Trump administration latest: House vote on Epstein files looms as shutdown impacts linger

While much of today’s coverage has focused on the lingering effects of the government shutdown and the political drama surrounding the so-called Epstein files, we’re also keeping an eye on other news from a busy week in the Trump administration.

Here are some of the other storylines we’re tracking:

• Redistricting battles: In the latest sign of resistance to President Donald Trump’s broader push to redraw congressional lines in favor of Republicans, the GOP leader of Indiana’s Senate is putting up a roadblock to the president’s push in the state.

• Immigration crackdown: Charlotte, North Carolina, is next on the administration’s list of cities to target in a sweeping deportation push — something city officials say they were not aware of until receiving calls from CNN.

• Nuclear testing: Top energy and nuclear officials in the Trump administration are planning to meet with the White House and National Security Council to dissuade the president from resuming testing of the nation’s nuclear weapons, sources told CNN.

• Thailand-Cambodia: Trump held calls with officials from each Southeast Asian country today as the peace agreement he presided over in July appears to unravel.

• Analysis: CNN’s Aaron Blake looked at the unpopularity of Trump’s strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. Polls show Americans are uneasy with the dubious legality of the military action.

CNN’s Eric Bradner, Fredreka Schouten, Dianne Gallagher, Priscilla Alvarez, Ella Nilsen, René Marsh, Alayna Treene and Kit Maher contributed to this report.

The sun sets over an air traffic control tower at O'Hare International Airport in Illinois, Chicago, on Wednesday.

Air traffic controllers received a payment today for some of the hours worked during the government shutdown.

One controller, who did not want to be named discussing his pay, told CNN he received a direct deposit for his base rate, but it did not include overtime or deductions for taxes.

The Department of Transportation said earlier this week that controllers would get a payment within 48 hours of the shutdown ending, and the rest within about a week.

Remember: Controllers, and other Federal Aviation Administration workers who maintain essential equipment, were required to work without pay during the shutdown.

Some controllers took sick leave during the lapse in funding, resulting in delays and some flight cancellations.

Today the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was one of the first to reopen after the government shutdown.

Visitors from as far away as Florida and California lined up at the National Air and Space Museum’s door this morning, eagerly awaiting its reopening.

The Washington, DC, museum greeted more than 1,000 visitors in just 30 minutes after its reopening, said director Christopher Browne. It is one of two Smithsonian museums reopening today. Another five are expected to open tomorrow, with all other museums opening on a rolling basis by Monday.

Kathy and Deneen Smith from California told CNN they planned their trip to the nation’s capital two months in advance, but the shutdown impacted their plans. “We’re very thankful that at least we get one day,” Deneen Smith said. They’ve been in the city for five days and were expecting to see all the museums.

Browne said he found out the museum was reopening “pretty much when the American public found out,” when Congress passed the funding bill. He described the building as being in a state of hibernation during the shutdown and said the facility was able to get back up and running for the public in less than 48 hours.

Visitors wait in line to get into the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on its first day reopen after the government shutdown.

Janet and Mark Warden from Arizona, who planned their trip more than four months ago, expected their plans to be canceled. However, when they checked the museum’s website yesterday evening, they were able to get tickets for this morning.

“I wanted to see as much as I could here because I’ve never been here before,” Janet Warden said. “We had a Capitol tour on Tuesday, and it got canceled, and we thought, ‘Are all of them going to get canceled on us?’ but it opened, and we’re still here.”

Construction crews continue to remove the East Wing of the White House and prepare for the new ballroom construction as seen from the newly reopened Washington Monument on Friday.

Visitors at the top of the Washington Monument today were able to get a view of the now-demolished East Wing of the White House.

The monument opened at 9 a.m. ET this morning, according to the National Park Service.

The construction on the East Wing began on October 20. It was torn down to make way for President Donald Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom.

Photos from the top of the monument show dirt and construction equipment in place of where the East Wing once was. The Washington Monument stands in front of the White House on the National Mall.

CNN’s Liz Turrell contributed reporting to this post.

Jay Clayton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during 13D Monitor's Active-Passive Investor Summit in New York City, on October 21.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said today that prosecutors in New York will lead a federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to high-profile figures, an announcement made just hours after President Donald Trump publicly instructed her to do so.

Trump directed Bondi on social media to “investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him.”

The attorney general posted a screenshot of his request, and wrote “Thank you, Mr. President.”

Bondi wrote that she had asked Jay Clayton, the top prosecutor in New York’s southern district, to “take the lead” in that investigation, adding that “as with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people.”

More context: The extraordinary step comes just days after Democrats released emails from the late Epstein that mention Trump, a move that the president decried as an effort to distract from the government shutdown and “all of their other failures.”

