Here's what we covered today
• Ongoing negotiations: Senate Democrats involved in talks to end the shutdown, now the longest in US history at 36 days, are trying to use their party’s momentum in yesterday’s elections to spur Republicans to support a compromise, sources tell CNN.
• Meeting with GOP lawmakers: President Donald Trump told Republicans today they are getting “killed” politically by the impasse, a source said. He insisted the best way to reopen the government was to eliminate the Senate filibuster, a move the GOP leadership has opposed.
• Air traffic disarray: Underscoring the impact of the prolonged impasse, the FAA said it will cut air traffic by 10% at 40 airports starting Friday unless the shutdown ends by then.
Our live coverage of the government shutdown has concluded for the day. Please scroll through the posts below to learn about today’s developments and also other news involving the Trump administration.
Here's what Trump had to say today about the GOP’s election losses and ending the government shutdown
President Donald Trump gave an interview to Fox News that aired today in which he commented on the GOP’s election losses yesterday as well as the government shutdown.
Here’s a quick recap of what he said:
On election losses: He offered rare criticism of his party and said that while Democrats talked about affordability, Republicans didn’t do enough to talk about it. “It’s no good if we do a great job and you don’t talk about it,” he said.
On New Jersey and Virginia: Trump said he hoped for better results in New Jersey where he backed Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s bid for governor. He said he “didn’t think that Virginia was going to do very well” as he had declined to endorse GOP candidate Winsome Earle-Sears’ gubernatorial campaign.
On New York City’s mayoral race: He acknowledged that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani had “a pretty open shot” in the race, noting that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Trump backed in an 11th-hour post Monday evening, “had too many, too many things against him.” Trump said he thinks Mamdani should reach out to him.
On the filibuster: Seeking to end the government shutdown, the president has called for ending the Senate filibuster, a 60-vote threshold for passing legislation. But he conceded that there is resistance within his party. “Do I want to lose my relationship with those Republicans that have been very good to me for a long period of time, that voted against the crooked Democrats on impeachment and everything else, do I want to lose them over it?” he said.
In addition: The president was asked about the Supreme Court’s hearing today on his tariffs’ policy. “Well, I heard the court case went well today, but I just heard that a little while ago,” the president said. The court is weighing whether Trump overstepped his presidential authority in imposing sweeping global tariffs.
CNN’s Betsy Klein and Donald Judd contributed to the report.
Trump acknowledges push to eliminate filibuster could damage relationships with Senate Republicans
President Donald Trump strongly advocated for the elimination of the filibuster — a 60-vote threshold for passing legislation — on Wednesday, but conceded that there is resistance within his party and suggested he is concerned about damaging relationships.
“If we got rid of the filibuster, we would approve so many good things, common sense things, wonderful things, that it would be hard to beat us. If we don’t, it’s always going to be a slog,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.
But, he added, there are “a number of Republicans that don’t agree.”
Trump met with Senate Republicans for breakfast Wednesday morning where he made a pitch for eliminating the filibuster, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN afterwards that there are not enough votes to do so.
The president hinted at that tension when pressed on the issue by Baier, offering some insight into his thinking.
“Do I want to lose my relationship with those Republicans that have been very good to me for a long period of time, that voted against the crooked Democrats on impeachment and everything else, do I want to lose them over it?” he said.
Trump continued, “Do you ever have people that are wrong, but you can’t convince them? So do you destroy your whole relationship with them or not? I’d be close to losing it — but probably not.”
Trump says he heard SCOTUS arguments “went well," warns that losing tariffs would be "devastating" for US
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he heard that the Supreme Court hearing on his global tariffs “went well,” describing the case as one of the most significant in US history.
“Well, I heard the court case went well today, but I just heard that a little while ago,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News while in Miami.
The Supreme Court is weighing whether Trump overstepped his presidential authority in imposing sweeping global tariffs, a cornerstone of his economic and national security policy.
The president argued that removing tariffs would harm the US both economically and strategically. “As an example, President Xi, he hit us with the rare earths, and I hit him with a tariff, 100% tariff, on top of all the other tariffs that you’re paying. And they called in 10 minutes, and we made a deal,” he said.
