What we're covering
• Shutdown over: The federal government is reopening its agencies after President Donald Trump signed the House-passed funding package last night to end the record 43-day shutdown.
• A gradual process: The shutdown likely led to a loss of 60,000 private-sector jobs, according to Trump’s top economic adviser. Federal workers who haven’t received a paycheck in weeks are waiting for back pay. And air travel is still feeling the effects, with 1,000 flights canceled today. But SNAP food aid recipients should see their full November benefits by Monday, and Senate staffers are set to get paychecks tomorrow.
• Epstein files: Meanwhile, House GOP leaders are bracing for a significant number of Republicans to break from President Donald Trump next week and support the bipartisan bill calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files — as supporters push for a veto-proof majority.
Ex-NFL offensive lineman wants Trump to reverse hemp ban provision in funding package
Former NFL offensive lineman Kyle Turley wants President Donald Trump’s attention. He even joked he would throw his Saints football helmet over the fence outside the White House to get it.
That’s where CNN caught up with Turley outside the gated press entrance at the White House on Thursday. He is concerned about the provision tucked inside the government funding bill “to prohibit the transportation, processing, sale, or use of hemp.”
Holding the helmet, Turley said, “I brought this to give to President Trump in hopes that we can get some sensible legislation passed.”
“Cannabis saved my life, period,” he said. “For me to be standing here is, that’s a long road, you know, 20-year pill addiction, pharmaceuticals all over my counters, to not taking one in over 10 years. So, it’s very personal to me.”
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is not in favor of the provision, and in an opinion piece for the Courier Journal, noted how it would destroy the hemp industry. He argues that the justification behind the provision — concerns about bad actors “juicing up” hemp products with higher concentrations of THC — don’t justify the means.
Turley has also founded several cannabis and CBD brands and he has concerns about job losses and businesses closing across the country.
“I don’t think people understand the magnitude of what that’s going to entail, and then, more importantly, embolden the black market and more and all of the products that are still under importation laws allowed to occur. That’s how this industry started in the first place. So, are we trying to make America great again, or are we not?” Turley said
When will federal workers get paid? When will SNAP benefits resume? Here's what we know post-shutdown
More than a million federal employees went unpaid during the longest government shutdown in US history, while nearly 42 million Americans were left in limbo when the Department of Agriculture announced it could not distribute food stamps for the month November.
Now that the government has reopened, agencies are working to get back to business as usual.
If you’re just joining us, catch-up on the latest post-shutdown news:
- SNAP benefits resume: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told CNN that her department began work last night to issue full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November. Many enrollees can expect their benefits, “hopefully by the end of this week, most will receive it — at the very latest on Monday,” she said. Rollins also acknowledged that when recipients receive their full benefits may also depend on where they live.
- Congressional staffers get paid: Senate staffers will begin receiving paychecks again tomorrow, according to an email shared with CNN. They are set to receive three paychecks in the span of one week.
- Bonuses for TSA employees: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced today that some TSA employees who “stepped up every single day” and “served with exemplary service” through the federal government shutdown would receive a $10,000 bonus check.
- Some agencies experiencing delays: Meanwhile, it will likely take several weeks for Americans to receive assistance paying their heating and utility bills. Typically, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program grants start to be distributed in mid-November. Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, said he fears it will take even longer this year since HHS laid off its LIHEAP staff in the spring.
Americans will have to wait for heating assistance even though the government reopened
Even though the federal government has reopened, it will likely take several weeks for Americans to receive assistance paying their heating and utility bills.
Typically, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, grants start to be distributed in mid-November.
It usually takes at least 30 days for the Department of Health and Human Services to calculate states’ allocations and get the money out the door, said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. And he fears it will take even longer this year since HHS laid off its LIHEAP staff in the spring.
Many LIHEAP recipients, particularly those who must schedule deliveries of home heating oil and propane, need the aid now so they can keep warm as temperatures drop. Folks who heat with electricity and natural gas, which are the most common heating methods, have more protections since many states have rules against shutting off utilities in the winter or when temperatures drop.
LIHEAP helps nearly 6 million people and should receive about $4 billion in funding for the fiscal year.
