What we covered here
• Shutdown, Day 1: The federal government shut down at midnight after a deadlocked Congress failed to reach a deal on funding. Republicans and Democrats are at odds over enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
• Who’s impacted? Federal workers bear the brunt of government shutdowns, and the White House has said federal workforce layoffs are “imminent.” Agencies and activities deemed essential are still open, and we’re tracking which programs are affected. Is the shutdown affecting you? Tell us about it.
• How long will it last? Senators are leaving town until Friday, meaning the government will be shut down at least until then — though likely longer.
Our live coverage of the government shutdown has ended for the day. Follow our continuing coverage or read through the posts below.
Here are the national parks and monuments that are still open despite the government shutdown
Following the federal government shutdown today, states across the country have been scrambling to keep their national parks or monuments open to the millions of visitors that frequent them.
Many of the nation’s iconic landmarks are still open with reduced staffing and services. A contingency plan released by the US Department of the Interior said national parks will stay partially open during the shutdown — a decision park advocates are sharply criticizing.
Here are the major national parks and monuments that remain open to visitors:
- Grand Canyon National Park: The Arizona national park will remain open but “some visitor services may be reduced,” according to the park’s X account.
- Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island: The Interior Department told CNN today that the administration would keep the Statue of Liberty open after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said the state would not fund its operations during the shutdown. The department also said Ellis Island will remain open.
- National Mall in DC: The Lincoln Memorial and Thomas Jefferson Memorial will still be “fully accessible” through the shutdown, according to a news release from the Trust for the National Mall. The release also said the trust will raise private funds to help ensure National Mall operations continue.
- Utah national parks: Utah’s five national parks will have reduced services and staffing during the shutdown, according to the Utah Office of Tourism.
- Colorado National Parks: All eight of Colorado’s national parks that collect fees will remain open during the shutdown until fee revenue runs out, according to a news release from Gov. Jared Polis’ office. The governor said the state is “offering support to keep Colorado’s iconic National Parks open.”
- South Dakota national and state parks: The state’s tourism department said most of its national and state parks — including the Mount Rushmore National Memorial — will “remain accessible and as open as possible to visitors.”
FBI agents association warns government shutdown could imperil national security
Amid “an unprecedented range of national security and criminal threats,” the organization representing thousand of current FBI agents warned its members on Wednesday that the current federal government shutdown could potentially endanger the safety of Americans.
In a message to its members obtained by CNN, the FBI Agents Association said “a shutdown can undermine the FBI’s ability to perform its duties at a time when the country faces an unprecedented range of national security and criminal threats — from fentanyl trafficking and terrorism to violent crimes against children and cyberattacks.”
The group also warned that “curtailed operational resources can disrupt investigations, surveillance, forensic analysis, and partnerships with state, local, and international law enforcement.”
Agent Association leaders said they also sent a letter to Congress asking that mission-critical federal law enforcement personnel working during the shutdown be exempt from having their pay withheld, noting a lapse in paychecks can threaten the financial stability of agents and further risk jeopardizing their security clearance.
“For FBI Special Agents, this is not a political issue,” the group said, “it is about fulfilling our mission, upholding the Constitution, and protecting the American people.”
Trump continues touting shutdown will allow him to fire workers and cut Democratic projects
President Donald Trump denied today that he wanted a government shutdown as an excuse to permanently cut Democratic programs and fire more federal workers.
While Trump did not have any public appearances today — the first day of the shutdown — he taped the OAN interview, which is set to air in full tomorrow night.
Trump administration canceling nearly $8B climate funding in mainly Democratic-led states
Billions of dollars of climate funding in mainly Democratic-led states will be canceled, according to the Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought.
“Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled. More info to come from @ENERGY. The projects are in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA,” Vought posted on X earlier on Wednesday.
All but two of the 16 states targeted have Democratic governors. New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott are Republicans.
It’s not yet clear which projects are being impacted. CNN has reached out to the Department of Energy for comment.
Earlier today, Vought also announced on X that “roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI.” Top congressional Democrats Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries both hail from New York.
GOP Rep. Mike Lawler objects to Trump administration plans to target New York projects
Rep. Mike Lawler is objecting to Trump administration plans to target projects in New York amid the government shutdown.
