What we're covering
• Ongoing impasse: Senate Democrats blocked a GOP-led bill to pay workers who are deemed essential during the shutdown from advancing today. Many Democrats have said they want to pass a bill that pays all federal workers, including those on furlough, though GOP leadership has thrown cold water on that proposal. Today’s vote comes a day before millions are set to miss their first full paychecks of the shutdown.
• Trump’s agenda today: President Donald Trump is slated to tout the results of his administration’s immigration and crime crackdown at the White House this afternoon as his push to deploy the National Guard in Democratic-led cities faces multiple legal challenges.
• Tensions with Russia: As Trump prepares to depart for his high-stakes Asia trip, his administration’s actions abroad continue to make news. The White House said the latest set of sanctions against Russia will apply “a lot” of pressure on Moscow, suggesting Trump could eventually decide to ramp up the measures.
GOP Sen. Johnson says he'll work with Democrats on compromise bill to pay federal workers
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson said he intends to work out differences with key Democrats this weekend on a bill to pay federal workers throughout the shutdown, which he predicted could pass as soon as next week.
“I just had some great conversations,” Johnson said on Thursday as he emerged from a bipartisan lunch, telling reporters he’s open to including provisions to pay furloughed federal workers and to assert some congressional authority over cuts to the federal workforce.
“I don’t want to completely constrain the president, but I don’t mind making sure that Congress has a say in this as well,” he said.
Johnson said his team intends to reach out to staff for Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Gary Peters, who were each blocked from putting forward bills to guarantee pay for all federal workers on Thursday. The Wisconsin Republican’s own bill to ensure paychecks throughout the shutdown for essential federal workers failed to advance after all but three Senate Democrats voted against it.
Van Hollen told reporters that he and his team “look forward” to sitting down with Johnson, laying out that his key concern about the GOP-led bill is that there aren’t enough guardrails on President Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought.
White House warns shutdown putting SNAP benefits at risk
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned Thursday that key federal food assistance benefits are on the verge of running out, but she stopped short of saying the administration would cover the funding shortfall.
Leavitt cast the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as the latest casualty of the government shutdown, blaming Democrats for a lapse in benefits for low-income families in some states beginning in the coming days.
“If Democrats continue to hold Americans hostage, there will not be enough funds to provide SNAP benefits for more than 40 million Americans on November 1,” she said during a White House press briefing.
Leavitt later said the administration would support legislation led by GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri funding SNAP for the duration of the shutdown. But she did not address whether the government was open to funding SNAP itself, similar to its earlier decision to redirect millions of dollars to a separate nutrition assistance program benefiting women, infants and children, that was at risk of closing.
“The administration would absolutely support that legislation,” Leavitt said of the Hawley-led bill. “But the bill that will get everyone paid and put everyone back to work is the clean continuing resolution. That’s what the president and Republicans want to see.”
White House says new Russia sanctions will apply "a lot" of pressure
A new set of sanctions of Russia will apply “a lot” of pressure on Moscow, the White House said Thursday, suggesting President Donald Trump could eventually decide to ramp up the measures.
“If you read the sanctions and look at them, they’re pretty hefty,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing, citing reports that China and India — the largest buyers of Russian oil — were scaling back their purchases.
“It’s full court press for sure, and we expect that these sanctions are going to do harm,” she said.
A day earlier, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies as it called on Moscow to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
Asked whether additional sanctions could come down the line, Leavitt left the door open.
“I’ll leave that to the president to decide,” she said.
Follow our live coverage of the Ukraine war and US sanctions against Russia.
Army won't let soldiers leave service during government shutdown
Soldiers set to leave the US Army during the government shutdown will instead be involuntarily retained, the Army confirmed to CNN on Thursday.
Personnel who were expected to leave the branch during the shutdown will have their service extended for 45 days. It is not clear how many soldiers are expected to be impacted by the decision.
An Army spokesperson said the move was necessary due to the Antideficiency Act, a law which prohibits the government from incurring unappropriated costs during funding lapses.
