White House press access, prosecutions, spending authority, and congressional gridlock face resistance

Judge Timothy Kelly ordered access restored for CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO while questioning the administration's shifting national-security rationale. Recent rulings also dismissed the Reflecting Pool prosecution and protected Senate confirmation requirements for U.S. attorneys, while the disputed $810 million pocket-rescission effort continues to test Congress's power of the purse. Congress has deferred a large legislative and labor-policy agenda until the lame-duck period, with funding running through December 11.