Trump signs executive order aimed at helping foster care youth transition into professional careers
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that he pledged “will provide vital new resources to help young people transition out of the foster care system and live a very happy and a very successful life.”
The program is part of first lady Melania Trump’s “Be Best” initiative. During the signing, the first lady said the order, which she praised as “both empathetic and strategic,” would provide technology-based scholarships for foster care youth and “create new educational and employment opportunities countrywide,” by connecting the federal government with private sector businesses, educational institutions and charitable organizations.
The president also said Thursday’s executive order would roll back “the ridiculous woke policies that discriminate against Christians and families of faith,” blasting what he called “radical left policies and states nationwide,” which he said target religious organizations.
The order directs the Department of Health and Homeland Security to “take appropriate action to address State and local policies and practices that inappropriately prohibit participation in federally-funded child-welfare programs by qualified individuals or organizations based upon their sincerely-held religious beliefs or moral convictions.”
The foster care community has been a major pillar of Melania Trump’s portfolio during her husband’s second term — during Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress in March, the first lady was joined by a former foster child who received a college scholarship as part of the “Foster the Future” initiative.
While Trump’s remarks largely focused on Thursday’s executive order, his attention again turned to ballroom construction, which he noted was taking place just outside the East Room.
“Right behind me, by the way, in about two years from now, we’ll use a much bigger room, because we had to turn away a lot of people, and it’ll be right here,” he said. “It’ll be the best anywhere in the world.”
Noem says TSA employees will get paychecks in "coming days"
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her team finished up the administrative work necessary “late last night” so TSA employees could receive backpay for paychecks missed during the government shutdown as soon as possible.
“They’ve already missed pay periods and recognizing that that’s a hardship on their families,” Noem said. “So we did all of the administrative work that we needed to late last night to ensure that that payroll would be processed as soon as possible, and within the next coming days, they will get that into their bank accounts.”
A DHS spokesperson told CNN that “DHS will be working to expedite pay for all employees who were furloughed or working without pay in an excepted status.”
Here's where some Republicans stand on releasing the Epstein files
When the House casts a vote next week on a bill compelling the Justice Department to release the full Jeffrey Epstein case files, it’s expected to receive wide support from Republicans in addition to Democrats.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who has championed the effort alongside Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, predicted 40 to 50 Republicans would vote for it. Massie told CNN he has already had “a couple Republicans” tell his office privately they would support it and said, “I think that could snowball.”
Here’s what some Republicans have told CNN:
YES ON THE BILL
Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska: “If this comes on the floor, I will vote for it. I want transparency.”
“Sunlight is alright on this. Let’s put some sunlight on who was bad actors and who mistreated these ladies.”
Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona: “Yeah. I told you I would, yep.”
Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio: “I’m going to vote for it if it comes up.”
“There was no pressure on the Biden administration to do anything… justice is long overdue.”
OPPOSES THE BILL
Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana: “No, I’m a vote against.”
SOUNDING LIKELY
Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida: “I have two daughters, so I am thinking, I’m thinking, I mean, you know, I’m sure that the president has nothing to fear. We do need to know. We do need to know everything about Epstein.”
NONCOMMITTAL
Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas: “The Epstein files, to me, we released…. a bunch of files were released.”
“Donald Trump has nothing to do with Epstein. We just need to move past that. Let’s move on. Let’s move on from that silliness.”
First air traffic controller staffing problems reported since government reopened
Two air traffic controller staffing problems were reported at Federal Aviation Administration faculties today, the first full day since the government shutdown ended.
The control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport will be short-staffed from 6 p.m. ET to 9 p.m. ET, according to the just-released operations plan.
The TRACON, which handles flights approaching or departing Newark Liberty International Airport, is also without its normal complement of controllers from 3 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET.
652 air traffic controller staffing shortages have been reported since the start of the shutdown, more than five times what was seen on the same days last year.
On Wednesday, the FAA mandated cuts to flights at 40 major airports remain frozen at 6% until the agency determines air traffic staffing is stable enough to safely resume full schedules.
DHS awards $10,000 bonus checks to TSA employees “who served with exemplary service” during the shutdown
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced today that some TSA employees who “stepped up every single day” and “served with exemplary service” through the federal government shutdown would receive a $10,000 bonus check.