Without the tariff, Trump argued, “the entire world would be in a depression. Because, you know, that wasn’t a threat against us, that was a threat against the entire world. I did this for the world.”
“We had a very successful meeting with President Xi of China and others, and without tariffs, that would not have taken place,” he added.
Trump says GOP didn't stress affordability enough before election losses
President Donald Trump said Republicans didn’t do enough to talk about affordability heading into Tuesday’s elections, offering rare criticism of his party following bruising losses.
“The country is doing very well, but as Republicans, you have to talk about it. Because if you don’t talk about it – you know, I saw they (Democrats) kept talking about affordability,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.
He added: “But you have to talk about it. It’s no good if we do a great job and you don’t talk about it – and I don’t think they talk about it enough.”
Democrats, he said, drove a message of affordability during the election, leading to key wins across the country. According to CNN exit polling, voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City called economic issues – taxes, cost of living or the economy as a whole – their top concern.
“They have this new word called affordability, and they don’t talk about it enough. The Democrats did. And the Democrats make it up – because we took over a mess. … As a Republican, you have to let people know that,” he said.
Here's where the FAA is reporting staffing shortages tonight
More Federal Aviation Administration facilities are reporting staffing shortages, tonight as delays continue at two major hubs.
The Southern California TRACON, which handles flights approaching or departing airports, is short-staffed until 11 p.m. ET. At least one part of the facility has had staffing problems every day for the last week.
The Air Route Traffic Control Center in Atlanta, that handles flights at high altitudes, is also short staffed until 11 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, flights headed to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are experiencing delays averaging more than 3 hours due to staffing problems in the TRACON there until midnight. Since the start of the shutdown, the air traffic control tower at Phoenix international has also been short-staffed seven times, including yesterday.
Separately, the air traffic controllers who handle flights approaching or departing Newark Liberty International Airport will also be short-staffed until 9 p.m. Delays for flights headed to the New Jersey airport average 68 minutes, the FAA said.
Newark has seen delays due to staffing nearly every day of the shutdown.
Some background: There have been at least 425 reports of FAA facilities being short staffed since the start of the government shutdown, more than four times the number reported on the same days last year. Earlier today, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA will reduce flights at dozens of major airports as early as Friday if no shutdown deal is reached.
Trump won’t say if he plans to contact Mamdani: “I think he should reach out”
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he thinks Zohran Mamdani should reach out to him, declining to say if he planned to speak with the New York mayor-elect.
“I would say he should reach out to us,” Trump told Fox News in an interview. “Really, I think he should reach out. I’m here. We’ll see what happens, but I would think that it would be more appropriate for him to reach out to us.”
CNN reported earlier Wednesday that Trump had not reached out to the mayor-elect or his team following his election last night.
Pressed by Kaitlan Collins at the White House last month on if he’d meet with Mamdani if he won Tuesday, Trump said “Yeah, I’ll speak to him. I think I’d have an obligation to speak to him, but look, I love New York. I’ve always loved New York. I just can’t believe a thing like this is happening.”
But on Wednesday, Trump blasted Mamdani, saying the Democratic socialist’s election night speech “was a very angry speech – certainly angry toward me.”
“And I think he should be very nice to me,” Trump added. “You know, I’m the one that sort of has to approve a lot of things coming to him, so he’s off to a bad start.”
Trump has previously threatened to freeze federal funding to the city if Mamdani won.
Trump says he hoped for better results in N.J., acknowledges Va.’s Earle-Sears “didn’t really have my support”
President Donald Trump acknowledged disappointing election results for Republicans across the ballot Tuesday, telling Fox News he hoped for better results in New Jersey, but acknowledging steep headwinds in Virginia and New York City races.
Trump backed Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s bid for governor of New Jersey, but conspicuously declined to endorse Winsome Earle-Sears’ unsuccessful campaign for Virginia governor.
“I didn’t endorse her, no, I didn’t,” Trump said. “I mean, my endorsement means a lot to me. So, I was a little disappointed in the fact that New Jersey, I thought New Jersey would do a little bit better than that.”