“Congressman Lawler strongly opposes these harmful cuts,” a statement the New York Republican posted to X said.
The statement did not specify exactly which funding cuts the congressman was referring to but comes after White House budget chief Russ Vought announced on Wednesday that roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects were being put on hold. Vought also said that “Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled,” pointing to projects in New York as well as other states.
“My office has been actively engaged with the White House since Tuesday morning to push for the reversal of both of these decisions and restoration of full funding,” the congressman wrote on X. “We will continue working with the Administration and my colleagues in Congress to make sure New York gets the support it needs to protect its residents and strengthen our economy. Bottom line: we should not be cutting this crucial counterterrorism and infrastructure funding.”
DC businesses offer deals to help federal workers during government shutdown
As the government has shut down with no clear end in sight, businesses in Washington, DC, are offering federal workers happy hours — including drinks, morning coffee and food deals, according to social media posts seen by CNN.
DC is home to almost 50,000 federal workers, which is over 13% of the city’s workforce, according to the most recently available data from the Economic Policy Institute from March. Most federal employees will not be paid until after the government shutdown ends.
Local restaurants will soon feel the strain of the government shutdown too, according to a spokesperson for the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, with unpaid workers going out less or spending less.
Among the many deals offered, impacted federal workers can grab a free morning brew and pastry at the Washington-based coffee chain Compass Coffee.
Barrel, a whiskey lounge in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, is offering federal workers an “unhappy hour” with drink deals.
Colby’s Dogcare Spa said in an email that all federal workers and contractors will not be billed for memberships through the end of the shutdown. The district’s professional women’s soccer team, Washington Spirit, is giving away free tickets to its Sunday game for the first 200 federal workers and then a limited number of discounted tickets.
The Trump administration’s federal takeover of law enforcement in DC has also disrupted the capital’s economy. The restaurant association launched a campaign yesterday, ahead of the shutdown, in response to what it says is an already existing “steep decline in sales and foot traffic” from August.
“Our hearts go out to the federal workers, contractors, and families impacted by the shutdown,” said Joseph Early, the association’s spokesperson.
Trump administration delays 100% tariffs on pharmaceutical imports as it evaluates companies' proposals
The Trump administration appears to have delayed putting a 100% tariff on some imported drugs – which the president threatened last week to impose on brand-name or patented pharmaceutical products unless the drugmaker is breaking ground on a manufacturing plant in the United States.
“The Commerce Department continues to evaluate pharmaceutical companies’ proposals to reshore manufacturing and reduce drug prices to (Most Favored Nation) rates as they prepare pharmaceutical tariffs,” a White House official told CNN.
The official added that the tariffs would not be going into effect Wednesday – the date President Donald Trump gave last week when announcing the levies – but said they “are still being worked on.”
“As Secretary Lutnick made clear in the Oval Office,” the official said, “starting October 1, the Trump administration will begin preparing tariffs on pharmaceutical companies that do not begin on-shoring their manufacturing or participate in the President’s Most Favored Nations push to reduce drug prices.”
“President Trump is wholeheartedly committed to lowering drug prices for Americans and will not hesitate to utilize tariffs to do so,” they continued.
News of the delay comes after Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla joined Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday to announce plans to lower drug prices at the president’s urging, including selling drugs at “Most Favored Nation” levels. He was among 17 CEOs Trump personally wrote with a list of demands.
Lawmakers have not yet agreed on a continuing resolution to avert a shutdown. But what is a CR?
Democrats and Republicans have not yet agreed on a stopgap funding measure – known as a continuing resolution or CR – to keep the government open, triggering a shutdown.
Continuing resolutions are bills to extend funding for the federal government on a short-term basis – often used as a way for lawmakers to avert a shutdown and allow for more time for negotiations on annual spending bills.
The bill provides funding – typically based on the previous fiscal year’s appropriations – for a specific amount of time.
A “clean” continuing resolution typically refers to one without other measures on other policy issues added on.
Colorado governor pledges to keep national parks open amid busy tourism season
Colorado is one of several states that have pledged to fund park operations to keep national parks open amid the federal government shutdown.
Gov. Jared Polis said the shutdown puts the state’s national parks at risk during its busy fall tourism season and urged the federal government to keep national parks open.
