Chuck Grassley

In a rare display of bipartisanship, the House passed a sprawling tax bill on Wednesday evening. The $78 billion plan would extend the child tax credit and bring back common research and development tax deductions. It also includes low-income housing tax credits and tax waivers for Taiwan, as well as offsets the cost by reducing payroll tax exemptions. Due to some GOP resistance, the bill would be considered to be subjected to a suspension of the rules. Some hard right Republicans are against the bill's tax credit extension, although some progressives are likely to oppose it, arguing that the bill does not expand the child tax credit sufficiently.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior senator from Iowa, has been hospitalized due to an infection and is now receiving antibiotic infusions, meaning he will miss critical votes as a government shutdown looms. Following doctors' orders, Grassley, the oldest member of the senate at 90, will return to work as soon as possible,' his office said in a tweet. No further information regarding his health were given. His withdrawal from the upper chamber comes just days before a critical deadline is set to prevent a partial government shutdown. If funding rules are not approved by Saturday, several government departments will run out of funds, and employees will be asked to stay home on Monday.

Thousands of Iowa voters will vote for president on Monday from 1,657 precincts in the chilly, snow-covered state. They will gather at churches, high schools, gym, and golf courses at 7 p.m. Central Time (8 p.m. Eastern) to write their preferred candidate's name on a blank piece of paper in a tradition that dates back to 1972. Iowa's position at the start of the primary calendar makes it and its three million people, an outsized but highly influential vote in determining the Republican nominee. In key states, the winner gains traction and climbs to 40 delegates for the convention.