“What that means is that we are going to not only continue their paychecks like they should have received all along, but also they’re going to get a bonus check for stepping up, taking on extra shifts, for showing up each and every day,” Noem said.
The secretary handed out what she said were bonus checks to nearly two dozen TSA employees at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and said more TSA employees would be receiving the bonus checks.
“We’re going to continue to evaluate every single employee that helped during the shutdown and stepped up and went above and beyond,” Noem said. “We’re going to look at every individual that did exceptional service during this period of time when there were so many hardships.”
She did not elaborate on the specific qualifications for TSA agents to receive the bonus or say how many employees would receive the checks.
“Tens of thousands of individuals did extraordinary things during the shutdown that we’re so grateful is over after 43 days,” Noem said.
CNN reached out to DHS for additional details about the bonuses and how they will be funded.
House GOP bracing for mass defections on Epstein files vote next week
House GOP leaders are bracing for a significant number of Republicans to break from President Trump and support the bipartisan bill calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files — as supporters push for a veto-proof majority.
Republican sources say there’s a broad cross-section of the conference willing to support the plan — and it will be hard to limit defections.
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie told CNN on Wednesday that his hope is that a veto-proof majority will pressure the Senate to act over Trump’s opposition. It would require two-thirds of the House — or 290 votes — for a veto-proof majority.
“If we get less than two-thirds vote when it comes up for a vote, I think it’s an uphill battle,” Massie said. “But if we are somehow able to get two thirds vote here in the House, [that] puts a lot of pressure on the Senate, and also, if the Senate does pass it, that’s a very serious step for the president.”
Shutdown led to loss of 60,000 jobs in the private sector, top Trump economic adviser says
The government shutdown likely led to a loss of 60,000 private-sector jobs, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said today.
Citing new estimates from the Council of Economic Advisers, Hassett said the lost economic output was $15 billion per week.
CNN reached out to the White House for the CEA report that Hassett referenced.
Key context: A more official look at the state of the labor market will become clearer in the coming weeks when the jobs report and unemployment claims data are released.
The October jobs report was waylaid by the federal shutdown and is expected to be released with limited data. Due to federal worker furloughs at statistical agencies, certain surveying activities were not conducted during the month, likely hindering the reporting of the unemployment rate and other demographic employment information.
The headline jobs number, however, is expected to be released in the near future, Hassett said.
Economists estimate that job growth was weak, and possibly flat or negative, during October, largely due to an expected loss of tens of thousands of federal jobs due to Department of Government Efficiency-led cuts.
American Airlines execs thank staff in letter to team, but warn normal operations may still be days away
American Airlines’ leaders wrote a letter to employees thanking and praising staff for their work through the chaos following the end of the longest government shutdown in US history.
“Only a few other events come to mind when we think about this level of disruption,” the letter from CEO Robert Isom and COO David Seymour said.
The airline executives said operations will take time to get back to normal as air traffic controller staffing stabilizes, but they don’t expect impacts to the busy Thanksgiving travel period.
“It may take a few days for fully normal controller operations to resume, and we may need to continue to reduce schedules to comply with the FAA‘s emergency order requirements,” they said in the letter.
Like other air carriers, American Airlines canceled hundreds of flights daily due to the federal government shutdown and the FAA order to reduce air traffic due to air traffic controller shortages.
Most SNAP enrollees can expect to receive November benefits by Monday, agriculture secretary says
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said her department began work last night once the government reopened to issue full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits for November.
“It’s moving. It’s coming. And for those who really depend on it, good news is on the way,” she told CNN’s Pamela Brown.
Enrollees can expect their benefits, “hopefully by the end of this week, most will receive it — at the very latest on Monday,” she said.
Nearly 42 million Americans were left in limbo when Rollins said last month that the Department of Agriculture could not distribute food stamps for November. The decision spurred lawsuits, which resulted in federal courts requiring the agency to issue partial payments and then later, full allotments before the Supreme Court paused the ruling to provide full benefits.
However, at least 19 states rushed to issue full benefits, and several other states issued partial benefits over the past week or so. When recipients receive their full benefits depends on where they live, which Rollins acknowledged.
