Stand-off continues more than a week into the government shutdown

The government shutdown is expected to extend into next week, after the Senate took their last vote of the week on Thursday night.

Per the Republican Whip’s office, there are not expected to be any further votes until Tuesday, October 14.

Remember: With no votes until then, military service members on Wednesday will likely miss their first paycheck since the shutdown began.

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The Senate passed its version of the annual defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. The final vote was 77-20.

Senators spent hours on the floor Thursday evening, working their way through a long list of amendments, before moving to final passage. One of the amendments adopted would end the authorization for the use of military force in Iraq, a measure that was also included in the House’s version of the package, making it likely that it ends up in the final text.

That amendment was passed by voice vote, with GOP Sen. Todd Young and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine speaking in favor. While Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker said he was opposed to the measure, he acknowledged “how the wind is blowing” in the chamber and said he would accept a voice vote on the matter.

The House passed its version of the package, which contained some controversial GOP-backed policies, in September, with only 17 Democratic votes. The Senate’s version contains fewer political flashpoints, and it garnered support from more than 20 Democrats.

Now that the Senate has passed its package, the House and Senate will proceed to a conference committee to resolve the differences between the two packages. This final version will have to be passed by both chambers before the end of the year.

The FAA Air Traffic Control tower at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, on October 6.

The Federal Aviation Administration now says the normal number of air traffic controllers will not show up for work at least 11 jobsites across the country Thursday night.

Two parts of the Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center will be short staffed between 7:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. ET and the Indianapolis center will be short staffed 12:30 a.m. ET and 6:30 a.m. ET, according to a publicly released operations plan. These controllers usually deal with planes flying at higher altitudes.

Every staffing problem reported does not always cause delays since controllers can take other actions, like routing flights to airspace with more staffing, but sometimes planes must be slowed down so a reduced number so they can be safely managed.

Earlier, the FAA noted delays for Thursday night at control towers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Bradley International Airport in Connecticut and Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport in Virginia.

Air Route Traffic Control Centers without a full staff included Washington center in Virginia and two parts of the Boston Center.

Facilities that handle flights approaching or departing Newark Liberty International Airport and Orlando International Airport were also short-staffed Thursday night.

Earlier in the day a facility in Fort Worth, Texas was also short-staffed for about an hour.

Video optained by Fox news will be shown at airport security lines across the country where the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem blames Democrats for the government shutdown.

Travelers waiting in airport security lines across the country will now be met with a video where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blames Democrats for the government shutdown.

“It is TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience as possible while we keep you safe,” she says. “However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.”

The video was first obtained by Fox News.

The Department of Homeland Security responded to CNN’s questions about the video in a statement that noted the “public service video is rolling out across the country,” then repeated the language in the video almost verbatim.

“We will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact your travel, and our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government,” the video concludes.

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport reported staffing shortages as well as The Washington air route control center and Orlando International Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported additional air traffic controller staffing shortages for Thursday evening in a just released operations plan.

The Washington air route control center will not have a normal number of staff from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.

The control tower at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport will be short staffed from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.

And the facility dealing with flights arriving or departing Orlando International Airport will be understaffed from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The facilities join six other operations that were reported short staffed earlier in the day, including the control towers at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut and Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport in Virginia, two parts of the Boston air route center along with the Fort Worth center, and the facility that handles flights arriving or departing Newark Liberty International Airport.

Newark reported delays of nearly 90 minutes; however, no delays were immediately seen at the other locations.

Every staffing problem reported does not always cause delays since controllers can take other actions, like routing flights to airspace with a normal complement of controllers.

The cause of the staffing problems was not immediately apparent, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said early today that a “small fraction” of controllers were “lashing out” because of the government shutdown and not going to work.

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks said “there has to be some negotiation” on health care before Democrats agree to reopen the government.

Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, whose represents a large federal workforce in Maryland, warned the government shutdown is creating “catastrophic challenges” for federal workers and argued Republicans in control of Congress and the White House bear the responsibility.

“200,000 federal employees who live in Maryland and we have, add to that, a number of contractors, close to 500,000 in Maryland. I am obviously very concerned about it which is why I have continued to vote” for the Democratic plan to reopen the government and extend Obamacare subsidies, she said. “This is causing catastrophic challenges for people and we need to reopen the government.”

“The Republicans, be clear about this, shut down the government,” she added. “It is intellectually dishonest to say anything different. The people who control the White House, the United States Senate and the US House of Representatives now want the public to believe that the party that is the minority party is somehow causing this. That’s not true.”

