What we covered here
• Shutdown-related firings begin: More than 4,000 federal employees have been given layoff notices as the shutdown is ongoing, the Trump administration revealed in a court filing. President Donald Trump vowed to target those deemed to be aligned with the Democratic Party.
• Paychecks for troops: Trump said Saturday that “we have identified funds” to pay troops next week. It had seemed almost certain that military members wouldn’t get their next paychecks, which were scheduled to go out Wednesday.
• Stalemate continues: The shutdown is on track to extend into next week. Congress remains deadlocked on a funding plan, and the Senate isn’t scheduled to hold any votes until Tuesday. The House is out of session.
• Has the government shutdown affected you? CNN wants to hear your story.
Our coverage of the government shutdown and the Trump administration has ended for the day. Explore more stories here or scroll through the posts below.
Air traffic control operations short-staffed again Saturday
Three Federal Aviation Administration facilities are short-staffed Saturday evening, according to an FAA operations plan.
A 2 p.m. ET update included additional staffing warnings for New York Air Route Traffic Control Center until 3 p.m. ET.
The facility that handles flights approaching and departing Atlanta is experiencing staffing shortages from 4:30 p.m. ET to 8:30 p.m. ET.
The Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center in New Mexico has staffing shortages reported from 6 p.m. ET to 1 a.m. ET.
Not all staffing problems result in delays as air traffic controllers can sometimes divert planes to other airspace with more controllers, but occasionally planes must be slowed down for safety.
Air traffic controllers, along with Transportation Security Administration officers, are considered essential employees and have to work during the shutdown, despite not being paid.
"The damage is beyond repair": CDC faces deep staff cuts
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suffered a round of deep staff cuts late last night, with disease detectives, outbreak forecasters, policy and data offices among those impacted, according to four sources with knowledge of the layoffs.
“The administration did not like that CDC data did not support their narrative, so they got rid of them. They didn’t like that CDC policy groups would not rubber stamp their unscientific ideas, so they got rid of them,” said an agency official who asked not to be named for fear of losing their job.
The notices were emailed shortly after 9 p.m. The exact number of cuts is still being assessed.
The CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, which trains the agency’s celebrated “disease detectives,” lost at least 30 of the staff who coordinate the program, and 40 EIS officers who were in their second year of training, according to a second agency official who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.
More than 130 employees were laid off from the office of the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, which coordinated activities for the entire center, said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who recently resigned as the director of the NCIRD.
The layoffs come as the country is heading into the winter respiratory virus season.
“The damage is beyond repair,” Daskalakis said. “Crippling CDC, even as a ploy to create political pressure to end the government shut down, means America is even less prepared for outbreaks and infectious disease security threats.”
All the staff at the agency’s the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal known as the MMWR that has published surveillance data on the nation’s health for over a century, were also fired, according to Houry.
