1. President Trump agreed to reopen the federal government for three weeks while negotiations continued over border security, backing down after a monthlong standoff with Democrats over funding for his border wall.

The decision paved the way for Congress to pass spending bills as soon as Friday. The stopgap measure will restore normal operations at a series of federal agencies until Feb. 15 and begin paying the 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed or forced to work for free for 35 days.

The plan includes no money for the wall and was essentially the same approach Mr. Trump rejected at the end of December. But he cautioned that the cease-fire might be only temporary.