Fall is among the busiest seasons at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, which attracts more than 4 million visitors annually, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
All eight of the state’s national parks that collect fees will remain open during the shutdown until fee revenue runs out, according to the release.
The neighboring state of Utah likewise said its five national parks — which contributed $3.1 billion to the state’s economy last year — will remain open with reduced staffing and services.
“We are engaged in proactive conversations with public and private partners at all levels, offering strategic support to ensure the parks remain open with necessary resources,” Natalie Randall, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism and Film, said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs said the state cannot afford to keep national parks open.
Jeffries says Democrats are ready to work together to reopen the government
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries maintained that Democrats are ready to collaborate across the aisle to reopen the government.
He said he hasn’t heard from the White House since Monday, when he and other congressional leaders met with President Donald Trump.
Since then, Jeffries said the president “has been behaving somewhat erratically and in unconventional fashion in the context of the government shutting down.”
The minority leader referred to a recent social media post from the president, which appeared to be a racist, AI-generated video depicting Jeffries wearing a sombrero and a mustache.
“I’m not going to dwell on the president’s erratic behavior in terms of the meme or the AI deepfake videos,” he said. “The broader problem is it’s deeply unserious, and this is a serious moment. We need to reopen the government.”
DC courts pause issuing marriage certificates during government shutdown
The DC court system will not issue marriage certificates or perform marriage ceremonies during the government shutdown, the DC courts website says.
However, the Superior Court will still be able to issue certified copies of marriage certificates, according to the website.
Other services provided by the courts that are considered “necessary” will also remain in place, such as juvenile probation services, according to the city’s government shutdown plan.
These are the Democrats to watch when the Senate votes on Republicans' stopgap funding bill
Democrats who have crossed party lines to support the latest GOP bill:
- Sen. John Fetterman
- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto
- Sen. Angus King (an independent who caucuses with Democrats)
Democrats who crossed party lines to keep the government open in March:
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
- Sen. John Fetterman
- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto
- Sen. Dick Durbin
- Sen. Brian Schatz
- Sen. Maggie Hassan
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
- Sen. Gary Peters
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen
- Sen. Angus King (an independent who caucuses with Democrats)
Fetterman’s home state of Pennsylvania as well as New York, which Schumer and Gillibrand represent, both rank among the top 10 states with the most federal workers, according to March 2025 data from the US Office of Personnel Management.
New York will not pay to keep the Statue of Liberty open, governor says
New York will not pay to keep the Statue of Liberty open as it has done in past government shutdowns, a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office told CNN today.
During the last government shutdown in 2018, the Statue of Liberty initially closed — turning away thousands of tourists — before reopening with funding from the state.
This time around, the monument’s torch, which Hochul called a beacon to Americans, could “literally go dark,” the governor said.
Hochul said over 100,000 federal workers in the state have been furloughed or are at risk of being furloughed, including dozens working at the Statue of Liberty. It’s unclear if the monument will close and when.
Remember: A contingency plan released Thursday by the US Department of the Interior says park roads, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible, but areas with sensitive resources may close if they can’t be protected by limited law enforcement staff.
WH press team warns of delayed responses due to shutdown
The White House is warning those who reach out to its press office that they may experience delayed responses due to the shutdown.
“Due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown, the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays. We ask for your patience as our staff work to field your requests in a timely manner,” the White House press team writes in an automatic reply email.
The message continues blaming Democrats for the shutdown after the Senate failed to pass a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open until late November.
“As you await a response, please remember this could have been avoided if the Democrats voted for the clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open,” it said.
The press shop also notes that request forms and escorts for visitors of the White House cannot be accommodated at this time.
National Guard troops are training for Portland mission, but won’t be paid until the shutdown ends
National Guard members who have been tasked by President Donald Trump with assisting federal agents in Portland, Oregon, are now training for the mission but won’t be paid until the federal shutdown that started early this morning has concluded.
Trump said on social media today that Oregon National Guard members were “in place” to support anti-crime efforts in Portland.
Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman, said the guard members “are reporting for duty, conducting training, and preparing to support US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other US Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property in Oregon.”