Alsobrooks said “there has to be some negotiation” on health care before Democrats agree to reopen the government. She also slammed OMB Director Russell Vought’s efforts to slash the federal workforce.

“The Republicans have been shutting down the government all year long,” she said. “Russell Vought got what he wanted. He said he wanted federal employees that feel so traumatized that they would not even want to come to work.”

“He’s targeted these employees. It’s been shameless, it’s been callous, and it needs to end,” she added.

This screengrab taken from a video shows the floor of the US Senate on Thursday.

The Senate failed to advance Republicans’ stopgap funding bill once again in a 54 to 45 vote.

Republicans need 60 votes.

Three senators in the Democratic caucus voted with most Republicans to advance the bill. They were:

• Catherine Cortez Masto

• John Fetterman

• Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats

GOP Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote against advancing the measure. With Paul opposed, Republicans need 8 Democrats to vote in support of their proposal to advance it.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer attends a news conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

As Vice President JD Vance was praising President Donald Trump’s approach to brokering a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, he used the moment to insult Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

“The president of the United States, a New York real estate billionaire, one of the most famous New Yorkers in the world, has a lot of interaction with a lot of people who are very pro-Israel. I think that was an important set of experiences and life, life experiences that he brought to the table,” Vance began.

Then he added: “He also, of course, knew one of the most famous Palestinians in the world, Chuck Schumer.”

Trump has used the word to deride the Democratic leader — who is Jewish — in the past, drawing rebukes from both Jewish and Muslim groups.

The moment, which took place during a Cabinet meeting, underscored the continued acrimony between the White House and Schumer amid the ongoing government shutdown.

House Speaker Mike Johnson departs following a press conference on Thursday.

With the first missed paycheck for US troops just days away, House Speaker Mike Johnson stressed to GOP members on Thursday in a private call that he would not put a standalone bill for military pay on the floor, according to three people who were on the call.

Johnson reiterated that he does not want to vote on a separate bill that would address military pay despite some rising anxiety of some vulnerable members at home in their districts. Instead, Johnson urged House Republicans to “stay the course” as the government shutdown stretches into its ninth day and the House remains out of session, two of the people said.

One of the people said that most members seemed to support GOP leaders’ decision not to call up the bill, keeping the pressure on Democrats to back down from their stance. Those who have been opposed – including GOP Rep. Jen Kiggans, a former Navy pilot who represents a military-heavy district along the Virginia coast – are doing what they need to do politically to protect themselves on the troop issue.

Some members also vented some frustration they are feeling with one particularly vocal member of their conference lately: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis called out Greene for “not knowing math” as the Georgia Republican has blasted Republicans for controlling all levers of the government – but not mentioning that the Senate needs seven Democrats to support any funding bill, according to another person on the call.

Southwest Airlines passenger jet flies over the Potomac River while approaching Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC, on October 6.

Leaders at Southwest Airlines are telling employees to be “vigilant in ensuring operational reliability” as air traffic controller staffing is “dynamic and could change rapidly at any ATC facility.”

The companywide memo, titled “managing through air traffic controller staffing shortages,” came after the Federal Aviation Administration instituted flight delays due to low controller staffing at two large Southwest airports, Nashville and Hollywood Burbank.

Southwest’s operations center has been in “contact with the FAA to monitor controller staffing levels throughout the network,” it noted.

The airline thanked government employees who continue to work during the shutdown, as well as the airline’s teams in Burbank and Nashville for “working quickly to minimize disruption when air traffic initiatives temporarily affected flight schedules.”

Republican Sen. Jon Husted, one of the newest members of the Senate, criticized the heated confrontations playing out this week on Capitol Hill, saying it makes lawmakers look “ridiculous.”

“That’s pretty simple, but seemingly, there seems to be many people who believe that antics are more valuable to them than actually serving the American people,” the Ohio Republican said. “I’m not one of them.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks to members of the media on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski told CNN that “constructive conversations” including both parties need to continue happening, and “we need to get the government open,” explaining that there’s an urgency to address the shutdown as people will soon start missing paychecks.

Asked about Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who has threatened further cuts to the federal workforce amid the shutdown, Murkowski said she worries that the news of potential firings causes “uncertainty,” highlighting “48 hours of panic” in her native Alaska over whether communities would be able to receive essential services provided by planes who need support from the Department of Transportation.

Pressed by CNN on if the Trump administration should be targeting blue states, Murkowski answered, “there should be no targeting of anyone. A government shutdown impacts everybody, unfortunately. We don’t need to unnecessarily target any other areas more than others.”

