| THE TOPLINE: The House Freedom Caucus has endorsed a deal with GOP leadership to support a short-term government funding bill, putting the House on track to pass the stopgap on Thursday night and send it to the Senate. The caucus endorsed the deal on Thursday night, after warning they had the votes to defeat it earlier in the day. While the deal sets the stage for House passage, it does not ensure that Congress will avoid a government shutdown Friday night. Senate Democrats, supported by at least three Republicans, said they have the votes to block the initial House bill in the upper chamber. And the new changes, designed to attract conservatives, could alienate even more Senate Democrats. Still, Republicans are at least on track to approve a funding bill in the House, in hopes of putting pressure on Senate Democrats to back down. The deal came after Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) emerged from a meeting in Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) office saying that leadership had promised to have separate votes to help improve military readiness and address other national security issues. They would not be attached to the stopgap continuing resolution (CR), he added. "Obviously, I would be recommending to our caucus, based on what I just heard, that we support the president in this particular initiative," he said. Click here for more from The Hill's Mike Lillis and Melanie Zanona. And click here for The Hill's live blog with the latest on the looming shutdown. Here are more stories on the spending fight: --Trump baffles GOP with tweet scrambling shutdown talks --Senate Dems say they have votes to block spending bill as shutdown edges closer --White House: Trump backs House stopgap spending bill --Va. lawmakers introduce bill to guarantee back pay for furloughed federal workers --Senators float days-long funding bill --Pelosi downplays DACA ahead of shutdown vote RYAN: BUDGETS FIGHTS HAVE PUSHED MILITARY 'PAST THE BREAKING POINT': House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday cautioned about the state of the U.S. military, warning that long-term budget cuts and "Washington melodrama" have "pushed our military past the breaking point." "Instead of upgrading our hardware, we have let our equipment age. Instead of equipping our troops for tomorrow's fight, we have let them become woefully under-equipped," Ryan told attendees at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event. The Pentagon started 2018 on a continuing resolution (CR), the ninth time the Defense Department has begun its year on a stop-gap spending measure. A CR keeps the building open, but prevents new programs from starting and delays maintenance and training. This has left the military too small, over-worked and with aircraft that can't fly, Ryan said. "The cost of these readiness deficiencies are really dire. And this is literally costing us lives," he warned. Read more here. Shortly after Ryan appeared at CSIS, President Trump while outside the Pentagon said the "worst thing" about a possible government shutdown would be its effect on the U.S. military. "If the country shuts down, which could very well be ... the worst thing is what happens to our military," Trump told reporters before meeting with military leaders. The president reiterated his threat to blame Democrats for a shutdown, saying "it's up to the Democrats" whether Congress is able to keep the government open. Republicans control the House and Senate. The Hill's Jordan Fabian has the rest here. LAWMAKERS CALL FOR MILITARY-TO-MILITARY COMMUNICATION WITH NORTH KOREA: More than 30 lawmakers are calling on President Trump to reestablish military-to-military communications with North Korea. "The U.S. should do all in its power to avoid misunderstandings that could escalate to a greater conflict, including nuclear war," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Trump on Thursday. "Given your recent comments that are supportive of dialogue with North Korea, and the potential that you have established a relationship with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, we strongly urge you to prioritize this form of communication as the first step that our two governments could take towards averting a conflict." All but one of the letter's 33 signatories are Democrats. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), often an outlier in his party, was the one Republican. The letter was organized by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who spoke with reporters Thursday about his hopes for reestablishing military-to-military communications and, ultimately, a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The Hill's Rebecca Kheel has more here. JUDGE BARS TRANSFER OF US-SAUDI CITIZEN: A federal judge on Thursday barred the U.S. government from transferring a U.S.-Saudi citizen currently held in military detention in Iraq to another country, with that restriction in place until Jan. 23. The decision came as part of an ongoing legal bid by the unnamed citizen to contest the basis of his four-month detention. Known only as John Doe to the public, he was captured by Syrian forces while fighting for ISIS and turned over to U.S. forces in mid-September. Little is known about Doe, including what the government intends to do with him. The administration has reportedly weighed trying to transfer him to Saudi custody -- something the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing Doe, has pushed back on in court. In a hearing on Thursday, government lawyers argued that transferring Doe to another country with "a significant interest" in him would constitute the relief that Doe is seeking under habeas corpus, the law that allows prisoners to challenge an unlawful detention. But U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan did not appear persuaded by that argument, calling it a "very literal reading of release" and suggesting that it would allow the government to do an "end run" around the law by simply transferring a citizen. The Hill's Katie Bo Williams has more here. ON TAP FOR TOMORROW: The Atlantic Council will hold the Iran Looks East conference, a discussion on Iran's evolving economic and strategic relationships, at 9 a.m. in Washington. Think tank New America will hear from a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army on the Syrian Opposition in 2018 at 12:15 p.m. in Washington. ICYMI: -- The Hill: Turkey warns of action in Syria unless US halts aid to Kurds -- The Hill: Tillerson to talk Syria, North Korea during swing through Europe -- The Hill: Opinion: World should get on board with Trump's strategy to defeat ISIS -- The Hill: Opinion: As Russia looms, modernizing US nuclear arsenal is non-negotiable -- The Wall Street Journal: Six Chinese ships covertly aided North Korea. The U.S. was watching -- Reuters: U.S. urges Turkey to remain focused on Islamic State -- Defense News: The Air Force may not get B-21 bombers on time under long-term continuing resolution | 
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