What we covered here
• Impasse extended: The government shutdown will extend into next week, as the Senate leaves town for the weekend without a deal to reopen the government.
• Democrats block bill: Earlier, Senate Democrats blocked a GOP-led bill to pay workers who are deemed essential during the shutdown. Many Democrats have said they want to pass a bill that also pays furloughed federal workers, though Republicans rejected their alternatives.
• Military strikes: Meanwhile, President Donald Trump insisted that he could continue to launch strikes against alleged drug traffickers without Congress first passing a declaration of war. Also, a B-1 Lancer bomber flew near Venezuela’s coast today in the latest US show of force amid rising tensions.
Our live coverage has ended for the day. Get the latest here.
FAA reports more air traffic controller staffing shortages, pushing total since shutdown to more than 200
The Federal Aviation Administration has reported even more air traffic controller staffing shortages, pushing the total number since the start of the shutdown to more than 200.
Just today, the FAA’s operational plans have outlined a total of 14 facilities that were experiencing staffing shortages so far today, with some experiencing issues more than once. Here’s the latest:
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport: Staffing problems are expected in control towers until 11 p.m. ET. Flights there are being delayed in the air up to 30 minutes.
- Nashville International: For the second time today, control towers will be short-staffed, but this time until 10:30 p.m. ET.
- Dallas’ Terminal Radar Approach Control: The facility which handles flights arriving and departing the city’s airports is short-staffed until 11 p.m. ET.
- Houston’s Terminal Radar Approach Control: The facility reported being short-staffed twice earlier today but earlier staffing notices have now expired. This is the third day in the row that the facility has not had a normal complement of controllers.
- Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center: The center, which handles flights at high altitude, expects staffing problems until 2 a.m. ET.
- Indianapolis Center: The facility will see issues until 10:15 p.m. ET.
- New York Air Route Traffic Control Center: Two parts of the center were short-staffed until 9 p.m. ET, which caused delays for LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. An additional part of the center is short-staffed until midnight ET.
- Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center: The location is short-staffed until 10:30 p.m. ET. As a result, planes heading to New York from the Cleveland area under a ground stop and will be delayed from taking off more than an hour, on average, until 6:45 p.m. ET, according to the FAA. Some flights taking off from Philadelphia also have to follow limited routes due to the problems.
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport: The control tower will see staffing issues until 10 p.m. ET. Flights headed to DCA are under a ground stop and will have to wait to take off, on average, 45 minutes, due to staffing.
Some context: Not every staffing problem causes delays, as air traffic controllers can route flights to airspace where more people are working, but sometimes there is no choice but to slow flights down so the controllers who show up can maintain safety.
Air traffic controllers are required to work during the government shutdown but are not being paid. The next payday was supposed to be on Tuesday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted earlier today that some controllers have chosen not to come to work because of the shutdown.
This post was updated with more details on the delays at airports today.
See striking satellite images of the White House before and after the East Wing demolition
President Donald Trump is moving full steam ahead with his massive 90,000-square-foot ballroom that will be replacing the White House’s East Wing.
See striking satellite images of the White House in October of last year in comparison to Thursday morning:
Satellite images of the White House in October 2024 in comparison to Thursday morning, showing the entire East Wing has been demolished.
Senators feel pressure amid warning SNAP benefits at risk amid shutdown
Senators admitted Thursday they’re concerned that funding for federal food assistance benefits is at risk amid the ongoing shutdown, but it didn’t appear that pressure was bringing either side immediately closer to negotiating an end to the stalemate.
“It concerns me, because in Illinois, there are 1.9 million who receive SNAP,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. “If we don’t get this resolved by November 1, there’s questions whether they’ll get any payment at all.”
But when asked whether he would change his opposition to Republicans’ government funding bill, he replied, “We’ll see.”
Connecticut’s Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, asked about SNAP, said there was an urgency to reopen the government, but said, “at the same time, there is an immediacy to enabling Americans to have affordable health care, to pay the insurance premiums that otherwise will double and triple. And that’s why we need some leadership from the White House.”
Multiple Republican senators were asked on Thursday if President Donald Trump should work to alleviate some of the pressure points in the shutdown, including SNAP benefits.
