Reopened for now: The shutdown deal, self-dealing in the senate and the Epstein files

The government is back open — but the way Washington got there says a lot about where we’re headed next.

In this episode of the Oklahoma Memo Podcast, Ryan Welton is joined by “Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes” host Grant Hermes for a walk-through of the new funding deal, the hidden perks members of Congress gave themselves, and the fast-moving fight over the Jeffrey Epstein files.

They explain how the three-part package keeps agencies running, which programs are safe for a full year and which ones will be back on the chopping block by January 30, and why extending Affordable Care Act subsidies became the line Democrats couldn’t hold. They also look at the little-noticed provision that lets senators tap taxpayer money to cover legal bills tied to January 6 investigations.

Then the conversation turns to the Epstein files: the discharge petition forcing a House vote, the pressure campaign on specific Republicans, and the tens of thousands of pages already released from the Epstein estate that show just how intertwined Epstein’s world was with Donald Trump’s first term. Hermes lays out why this issue has been one of the few that can actually peel some voters away from their usual partisan patterns.

For Oklahomans, they connect the dots between D.C. brinkmanship and local realities: SNAP benefits, military bases, holiday travel and the broader question of how much compromise and self-dealing voters are willing to tolerate.

In this episode:

• What’s actually in the new funding deal

• Why the government is only fully funded through January 30

• How SNAP, veterans programs and military construction are treated differently

• The quiet legal-fees provision for senators tied to Jan. 6 probes

• How and when federal workers get back pay and agencies restart

• The House push to force a vote on releasing Epstein-related DOJ files

• Why the White House is lobbying specific members of Congress

• What the newly released Epstein documents already reveal

• How this all plays in upcoming elections — nationally and in states like Oklahoma

Links:

• Oklahoma Memo newsletter (free): [oklahomamemo.com]

• Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes (podcast): https://www.youtube.com/@MIMSnewspod

• Make It Make Sense Substack: https://mimsnewspod.substack.com/