Voters head to the polls in key elections that pose early test of Trump’s presidency

A top House Republican said today that he is open to an emerging spending compromise in the Senate to end the government shutdown.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters that the chamber would return swiftly to Washington whenever the Senate is able to find a path to end the shutdown.

Asked about the possible Senate compromise measures, Scalise seemed open to attaching them to the short-term funding bill, which would be a different approach than the standalone stopgap that the House initially passed.

What’s different in this stopgap is the package of full-year bills, which would include more money and policy wins for both parties.

“It all is going to be dependent on the Democrats finally being willing to end their tantrum, stop holding the American people hostage. So we’ve been ready to go. Those bills are ready to go,” Scalise said.

On whether House would hold a vote on Affordable Care Act subsidies, Scalise did not commit to another piece of that emerging compromise.

Senate Republicans and Democrats have discussed holding a vote in their chamber on a yet-to-be-drafted Obamacare compromise bill. Asked if the House would hold a vote on that bill if it passed the Senate, Scalise was noncommittal.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, stressed that he would not support a December end-date for the next stopgap.

“We’re not doing that. Putting it into January makes sense. But we’ve obviously got to build consensus about this,” Johnson said.

Voters wait in line to fill out their ballots at a polling site in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

All three main candidates in New York City’s mayoral race have now voted, with Democratic contender Zohran Mamdani and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo casting their ballots this morning. Republican hopeful Curtis Sliwa voted during the early voting period.

Some voters in Manhattan weighed in on candidates’ experience and age when deciding who to vote for in the mayoral race today.

Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, several threats were made against polling places in the state this morning, according to officials, prompting law enforcement reaction and some polls to close temporarily. The threats were determined to be non-credible.

Heading down the Interstate 95 corridor to Washington, DC, negotiations are starting to rev up on Capitol Hill as the country barrels toward what could become the longest government shutdown in history tomorrow.

Talks over reopening the government are focused on putting together a funding package and giving Democrats a standalone vote to extend expiring enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, according to sources familiar with the high-stakes negotiations.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats once again blocked Republicans’ stopgap funding bill from advancing in a 54 to 44 vote.

President Donald Trump today threatened to withhold critical food aid until the government shutdown is over, despite his administration’s assertion to a court earlier this week that it would continue funding partial benefits.

Senate Democrats again blocked Republicans’ stopgap funding bill from advancing in a 54 to 44 vote.

Republicans need 60 votes to advance the bill that would fund the government through late November.

Three senators in the Democratic caucus voted with most Republicans. They were:

GOP Sen. Rand Paul voted against advancing the measure.

William Guzman speaks to CNN on Tuesday.

William Guzman smiled as he walked out of a school in Passaic, New Jersey, this morning after casting a ballot for Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic candidate in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race.

“I always vote (for the Democratic Party),” Guzman told CNN, speaking in Spanish. “The Democrats help poor people a lot. They give a lot of help,” he added. “Republicans take away help that the people need.”

But another voter in Passaic had a differing view of the political landscape. Local resident Cesar Taveras saying he voted for Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli for governor.

He said he thought Ciattarelli’s policies would help smaller communities in New Jersey.

Passaic County had the largest 2020 to 2024 shift in New Jersey from Joe Biden to Donald Trump, and it has the largest Latino share of the population of any New Jersey county.

If Democrats hope to take the governorship, they likely need to stop Republicans from making inroads with Latino voters in these areas.

Speaking to CNN today, another resident, Maria Casas, said she voted for Sherrill shortly after arriving home from a visit to Peru to see her mother.

She scheduled her return trip to make sure she’d be able to cast her ballot.

El Recuerdo Market manager Cecilia Benitez sets up a "EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) Accepted Here," banner in Los Angeles on October 31.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to withhold critical food aid until the government shutdown is over, despite his administration’s assertion to a court earlier this week that it would continue funding partial benefits.

The benefits provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program “will be given only when those Radical Left Democrats open up the government, which they can easily do, and not before!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The post comes a day after the administration said it would abide by a court order and tap a roughly $5 billion contingency fund to keep partial benefits flowing into November.

Trump officials had previously planned to cut off the benefits, citing concerns over whether they could legally use the contingency fund or move money from other accounts. Though the court indicated that the administration could do both to fully fund the more than $9 billion of aid, officials opted only to use the contingency fund to pay out partial benefits.

Senators are now voting on a short-term government funding proposal from the Republican Party.

The House-passed stopgap bill would fund the government through November 21. It does not address Democrats’ health care demands.

The measure needs 60 votes to advance, meaning Republicans would need Democrats to sign on.

The Capitol is reflected in a window as people visit the Washington Monument on Sunday.