“I think it’s simpler said than done,” Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall responded, adding, “On the one hand, there needs to be some pressure to put on the Democrats to come to the table and do something.”
Marshall, who is also an obstetrician-gynecologist, said he had a “lot of concern” about the SNAP and WIC program. He observed, “It is very important to my practice. Lots of pregnant women, breastfeeding women use that program as well. I think it’s a good pressure point for them.”
Trump defends strikes on alleged drug traffickers and weighs in on pardons. Here some of what he said today
During a lengthy roundtable held at the White House, President Donald Trump and members of his cabinet provided updates on his administration’s crime and drug crackdown.
The president also took questions from the media on a range of topics.
Here’s some of what he said:
Military strikes: Trump insisted that he could continue to launch strikes against alleged drug traffickers without Congress first passing an official declaration of war. He also suggested his administration would soon begin targeting those deemed as cartel members within countries like Venezuela, in addition to continuing to strike alleged drug boats in international waters.
Rising tensions with Venezuela: He denied however that the US sent the American B-1 Lancer bomber that flew near the coast of Venezuela today. He noted though that America is “not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons,” citing drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
Crime crackdown: The president touted a federal court’s ruling that clears the way for his administration to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, saying demonstrations in the city are “like an insurrection,” despite reports to the contrary. Oregon, with Portland, is pushing for an appeals court to reconsider the ruling.
Defense of pardons: Trump defended his decision to pardon Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in 2023, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins he issued the pardon “at the request of a lot of very good people. He also said he was was “very proud” of his mass pardon of those charged with crimes related to the January 6 Capitol riot as he professed to be unaware that one man who received clemency was charged with threatening a top Democratic lawmaker.
Schiff probe: The president declined to weigh in on media reports that his administration has opened a probe into Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff over allegations of mortgage fraud, telling reporters, “I hope it’s true, but I don’t know anything.”
Ballroom project: Trump said he’s raised $350 million to fund construction of his new White House ballroom, more than he says he’ll need to complete the massive project that will go where the East Wing once stood.
CNN’s Donald Judd, Adam Cancryn, Avery Schmitz, Maureen Chowdhury, Natasha Bertrand, Kevin Liptak and Kit Maher contributed reporting.
Trump says he's "very proud" of pardoning January 6 rioters even after one is charged with threatening Hakeem Jeffries
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was “very proud” of his mass pardon of those charged with crimes related to the January 6 Capitol riot as he professed to be unaware that one man who received clemency was charged with threatening a top Democratic lawmaker.
The man, Christopher Moynihan, was just arrested Sunday on a charge that he threatened to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
“I don’t know of the incident. I can say we’re very proud of what we did. We had the courage to do something that should have been done,” Trump said.
Trump noted the large size of the group he pardoned and compared Moynihan’s alleged conduct to violent texts sent by Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee to for Virginia attorney general. In 2022, Jones, then a state legislator, suggested then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, should be shot.
“Now, you have thousands of people that we’re dealing with, and you know, if one goes haywire, look at, look at what this guy in Virginia said, where he wanted to kill his opponent,” Trump said. He noted Jones comments weren’t necessarily representative of all Democrats.
“You could have one person, but I don’t know of the incident,” Trump said.
Trump says ballroom project has raised $350 million
President Donald Trump says he’s raised $350 million to fund construction of his new White House ballroom, more than he says he’ll need to complete the massive project that will go where the East Wing once stood.
“We’ve raised $350 million, all donor money, and money that we put up, we’ve raised,” Trump said. He said the cost of the project would be in the “neighborhood” of $300 million, a figure he first unveiled on Wednesday.
“It’s been expanded and made absolutely — it’ll be the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world, I think,” Trump said.
Trump said he wouldn’t be able to say how much he had personally contributed to the ballroom until it was finished.
“I’ll donate whatever is needed, I’ll tell you that,” he said.
Trump declines to weigh in on reports of Schiff investigation. “I hope it’s true, but I don’t know anything”
President Donald Trump declined to weigh in on media reports that his administration has opened a probe into Democratic Senator Adam Schiff over allegations of mortgage fraud Thursday, telling reporters, “I hope it’s true, but I don’t know anything.”
