants in Yemen since Thursday. Yesterday's strikes followed the second successful Houthi attack on commercial shipping in two days. A Houthi anti-ship missile yesterday struck a Maltese flagged bulk carrier, though no injuries were reported. The UN is calling on Houthis to implement a security council resolution from last week demanding an immediate stop to its attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, Israel continues its strikes on Gaza. And Qatar and France said yesterday they have mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas to allow the delivery of medications to some of the Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza.

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Congress is running out of time to avoid a government shutdown, with a crucial deadline coming up on Friday. But lawmakers are set to vote in the coming days on a bipartisan deal to temporarily avoid a shutdown. I caught up with USA today Congress, campaigns, and democracy reporter, Ken Tran, for more.

Ken, thanks for making the time.

Ken Tran:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

What's the latest here?

Ken Tran:

This is the third short-term stopgap measure Congress will pass to kick the can down the road and fund the government, temporarily at least, while they figure out a longer-term solution. This measure is referred to as a continuing resolution, and it maintains House Speaker Mike Johnson, who's a Republican from Louisiana, his two-phased approach that funds parts of the government up until one date, and the other remaining parts until another date.

This continuing resolution would fund the government for the next month and a half or so until March 1st with parts up until then, and the remaining until March 8th.

Taylor Wilson:

How disruptive could the House's right flank be to getting this passed?

Ken Tran:

So we saw the House's right flank be very disruptive last week when Johnson announced a handshake agreement with Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer. This handshake agreement was setting the spending levels, referred to as a top line agreement, just so lawmakers that set these spending levels can know how much they can fund the government with.

Last week we saw those conservatives really try to heavily pressure Johnson into backing out of the deal because they thought that that deal should have had more spending cuts that they've long wanted. But ultimately Johnson didn't back out the deal and we're here with another continuing resolution to buy lawmakers more time to abide by that agreement.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. And Ken, in terms of just how close we are to actually seeing a government shutdown, can you remind us about some of the key deadlines and also the programs that might be affected?

Ken Tran:

So under the second continuing resolution that passed in November, the first deadline is January 19th. So the government funding that will expire then will be any government functions related to agriculture, military construction and veterans affairs, transportation, housing and urban development, and energy and water. The remaining spending expires on February 2nd.

Taylor Wilson:

So Ken, if and when this short-term stopgap bill is passed, what's next for lawmakers? After that? Might we finally see a more long-term solution?

Ken Tran:

Well, that was the hope for lawmakers from the last two continuing resolutions, but we know that speed isn't exactly Congress's forte. It is possible that some weeks that Congress originally wasn't scheduled to be in session, Congress will call lawmakers back to vote, to expedite the process. We'll have to see if they can meet the deadline by March 1st and March 8th.

Taylor Wilson:

Ken Tran, great insight as always. Thanks so much.

Ken Tran:

Thanks.

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Taylor Wilson:

It's safe to say that 2024 election season is here. And while Donald Trump has been considered the Republican front-runner for some time, his win in Iowa this week solidifies that. His unprecedented 51% finish crushed his nearest challengers, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, by 30 points or more.

DeSantis will have been pleased to beat out Haley for second in Iowa, but he poured a lot of attention on the state, visiting all 99 counties, and his failure to finish a more decisive second as raised questions about how long he can raise money and attract support.

Haley was likely disappointed to finish third in Iowa after a strong wave of polling ahead of caucus night. Still Iowa has a bad record of signaling the eventual Republican presidential nominee. In the last seven contested caucuses, five of the winners failed to win the nomination. But since the beginning of presidential primaries in modern times, no candidate in either party who has carried both Iowa and New Hampshire has been denied their party's nomination.

Meanwhile, ABC News has canceled the next Republican presidential debate, after Nikki Haley said she would not participate unless Donald Trump did so. He skipped out the Republican debate so far. The Republican primary will be held in New Hampshire on January 23rd, this coming Tuesday.

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A proposal was announced yesterday to expand the child tax credit and extend business tax deductions. I spoke with USA Today money and personal finance reporter Medora Lee to learn more.

Medora, thanks for making the time.

Medora Lee:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Medora, what exactly is in this proposal? Let's start with the child tax credit.

Medora Lee:

The plan includes a phased increase to the refundable portion of it for this year through 2025. And then it's also going to adjust the tax credit for inflation starting in 2024.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. What do advocates say about this plan?

Medora Lee:

Advocates have really wanted to expand the child tax credit because we saw an expansion of it during Covid, and they say that this lifted millions of children out of poverty. So this doesn't quite go as far as the Covid expansion, but it's kind of part way. So there would still be work requirements. Low-income families would be able to get up to $1,800 refunded of the $2,000 child tax credit, instead of the current 1600. And that amount would rise to 1900 in 2024 and 2025.

Taylor Wilson:

The proposal, as I mentioned, also touched on business tax deductions. Medora, what did this part focus on specifically?

Medora Lee:

So this was something that a lot of businesses fought for. They had to start deducting the cost of their US-based research and development investments over five years, and this would kind of bring it back to allow them to immediately take the deduction, instead of doing it over five years. Then it would also allow immediate deductions for a lot of capital expenses and allow for more interest deductions. And Republicans feel like this is going to help spur businesses and research.

Taylor Wilson:

And Medora, what other tax provisions are in this proposal?

Medora Lee:

So some other ones include expanding the low-income housing tax credit and extending tax breaks to people who are victims of natural disasters. And also, this one's kind of an important one, accelerating the deadline for filing backdated claims for the employee retention credit to January 31st instead of, I think the original date was April 2025. Because that ERC has been riddled with lots of fraud, and I think the IRS even had to stop taking claims on it for a while. So they're hoping to get this off of their plates and prevent fraud.

Taylor Wilson:

This has some bipartisan support. Medora, what chance does this have at passing in Congress? What's next for moving it forward?

Medora Lee:

It does have bipartisan support, but it's going to be tough. I think Senator Wyden, Ron Wyden of Oregon, so that he wanted to try to push this through so that people could get the child tax credit for 2023. But tax season starts January 29th, and so that gives him, what, 13 days? I mean, it's not unheard of that they pass something after tax season starts and then it goes retroactively, but that would cause a ton of headaches for the IRS and could delay refunds and a whole host of other problems.

So we'll see. The chances might be kind of low, because we have to keep the government running, we're in danger of another shutdown. So that might take some priority.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. Well, the clock is ticking, as it so often is. Medora Lee covers money and personal finance for USA Today. Thanks as always, Medora.

Medora Lee:

Thank you. Have a great day.

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Taylor Wilson:

All hail Chicago's Rat Hole. Everyone knows about the Windy City's deep dish pizza, the bean monument, and Willis Tower. But tourists have been flocking to a new landmark. The Rat Hole is a splat mark on a sidewalk shaped like a rat that fell from the sky. The hole and its surrounding area are now full of people's offerings, including flowers, cheese, shots of alcohol, and even money for the rodent shaped hole. And the hole in the sidewalk has become so popular that the Lakeview Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce created a contest asking residents to name it. They're accepting submissions through tomorrow.

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Remember about two and a half weeks ago when you made those New Year's resolutions? How are you doing with them? Today's thought of as the day many abandon their resolutions, with or without guilt. Remember, there's always next year.

And be sure to stay tuned later today when I'll be joined by Ames Grawert, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, to look at last year's crime trends and why there appears to be a disconnect between the numbers and people's perceptions. You can find the episode right here on this feed at 4:00 PM Eastern time.

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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Excerpt podcast: U.S. attacks Houthi missile sites in Yemen