“Failure to extend personnel may result in losing access to base, housing, benefits, pay, reimbursement for travel, and household goods shipment,” Army spokesman Maj. Travis Shaw said in a statement. “As an Army priority, the extension is for the Soldier’s and their family’s health and welfare.”
News of the extensions was first reported by Task & Purpose.
Trump-Putin summit scrapped because Russian leader wasn't interested enough in peace, White House says
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN Thursday that President Donald Trump decided to announce new Russia sanctions and call off a planned meeting between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin because he had “not seen enough interest” in “moving the ball forward towards peace” from the Russian side.
“The President has always maintained that he would implement sanctions on Russia when he felt it was appropriate and necessary – and yesterday was that day,” Leavitt told CNN’s Kristen Holmes. “I think the President has also long expressed his frustration with Vladimir Putin, and frankly, both sides of this war, and he’s always said in order to negotiate a good peace deal, both sides need to be interested in a good peace deal.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday, Trump said he’d “canceled” the Putin meeting, adding, “It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get – so I canceled it, but we’ll do it in the future.”
Leavitt added Thursday: “And so, a meeting between these two leaders is not completely off the table – I think the President and the entire administration hopes that one day that can happen again– but we want to make sure that there’s a tangible positive outcome out of that meeting, and that it’s a good use of the President’s time.”
Pressed on if the meeting was canceled after a call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Monday revealed “divergent expectations” between the two leaders, Leavitt said there were other factors at play.
“That was not the sole reason, no,” she told Holmes. “I think the Secretary Rubio felt that was actually a productive call, but again, the President wants to make sure that a meeting between himself and President Putin will be a good use at this time.”
Follow our live coverage of the Ukraine war and the US sanctions against Russia.
The House has been out of session for more than 30 days. Here's what lawmakers say they're up to
CNN caught up with House lawmakers who have been out of session for more than a month. Here’s what they said:
New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks said he’s been spending much of his time on Capitol Hill, focused on strategy sessions with fellow Democrats. “We’re talking among ourselves … about the seriousness of what our mission is — health care for the American people. We’re continuing to strategize on the best ways to move forward so that we can benefit the American people.”
Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern said he’s attended protests and town halls at home. “I’ve been holding numerous town halls. I want to see people face to face, and I think they want to see me face to face. But people are shocked when you tell them that the speaker of the House hasn’t had us in session for over a month.”
Georgia GOP Rep. Rich McCormick said he’s been spending most of his time at home, fielding phone calls and meeting with constituents concerned about the shutdown. “People want to know the truth,” he said of questions he’s received related to Affordable Care Act subsidies. “And when you start to explain that to the American citizens, they get pretty frustrated with the Democrats for misrepresentations.”
Georgia GOP Rep. Mike Collins said almost all of the calls coming into his office in recent weeks have been about the shutdown.
Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio said he’s split his time between his district and DC. “The next paychecks for nearly all federal workers who are going to miss them are going to be zero, which is just a dire reality for a lot of these workers who are showing up doing their job. And so I think there’s frustration about that.”
Photos show entirety of East Wing, including its colonnade, torn down
Photographs by the Associated Press show the entirety of the White House East Wing appears to have been knocked down, as President Donald Trump moves swiftly ahead with plans to construct a massive new ballroom.
The images show the demolition work reaching almost to the main executive mansion, with piles of debris and twisted rebar left behind.
The sections that have been demolished include both the East Wing, where first ladies have maintained their offices for several decades, and the East Colonnade, which connected the wing to the main building.
Trump departs Friday for Malaysia, Japan and South Korea — and high-stakes Xi meeting
President Donald Trump departs Friday evening for his first trip to Asia since taking office in January, with stops in Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea – where he’ll hold a high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first face-to-face meeting with the Chinese leader of his second term.
Per White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump will depart the White House at 11 p.m. Friday for Malaysia, where he’ll meet Sunday with the country’s prime minister before attending the ASEAN leaders working dinner.