Schiff has been long been a target of Trump’s ire since leading the House’s investigations into the president during his first term, first as the top Democrat on the intelligence committee’s probe into Russian election interference and then as the lead investigator of the withholding of Ukraine aid that led to the president’s first impeachment.
Last month, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to aggressively target some of his political opponents, writing, “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.”
CNN later reported the directive was meant to be a private message.
Asked about the reports surrounding a Schiff probe Thursday, Bondi, who joined Trump for the roundtable, told reporters, “We’re not going to comment on any grand jury that’s open. We can’t legally.”
Trump insists he can strike alleged drug traffickers without Congress declaring war
President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted that he could continue to launch strikes against alleged drug traffickers without Congress first passing an official declaration of war.
“I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” he said. “I think we’re just doing to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re going to be like, dead.”
Trump’s dismissal came as he suggested his administration would soon begin targeting those deemed as cartel members within countries like Venezuela, in addition to continuing to strike alleged drug boats in international waters.
The president said he would notify Congress first before beginning any operations on “land,” but contended that the plan would not face any pushback from lawmakers.
“We going to go. I don’t see any loss in going” to Congress, Trump said. “We’re going to tell them what we’re going to do and I think they’ll probably like it, except for the radical left lunatics.”
The lethal strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and east Pacific have unnerved some lawmakers, given the little evidence the administration has presented proving that the targets were so-called narco-terrorists.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that the military has confirmed that each targeted boat is trafficking drugs. Still, he defended the decision to return to survivors of a recent strike as “standard” practice in war.
“Compared to Iraq and Afghanistan, the vast majority of people that we captured on the battlefield we handed over to the home country,” he said, referencing the US’ wars in the Middle East. “So in this case, those two, they were treated by American medics and handed immediately over to their countries where they came from.”
Trump says he pardoned Binance founder “at the request of a lot of very good people”
President Donald Trump defended his decision Thursday to pardon Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in 2023, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins he issued the pardon “at the request of a lot of very good people.
“Let me just tell you that he was somebody that, as I was told, I don’t know him, I don’t believe I’ve ever met him, but I’ve been told by, a lot of support, he had a lot of support, and they said that what he did is not even a crime,” Trump said during a roundtable in the White House State Dining Room. “It wasn’t a crime, that he was persecuted by the Biden administration, and so, I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.”
Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison in May 2024 after pleading guilty to charges that he failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.
The Trump family’s crypto firm, World Liberty Financial — on which their wealth is increasingly dependent — is hosted on Binance. The exchange has also helped popularize World Liberty Financial’s proprietary tokens, the sale of which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for the Trump family.
Trump did not directly address whether his pardon was related to his family’s crypto interests, but acknowledged, “I pardon a lot of people,” during Thursday’s remarks.
Earlier Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”
US B-1 bomber flies close to Venezuelan coast in latest show of force
An American B-1 Lancer bomber flew near the coast of Venezuela today in the latest US show of force amid rising tensions between the two countries.
The aircraft first appeared on flight-tracking dashboards southwest of the Dallas Fort Worth area around 4:30 a.m. ET on Thursday and at its closest point was a little more than 50 miles from the Venezuelan mainland.
About nine hours later, open-source flight data showed the bomber reappearing for around 15 minutes within Venezuela’s flight information region (FIR) – an area where air traffic control is provided by Venezuelan authorities.
However, it was not immediately clear whether the plane — which was accompanied by a second aircraft during its appearance in the FIR — entered Venezuelan airspace.
The flight comes amid rising tensions between the two countries following the deployment of US warships to the Caribbean on what Washington has said is part of a counter-drug trafficking campaign but Caracus fears is a cover for regime change.
President Donald Trump denied that the US sent the B1 bomber while taking questions from reporters at the White House today.
The US has in recent weeks carried out several lethal strikes on boats off the Caribbean coast that it alleges were trafficking narcotics, while Trump has said he is weighing military action within the country.
CNN has reached out to the Defense Department for comment.
CNN’s Germán Padinger, Rocío Muñoz-Ledo and Maureen Chowdhury contributed to this report.