Trump has already deployed National Guard members under federal authority to Washington, DC, and is preparing troops for Memphis, Tennessee. Those troops also won’t be paid until after the shutdown concludes, consistent with rules for full-time military service members. After the shutdown concludes all troops who are federally funded would receive back pay.
A US official said the lapse in funding impacts all guard members assigned to the ongoing DC mission — which as of Tuesday morning was 2,215 people from DC and 7 supporting states — as well as the guard members mobilized in Oregon and roughly 300 remaining guardsmen in Los Angeles, California.
Shutdown could limit the government's ability to provide flooding relief, some House Democrats warn
The ongoing government shutdown could create some issues for homeowners facing flooding as Atlantic hurricane season is in full swing.
The shutdown will limit how the Department of Housing and Urban Development is able to provide disaster relief, Democrats on the House Committee on Financial Services warned in a statement today.
The department is “unable to deploy new funding and may only have access to previously obligated funds,” the statement read.
Currently, two massive tropical systems are swirling off the Southeast coast. While they aren’t poised to make landfall, the systems were forecast to bring heavy rain to several states.
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is now limited in what it can pay out because of the shutdown, the Democrats said.
“Its ability to borrow funds from Treasury is reduced from over $30 billion to $1 billion during a shutdown, and its flood mapping process ultimately comes to a halt,” the committee Democrats said.
The NFIP also can’t issue new polices, potentially snagging home sale closings, the statement added.
Jeffries affirms he's confident in Schumer's ability to keep Senate Democrats in line
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday affirmed that he’s confident in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s ability to hold his caucus together against the Republican short-term funding bill.
“Yes,” Jeffries said bluntly during a press conference on Capitol Hill, when asked if he’s confident in Schumer to keep his members in line as Senate Republicans plan to keep bringing the House-passed measure to the floor for a vote.
Asked about the White House budget office’s warning to House Republicans that permanent layoffs of federal workers would take effect in “one to two” days, Jeffries argued that this is just a continuation of what the Trump administration has been doing since the start of President Donald Trump’s term.
“These are all things that the Trump administration has been doing since January 20th. The mass firings of federal workers – Trump administration has been engaging in this since January 20th,” he said.
He added later, “So all this talk that we see right now, as if it had anything to do with the shutdown that Republicans have caused. No, it’s their ideology. Cruelty is the point when it comes to the Republican Party.”
Jeffries wouldn’t say if he feels personally targeted by the White House budget office’s decision to freeze billions in federal funding for infrastructure work in New York City.
“It’s shameful, but it’s very consistent with the Trump administration’s track record of failing on the economy and targeting working class Americans,” he said.
Senate Democrats show no signs of buckling under threats of mass layoffs, citing them as inevitable
Senate Democrats are showing no wavering in their stance in the face of threats from the White House of mass federal firings during the shutdown, saying President Trump would have done it anyway.
Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego told CNN’s Manu Raju that the threats from the administration do not have any effect since the administration has implemented cuts to the federal workforce regardless of congressionally appropriated money.
“There’s been, there’s been budgets all year these guys haven’t listened to,” Gallego said, slamming cuts to the Department of Education, adding, “So their threat doesn’t work on me.”
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he believes the momentum in the caucus is in favor of “standing resolutely and strongly in favor of saving health care” and while he conceded the shutdown “will be painful,” he said Democrats “need to take a stand.”
Blumenthal said the mass firings threatened by the White House were inevitable under this administration.
“This administration is boundlessly cruel and, and they have threatened maximum pain, but that’s they’re doing and they will do it regardless of whether there’s a shut down, they’ve done layoffs before, and they will continue them unless we take a strong stand and show, we will not be bullied,” said Blumenthal.
White House continues amplifying racist, vulgar AI video of Jeffries and Schumer
The White House is again using screens inside the briefing room to troll Democrats on the shutdown, this time, amplifying a vulgar and racist, AI-generated video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer first posted by President Donald Trump on Monday.
The video began playing on loop from the briefing room this afternoon.
The video depicts Jeffries in a sombrero and mustache and Schumer arguing for undocumented immigrants to get “free healthcare,” among other expletives describing Democrats, with the Mexican song “Jarabe Tapatío” playing in the background.
Vice President JD Vance earlier denied that the video was racist, saying, “The president’s joking, and we’re having a good time.”