And he acknowledged that Zohran Mamdani had “a pretty open shot” in the New York mayor’s race, noting that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Trump backed in an 11th hour post Monday evening, “had too many, too many things against him.”
Trump “made up his mind” on filibuster, White House says
President Donald Trump has made up his mind on the Senate filibuster and remains convinced he is “right on the issue,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters aboard Air Force One as the president returned to Washington from Miami.
“His mind is made up and he feels like he’s right on the issue,” she said, referring to Trump’s push to eliminate the filibuster as part of efforts to end the government shutdown, now the longest in US history.
She added that she was not in the room for the closed-press portion of the president’s Wednesday breakfast meeting with Senate Republicans.
Leavitt also told reporters that the president “watched Mamdani speak last night.” The president, during his own remarks in Miami, named New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani for the first time 56 minutes into his speech, but did take jabs at him from the start, suggesting the country is at an inflection point in a battle between “communism and common sense.”
Leavitt then went on to say that Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing on Trump’s sweeping emergency tariffs “was good,” saying that the president “hears it went well.”
It’s day 36 of the government shutdown. Here’s what you should know
The US is experiencing the longest government shutdown in history and partisan frustrations remain high on Capitol Hill.
In a sign of the growing impact, the FAA said it will reduce flights at dozens of major airports as early as Friday if no deal is reached.
Here’s what happened today:
Breakfast meeting:
- President Donald Trump urged GOP senators to eliminate the filibuster while addressing them at a White House breakfast that included Majority Leader John Thune, who’s made his opposition known to doing away with the 60-vote threshold. GOP Sen. Jim Banks said Trump made a “compelling case” though.
- The president also said the shutdown is hurting the GOP more than Democrats because they are in charge in Washington, according to a person familiar with the remarks.
- Trump expressed frustration that Democrats aren’t fielding their share of the blame for the shutdown and said he disagreed with those who believed there would be more appetite for reopening after Tuesday’s election.
Compromise rejection:
- Sen. Bernie Sanders said last night’s wins by Democrats in the first major elections since Trump took office were a sign the Democratic Party should hold firm in its demands to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies in exchange for votes to reopen the government.
Pressure for a deal:
- Roughly a dozen Senate Democrats privately signaled they are willing to support a stopgap funding deal to reopen the government in exchange for a future vote on health care, according to two Democratic sources familiar with the discussions. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are once again calling on Trump to meet with them.
Last night
- Trump took to his Truth Social platform to distance himself from disappointing results for Republicans on the ballot. He tied the GOP’s losses to the government shutdown. GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she agrees with Trump that the ongoing stalemate led to less-than-satisfactory results for Republicans. But House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune sought to downplay Tuesday’s election results.
CNN’s Manu Raju, Donald Judd, Annie Grayer, Betsy Klein, Alayna Treene, Sarah Ferris, Casey Riddle, Betul Tuncer, Ellis Kim, Dana Bash, Alejandra Jaramillo, Camila DeChalus contributed reporting.
Hawley sounds alarms on “suffering” in his state as record-breaking shutdown drags on
As lawmakers weigh the political implications of Tuesday’s elections amid a record-breaking government shutdown, GOP Sen. Josh Hawley warned that Americans losing paychecks and food stamps are the ones paying the price of the stalemate.
Asked by CNN if he agrees with President Trump that projected wins by Democrats mean Republicans are getting punished for the shutdown, Hawley responded, “I’ll leave the assessment of blame to other people, but when you’ve got 42 million people who are going without food assistance, almost three quarters of a million in my state, when you’ve got people who are missing their paychecks, air traffic controllers, members of the military, FBI, I mean, this is real suffering, and it needs to end.”
“I know who is paying a price are the people who aren’t eating. I mean, they’re paying a price,” he later said, telling CNN he doesn’t “care about Republicans and Democrat whatever, but what I care about are people in my state and around the country are suffering.”
“I don’t know how much more loudly I can say this in this building, this has to end,” Hawley said, also urging Congress to pass a bill to guarantee access to SNAP benefits if they can’t agree on a solution to reopen the government.
