Yet even as the possibility of an end to the shutdown draws near, almost no one in Congress will be satisfied. Democrats didn’t get the health insurance provisions they demanded added to the spending deal. And Republicans, who control the levers of power in Washington, didn’t escape blame, according to polls and some state and local elections that went poorly for them.
The Latest:
The timeline for SNAP benefits remains uncertain, even after Congress agrees to end the shutdown
Congress has taken a major step toward reopening the government, but there’s still uncertainty about when all 42 million Americans who receive SNAP food aid will have access to their full November benefits.
One provision in the bill that would reopen the government calls for restarting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but even that doesn’t resolve when the benefits will be loaded onto the debit cards beneficiaries use to buy groceries.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the program, said in an email Wednesday that funds could be available “upon the government reopening, within 24 hours for most states.” The department didn’t immediately answer questions about where it might take longer.
Johnson calls ACA subsidies a ‘boondoggle to insurance companies’
He says the health care tax credits that Democrats want to extend “rob the taxpayer.”
The Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at the end of the year, meaning premiums could rise for millions of people who buy their insurance off ACA marketplaces. Democrats have kept the government shut down for 43 days in an effort to get Republicans to negotiate with them on the issue.
Johnson’s criticism came shortly after the House voted to reopen the government without extending the subsidies, sending the bill to Trump. Senate Majority leader John Thune promised Democrats a mid-December vote on the issue, but Johnson has declined to say whether he will put it up for a vote.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do on that,” Johnson said. “Republicans would demand a lot of reforms.”
Speaker Johnson ‘very relieved’ after vote to end government shutdown passes
The Republican lambasted Democrats for the historically long government shutdown, saying they used the “American people as leverage in this political game.”
“Voters are going to remember which political party played games with their life,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Trump expected is expected to sign the spending bill at 9:45 p.m. EST in the Oval Office.
“We feel very relieved. Tonight, the Democrats’ shutdown is finally over,” Johnson said.
House passes bill to end historic government shutdown, sending measure to Trump
Republicans used their slight majority to get the bill over the finish line by a vote of 222-209.
The historic 43-day funding lapse saw federal workers go without multiple paychecks, travelers stranded at airports and people lining up at food banks to get a meal for their families.
Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. They refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time. They eventually prevailed, but only after the shutdown took an increasing toll on the country.
“We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They never achieve the objective that you announce. And guess what? You haven’t achieved that objective yet, and you’re not going to.”
Flight reductions to stay at 6% at 40 major US airports
The reductions had been planned to rise to 10% by the end of the week, but the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration said the 6% limit will remain since there are more air traffic controllers coming to work.
The agencies said the decision follows recommendations from the FAA’s safety team, after a “rapid decline” in controller callouts. The limit will stay in place while officials assess whether the air traffic system can safely return to normal operations, the agencies said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said safety remains their top priority and that all decisions will be guided by data.
Thousands of flights have been canceled since the restrictions took effect last Friday. The FAA originally planned to ramp up flight cuts from 4% to 10% of flights at the 40 airports.
Speaker Johnson says ‘we’re not going to waste any more time’ as House shutdown vote begins
Voting in the House on a funding bill that would end the government shutdown has begun after Speaker Mike Johnson made quick remarks.
“We need to get this government open as soon as possible, and I’m going to yield back the remainder of my time so we can do that,” Johnson said.
37 are donors helping pay for Trump’s $300 million White House ballroom
Trump says his $300 million White House ballroom will be paid for “100% by me and some friends of mine.”
The White House released a list of 37 donors, including crypto billionaires, charitable organizations, sports team owners, powerful financiers, tech and tobacco giants, media companies, longtime supporters of Republican causes and several of the president’s neighbors in Palm Beach, Florida.
It’s incomplete. Among others, the list doesn’t include Carrier Group, which offered to donate an HVAC system for the ballroom, and artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia, whose CEO, Jensen Huang, publicly discussed the donation.
A senior White House official said the list has grown since it was first released in October, but some companies don’t want to be publicly named until required to do so by financial disclosure regulations. No foreign individuals or entities were among the donors, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that haven’t been made public.
▶ Read more about the divulged donors here
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— By Will Weissert
Members of Congress to hold press conference next week with victims of Jeffery Epstein
The victims will appear on Capitol Hill next Tuesday for a press conference alongside Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who have co-sponsored a petition which would force a vote on a bill that would require the Justice Department release all files related to Epstein.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, one of the only Republicans to support the petition, will also attend.
Jeffries speaks in opposition of bill to end shutdown as final passage nears
The Democrats’ leader in the House vowed that “the fight is not over” ahead of the chamber’s vote on a funding bill that would end the government shutdown.
