Another government shutdown looms -- what you need to know
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR
4.4 • 25.7K Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2026
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After immigration officials killed two people in Minneapolis this month, congressional Democrats demanded funding for immigration action be separated from other government funding. That's leading to a potential, partial, government shutdown. We unpack the latest from Capitol Hill.
Then, why did the FBI raid Fulton County, Ga.'s election center this week, and what does it have to do with President Trump's continued false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen?
And, we bid a fond farewell to one of our podcast stalwarts.
This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, congressional reporter Sam Gringlas, immigration policy correspondent Ximena Bustillo, political reporter Stephen Fowler, senior political editor & correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and political correspondent Sarah McCammon.
This podcast was produced and edited by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs.
Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.
Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. |
| 0:14.6 | This is Micah. And Mark. We're playing hooky today and are currently snowshoeing through the backcountry in the Rocky Mountains. |
| 0:21.8 | We're celebrating our 47th birthdays together and more than 41 years of friendship when we met the day before kindergarten. |
| 0:28.3 | Oh my gosh. |
| 0:28.9 | The current time is 1235 p.m. on Friday, January 30th. |
| 0:34.2 | Things might have changed by the time you hear this, but we'll hopefully be warming up by the |
| 0:38.4 | fire. Enjoy the show. That is just like the sweetest thing. Like a long-time friendship is amazing. |
| 0:47.4 | I would rather be snowshoeing with my best friend right now, but we might need snow shoes still |
| 0:52.0 | in D.C. if they can sink into the ice. I did see people snowshoeing in my neighborhood this weekend, and it was, I was jealous, I will say, as I slid around. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Sam Greenglass. I cover Congress. I'm Jimenez-Bustillo, and I cover immigration policy. |
| 1:11.4 | And if there is a theme for this week, it might just be deja vu all over again. Congress and the |
| 1:17.6 | president are once again staring down a government shutdown, partial this time. Sam, the country had its |
| 1:24.0 | longest shutdown in history just a few months ago. That was largely over health care. |
| 1:28.6 | How is this time different? So the short answer is that this debate hinges on the tactics of federal |
| 1:35.0 | immigration officers. What we're talking about now is about $1.3 trillion in spending that's on the |
| 1:42.0 | line. That covers not all of the government, but a lot of it. |
| 1:45.8 | And this was all on track to pass by tonight, but then a federal immigration officer killed a |
| 1:52.6 | second Minneapolis resident, 37-year-old Alex Prattie. Democrats saw this as kind of their only |
| 1:59.3 | chance to extract some changes to reign in immigration |
| 2:03.0 | tactics. And what they've convinced Republicans to do here is separate funding for much of the |
| 2:08.7 | government from money for the Department of Homeland Security, which is going to get extended |
| 2:13.6 | for just about two weeks. But the House still needs to sign off on this change. And so |
| 2:19.1 | that is not going to happen in time to a shut down at least a short one. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.