Pressed on why she decided not to tap into SNAP’s contingency fund, Rollins blamed Democrats for voting against reopening the government. She also maintained that the agency did not shift child nutrition funding to SNAP because it would have harmed school children.
Trump withdraws emergency food stamp case at Supreme Court
The Trump administration today withdrew its emergency request for the Supreme Court to block full food stamp payments, now that the government shutdown has ended and the SNAP program is funded.
A letter from the Department of Justice brought an anticlimactic close to a case that quickly emerged as the highest-profile legal question of the historic shutdown: Whether the administration acted within the law by declining to fully fund a program that more than 40 million Americans rely on to pay for food.
How we got here: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily paused action in the case Friday evening, siding with the administration on a short-term basis to give an appeals court a few days to review the case. On Tuesday, the full court extended that order until Thursday evening – drawing a dissent from Jackson.
But by then, the Senate had already voted to end the shutdown, an agreement both sides acknowledged would render the case moot by turning the funding back on for SNAP. President Donald Trump signed the spending measure last night.
In the end, the Supreme Court dodged having to rule in the case.
The funding measure also allowed the Supreme Court to reopen its doors to the public. The court closed the building to tourists after it ran out of funding on October 18. An announcement on the court’s website saying that the building would be closed was removed this morning.
Off-roading, graffiti and BASE jumping: Conservation group sounds alarm over conditions in national parks
Workers at some of America’s most treasured national parks will find a mess when they return to their jobs — confronting graffiti scrawled across iconic landscapes, sanitation issues and park-goers who have been illegally camping, BASE jumping, flying drones or hiking while rangers were unable to work, a prominent park advocacy group told CNN.
In Arches National Park in Utah, the nonprofit National Parks Conservative Association (NPCA) received reports of fresh-looking graffiti from a park-goer who also noticed toilet paper and other litter strewn nearby, the nonprofit’s senior vice president of government affairs, Kristen Brengel, told CNN.
“There’s even a smile face,” she said.
The NPCA repeatedly called for the national parks to be closed during the shutdown. The National Park Service left many of them open but cautioned park-goers that many areas and ranger stations would be un-staffed.
“It’s terrible when you see direct damage to our national parks. When you see graffiti, that’s an intent to destroy a national park,” Brengel added.
She said there have also been “multitudes” of problems in Yosemite National Park in California during the shutdown, including people camping in places not designated as camping sites, as well as BASE jumping and flying drones over the park, activities which are illegal.
Brengel said at several national parks, bathrooms were left open, even though officials knew that no one would be there to monitor or clean them.
The Interior Department, which oversees America’s national parks, told CNN in a statement that the Trump administration has managed the shutdown responsibly and the department has “prioritized safety, protection, and public access — the core elements of the National Park Service mission.”
Without ACA subsidies, this Maryland couple's premiums will rise nearly fivefold — a cost they cannot afford
Chris and Donna Vetters health care premiums will increase nearly five times what they currently pay if Congress is unable to reach a deal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies — a cost they say they cannot bear.
Donna Vetters, who has a small medical billing business, said that they don’t earn enough to afford the new cost.
Chris, who receives a federal pension and social security, said the new premiums would be half of his income.
The couple also expressed their concerns of not being able to afford preventative care.
“Well, the fear is that we wouldn’t be able to afford regular screenings at our age, that would be important,” said Chris, who has atrial fibrillation. “So it’s literally rolling the dice on whether we live or die at this point … and that’s scary.”
Asked about their message to Congress, Chris said he would like to ask House Speaker Mike Johnson, “Why would he want us to die?”
On the shutdown deal, the couple have split opinions. Donna said she feels like Democrats “caved in” and should have pushed harder for a better deal. Meanwhile, Chris said he wanted the deal to go through so that Congress would go back into session and negotiate.
The current health care subsidies are set to expire on December 31 if Congress does not pass an extension.
Hassett says October jobs report will be released, but incomplete
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said today that due to the government shutdown, the monthly employment report for October will be incomplete.
Hassett told Fox News in an interview that the lapse is due to the fact that one of the two surveys that comprise the jobs report – the household survey – was not conducted for the month of October.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly snapshot of the labor market is composed of two surveys: One of households (which provides demographic data and feeds into the all-important unemployment rate) and the other of businesses (designed to measure employment, hours and earnings).