Hawley said though a lot of Democrats may think that they’re winning the messaging battle after Tuesday’s elections, “who’s not winning are people who aren’t eating.”
“You could go take your victory lap later, but right now, let’s put people back to work, and let’s start feeding people who are literally going hungry,” he added.
2 major airports experiencing flight delays as air traffic control staffing shortages persist, FAA says
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport are experiencing delays this afternoon as the government shutdown becomes the longest one in history, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Flights heading to Phoenix are experiencing delays averaging more than three hours due to staffing, according to an FAA advisory.
Since the start of the shutdown, the Phoenix air traffic control tower has been short-staffed seven times.
Separately, the air traffic controllers who handle flights approaching or departing Newark will also be short staffed from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET.
Delays for flights headed to the New Jersey airport average 68 minutes, the FAA said. Newark has seen delays due to staffing nearly every day of the shutdown.
There have been at least 422 reports of FAA facilities being short staffed since the start of the government shutdown — that’s more than four times the number reported on the same days last year.
Trump has a new foil in Mamdani, but keeps the focus on old political opponents
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani offers President Donald Trump a new political foil with whom to draw stark contrasts on policy. But during remarks at an economic conference on Wednesday, Trump mentioned Mamdani by name just once – and instead largely focused on old political foes.
One day after Democrats swept major races in New York, California, Virginia, and New Jersey, Trump obliquely referenced Mamdani, whom he described as a “communist,” lamenting the loss of “a little bit of sovereignty last night in New York.”
He named Mamdani for the first time 56 minutes into his remarks, referencing the mayor-elect’s support for transgender rights. He later said he wanted New York “to be successful” and would “help him.”
Trump suggested the country is at an inflection point in a battle between “communism and common sense.” But his wide-ranging remarks did not bolster that argument as he spent much of the speech taking aim at former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, along with former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Trump referred to Biden as “crooked Joe” and “sleepy Joe” as he touted his second term economic wins and attacked his predecessor’s mental acuity. He referred to Obama by his full name, calling him a “mean person” and a “divider” while questioning the status of his presidential library construction.
De Blasio, Trump added, is “the worst mayor in history.” Lightfoot, he said, “gets her hair done very expensively.”
Trump largely eschewed the opportunity to respond to Mamdani, who directly addressed the president during an intense victory speech, telling Trump to “turn the volume up.”
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said Tuesday.
Negotiations among rank-and-file senators to reopen government continuing this afternoon
A group of Senate Democrats and a handful of Republicans remain in intense negotiations over a deal that could lead to reopening the government after having met all morning, according to sources familiar with the effort.
The timing of when a deal could be announced — and when any votes could occur — is still unclear.
The talks involve more than a dozen senators on both sides focusing on health care and cost-of-living issues — and could kick Senate action into the weekend, according to a person briefed on the talks.
Frustrations remain on Capitol Hill as talks continue in search of shutdown off-ramp
Partisan frustrations remain high on Capitol Hill on day 36 of the government shutdown.
Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted placed blame on Democrats, though he also acknowledged a responsibility to find a solution to reopen the government.
“The system is broken. It’s the Democrat system. They own it. They created Obamacare. I wasn’t here for it — I’ve been here for nine months. But that doesn’t absolve me from the responsibility of working to try to solve the problem, which I am very interested in doing,” Husted said.
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said he’s “hopeful” the government shutdown will end but says he can’t count on Democrats.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, meanwhile, underscored the need to get the government back open and ensure federal workers are paid.
Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, meanwhile, sharply criticized both parties. “We’ve all been paid but all these workers haven’t been paid. The Capitol Police that are protecting government haven’t been paid. Our military, why is that controversial? Pay our military,” he said.
"I don’t think anything is going to hurt this": Trump suggests government shutdown won't harm the country
President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that the ongoing government shutdown, which is now the longest in US history, is not damaging the nation’s economy, saying the country is “so strong” it can withstand the disruption.
Speaking at the America Business Forum in Miami, Trump downplayed the shutdown’s impact.
“They don’t like it to be reopened because we’re setting records,” Trump said as he criticized Democrats who have refused to pass a clean short-term funding bill. “They think it’s actually I don’t think anything is going to hurt this.”