On Monday, Trump continues on to Tokyo, Japan, meeting Tuesday morning with newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
On Wednesday, Trump then travels to Busan, Korea, holding a bilateral meeting with President Lee Jae-myung before delivering remarks at the APEC CEO lunch and participating in a US-APEC leaders working dinner.
Capping off the trip Thursday is the much-hyped Xi meeting. Following the bilateral meeting, Trump returns to the US, where he’ll welcome law enforcement, military and foster families to the White House for Halloween.
Sen. Fetterman's message to his party: “Cut the sh*t”
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was frustrated today with his fellow Democratic senators for not joining him in voting for a Republican-led bill to pay essential workers during the ongoing government shutdown.
“Cut the sh*t,” Fetterman told CNN of his message to Democrats.
“I don’t care about who’s winning, who’s losing, you know, who’s going to blink. You know, America loses. And now people like, ‘Where’s our SNAP? Hey, where’s our food coming from?’ You know, that’s not a political game, because that’s just sad,” he added.
Senate Republicans reject Democratic alternatives to pay all federal workers
Two attempts by Senate Democrats to bring forward legislation that would guarantee pay throughout the shutdown to a wider swath of federal workers failed on Thursday.
Just before the vote on GOP Sen. Ron Johnson’s bill to extend paychecks to “essential” federal workers while the government remains shutdown, Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Gary Peters asked for unanimous consent on the Senate floor to advance their own proposals, which were rejected by Republicans.
Van Hollen’s bill would ensure that all federal workers, contractors and service members, including furloughed federal employees, continue to receive paychecks, as well as prohibit firings of federal workers while the government is shutdown.
Peters’ narrower proposal would guarantee pay for all federal workers, military members and contractors during the shutdown.
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski raises concerns around financing of East Wing demolition
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski raised concerns around who is financing the demolition of the East Wing at the White House, telling CNN, “It’s pretty, it’s pretty real. You know, I think we all look at the White House with a sense of pride. This is the people’s house. It’s very special.”
She added, “It needs to be maintained. I get it, but this is more than just maintenance. This is a pretty big expansion, very costly expansion, and it is, again, one that will not be paid for with taxpayer dollars. The president made that very, very clear, but I do have concerns that you have corporate interests that are probably financing it. That has the potential to raise issues.”
Pressed on whether the White House should disclose the donors financing the construction, Murkowski replied, “Well, if you have a major, multimillion dollar donation, I would think the public wants to know that. Wouldn’t you?”
The White House has released a list of donors for Trump’s multi-million-dollar ballroom project. Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Google, Coinbase, Comcast and Meta are just some of the major companies who have made donations to build President Donald Trump’s proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom, according to the White House.
GOP Sen. Hawley pushes for Congress to address health care subsidies, but attacks Democrats for tying it to shutdown
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri pushed for Congress to address expiring enhanced health care subsidies, telling CNN, “I’m not in the ‘hope for the best and watch health care premiums double’ camp,” and said he is ready to work with Democrats on it, though he attacked them for tying the issue to the government shutdown.
“I’ve seen the analysis, I mean if we don’t do anything their premiums are gonna almost double. They’re too high right now. We’re talking about working people. A lot of small businesses now get their insurance on the exchange, their employees. So it’s just, we’ve got to do something. This is totally unaffordable,” he said.
Hawley pushed for reforms to the program, including an income cap, saying, “My view is we can fix those things, but we have to do something.”
He criticized Democrats for tying the expiring subsidies to government funding, saying he has “no idea,” what the two have to do with each other.
“How does that help anybody? That doesn’t help anybody. So I would just, I would say to my Democrat colleagues, stop making people suffer. I mean, real people are suffering right now. Stop this. I mean I don’t get it. Stop that, and we’ll work on the health care thing.”
Hawley insisted he is ready to meet with Democrats, but argued that he can’t get GOP leadership to do the same. “You know, listen, they don’t take my advice. I would just say, for my own part, I’m happy to talk to anybody. But I would also couple that with really, truly, this is not a game.”