Negotiations are starting to rev up on Capitol Hill as we barrel toward the longest government shutdown in history. Here’s where things stand:

What is under discussion? A group of Republican and Democratic members are coalescing around a possible off-ramp, according to multiple people familiar. It would include a new short-term continuing resolution, or CR, which would likely fund the government through January, and a three-bill minibus, essentially a package of three full-year bills. (Democrats like this because it includes language to rein in Trump’s power to override Congress’s spending abilities, and it has more money for government programs than a CR.) Then, in the coming weeks, there would be a separate vote on a bipartisan, yet-to-be-drafted bill on the Affordable Care Act, which has been a critical sticking point for Democrats in negotiations. The precise timeline is still up for debate.

Next steps: A small group of Senate Democrats involved in these talks is expected to discuss outlines of this emerging “deal” in today’s Senate Democratic lunch, the sources said. This will be a big test of the party appetite for a deal that does not immediately resolve the Obamacare subsidies cliff. Reaction from the luncheon — as well as today’s election — could determine whether this deal happens.

Will Democrats say yes? Democrats know they will struggle to sell this “deal,” especially in the House where the ACA bill may never make it to the floor. And they acknowledge they may not actually get an ACA fix passed through Congress without enormous Trump pressure.

If Democrats do take this off ramp, they’ll have to convince voters that they tried as hard as they could to protect Obamacare but were stymied by Republicans — and then use it as a political cudgel in the midterms to take back control of Congress. One person familiar with the discussions said there’s still a lengthy list of decision points to work through, including the duration of the next stopgap, the actual substance of the three “minibus” bills, safeguards on how to protect Congress’ power of the purse from Trump, and potentially undoing the shutdown-induced layoffs known as RIFs.

Zohran Mamdani and his wife Rama Duwaji arrive at a polling site in New York to vote on Tuesday.

Zohran Mamdani arrived at a school gym blocks away from his apartment in Queens, NY, with his wife early this morning to vote to kick off Election Day, later speaking to reporters about President Donald Trump’s threats to cut funding to the city.

Asked at the polling station how he felt about the long campaign being over, Mamdani told CNN, “We still got until 9 p.m., brother.”

Speaking to reporters at a playground a few blocks away after, Mamdani was first pressed on whether he sees his margin of victory — including whether he clears 50% if he wins — as determining if he has a mandate. “I believe that victory is a mandate in and of itself,” he said.

Asked to reflect on skeptics who see him at 34 as too inexperienced to run the city, the candidate said, “I get older every day. I think more about New Yorkers than I do about anything beyond our five boroughs and I look forward to fulfilling the hope that New Yorkers have put in me and earning the trust of those who voted for another candidate or didn’t vote at all.”

Mamdani was also pressed on what Trump has already said about cutting off funding to New York and making other moves against the city if the candidate the president has repeatedly pushed for, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, does not prevail.

He closed his brief remarks by saying, “I will not be intimidated by this president.”

Andrew Cuomo leaves his polling place in Manhattan after voting on Tuesday.

New York City mayoral candidate and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is attempting a political comeback as an independent, arrived at his polling place in Manhattan to vote shortly after 10 a.m. ET.

“I’m feeling very good. I feel the momentum is on our side,” Cuomo said after casting his vote.

When asked about President Donald Trump urging New Yorkers to vote for him, Cuomo said, “The president does not support me. The president opposes Zohran Mamdani. The president believes Zohran Mamdani is a communist. He believes he’s an existential threat.”

“I believe he’s a socialist and an existential threat, and not a ‘dress up socialist,’” Cuomo said of the Democratic candidate. “(In) their school of socialism, … government controls the means of production, no private ownership of real estate, abolish jails, decriminalize prostitution — this is frightening stuff, and I think that’s why you’re seeing New Yorkers react and New Yorkers turn out. I’m offering the exact opposite.”

All three main candidates in the New York City race have now voted, after Mamdani cast his ballot in Queens earlier this morning and Republican hopeful Curtis Sliwa voted during the early voting period.

People wait in a security checkpoint line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Tuesday morning.

We’re focusing a lot on the elections today, but the ongoing government shutdown is still having effects.

As the shutdown drags on, air traffic control staffing problems are causing nearly an hour of delays for flights headed to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

A ground delay program, requiring planes to wait an average delay of 55 minutes to takeoff, was implemented due to short staffing in the control tower, according to the 10 a.m. ET Federal Aviation Administration operations update.

The FAA also reported a staffing problem at the facility that controls flights approaching or departing Newark Liberty International until 11 a.m. ET.

Since the start of the government shutdown, there are 412 separate reports of staffing problems that required the FAA to take action to maintain safe operations, including delaying or rerouting flights — a total of more than four times what was seen on the same days last year. Air traffic controllers are considered essential staff and must work during the government shutdown, despite not getting paid.

Meanwhile, Transportation Security Administration staffing problems have caused delays at checkpoints at some airports. Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport has closed one checkpoint and warned travelers that screening today would take up to 75 minutes.

The shutdown hit the 35th day mark today, tying the record for the longest in the nation’s history. Thousands of federal employees are impacted, including air traffic controllers and TSA agents.

Voters are hitting the polls today, including in locations with the most high-profile races — New York City, New Jersey and Virginia — but also elsewhere around the country.

Take a look:

A voter fills out his ballot at a polling site in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

People vote at in the gymnasium at the Kennedy School in Pontiac, Michigan.

Voters fill out their ballots in Brooklyn.

Voters cast their ballots in the early morning at a high school in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Keyra Hollinger, a supporter of Miami City Commission District 5 candidate Christine King, sits outside of a poling place in Miami.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey fills out his ballot with his daughters Freida and Estelle in Minneapolis.

An election worker hands a voter his ballot at Alexandria City Hall in Alexandria, Virginia.

President Donald Trump has a message for Jewish New Yorkers who back the city’s Democratic mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani: They’re “stupid​” people.

Trump’s comments come a day after he urged New Yorkers to vote for former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent. Trump, a Queens native, has long complained about Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, and falsely labeled him a communist.

Some Jewish New Yorkers have voiced concerns about Mamdani’s history of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activism. In more recent months, Mamdani has tempered some of his most controversial positions and tried to reassure Jewish voters worried about antisemitic attacks.

During the president’s 2024 campaign, Trump often said that Jewish Americans who considered voting for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris “should have their head examined.” At an antisemitism event in September 2024, Trump said Jewish voters would bare some blame if he lost the election.

Affordability message: Shortly after Trump’s post about Mamdani, the president also posted a message to voters concerned about affordability, one of the Democratic nominee’s key appeals.

“VOTE REPUBLICAN! Energy costs, as and example, are plummeting - Getting close to 2 Dollar a gallon gasoline,” Trump wrote.

Gas prices in New York are at $3.10 a gallon and $3.05 nationally, according to AAA.

Vice President Dick Cheney in October 2008.

The White House lowered flags to half-staff at 9:47 a.m. ET on the day former Vice President Dick Cheney’s death was announced. An official proclamation has not yet been released.

President Donald Trump has yet to weigh in on Cheney’s death. CNN has reached out to the White House about the former vice president’s death.

Flags on federal buildings, grounds and facilities are required to fly at half-staff for 10 days from the day of death for a vice president of the United States, under Proclamation 3044.

In his final years, Cheney, a hardline conservative, became largely ostracized from his party over his intense criticism of Trump, whom he branded a “coward” and the greatest-ever threat to the republic.

Cheney cast his final vote in a presidential election in 2024 for a liberal Democrat — and fellow member of the vice president’s club — Kamala Harris.

This post has been updated with additional information.

People vote at a polling site in Manhattan on Tuesday.

We’re hearing from voters at a polling location on the Upper West Side of Manhattan who are weighing in on candidates’ experience and age when deciding who to vote for in New York City’s mayoral race today.

Glory Missan, a 91-year-old lifelong New Yorker, told CNN’s Jason Carroll that she voted for Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani.

“I love his ideas for education, for housing, for busing — all his concepts and his feeling for humanity,” Missan said. She also believes that Mamdani would be “great” and is capable of handling President Donald Trump.

David James, who also cast his ballot for Mamdani, told CNN: “I’d like to see someone my own age, you know, up there talking and fighting for us.”

But voter DeWayne Jackson, who cast his vote for independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, said:

John Lopez, who also cast his ballot for the former governor, said experience was a deciding factor. “He has more experience than anyone that’s on the ballot,” Lopez said. “I think he should have a second chance to redeem himself for the people.”

Jack Ciattarelli meets with supporters in Westfield, New Jersey, on Saturday.

Vice President JD Vance urged New Jersey voters to support Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli and criticized the current leadership of the state.

Vance’s post comes one day after President Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to turn out to vote for Ciattarelli, saying he would focus on “saving New Jersey, making it great again.”

Though he criticized Trump in the past, Ciattarelli has embraced the president in this campaign as hopes to build on the gains Trump made in the state in the 2024 election.

Ciattarelli is running against Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill. Take a closer look here at both candidates.

Zohran Mamdani holds his ballot and privacy sleeve after voting in the Queens borough of New York City on Tuesday.

New York’s unusual ballot design is drawing attention from conservatives on social media, but despite posts from Elon Musk and others, there’s nothing nefarious about it.

The order of independent candidates on the ballot is determined by first-come-first-served, and some candidates appear twice because of New York state’s unusual “fusion voting” system.