The business survey, which is drawn partly from electronic and administrative sources, is expected to be easier to retroactively tabulate for October, economists told CNN. However, the survey of households is conducted via phone and in person and was scheduled to take place during the week of October 19.
Hassett said it would be only for one month.
The October jobs report was originally set to be released on November 7, but became a casualty of the government shutdown as workers at the Bureau of Labor Statistics were furloughed.
CNN’s Alicia Wallace contributed to this report.
Senate staff to start getting paychecks tomorrow, email shows
Senate staffers will begin receiving paychecks again tomorrow after Congress ended the 43-day government shutdown, according to an email shared with CNN.
An email sent to all Senate staff says the paychecks will begin tomorrow “as a result of the end in the lapse in appropriations.”
Senate staffers are set to receive three paychecks in the span of one week. The first check going out tomorrow will cover the paycheck staffers missed on October 20. Staffers will receive another payment on Monday, covering the November 5 paycheck. The regular pay period will then resume next Thursday, November 20.
The legislation reopening the government guaranteed retroactive pay for federal workers who were furloughed or worked without pay during the shutdown.
HHS email to employees: “The Democrat-led shutdown is over”
On the first day of the government reopening, the Department of Health and Human Services sent an email to its employees saying that “the Democrat-led shutdown is over,” according to the email reviewed by CNN.
The email outlines that employees must report to work on Thursday and that the department is working to complete back pay “on or before Friday, November 21st.”
To conclude, the message uses a sign-off closely associated with President Donald Trump: “Thank you for your dedication on behalf of the American people and your attention to this matter.”
It’s the latest in a series of highly unusual steps from the Trump administration throughout the funding stalemate to use the federal government and its employees to promote political messaging related to the shutdown.
As CNN previously reported, in one instance, multiple furloughed workers from the Department of Education had out-of-office messages blaming Democrats for the shutdown automatically sent from their email accounts without their consent or knowledge. Federal workers at other agencies, meanwhile, said they were provided with suggested partisan language to include in their own out-of-office email notices.
Over the more than month-long closure, messages appeared on several agency webpages blaming Democratic senators for Congress’ failure to agree to extend funding at the start of the fiscal year.
These actions raised concerns about the Hatch Act, which states that federal government officials and employees are required to perform their duties in a nonpartisan manner.
The federal law is intended to “protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace,” according to the Office of the Special Counsel.
Government employees are back in the office today. Here's when they'll receive back pay
The timing for when the roughly 1.4 million federal workers who were furloughed or working without pay will receive their back pay may vary by agency. Many have missed two full paychecks and a partial one during the shutdown.
In the past, it only took a few business days for workers to be paid, said Jacqueline Simon, policy director at the American Federation of Government Employees. But she was concerned that this year it could take longer because many human resources staffers at agencies were furloughed or have left amid the administration’s downsizing efforts.
Adding to the complexity is that federal workers are not all paid at the same time since the government uses multiple pay systems, said Stier of Partnership for Public Service.
“It’s a huge undertaking on top of a lot of other things that the federal employees are going to have to be doing,” he said, though it should take a matter of days, not weeks.
But “until we get paid, everyone’s going to still have those same financial stressors on them,” said Ben Emmel, who represents 2,400 Government Accountability Office employees as president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers Local 1921.
House staffers, who are paid monthly, will receive their retroactive compensation on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to a House administrative official.
Heading for the exit?: Caitlin Lewis, who runs CivicMatch, which connects federal employees with jobs in state or local governments, said the shutdown has pushed many federal workers to the exits.
“People want to stick it out as long as they can. But this is the latest in a deep cycle of instability that is pushing public servants out of the government since the inauguration,” Lewis said.
Could another government shutdown be looming in January?
The longest government shutdown in US history has come to an end, but the Affordable Care Act could create another fight come January 30 — the next deadline to fund the government. CNN’s Manu Raju explains why.
CNN’s Manu Raju reports that although the longest government shutdown in US history has come to an end, the Affordable Care Act could create another fight over government funding come January 30.