Trump says demonstrations in Portland are “like an insurrection” despite reports to the contrary
President Donald Trump on Thursday touted a federal court’s ruling clearing the way for his administration to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, saying demonstrations in the city are “like an insurrection.”
“I looked at – I looked the other night, Saturday night, Portland is like burning to the ground, and these people are saying it’s just friendly stuff,” Trump said during a roundtable with several of his Cabinet members. “The whole place is burning to the ground, so we’ll take care of that one, that’s like an insurrection more than it is anything else. That’s crazy, Portland’s crazy.”
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling this week marks a big win for the administration as it continues to face challenges from other Democrat-led cities over troop deployment – efforts that local and state leaders say are a disproportionate response to protests against Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown.
But CNN reported earlier this week images out of Portland over the weekend, including shots of an anti-Trump “No Kings” protest that was peacefully attended Saturday by tens of thousands of people — show a city very much intact and not ablaze.
Portland city spokesperson Cody Bowman said the fire department was never even dispatched over the weekend to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building that has been the center of protest activity in recent months.
Sen. Warnock says he supported GOP bill to pay some federal workers because they shouldn’t be “punished”
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock explained today that his vote in favor of Republicans’ bill to continue paychecks for some federal employees working through the shutdown was because he didn’t want to see workers punished.
“I think that the Republicans are tragically holding the American people who need health care hostage. They’re holding federal workers hostage, and just because they’ve decided to shut down the government doesn’t mean that these workers ought to be punished,” the Georgia Democrat said. “And so some of these folks that they’re holding hostage had a path to get some relief, I’m happy to offer that to them. Meanwhile, I’m fighting for health care.”
Warnock was one of three Democrats who voted in favor of GOP Senator Ron Johnson’s bill, which would not cover furloughed employees. The other two were Sens. Jon Ossoff and John Fetterman. Johnson’s bill failed to advance Thursday.
Other Democrats said they rejected the GOP-led bill because they felt it gave the administration too much power to pick and choose who would keep getting paid.
Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who is offering an alternative measure, said his concerns with Sen. Johnson’s bill is it also “created a lot of additional powers for the president.” But he told reporters he had a “great conversation” with Sen. Johnson during a bipartisan senators’ lunch on Thursday and remained “hopeful” they could hammer out differences over their bills.
Jeffries signals openness if the Senate can strike bipartisan deal to pay federal workers
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday expressed openness to a potential bipartisan Senate bill to pay federal workers.
During a press conference on Capitol Hill, Jeffries said House Democrats “will consider in good faith anything bipartisan that emerges from the Senate” when asked by CNN about efforts in the Senate for a bipartisan deal.
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson told reporters that he intends to work out differences with Democrats on legislation to pay federal workers.
Jeffries told reporters earlier in the week that he doesn’t support Sen. Johnson’s bill, which did not cover furloughed workers, arguing that it’s “a political ploy” for President Donald Trump to “pick and choose” which employees should be compensated.
House Speaker Mike Johnson previously told CNN that he would bring the House back into session if the Senate passes a bill to pay federal workers during the shutdown.
During Thursday’s press conference, Jeffries also accused the Trump administration of not wanting to tap into emergency funds for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, which are at risk of running out of money amid the shutdown.
“As has been the case in prior government shutdowns, the money can be found by the administration if they chose to do so,” he argued.
He said that billions available in a US Department of Agriculture contingency fund are “for emergency circumstances just like this.”
“But the administration refuses to agree to use it. Why? Because they want to starve the American people as part of their continuing effort to visit cruelty on everyday Americans,” he argued.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier today stopped short of saying whether the administration would cover the SNAP funding shortfall.
Shutdown will extend into next week, as Senate leaves town for the weekend
The government shutdown will extend into next week, as the Senate leaves town for the weekend yet again without a deal to reopen the government.
Their next votes are expected on Monday, which will be day 27 of the shutdown.
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.
When Senate Majority Leader John Thune was asked about the effort to cut a bipartisan deal and if he expects a vote next week, he said, “We’ll see. I mean if there’s headway made over the weekend and obviously we’re coordinating with Ron and his team and we’ll see where it goes.”
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.
