As some fear the partial government shutdown could stretch on through much of January, President Trump is issuing a far more dire projection.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Friday that in a meeting with Democrats, Trump said he's willing to leave the government in shutdown mode for "months or even years," The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey reports. This would conceivably leave nearly 800,000 federal workers without pay going into the 2020 election cycle — including, as CBS News' Kathryn Watson points out, members of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Lawmakers have clashed over funding for border security, leading to the shutdown.

Friday's meeting, it appears, brought little progress, as Schumer says Democrats again pleaded with Trump to re-open the government but he resisted. Trump continues to demand $5 billion in border wall funding, an idea that is a nonstarter with Democrats. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters that the Democrats' meeting with Trump was "lengthy" and "sometimes contentious," per CNN's Manu Raju. Trump, on the other hand, called it "very, very productive." Brendan Morrow

Empire actor Jussie Smollett has just had all of the charges against him dropped.

Smollett, who was hit with 16 felony counts after police said he staged a fake hate crime against himself, was called in for an emergency court appearance on Tuesday, and his lawyers subsequently confirmed that all of the criminal charges against him have been dropped, per BuzzFeed News. They also said that "his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him."

Police said last month that Smollett staged an attack against himself because he was dissatisfied with his salary on Empire. He allegedly wrote a $3,500 check to two brothers in exchange for them helping him carry out the supposed hate crime.

Smollett continued to maintain his innocence, though, and his lawyers said in a statement on Tuesday that he "was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgement." They also maintained that Smollett was "attacked by two people he was unable to identify on Jan. 29."

The details of what resulted in these charges being dropped have not yet been revealed, but the Cook County State's Attorney's Office said in a statement per The Hollywood Reporter that "after reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett's volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the city of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case." Smollett's family said in a statement per BuzzFeed that "we are grateful that the truth about Jussie has come to light." Brendan Morrow

This is a breaking news story and has been updated throughout.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a new beard and a new mission.

On Tuesday, the former California governor took to Washington, D.C. as the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case regarding how two states drew their congressional districts. Schwarzenegger is very firmly in the anti-gerrymander camp, and, ignoring the possibility of a copyright violation, repeatedly declared Tuesday that we should "terminate gerrymandering."

The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday about congressional maps in North Carolina and Maryland, which plaintiffs argue were drawn to benefit the state legislatures' ruling parties. Gerrymandering has been a hallmark issue of Schwarzenegger's post-governator life, an absurdity that he acknowledged while speaking in front of the Supreme Court. When Schwarzenegger "came to this great country ... 50 years ago," he said he never imagined he'd be "standing in front of the Supreme Court" to "fight gerrymandering." And yet here he is, making a groan-worthy joke that somehow only got cheers.

Schwarzenegger dashed off before he could reference another action classic. But don't worry, he'll be back later on Tuesday, appearing at the National Press Club to talk more about redistricting. Kathryn Krawczyk

President Trump's good week just keeps getting better.

Late Monday, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he'd let the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers use up to $1 billion of the military's budget to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The approval came in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, which specified that the money would go toward fencing, road improvements, and lighting near the border, CNN details.

In his letter, Shanahan specified that the $1 billion will fund 57 miles of "18-foot-high pedestrian fencing," per Bloomberg. It'll specifically be used "within the Yuma and El Paso Sectors of the border," and will also go toward "constructing and improving roads and installing lighting" in the area, Shanahan wrote. A league of Democratic senators quickly teamed up to write a response to Shanahan, saying he didn't ask congressional defense committees for approval before okaying the fund transfer.

Trump has long discussed using military money to build his border wall after Congress continually rejected his pleas for wall funding. Congress did give him $1.3 billion in the most recent budget, but Trump still declared a national emergency in an attempt to secure a few more billion dollars.

The Trump victory comes after Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not draw a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, and after Attorney General William Barr decided not to charge the president on that crime. Kathryn Krawczyk

Fox News' biggest stars are going on the offensive.

Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson took to the airwaves on Monday evening, just a day after Attorney General William Barr briefed Congress on the principal conclusions drawn from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's conduct surrounding Russian election interference in 2016. But they were not in a celebratory mood, despite the fact that they both said Barr's summary vindicates Trump — and them.

Instead, both hosts used the opportunity to lay into other networks, particularly CNN and MSNBC for peddling what they believe were lies — told deliberately to mislead audiences about the Mueller investigation, all in the name of conspiracy to increase viewership and profit. Hannity singled out a few publications like The Atlantic and The Huffington Post for writing headlines like "The Collusion with Russia Is in Plain Sight" and "Manafort indictment reveals Trump Russia Collusion," respectively. He expressed particular dismay that The New York Times and The Washington Post won Pulitzer Prizes for their reporting on the investigation.

"I am pissed off and so should the rest of the country be over what has happened," Hannity said. "We were lied to over and over again." Hannity, who has been an ardent Trump supporter throughout the process, also said that he is going to "hold every liar, every propagandist, every conspiracy theorist accountable."

Carlson expressed similar sentiments of anger toward the media. But he had a secret weapon — a leftist. The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald appeared as a guest on Carlson's show. Greenwald is, to put it gently, not of the same political persuasion as Carlson. But he is also known for being at odds with Democrats and a large swath of the media and over its coverage of the Mueller investigation, and he had some choice words for MSNBC and Rachel Maddow in particular. Tim O'Donnell

The first all-female spacewalk at the International Space Station was planned for March 29 with astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch, but it's now off because NASA doesn't have the proper spacesuit size available for McClain.

As NASA explains, McClain "learned during her first spacewalk that a medium-size hard upper torso — essentially the shirt of the spacesuit — fits her best." Since Koch also wears a medium, and only one suit in that size will be ready by Friday, the mission will now consist of Koch and a male astronaut, Nick Hague. NASA says that McClain is "tentatively scheduled" for a spacewalk on April 8 with a male astronaut, David Saint-Jacques.

While it might sound odd that McClain would just now be finding out what the right size for her is, Engadget points out that "there is no way to simulate the extended effects of zero gravity" on the body beforehand, also observing that McClain said in early March she had grown by two inches since she launched. And there actually are two medium sizes on the station; it's just that only one is configured for a spacewalk, and the other won't be ready in time for Friday, The New York Times reports.

NASA spokesperson Stephanie Schierholz told The Washington Post that despite this setback, the first all-female spacewalk is "inevitable." Brendan Morrow

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has revealed details of her proposal to give public school teachers a raise.

The 2020 Democrat is proposing an increase in federal spending with the goal of funding an average salary increase of $13,500 for public school teachers by the end of her first four years in office, CNN reports. The Harris campaign says this will cost $315 billion over 10 years, and she plans to pay for it with changes to estate tax, per NBC News.

Harris' proposal involves the federal government in the first year providing 10 percent of the funding to states to close what she has described as the salary gap between teachers and other college-educated graduates, Vox explains. States would receive incentives to contribute, and in subsequent years, the federal government would provide $3 for every $1 from the state.

Harris said during a recent speech per The Wall Street Journal that with this proposal, the question is "what's the return on the investment," and "on this, the investment will be our future." Brendan Morrow