News Brief: Netanyahu Delays Israeli Cabinet Vote on Cease-Fire; Confirmation Hearings Continue on Capitol Hill

Protesters calling for the return of hostages held in Gaza react after a cease-fire and hostage release deal was reached in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 15, 2025. Amir Levy/Getty Images

Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some urgent stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening overseas and right here at home.

Israel makes a critical decision regarding its cease-fire agreement with Hamas, potential incoming Cabinet members are grilled by U.S. senators on Capitol Hill, and President-elect Donald Trump says he won’t be allowing certain people to join his incoming administration—we’ll tell you who and why.

Also, the Biden administration approves new action involving billions of dollars in student loan debt, and we have new information to pass along regarding the devastating wildfires in Southern California and how they could impact the insurance rates of all homeowners in the Golden State.

We have a number of highly impactful stories to share with you today, and we begin with this. The war between Israel and Hamas rages on, the cease-fire agreement that recently made headlines is in question, and more now on what we know.

Netanyahu Delays Israeli Cabinet Vote on Cease-Fire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing Hamas of reneging on parts of the Gaza cease-fire agreement in a bid “to extort last-minute concessions,” and he says that the Israeli Cabinet will not meet to ratify the deal until Hamas backs down.

Netanyahu’s office told The Epoch Times that the Israeli Cabinet will only convene once the deal’s mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted “all elements of the agreement.” His office also accused Hamas of backpedaling on an earlier agreement that would have given Israel a veto over the release of certain convicted murderers.

However, one Hamas leader said that Netanyahu’s claims were unfounded, and he urged both the Biden and Trump administrations to encourage the Israelis to implement the agreement.

A spokesman for Netanyahu said that the conflict also involves a last-minute demand by Hamas to change the deployment of Israeli forces on a narrow strip of land between the Gaza Strip and Egypt called the Philadelphi corridor.

He also said that the Israeli delegation would remain in Qatar while waiting for the agreement to be finalized.

In case you missed it, earlier this week, U.S. officials and the Qatari prime minister said that negotiators for both Hamas and Israel had agreed to a six-week cease-fire deal beginning on Sunday, Jan. 19. Israel’s Cabinet will need to meet prior to that date in order for the deal to be finalized in time.

By the way, the first of three planned phases of the agreement will include the release of 33 hostages being held by Hamas in exchange for the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners currently being held by Israel.

This is a story with global implications and one that we’ll all be watching very carefully.

In just three days, President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as our next commander-in-chief; meanwhile, several of his Cabinet nominees are currently being thoroughly questioned by the U.S. Senate, and here’s what’s happening on Capitol Hill.

Confirmation Hearings Continue on Capitol Hill

Wall Street hedge fund billionaire Scott Bessent, Trump’s choice to serve as Treasury secretary, told the Senate Committee on Finance that the president-elect has the opportunity to unleash “a new economic golden age” for our country.

Bessent said that right now, extending the Trump-era tax cuts is the “single most important economic issue” facing our country, and that not renewing them will result in an ”economic calamity.”

He also defended Trump’s tariff plans, saying that they can be used to remedy unfair trade practices, to generate revenues, and as part of ongoing negotiations with other countries.

Additionally, he said that the decisions made by the Federal Reserve regarding our country’s monetary policy should remain independent, that he supports tougher sanctions on Russia, and that he’ll immediately begin pressing China to honor its failed commitments regarding a 2020 trade agreement made with the United States.

Meanwhile, Department of the Interior nominee Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, said that if he’s confirmed, he would not lean on electric vehicle (EV) tax credits, because China controls 85 percent of the minerals used in the manufacturing of certain components in those vehicles. He also said that he would work with Democrats to develop alternative energy solutions.

By the way, former NFL player Scott Turner is Trump’s choice to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He noted that we have a housing crisis in our country; that we have an embarrassing number of homeless people; and that his top priority would be to ease regulations, lower development costs, and speed up the rate of construction.

At this point, we all know who President-elect Donald Trump wants on his team, and now we’re learning more about a number of prominent Republicans who won’t be part of his administration and why. More on this developing story.

Trump Says He Won’t Hire Anyone Associated With Certain GOP Critics

Trump is asking people not to recommend anyone to his administration’s transition team who has either worked with or is endorsed by former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.); her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney; former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah); or former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

He also told people in his incoming administration to refrain from bringing in anyone who’s had any association with former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. Secretary to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and former national security adviser John Bolton.