GOP Sen. Susan Collins, who broke with Republicans on President Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy bill earlier this year, said she thinks the White House needs to be involved in bipartisan talks to end the shutdown, adding, “the onus is really on Chuck Schumer,” whom she noted previously opposed shutdowns.

The Senate Appropriations Committee Chair told CNN that she has circulated her own plan to reopen the government and Democratic lawmakers, like Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, have done the same, so she hopes “we can come to an agreement.”

Collins later told CNN that she doesn’t agree with Vought about firing furloughed workers, calling it “extremely unfair” and warning it would “leave agencies unable to function efficiently when they reopen.”

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, on Thursday.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he planned to cut federal programs popular with Democrats as Congress appears to remain deadlocked on reopening the government.

Trump did not specify which programs he planned to target for cuts. But the president has threatened for days to begin mass firings if Democrats continue to hold to their demands for concessions in exchange for passing a federal funding bill.

“We’ll be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly, because that’s the way it works.”

Democratic lawmakers have largely brushed off the threat so far, noting that that the administration has long advocated for deeper cuts to the federal workforce — and could still follow through with them at any point, even after the government reopens.

Senators are now voting on Republicans’ short-term government funding proposal.

It needs 60 votes to advance, meaning Republicans would need Democrats to sign on.

The stopgap proposal would fund the government through late November.

The Senate has failed to advance Democrats’ stopgap funding bill once again.

Lawmakers voted 47 to 50. A bill to reopen the government needs 60 votes to advance.

Lawmakers will now vote on Republicans’ House-passed version that would fund the government until late November.

The Federal Aviation Administration is reporting a staffing shortage at the center in Fort Worth Texas which controls flights enroute through the region, according to a publicly available operations plan.

The so-called “staffing trigger” lasts until 1 p.m. ET. It is the first time today that the FAA reported staffing problems.

A trigger does not always cause delays since controllers can take other actions, like routing flights to airspace with a normal complement of controllers.

The cause of the staffing problem was not immediately apparent, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said early today that a “small fraction” of controllers were “lashing out” because of the government shutdown and not going to work.

Senators have begun voting on Democrats’ short-term government funding proposal.

The stopgap funding bill needs 60 votes to advance, meaning Democrats would need Republicans to sign on. The party has failed to reach that support on several other attempts since the shutdown began on October 1.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson waits to speak during a news conference at the US Captiol on Thursday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday acknowledged that “emotions are high” on Capitol Hill and that people are “upset,” after two clashes among lawmakers yesterday.

“And so, is it better for them probably being physically separated right now? Yeah, probably is. Frankly, I wish that weren’t the case. But we do have to turn the volume down. The best way to turn the volume down is to turn the lights back on and get the government open for the people,” he added.

Johnson also said he spoke to President Donald Trump last night. “He called me after the peace deal was done. And he and I both lament, we all do, this terrible situation that we’re in,” the speaker said of the shutdown.

He continued to reject suggestions for the House to return next week and vote on a standalone bill to assure military pay for servicemembers even as the Republican sponsor of the bill, GOP Rep. Jen Kiggans, is calling on leadership to pass it.

“We have already voted to pay the troops. We did it three weeks ago,” he argued, referring to the House’s passage of a short-term funding bill.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune remains firmly opposed to weakening the legislative filibuster, even as he acknowledged the heightened “swirl” on social media and elsewhere suggesting it could be a possible way to get around Democrats and end the government shutdown.

Asked by CNN if he had gotten pressure from the White House to change the filibuster, Thune said he had not talked to President Donald Trump about it, although they have talked about it in the past when Trump advocated for doing so.

“There’s, you know, always a lot of swirl out there, as you know, from, you know, social media, etc., but no, I’ve not had that conversation with the president,” he said.

Asked if he remains dead set against changing the filibuster, Thune said, “Yeah.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green speaks with CNN on Thursday.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Thursday blamed her party’s congressional leaders for the government shutdown.

Asked on CNN’s “The Situation Room” if she agreed with polling that showed 47% of Americans believe Republicans are mainly responsible for the shutdown, the Georgia Republican said she thought the shutdown wasn’t popular for either side and that she views it differently from GOP leadership.

Asked again if she’s putting the blame on her party’s leadership, Greene said: “Absolutely.”

“We control the House. We control the Senate. We have the White House,” she said.

“I’ve been vocal saying, you know, you can use a nuclear option in the Senate. This doesn’t have to be a shutdown, but what we have to do is we have to work for the American people,” Greene continued.

Hear more on why Marjorie Taylor Greene is breaking with GOP on several big issues.