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The NewsWorthy
Shutdown-Ending Vote, Flight Chaos Continues & WFH Baby Boom? - Wednesday, November 12, 2025
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Today is Wednesday, November 12th. We're talking about the deal to end the government shutdown that could make it out of Congress before the end of the day and how long it may take airlines to recover. Also, who was selected for President Trump's latest pardons and why California's governor is addressing the UN Climate conference. Plus, a setback in the worldwide fight against measles, why some celebrities are giving the green light for others to use their AI voices, and how Netflix could be coming to your local mall. Those stories and even more news coming up. Welcome. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the day's news in around 10 minutes. Fast, fair, fun, and on the go. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. You ready? Let's do this. The government shutdown could end as soon as today. The US House is set to vote today on a compromise that the U.S. senate formally approved on Monday night already, and the House speaker, Mike Johnson, says he expects it to pass his chamber, too. Then President Trump is expected to sign it into law. This deal extends funding from the last fiscal year through the end of January. It would also keep President Trump from firing any federal employees until then. And it keeps certain programs running through September, like agriculture, which includes SNAP food aid as well as military construction and veterans affairs, though it doesn't include health care subsidies that Democrats were demanding to help ease rising health insurance costs. And for that reason, many Democrats are angry at their colleagues who voted for it, accusing them of surrendering in a fight they were winning. Some are even calling for Senator Chuck Schumer to be replaced as minority leader, even though he voted against the compromise. Either way, it brings the potential that the US Government could be fully functional again within days, bringing relief to federal workers who have been missing paychecks, low income families who depend on food subsidies, and more. The vote on ending the shutdown is scheduled for this afternoon. Then there's a lot more on the House to do list, since they haven't conducted any business at the Capitol, not even passing routine legislation in eight weeks. Stay tuned. Even if the House does vote to end the shutdown today, it won't immediately fix the problems for air travelers. That's because airlines already canceled flights days in advance to give customers notice and make sure all the planes and crews were in place for flights that would take off. This means schedules won't bounce back for days, if not weeks. And even then, air traffic controllers and TSA agents who haven't gotten paid during the shutdown are still going to be understaffed and overworked as we've mentioned, many of them have been calling out and working other jobs to make ends meet, and now President Trump is threatening to dock their pay so they wouldn't get their full back pay after the shutdown ends. He's also recommending a bonus for air traffic controllers who did not take any time off. Airline industry group say the shutdown has already impacted millions of travelers. Making matters even worse, there has been a winter storm impacting much of the country this week, so if you have a flight planned in the next few days, you're encouraged to visit the FAA website for updates about staffing, weather and other information. President Trump decided to pardon his former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and dozens of other allies accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election. This mass pardon is the first in history to cover people accused of criminally conspiring with the same president who issued it. The White House says Trump was only ending a weaponization of the justice system. But these are mostly symbolic pardons, since none of the people listed have been charged with federal crimes. And a federal pardon likely won't change the charges brought by state prosecutors. But many Trump allies say the pardons could still influence the state cases as they play out in court. Whereas critics say either way, the message it sends should raise alarms. They say it's basically a permission slip for people to commit crimes in next year's midterms or even the next presidential election. Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court has agreed to take up another case that could have a big impact on future elections. It's going to decide whether states can keep counting mail in ballots that arrive after election day. Seventeen states in Washington, D.C. now say that's okay as long as the ballots are sent and postmarked on or before election day. And 14 more states say it's okay for certain voters, like overseas American service members. But President Trump has said doing any counting after Election Day undermines the process, and the Republican National Committee sued over it. The case is expected to be decided by next summer, early enough to impact the midterms. This week, the U.S. supreme Court decided to leave the landmark ruling that legalized same sex marriage as it is. A former Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples had asked the high court to consider overturning its decision from 10 years ago. The composition of the Supreme Court has changed a lot since then, and three justices were nominated by President Trump. But even now, most justices have stood by the ruling. They did not explain the reasoning for denying hearing this case this time, but LGBTQ advocates and Their lawyers say they're going to be vigilant about any future attempts to overturn the precedent. Since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2015, more than 800,000 same sex couples have married and are now raising nearly 300,000 children. President Trump honored American service members on Veterans Day by visiting Arlington National Cemetery. He attended a wreath laying ceremony and gave a speech in which he said, from now on, Veterans Day will also be known as Victory Day for World War I. He also said there should be a separate Victory Day for World War II, explaining, quote, we are restoring the pride and the winning spirit of the United States military. Former presidents honored veterans this week as well. For example, former President Obama surprised a group of veterans after their honor flight landed in Washington, D.C. the Honor Flight Network is a national nonprofit that gives free flights to veterans to visit memorials honoring their fellow service members. Obama also gave them a Presidential Challenge coin as a token to thank them for their sacrifices, and crowds greeted them with cheers as they got off the plane. More news is still coming up, but first, a quick break for our sponsor. I really care about the quality of my sleep these days and what I wear to bed, AKA how comfortable I am, makes a big difference. I've tried a lot of pajamas over the years and the Skim Sleep set meets all of my requirements. My favorite part about this set is that the fabric is unbelievably soft. I already loved the Soft Lounge PJ set from Skims last year and I still wear that, but the Skims Sleep set is somehow even softer. Plus, who doesn't love a cute matching set? It's so cozy and it gives my nighttime routine this extra little touch of joy in