It’s also the second time that the president has personally, and publicly, instructed the attorney general to take a major investigative or prosecutorial act. In September, Trump called on Bondi to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff.

The logo of Center of Disease Control and Prevention is seen in Atlanta, Georgia, on August 9.

On their first day back to work following the government shutdown, one Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employee said they were greeted by a dusty keyboard and a mountain of urgent emails, some of which contained urgent asks from doctors.

Describing what it’s like to be back to work, the source told CNN: “Thousands of emails from various state and local health departments, academic partners, and clinicians asking for help/expertise on various projects meant to keep Americans healthy, all sitting in our inboxes.”

Those emails — which went unanswered during the longest-ever government shutdown — include ones from a clinician seeking help “understanding how to treat a rare infectious disease” in a patient, the source said, noting that the CDC is “the only place that has expertise in this particular pathogen.”

“This case was about an individual patient. The doctor turned to CDC for how to treat some obscure disease, and the experts weren’t able to answer,” the source said.

The email sat unanswered for a week. “We’d normally answer it the same day, because the patient needs to start treatment right away,” the source said.

President Donald Trump listens during an event in Washington, DC, on November 6.

In recent days, President Donald Trump was directly told by at least one of his allies on Capitol Hill that he was getting bad advice on his approach to the Jeffrey Epstein situation by continuing to delay and downplay it, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Trump was told by the ally that his staff was allowing bad press on this issue for six months and it opened him up to totally unnecessary criticism, the source added.

For months, allies have been telling the president and his advisers to change their strategy, often voicing frustration over the way the controversy has been handled.

An employee passes a window with the dome seen at US Capitol in Washington, DC on Thursday.

It’s been a busy Friday at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

We are closely following the latest developments as lawmakers are set to vote on releasing the full Jeffrey Epstein case files next week, and President Donald Trump looks to deflect from the effort.

But here are some other top headlines from around the administration you might have missed. Click the links to read the full reporting.

CNN’s Ella Nilsen, René Marsh, Alayna Treene, Alicia Wallace, Elisabeth Buchwald and Andy Rose contributed reporting to this post.

An exterior view of the new JPMorgan Chase global headquarters building on Thursday in New York City.

JPMorgan Chase ended its relationship with Jeffrey Epstein “years before his arrest on sex trafficking charges,” spokesperson Patricia Wexler said in a statement today, after President Donald Trump said he was asking the Justice Department to probe the bank’s ties to the disgraced financier.

JPMorgan paid $290 million in 2023 to settle a class action lawsuit filed by Epstein’s survivors that alleged it turned a blind eye to unusual cash transactions that they claimed enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking. JPMorgan also paid $75 million to settle with the US Virgin Islands. The bank did not admit or deny any wrongdoing in either settlement.

Earlier: Trump named several high-profile figures in his announcement about the DOJ probe today, including Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, “and many other people and institutions.”

The president made this extraordinary move just days after Democrats released emails from the late Epstein that mention him.

CNN’s Adam Cancryn and Donald Judd contributed to this report.

A sign advertising the acceptance of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program cards at a farmers market in Takoma Park, Maryland, on July 9.

Food stamp recipients in Maryland will receive their full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits beginning on Tuesday, the state Department of Human Services announced today.

Maryland enrollees who were due their SNAP benefits received at least half their allotments this month, while the federal government’s shutdown disrupted the issuance of the assistance. Distribution is normally staggered throughout the month.

After saying it did not have the money to provide November’s food stamp benefits, the US Department of Agriculture last week authorized states to make partial payments after a federal court ordered it to do so. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced that he would direct $62 million in state funds to support SNAP recipients, as well as $10 million in emergency food assistance.

As of November 13, the state issued nearly $47 million in benefits to nearly 218,000 households to ensure they received at least half of their usual allotments.

Residents who regularly receive their SNAP assistance before Tuesday will continue getting at least half their benefits, with all of these enrollees receiving the remainder of their allotments on that day. Those who are scheduled to receive their benefits on or after Tuesday will receive their full benefits.

Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Oval Office on November 10.

President Donald Trump said Friday he will ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to many other high-profile figures, including some of his perceived political opponents, again blasting Democrats following the release earlier this week of emails from the late Epstein that mention him.

More context: The president has sought to dismiss questions over Epstein for months, pressuring Republicans to block a discharge petition in the US House forcing a vote on the release of the Justice Department’s Epstein files — which the House speaker has said he’ll schedule for next week.

“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” Trump wrote on Friday.

CNN is reaching out to the Department of Justice and JP Morgan, as well as the people Trump named, about his comments.

President Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday.

President Donald Trump lashed out at congressional Democrats — and some “weak Republicans” — Friday over the push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, criticizing those Republicans as “soft and foolish” for backing the effort.

“The Democrats are doing everything in their withering power to push the Epstein Hoax again, despite the DOJ releasing 50,000 pages of documents, in order to deflect from all of their bad policies and losses, especially the SHUTDOWN EMBARRASSMENT, where their party is in total disarray, and has no idea what to do,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Some Weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish,” Trump added.

He went on the argue that Epstein is the Democrats’ “problem,” not Republicans’.

CNN has reported that House GOP leaders are bracing for a significant number of Republicans to support the bipartisan bill led by GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna that would compel the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.

The president has yet to respond on camera to this week’s House Oversight Committee release of Epstein emails that mentioned Trump, not stopping to answer reporters’ questions on Thursday during an event in the East Room.

This photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein on March 28, 2017.

Jeffrey Epstein has been back in the news this week, and the rift between lawmakers and the Trump administration over releasing more information isn’t going away any time soon.

The House is expected to vote on a bill compelling the release of all of the Justice Department’s Epstein case files next week – earlier than expected.

So, here’s what to know.

CNN’s Annie Grayer, Ellis Kim, Alison Main, Manu Raju, Kristen Holmes and Sarah Ferris contributed reporting to this post.

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House on July 13.

The sprawling 2023 racketeering indictment case against President Donald Trump and several allies for their efforts to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat in Georgia will continue and is now in the hands of a new prosecutor.

The case was assigned in September to Peter Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, a bipartisan collaboration of six district attorneys and three solicitors general from across the state.

Skandalakis previously said he could also take the case himself if he could not find another prosecutor willing to take it on.

“This morning, an Administrative Order appointing me to the case of State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al. was filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court of Fulton County,” Skandalakis wrote in a statement this morning.

Remember: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had launched the case, but was removed after a legal fight over her authority.

The words 'Smithsonian Institution' are seen along the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, on October 21.

Visitors will be able to go to many of the Smithsonian museums this weekend, after they were closed for more than a month due to the government shutdown.

Here’s when they are opening, according to the Smithsonian.

Friday:

Saturday:

By Monday:

The Smithsonian previously said most museums, except for the museums of American History and Air and Space, would reopen Monday.

In addition, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, which is not part of the Smithsonian Institution, will partially open today and fully open tomorrow.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with reporters after the vote to re-open the government, at the US Capitol on Wednesday.

Republicans in Washington successfully defused the 43-day government shutdown without surrendering to Democrats’ demands to spend billions more to offset spiking health insurance costs.

Now, the GOP is under mounting pressure to figure out its own plan.

Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire in just weeks — which would more than double the cost of premiums nationally for tens of millions of Americans.

And it’s causing deep anxiety among some in the party, particularly in battleground seats, who worry Republicans will end up doing nothing to prevent those price hikes and enter a critical midterm year with the issue of health care haunting them once again.

GOP leaders in the House have begun work on their own package, which is unlikely to extend those subsidies and instead will seek other ways to reduce costs, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.

But Republicans are not committing to doing anything on health care by December 31, when those subsidies expire and premiums are set to spike.

Read the full story here.

An airplane descends into landing at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Wednesday.

People flying home for Thanksgiving will have one more thing to be thankful for this year: H.R. 5371, the funding bill President Donald Trump signed to end the longest shutdown in US history.

The move is a step closer to normalcy for flyers after FAA-mandated cuts led to thousands of flight delays and cancellations at major airports across the country.

But the disruptions aren’t over. More than 600 US flights have been canceled as of early today and over 500 are delayed, according to FlightAware data. This is down from the nearly 1,000 flights canceled yesterday.

The flight disruptions are primarily due to a combination of air traffic controller staffing issues and the mandated flight reductions — but also include unrelated flight cuts.

Here is what we know about the plans to get more planes back up in the skies – and the uncertainty that remains.

Travelers walk through Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Monday.

The past few weeks have been a wild ride for air travelers, who have seen flight cancellations and staffing shortages related to the US government shutdown, on top of the annual Thanksgiving crush still to come.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said this week that he expects flight issues to be resolved before Thanksgiving travel ramps up.

Still, we know this year, the thought of traveling may be even more stress inducing than usual given the recent disruptions. Did you change your holiday travel plans? Do you have a plan to get through possibly chaotic travel days? CNN wants to hear from you.

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 November.

Now that the government has reopened, agencies are working to get back to business as usual.

Here’s what we know about the post-shutdown timeline for various paychecks and benefits: