Oct. 10, 2025 - Government shutdown updates

Our live coverage of the federal government shutdown has ended for the day. Get the latest here.

Staffers in numerous divisions of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received reduction in force notifications late Friday, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Notices went out to some workers in the following CDC offices:

The National Parks Conservation Association is sounding the alarm over potential layoffs at the National Park Service amid the federal government shutdown.

Most park rangers are absent from the parks due to furloughs, Stierli said. Due to safety concerns and worries about possible vandalism, trash buildup and other damage, the NPCA believes all national parks should be completely closed during the government shutdown.

Many parks are accessible to visitors on foot, but at some parks in the mid-Atlantic region, that situation has presented problems in recent days.

The road to the visitor center of Great Falls Park is closed in Virginia on October 3 2025.

At Great Falls Park in northern Virginia, visitors’ centers and other services remain shuttered, Stierli said. Last week, CNN observed park-goers at Great Falls parking their vehicles illegally along a narrow road leading to the closed park entrance and parking lot.

Stierli said without furloughed park rangers there to monitor visitors, many park-goers could put themselves in danger by climbing on rock formations atop cliffs over the Potomac River — and risk falling into dangerous rapids below.

CNN reached out to the National Park Service for comment.

The Interior Department’s press office said in a statement, “The National Park Service will continue to keep parks as accessible as possible during the lapse in appropriations. Critical functions that protect life, property, and public health will remain in place, including visitor access in many locations, law enforcement, and emergency response.”

Two additional Federal Aviation Administration facilities are short-staffed Friday evening, according to an FAA operations update, bringing the total number impacted to 12 for the day.

The 8 p.m. ET operations plan includes additional staffing warnings for New York’s Air Route Traffic Control Center until 11 p.m. and the facility that handles flights approaching and departing Chicago until 1 a.m. ET.

The reasons for the short staffing are not clear, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday that a “small fraction” of controllers were “lashing out” because of the government shutdown and not going to work.

Facilities currently impacted

Earlier impacts that are no longer current

The view from Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, on November 5, 2016.

Some services at some of the most popular national parks in the mid-Atlantic region are re-opening, according to a parks advocacy organization, just in time for one of the busiest weekends of the year.

On Skyline Drive in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, two bustling facilities, the Dickey Ridge and Harry F. Byrd Sr. Visitors Centers, are re-opening, along with park stores, restaurants and bathrooms, said Ed Stierli, Mid-Atlantic senior regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, a non-partisan advocacy group.

Both visitors’ centers have been closed until now amid the federal government shutdown. Stierli said the re-openings of some facilities are being funded by advocacy groups, private donations and in some cases, state money.

Other parks in the region are also re-opening some facilities and services. At Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, visitors’ centers, bathrooms and shuttle bus operations are re-opening under the same arrangements, according to Stierli.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced last week that his state was the “first state in the nation” to sign a donor agreement with the National Park Service to “fully re-open its national parks amid the federal government shutdown.” The Gettysburg Foundation is paying for the visitors’ center and museum at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania to stay open, Stierli said.

At Shenandoah National Park, “the gates are still wide open,” Stierli said, but staff are not collecting entrance fees and are warning people that services such as emergency response could be slowed.

Local leaders of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association spoke about the importance of air traffic controllers continuing to show up to work in a video message published on the tenth day of the federal government shutdown.

“Even though some aspects of the government may shut down, we never do,” Vanesa Hess, Facility Vice President at Denver Center, said in the video.

Patrick James, a facility president at Kansas City Center, said it was “vitally important” for air traffic controllers to “continue to show up to work and maintain the safe skies the American people deserve.”

“I urge you – if you’re fit for duty, continue to serve the American flying public,” Alex Cisneros, facility president at Southern California TRACON, said in the video message.

In a separate video released Friday, the head of NATCA urged elected officials to end the federal shutdown and pushed back on the “persistent false narrative that air traffic controllers somehow control its outcome.”

“Let me be clear: air traffic controllers did not start this shutdown, and we will not be responsible for ending it,” NATCA president Nick Daniels said in a video statement Friday.

NATCA represents nearly 11,000 certified Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers and more than 3,300 trainees, according to the organization.

He thanked air traffic controllers for their “unwavering professionalism.”

“You are highly trained, highly skilled, and uniquely positioned to make sure that the system remains the safest and most efficient in the world,” Daniels said. “You remain the unsung heroes of the aviation system even as you work without a paycheck with no clear end in sight.”

US President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House, on Friday.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he plans to fire “a lot” of federal workers in retaliation for the government shutdown, vowing to target those deemed to be aligned with the Democratic Party.

“It’ll be a lot of people,” he said from the Oval Office. “I must tell you, a lot of them happen to be Democrat oriented.”

Trump did not specify how many workers would be laid off as part of the reduction in force that his administration announced earlier in the day, nor did he provide details on what qualified them as “Democrat oriented.”

The Trump administration revealed in a court filing this evening that more than 4,000 federal employees were laid off today.