Also unwelcome on the team are associates of former Defense Secretaries Jim Mattis and Mark Esper, along with acquaintances of retired Gen. Mark Milley, who was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2019 to 2023.

On Truth Social, the president-elect said that his incoming administration has already hired more than 1,000 outstanding people who will quickly make America great again.

He also said that in order to save time, money, and effort, people associated with the individuals on the above list—who were all publicly critical of him—should not bother applying for a position as part of the new White House.

The Epoch Times has attempted to reach a number of people on the list, and so far, none of them have returned our request for comment.

However, former national security adviser Bolton said that the list Trump has put out there “is pretty good company to be in.”

Moving along, before President Joe Biden moves out of the White House, his administration has just forgiven billions of dollars worth of student loan debt and for some very surprising reasons. More now on what we’ve learned.

Biden Admin Discharges $4.5 Billion in Student Loan Debt

The U.S. Department of Education says it has just approved the elimination of $4.5 billion in federal student loans owed by 261,000 former students who attended the mostly online school called Ashford University between 2009 and 2020. They cited evidence of “deceptive” practices by the institution for the reason behind the move.

The Education Department says that the loan forgiveness was requested by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office has successfully led prior litigation against Ashford and its parent company, Zovio, for allegedly using false promises to entice students to enroll. The department also noted that it conducted its own review of the evidence before approving the relief.

At a trial in 2022, students said they were falsely assured that an Ashford degree would qualify them for jobs like teaching or nursing, only to discover later that their degrees did not even meet the minimum licensing requirements.

The Education Department says that in reality, 90 percent of Ashford’s students never even graduated, and that the few who did were often left “with large debts and low incomes.”

We’ve also just learned that Ashford has been sued or investigated by a number of other federal and state agencies. They include the U.S. Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with the attorneys general of Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, and North Carolina.

By the way, following an agreement made five years ago, the school continues to operate today under a different identity—the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC).

Finally today, we want to take you back to the Southern California wildfires, which have sadly caused so much death and destruction, and now homeowners statewide could be asked to pay more for their insurance to help cover the cost for those who have lost so much.

California Insurers Could Hit All Policyholders With Extra Fees to Cover Fire Losses

New state rules that were enacted last September could leave everyone in California who has a homeowners insurance policy on the hook for the fire losses in the Los Angeles area.

A former California insurance commissioner says that something called the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan will have enough money to pay all of the claims; however, it will make sure it has enough money by eventually billing all of the state’s policyholders.

He said that the FAIR plan is an “involuntary association of insurance companies” that pool together to cover the properties deemed most at risk. According to recent data, right now, the plan holds about $700 million in cash, $200 million more in reserves, and carries $2.5 billion in reinsurance that will help cover losses.

However, one recent estimate predicted that the economic impact of the damage could reach $150 billion, and some experts figure that insured losses could top $20 billion.

According to the FAIR plan’s website, nearly 1,500 policies with almost $6 billion in exposure are covered by the plan in Pacific Palisades, where a highly destructive and deadly fire continues to burn. As of yesterday, that fire had scorched over 23,000 acres, destroyed or damaged at least 5,000 structures, and was only 22 percent contained.

Meanwhile, the deadly Eaton Fire in Altadena, also in L.A. County, has now burned more than 14,000 acres, destroyed or damaged about 7,000 structures, and as of yesterday, was 55 percent contained. So you know, the FAIR plan covers just under 1,000 policies in that area.

The former insurance commissioner says that these figures are an enormous loss for the insurance industry to sustain; that if a substantial number of burned homes are covered by the FAIR plan, it could jeopardize the plan’s solvency; and that with losses mounting, insurance rates will likely increase for Californians in the near future.

Before we go, a couple more stories we’re following very closely here in the News Brief newsroom:

The man picked to be President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser says that the incoming U.S. leader is exploring ways to “preserve” TikTok in the country, amid a looming ban that is only two days away.

And finally, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says that his state’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, if he’s confirmed to the post.

And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Friday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

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And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from outgoing President Joe Biden, who said: “We are America, second to none, and we own the finish line. Don’t forget it.”

Biden is our nation’s 46th and current president, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama, and he represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009. A long and notable career in public service.

For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.

Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.