“We are so strong now that I’m not sure that anything is going to hurt, but it would be good to open it up, take care of the people with jobs that aren’t going to get paid and aren’t getting paid,” he added.
Trump’s comments come one day after he partially blamed the shutdown for Republican losses in Tuesday’s elections. The president told Republican lawmakers in a closed-door session Wednesday morning that they are getting “killed” politically by the impasse, a source told CNN.
Schumer won't say whether Affordable Care Act vote is enough for Dems to end shutdown
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to say whether he thinks the guarantee of a vote to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies is enough to earn Democratic support to reopen the government as the party stands divided over whether and how to cut a deal with Republicans.
“Look, I’m not negotiating (in) public, but we want, we must address the health care needs of the American people. The Republicans ‘gotta sit down and talk to us about it,” Schumer told CNN on Wednesday.
Schumer said he agrees with Sen. Bernie Sanders, who approached the microphones unexpectedly ahead of Schumer’s press conference to emphasize to reporters that the promise of a vote without tangible agreements on extending ACA credits isn’t enough to win his support for a stopgap funding bill.
“The way to solve this is for Trump to sit down with Jeffries and I,” Schumer added after he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reissued their demand to meet with the president on Wednesday morning.
Asked about the bipartisan negotiations that have happened this week as some moderate Democrats have shown an appetite to reopen the government, Schumer said, “I’ve always encouraged Democrats and Republicans to sit down and talk with each other,” adding that “everyone” in his caucus agrees that “Trump should sit down and talk with us as a way to solve this.”
Thune disputes Trump's blame of shutdown costing them elections
Senate Majority Leader John Thune downplayed the link between the ongoing government funding stalemate and projected victories by Democrats in key elections on Tuesday, disagreeing with President Donald Trump’s argument to GOP senators on Wednesday morning that the shutdown was a “big factor” and “negative for the Republicans.”
Thune conceded to CNN that the weeks-long shutdown and the election results “may be somewhat related,” but added, “I think the elections were going to be what they were going to be.”
“Nobody wins,” Thune said as the shutdown breaks the record for the longest in US history, adding, “that’s why we need to open up the government.”
Trump told Republicans they were getting "killed" on shutdown in closed-door session
President Donald Trump continued hammering his message to Republican lawmakers that they’re losing the shutdown messaging battle in a conversation following the public portion of his breakfast on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with his remarks.
The president said Republicans were being “killed” politically by the shutdown, and insisted the quickest and best way to reopen the government was to eliminate the Senate filibuster.
Trump was emphatic that Republicans need to change their approach or risk future losses, the source said.
The mood in the White House’s State Dining Room was respectful, but it was clear even by the breakfast’s conclusion that many Republicans in the room were unmoved by the president’s arguments.
Trump brought many senators back to the Oval Office after the breakfast to continue discussions.
“There are not the votes there,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said about eliminating the filibuster upon returning to the Capitol.
GOP Sen Jim Banks said Trump made "compelling case" for eliminating filibuster at White House
GOP Sen. Jim Banks said President Donald Trump made “no demands” of Republican senators at the White House on Wednesday morning, but emphasized that he made a “compelling case” about eliminating the Senate filibuster.
“It wasn’t a demand. The president made a compelling case. Democrats are going to get rid of the filibuster the first chance that they get. Republicans have a choice to make — do we want to get things done?” he told CNN.
Banks said Republicans face a choice of fulfilling the “mandate” they feel voters gave them last November or doing “nothing because the filibuster doesn’t allow us to.”
The Indiana Republican said he and many of his colleagues “appreciated” the case that Trump made to end the 60-vote threshold to advance bills through the Senate. He also told CNN that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has made clear he’s not interested in bringing up the filibuster issue, has “gone out of his way to listen to the conference.”
Trump warned Republicans earlier that it would be a “tremendous mistake” and could cost them future elections if they didn’t “terminate the filibuster” to push through a bill to reopen the government.
Banks brushed off the impact of Tuesday evening’s election results on the appetite to change Senate rules, calling the wins by Democrats in key races “completely predictable.”