Trump blamed Democratic lawmakers for the cuts, arguing that their refusal to reopen the government forced his administration’s hand.

“These are people that the Democrats wanted that, in many cases, were not appropriate,” Trump said. “We fought them at the time and it was ultimately signed in, and some of these people— these are largely people that the Democrats want. Many of them will be fired.”

The Trump administration revealed in a court filing that more than 4,000 federal employees were given layoff notices today across seven departments.

Here are the number of employees given notices at each department:

The filing came in a lawsuit in California brought by federal unions fighting efforts to lay off employees during the government shutdown.

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced today that she signed a measure to resume marriage license issuances, which were paused due to the federal government shutdown.

“The LOVE Act of 2025 is officially signed into law,” Bowser said in a post on X. “DC marriage licenses have been on pause during the federal shutdown—but starting Tuesday, we will be able to issue them ourselves.”

While marriage license issuances were suspended, DC residents were still able to obtain certified copies of marriage certificates, according to the DC courts website.

During the 2018-2019 shutdown, DC passed a similar measure to allow the city to issue marriage licenses.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Thursday.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski criticized the Trump administration’s moves to lay off federal workers during the shutdown, calling the action “poorly timed” and punishing for the federal workforce.

“While few details have been shared about Russell Vought’s latest layoffs, there is no question this is poorly timed and yet another example of this administration’s punitive actions toward the federal workforce,” Murkowski posted on X.

“The termination of federal employees in a shutdown will further hurt hard-working Americans who have dedicated their lives to public service and jeopardize agency missions once we finally re-open the government,” the Alaska Republican added.

Murkowski is the second Republican senator to question the Trump administration’s mass layoff plan, joining GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

The Alaska senator previously told CNN she worried about the “uncertainty” the threat of mass layoffs posed to her state.

Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, who represent a large federal workforce in Virginia, blasted the Trump administration’s move to fire federal workers during a shutdown, accusing the administration of using “public servants as pawns.”

“Donald Trump and Russ Vought are once again showing us exactly who they are: reckless ideologues willing to inflict real pain on hardworking Americans to score political points,” they wrote in a statement. “Now, in the middle of a shutdown manufactured by Republicans – who control the House, the Senate, and the White House – they’re doubling down by laying off federal workers, turning their own failure to govern into a direct attack on the people who keep this country running and jeopardizing vital government services.”

“Let’s be very clear: this is not an unfortunate byproduct of the government shutdown, but a deliberate choice,” they said. “It’s irresponsible, it’s cruel, and it won’t work. It’s time for Republicans in Congress to end this shutdown and work with us to keep health care affordable for all Americans.”

Empty chairs sit underneath an airplane painting at the TWA hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in the Queens borough of New York on Friday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy he will not allow air traffic controllers to use their position as a “bludgeon” for political purposes, including calling out sick during the government shutdown.

There has been a shortage of air traffic controllers for years, so even a small number of unscheduled absences can lead to delayed flights

“When we have small sick outs, if you will, it has massive impacts on the airspace,” the secretary said in an interview with Scripps News yesterday. “We can’t be held hostage, anywhere in government or in our lives, with people who are going to use their positions as a bludgeon.”

Controllers are considered essential employees and are required to work during the shutdown, but they are not currently being paid.

Duffy noted most controllers are “great people,” but he reiterated his commitment to fire the “small few” who chose not to come to work to protest the shutdown.

“If they’re sick, they’re sick. I’m fine with that. But if they’re not showing up to work, and they’re calling out for other reasons, and it’s coordinated and they collaborate on it, I don’t want those people working in air traffic,” he said. “I’m not going to have them leverage our system, our air travel system, for political benefit. I don’t like it, and so I’m willing to make changes that are necessary so that doesn’t happen again in the future.”

In the first part of the year, about 5% of delays were caused by problems with air traffic controller staffing, but now that number is greater than half, Duffy said.

Sen. Susan Collins at the Senate Subway on Thursday.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she “strongly” opposes the White House’s decision to conduct layoffs of furloughed workers while placing blame for the shutdown on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“I strongly oppose OMB Director Russ Vought’s attempt to permanently lay off federal workers who have been furloughed due to a completely unnecessary government shutdown caused by Senator Schumer,” Collins said in a statement.

“Regardless of whether federal employees have been working without pay or have been furloughed, their work is incredibly important to serving the public,” she added. “Arbitrary layoffs result in a lack of sufficient personnel needed to conduct the mission of the agency and to deliver essential programs, and cause harm to families in Maine and throughout our country.”

Collins was one of several Republican senators to express unease with the White House threats of mass firings, previously saying federal workers “should not be treated as pawns” in the funding fight.

How will you know if you’ve been laid off?

It’s a question on the minds of many federal government workers after the Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced on X: “The RIFs have begun.”

Furloughed employees are only allowed to access their email in limited cases. For many, it’s a violation of federal law to work during shutdowns.