Senate Democrats block GOP-led bill to pay "essential" federal workers
Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-led bill to pay “essential” federal workers during the government shutdown from advancing on Thursday in a 54-45 vote.
The bill, introduced by GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, would ensure that federal employees who continue to work through the shutdown keep receiving paychecks, but does not account for furloughed workers. Under federal law, all government employees are guaranteed back pay once the government reopens.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who has voted repeatedly in support of a GOP-led bill to reopen the government, as well as Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia all crossed party lines to support the bill to pay essential workers. In a procedural move, Senate Majority Leader John Thune switched his vote to oppose the bill so that it can be brought up again.
Many Democrats have said they want to pass legislation that pays all federal workers, including those on furlough, through the shutdown, though GOP leadership has thrown cold water on that proposal.
Virginia to fund food stamps if federal support runs dry
Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Thursday that the state will cover the cost of food stamp benefits for hundreds of thousands of its low-income residents starting next month if the federal government’s funds are exhausted amid the shutdown.
Roughly 42 million people are at risk of losing their food stamps in November. It’s not clear whether the Trump administration will step in to find funding to continue supporting SNAP, as it has for other priorities.
Other states, including New York, Texas and Pennsylvania, have said that benefits will be interrupted during the shutdown.
The US Department of Agriculture has asked states to hold off on November payments until further notice. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters last Thursday that the program’s funds would run dry in two weeks.
SNAP has a contingency fund of about $6 billion, but November benefits are expected to total around $8 billion.
Democrats and anti-hunger advocates have pressed the administration to tap the contingency fund and to shift tariff revenue that supports child nutrition programs to cover next month’s food stamp benefits.
Remember: The administration used this revenue to cover WIC benefits for pregnant women, new mothers and young children through October.
Senate voting now on GOP-led bill to pay essential workers during shutdown
The Senate is voting now to advance a bill put forward by Republicans to pay essential federal workers during the government shutdown.
The legislation will need bipartisan support to clear the 60-vote threshold.
The bill, introduced by GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, would ensure that federal employees who continue to work through the shutdown keep receiving paychecks, but does not account for furloughed workers. Under federal law, all government employees are guaranteed back pay once the government reopens.
Many Democrats have said they want to pass legislation that pays all federal workers, including those on furlough, through the shutdown, though GOP leadership has thrown cold water on that proposal.
HHS division temporarily recalls staffers for Medicare and Obamacare open enrollment seasons
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is reinstating roughly 3,000 furloughed workers at a time when millions of Americans will be signing up for Medicare and Affordable Care Act coverage.
“In order to best serve the American people amid the Medicare and Marketplace open enrollment seasons, CMS is temporarily calling back all furloughed employees on Monday, October 27,” the agency said in a statement.
The agency, which oversees Medicare, Obamacare and Medicaid, will draw on user fees it charges to share data with researchers to restore daily operations, according to the agency. The user fee fund will be replenished once Congress approves a spending package for the current fiscal year.
Staffers will be paid after they are recalled but won’t get back pay for the time they were furloughed while the shutdown continues, according to an email to CMS staff obtained by CNN. Details on back pay will be available after the impasse, which began October 1, concludes, the email said. (The Trump administration has called into question a 2019 law that guarantees retroactive compensation for furloughed workers.)
CMS furloughed 47% of its staff, according to the Department of Health and Human Services contingency plan.
Open enrollment for traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans began on October 15 and runs through December 7. People can sign up for Obamacare coverage for 2026 from November 1 through January 15.
Employees were told in the email that some agency activities would remain limited or paused during the shutdown — including certain external communications, new contract awards and official travel.
Democrats want a bipartisan path forward to end shutdown and address GOP "health care crisis,” Jeffries says
Democrats want to reopen the government and “we want do that immediately,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN.