In a post on X, Musk posted a picture of a New York City ballot, calling it a “scam” because former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s name only appears once, toward the bottom right, while some other candidates appear twice.

Under the New York City Board of Elections’ guidelines, the order of independent candidates is determined by the order in which they file.

New York also uses “fusion voting” in which candidates can be the nominee of multiple parties at once. This allows voters to support their preferred candidate without having to vote for a major party.

State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary, so he appears on the Democratic Party line, but he’s also the nominee of the progressive Working Families Party. Voters can vote for him on either line (but not both) and when the votes are counted, Mamdani’s total will include both lines.

This is quite common in New York: Last year, former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on both ballot lines, while President Donald Trump appeared on both the Republican and the Conservative Party lines.

Cuomo’s name appears once because he lost the Democratic primary and is only running as an independent candidate on his own “Fight and Deliver” line.

The other candidate who appears twice is Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa — who is also running on the “Protect Animals” line.

Talks over reopening the government are focused on putting together a funding package and giving Democrats a stand-alone vote to extend expiring enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, according to sources familiar with the high-stakes negotiations.

But given that there is no guarantee that an extension of the ACA subsidies will pass the Senate – much less the House — it’s unclear whether enough Democrats will accept that proposal to reopen the government, the sources said. So it is bound to prompt sharp division among Democrats about whether a vote is enough after the damaging consequences of the shutdown standoff.

As part of the potential deal, the Senate will have to vote on a new, short-term stopgap bill to reopen the government. But Republicans are sharply divided about how long to extend the funding deadline — whether to do so right before Christmas or kick it into the new year.

The deal would also include a pathway to move ahead with three bills to fund major agencies of the federal government through next September.

Senators believe it’s possible the deal could be reached this week, but there’s still uncertainty about whether they can get there.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Tokyo on October 27.

President Donald Trump renewed his call for Republican senators to eliminate the filibuster to end the government shutdown and pass their desired policies into law, arguing that Democrats will have the advantage in the midterms and the 2028 presidential election if the GOP doesn’t act.

“The Democrats are far more likely to win the Midterms, and the next Presidential Election, if we don’t do the Termination of the Filibuster (The Nuclear Option!), because it will be impossible for Republicans to get Common Sense Policies done with these Crazed Democrat Lunatics being able to block everything by withholding their votes,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “FOR THREE YEARS, NOTHING WILL BE PASSED, AND REPUBLICANS WILL BE BLAMED. Elections, including the Midterms, will be rightfully brutal. If we do terminate the Filibuster, we will get EVERYTHING approved, like no Congress in History.”

Ending the Senate filibuster would mean bills could move through the Senate with a simple majority. But Republican Senators, including Leader John Thune, have signaled they are not willing to do it, fearful of what could happen when they’re not in power.

Trump predicted that Democrats “are going to end the Filibuster as soon as they get the chance,” warning that they would take steps to pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices if they returned to power. He noted two critical senators who opposed such a move in the past – Kristen Sinema and Joe Manchin, who caucused with Democrats – are no longer in the Senate.

“TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER NOW, END THE RIDICULOUS SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATELY, AND THEN, MOST IMPORTANTLY, PASS EVERY WONDERFUL REPUBLICAN POLICY THAT WE HAVE DREAMT OF, FOR YEARS, BUT NEVER GOTTEN. WE WILL BE THE PARTY THAT CANNOT BE BEATEN - THE SMART PARTY!!!” Trump wrote.

A police officer responds to Columbus Elementary School in Lodi, New Jersey, where a polling place was evacuated because of a bomb threat on Tuesday.

Several threats were made against polling places across New Jersey this morning, according to state officials, prompting law enforcement reaction and some polls to close temporarily.

In a statement, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way said law enforcement has “investigated and determined that there are no credible threats at this time.”

According to the NJ Attorney General’s Office, threatening emails were received at polling places in Bergen, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Passaic counties.

“Law enforcement officers have responded at each affected polling place, and they have worked swiftly to secure these polling locations and ensure the safety of every voter,” said NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

Following the threats, Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba said in a post on X that her team is monitoring the situation, adding, “we will ensure all voters can exercise their right to vote today in a safe manner.”

State officials urged residents to call 911 if they notice any suspicious activity.

On Election Day 2024, non-credible bomb threats disrupted voting in several states, including Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona and Pennsylvania. Some of those threats appeared “to originate from Russian email domains,” the FBI said at the time.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Zohran Mamdani votes in New York on Tuesday.

Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani arrived at his polling place at a high school in Astoria, Queens, to vote around 8 a.m. ET.

Mamdani was accompanied by his wife Rama Duwaji, who also voted.