feeling good. In fact, this most recent pair of pajamas I got has a fun holiday print, so it's already making this time of year feel festive and special. Shop my favorite pajamas@skims.com after you place your order. Be sure to let them know we sent you select podcast in the survey and be sure to select our show the Newsworthy in the drop down menu that follows. And if you're looking for the perfect gifts for anyone on your list, the Skims Holiday Shop is now open@skims.com now back to the news. No White House officials are going to the annual UN climate summit for the first time in 30 years, but California Governor Gavin Newsom is now there criticizing President Trump's policies. Newsom said Trump and other Republicans are letting China take over the fast growing clean energy economy, but that California would not do the same. The White House responded by calling Newsom's appearance embarrassing, saying the government is touting the, quote, green news scam while the people of California are paying some of the highest energy prices in the country. Either way, California is a big deal on the global stage because even though California is just one of 50 US states, its economy is the world's fourth largest, so it's a key player in influencing markets and energy policy. Already, the state has a goal to decarbonize its economy by 2045 and ban the sale of new gas powered cars by 2035. Other world leaders are also sharing their plans and progress at COP30. Canada has now lost its measles free status for the first time in nearly three decades, and the US could be next. There are a few criteria for losing an official measles elimination status, but the most significant factor is the same strain of the virus spreading for a full year in Canada, more than 5,000 measles cases have been recorded since the outbreak started in October of last year. Canadian health officials say they now have to come up with a plan to get back on track by improving vaccination rates, increasing public health outreach and more. When you look at the Americas as a whole, including Canada, the U.S. central and South America, there have been 30 times the number of cases this year as compared to last last year, and 95% of those cases have been in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. here in the U.S. nearly 1,700 measles cases have been confirmed this year, the most in nearly 30 years. And if an ongoing outbreak doesn't stop by January, the US Will also lose its elimination status. Celebrities are now teaming up with an AI company that's creating digital versions of their famous voices. The AI audio startup ElevenLabs is launching an iconic voice marketplace and it says it resolves some of the ethical concerns around AI. It will let users, mostly brands, connect with reps for celebrities, living or not, and work out a licensing deal to use their voices via AI. This week, actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine signed on. Many others have already or whoever owns the rights to their voice has 11 labs says the voices are only generated, quote, with permission, transparency and fair compensation. Others available on the marketplace include Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland, John Wayne, Maya Angelou, and Babe Ruth. Now, by the way, I've actually experimented with ElevenLabs AI software for my voice before, mostly just out of curiosity as a podcaster. So starting right now, just for this sentence, you're listening to the AI version of my voice reading this script. The software was trained using a couple of hours of this podcast. And yes, I had to confirm it was me a couple of ways. Thought you might be interested in hearing what it sounds like though. This is still a pretty basic version and I do not have a licensing deal of any kind. Okay, now it's just me again. No more AI. Netflix is moving from just your living room to a shopping mall too the streaming giant is opening its first Netflix House today. It's a 100,000 square foot entertainment venue in the King of Prussia Mall, 20 miles outside Philadelphia. At Netflix House, people can go through interactive game rooms and set pieces and order foods and drinks inspired by their favorite Netflix hits. There's also a 200 plus seat theater where Netflix will offer special screenings of movies, shows and live events like NFL games. A second location is set to open in Dallas next month and another is set for Vegas in 2027. Netflix's CEO says he envisions eventually opening as many as 60 of them around the world. Well, that's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Work Wednesday when we break down one interest, career or work related news story every Wednesday. But first, this episode is sponsored by Oneskin. This time of year, my skin always needs a little extra care. Between some colder weather and the rush of the holidays, it's easy for skin to start to feel dry and stressed. That's why I've been sticking with one skin. I love their face moisturizer and I have for a long time and now I'm genuinely loving their brand new peptide lip mask. A good lip mask is surprisingly hard to find. I've been looking for one for a while and and this one is incredible. It's smooth and it's instantly comforting. It even comes with a little metal applicator that makes it feel even more lovely to put on. At the core of Oneskin is their patented OS1 peptide, targeting the root cause of wrinkles and loss of elasticity. Oneskin also just launched their limited edition holiday sets including the Nightly Rewind gift set which adds the perfect touch of luxury to your gift list. It features that best selling face moisturizer plus that brand new peptide lip mask that is my new favorite product of theirs and and even a sculpting Gua Sha tool. Each element is designed to work together as your body enters its natural nightly repair mode. For a limited time you can try OneSkin for 15% off using the code newsworthy at OneSkin Co newsworthy. After your purchase they'll ask you where you heard about them. So please support our show and tell them we sent you again. Get 15% off using the code Newsworthy at oneskin Co Newsworthy now back to work Wednesday the answer to America's fertility crisis might be in the workplace, or lack thereof. A new study from a team of Stanford researchers found a connection between remote or hybrid work and having kids. Specifically, it found remote or hybrid work arrangements fueled about 80,000 extra births each year between 2021 and 2025. The study also found it's true with couples who work from home just one day a week that they're more likely to conceive and are more likely to plan for more children in the future than those who go into an office for five days a week. Researchers explain that working from home can give couples more time and energy and make it a little easier to look after kids. Of course, there are plenty of other barriers couples face, like an affordability crisis in general. But if remote work can help families, the good news is it's not going anywhere. While more employees have been expected to return to the office than what we saw right after the pandemic, surveys still show American employees are doing roughly a quarter of their work days from home, and many workplaces plan to keep things the same for at least the foreseeable future. Thank you so much for listening today and for sharing the show if you found it helpful. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest news to know. Until then, have a great day.