“We want to find a bipartisan path forward toward a spending agreement that actually meets the need of the American people,” Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, as he reiterated his party’s stance of wanting to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits to reopen the government.
He added that Democrats will “continue to stand by hardworking federal employees who have been targeted by this administration from the very beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency,” referencing the mass firings and layoffs of federal employees that happened earlier this year.
Jeffries went on to say that at the same time, “we do need to decisively address the Republican health care crisis that is devastating the American people in so many different ways, all across the country, including in rural America. And one of the things that we need to do with urgency is to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.”
Jeffries also slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson for likening Democrats to “terrorists” and accusing them of holding the American people hostage as the shutdown drags on.
“Well, that type of language is reckless. It’s irresponsible, and it’s going to get someone killed. What do these folks not understand as it relates to the language that they continue to use? We should be able to battle it out in the context of ideas, as opposed to trying to use these extreme terms that have been unleashed on the American people from the very beginning of this presidency,” he said.
Speaker Mike Johnson: No "existing pot of money" to cover air traffic controllers salaries
House Speaker Mike Johnson said today there is “not an existing post of money” to cover air traffic controllers’ salaries as he argued for Democrats to vote to reopen the federal government.
“But we’re running out of resources, (the White House is) they’re running out of creative ideas” to pay federal workers, the speaker told reporters during a press conference on Capitol Hill.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that Tuesday will be the first paycheck that controllers won’t receive for October’s work if the shutdown continues and said many controllers have resorted to working a second job to make ends meet.
Speaking directly to controllers, Duffy said: “Thank you for coming and working. We appreciate that. Come to work even if you don’t get a paycheck. We need you to come to work. But if they do not, we’ll know whose fault it is.”
Democratic senators lay out their alternatives to GOP bill to pay "essential" workers during shutdown
Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who represents a large proportion of federal workers, and Gary Peters of Michigan said that Democrats will offer two alternatives later today to GOP Sen. Ron Johnson’s bill that would pay “essential” federal workers during the shutdown.
“Ron Johnson’s bill would essentially weaponize the government shutdown to allow President Trump to decide who works and gets paid and who doesn’t work and doesn’t get paid,” argued Van Hollen. “Our belief is that no federal employee, no one, should bear the burden or be punished for a shutdown. They have nothing to do with it.”
Peters described his alternative as “a very clean bill.”
“It just says that folks who are federal employees, members of the military, folks who are federal contractors, that are employees, get paid for this time, back pay, so that there haven’t been harmed by this. It’s very straightforward,” he said.
However, Van Hollen acknowledged that they haven’t worked out a deal with Republican leadership to guarantee floor votes on their alternatives. Instead, Republicans will likely block their request to consider them.
Pressed on the Republican argument that every federal worker, including those on furlough that aren’t paid under the Ron Johnson bill, would be paid if Democrats would vote to reopen the government, Van Hollen insisted that Congress must address the rising healthcare costs at the center of the shutdown fight.
“Of course, we want to open the government. That’s the best way to address this issue. We also need to address these other big issues,” he said.
Peters agreed. “Well, we’re right now fighting for health care benefits for 24 million Americans, so they’re going to lose health insurance. The Republicans can open the government,” he argued. “They can come to the table and agree with us that health care should be affordable for all Americans. Unfortunately, they don’t believe that right now. We’re hoping that they change their opinion.”
Republicans sponsor bill to pay air traffic controllers and TSA agents during shutdown
Republican senators introduced another bill last night that would continue to pay essential Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration workers during the government shutdown.
The measure, sponsored by Senate transportation committee chair Ted Cruz, is separate from legislation expected to fail to pass today. That measure would provide funding to pay all essential workers.
The bill is titled “Keep America Flying Act of 2026,” one of many being introduced to pay essential employees in individual departments.
It would also include retroactive pay to September 30.
Remember: Controllers and TSA employees are considered essential employees during government shutdowns but are not being paid. Many airports have seen delays during the past weeks as some controllers and TSA workers took unscheduled time off.