It’s called the Antideficiency Act, which is the federal law that governs shutdowns. Before every shutdown, employees are reminded of the act’s ban on accepting voluntary services. Even if employees who are not deemed essential would like to keep working, they can’t do so for free without violating the statute.

“So I guess we won’t find out we’re laid off until after the shutdown ends?” one federal worker from the Department of Agriculture told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid violating office policy.

Administration officials said employees impacted by the layoffs will also be notified by the US Postal Service, which still operates during the government shutdown.

The White House said furloughed employees can use government-issued equipment for purposes related to a shutdown, which include “checking for any Reduction in Force (RIF) updates.”

Charlie Kirk hands out hats before speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10.

President Donald Trump is expected to award Charlie Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom next week on what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday, three sources familiar with the event told CNN.

It was not immediately clear how Trump’s plans to travel to the Middle East would impact this.

The event is expected to take place next Tuesday, October 14.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport joined the list of places dealing with short staffing at Federal Aviation Facilities.

The airport will not have its normal number of staff in its control tower from 9 p.m. ET tonight until 1 a.m. ET tomorrow, but it is already experiencing delays of 30 to 60 minutes due to staffing shortages in the facility that operates the surrounding airspace. The Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center, which manages flights over a large portion of the US Southwest, is short staffed until 3 p.m. ET.

Earlier today, delays were reported at Newark Liberty International Airport due to short staffing in a Philadelphia facility that handles flights approaching or departing the New Jersey airport.

The reasons for the short staffing are not clear, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday that a “small fraction” of controllers were “lashing out” because of the government shutdown and not going to work.

A Department of Education spokesperson tells CNN “some” of its employees will be impacted by the reduction in force announced by the White House budget chief Friday.

The spokesperson would not detail how many employees would be impacted by the RIF, nor when the layoffs will happen.

The Department of Education has already gone through a significant reduction in force since the start of the second Trump term, cutting nearly 50% of its workforce in March.

The US Department of Health and Human Services building in Washington, DC, on March 27.

The US Health and Human Services Department began layoffs across its sprawling bureaucracy on Friday, targeting employees that were deemed “non-essential” workers during the shutdown, an HHS spokesman told CNN.

“HHS employees across multiple divisions have received reduction-in-force notices as a direct consequence of the Democrat-led government shutdown,” the spokesman said in a statement. “All HHS employees receiving reduction-in-force notices were designated non-essential by their respective divisions.”

HHS declined to say how many workers were being fired or in what offices. But two people familiar with the planning told CNN that officials had earlier discussed plans to target for significant cuts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as two smaller HHS agencies: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Administrations are not required to carry out firings when government funding lapses, and the layoffs initiated by the Trump administration are separate from the furloughs that occur when government funding runs out.

In his statement, the HHS spokesman vowed that officials would continue “to close wasteful and duplicative entities, including those that are at odds with the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.”

A House Democrat attempted and failed to gain recognition on the floor Friday to advance legislation guaranteeing pay for US troops during the shutdown.

Rep. Sarah Elfreth of Maryland tried to seek unanimous consent during a pro forma session to advance a bill that would continue funding troops’ salaries. But the Republican congressman who was presiding over the session, Rep. Mike Bost, gaveled out without recognizing her.

House Democrats have made a concerted effort during the shutdown to show up to pro forma sessions to raise attention to issues the House isn’t considering while lawmakers work​ in their districts.

As the government shutdown has dragged on without the Senate able to reach a deal to fund the government, the House has been holding brief “pro forma” sessions where the chamber is quickly gaveled out and is not engaged in legislative business.

Elfreth told reporters Friday she thought Democrats would continue to attend the pro forma sessions. “I think the American people want us to be here and work and not be home during this crisis,” she said.

House GOP leaders said repeatedly this week they believe the best path for guaranteeing troops’ pay is passing Republicans’ stopgap funding measure that passed the House but has been blocked in the Senate.

Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Friday they also believed the Trump administration was exploring other ways to guarantee troop pay, though neither elaborated further.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, left, speaks at a press conference alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Friday.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “checked out,” indicating he does not plan to meet with him in the coming days and arguing that the shutdown will end when more Democrats break with their party and vote for the House-passed stopgap funding bill.

“I think leader Schumer is checked out,” he said, when asked if he planned to meet with Schumer soon.

“I don’t think this is going to happen – I think this is going to happen organically, with enough reasonable Senate Democrats who care enough about doing the right thing for their country, and not what’s in the best interest of their left-wing political chiefs, to come forward and help us find a solution, and those conversations continue.”

Thune acknowledged that there are some Democrats discussing options for an offramp out of the shutdown with Republicans, but insisted that the first step to any deal on health care subsidies must be that the government reopens.

“The Democrats who are interested in that sort of some sort of pathway on that need to again come to their senses and vote to open the government,” added Thune.

The Senate GOP leader also firmly dismissed the idea of blowing up the Senate filibuster in order to pass their short-term spending bill with a simple majority.

“The supermajority requirement is something that makes the Senate the Senate,” he said.