“We’re just getting started. We’ll fight today. We’ll fight tomorrow,” said Jeffries. “We’ll fight until we win this battle for the American people.”
Jeffries and most House Democrats have spoken out against the bill due to it not extending Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.
In New Hampshire, Sen. Chris Murphy describes lessons of shutdown fight
The Connecticut senator says two lessons have emerged during the government shutdown: The job of Democrats is to fight, and victory will involve pain and sacrifice.
Murphy, one of the most vocal Democrats opposing the compromise legislation to reopen the government, spoke at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Wednesday night. He said showing Americans who Trump really is will involve an uncomfortable level of confrontation. And he urged his caucus to learn from Civil Rights movement figures who endured being jailed and beaten.
“What they were trying to do is show the regime that their willingness to endure pain was greater than the regime’s willingness to impose it,” he said. “If you allow this president to weaponize our compassion against us permanently, it just emboldens him.”
Though photos of them hung on the wall around him, Murphy didn’t mention New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, who were among the Democrats who broke ranks to back the compromise.
Trump plans to sign legislation to reopen government
The White House released an updated schedule with the president signing the funding bill at 9:45 p.m. ET in the Oval Office.
Justice Department opinion says personnel involved in boat strikes not vulnerable to prosecution
A Justice Department legal opinion says U.S. military personnel would not be vulnerable to prosecution if they’re involved in the fatal strikes against alleged drug boats in South America, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details from the opinion. The Washington Post first reported those details Wednesday.
The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel drafted the classified opinion. It comes as human rights groups and others have raised concerns about the strikes violating international law.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk recently urged the U.S. to “take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats” and said he believes the attacks violate international human rights law.
When asked about the opinion, a Justice Department spokesperson said the strikes “were ordered consistent with the laws of armed conflict, and as such are lawful orders. Military personnel are legally obligated to follow lawful orders and, as such, are not subject to prosecution for following lawful orders.”
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— By Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick
Transgender Air Force members sue over losing retirement pay
A group of 17 transgender members of the Air Force are suing the U.S. government over what they say is the military’s unlawful revocation of their early retirement pensions and benefits.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court Monday, comes several months after the Air Force confirmed that it would deny all transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits.
It’s just the latest in a series of legal challenges to the Trump administration’s policies that have sought to push transgender troops out of the military since the early days of his second term.
Logan Ireland, a master sergeant in the Air Force with 15 years of service that includes a deployment to Afghanistan, joined the lawsuit.
“Stripping away my retirement sends the message that those values only apply on the battlefield, not when a service member needs them most,” he said.
Rubio says questions about US strikes on alleged drug boats didn’t come up at G7
Speaking to reporters following the gathering in Canada, Rubio also pushed back on a CNN report that the United Kingdom has halted some intelligence sharing with the U.S. over concerns about the strikes, calling it inaccurate and fake. Rubio said the U.S. has assets in South America providing intelligence to support the strikes and that no one from the British government has expressed concerns to him about the strikes’ legality.
“We have very strong partnerships with the UK and other countries,” Rubio said. “Again, nothing has changed or happened that has impeded in any way our ability to do what we’re doing.”
Rubio says ‘pressure is being applied’ to countries supplying paramilitary forces in Sudan
Rubio decried the humanitarian situation in war-torn Sudan and said “something needs to be done” to cut off the weapons and other support that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is receiving as it battles the Sudanese army.
Asked by reporters about the role of the United Arab Emirates in the conflict, Rubio said Wednesday that the U.S. knows who’s involved in supplying the RSF.
“I can just tell you, at the highest levels of our government, that case is being made and that pressure is being applied to the relevant parties,” Rubio said, without naming any country. “This needs to stop. I mean, they’re clearly receiving assistance from outside.”
The Associated Press has reported that U.S. intelligence assessments for many months have found that the United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. ally, has been sending weapons to the RSF. The UAE denies backing the RSF.
Rubio says nuclear tests needed to ensure effectiveness
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Trump’s call to resume nuclear testing is appropriate given ongoing testing by U.S. adversaries.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting of diplomats from the Group of Seven democracies in Canada on Wednesday, Rubio said Trump’s plan includes the testing of delivery systems, the technologies used to launch nuclear weapons from land, air and sea.
Trump last month called for a resumption in nuclear testing but offered no details. His Energy Secretary Chris Wright later said the testing would not include nuclear explosions.
Rubio said testing the technology underlying the nation’s nuclear arsenal is needed to ensure its effectiveness and safety.
North Korea is the only country to conduct explosive nuclear tests this century.
Illinois congressional candidate pleads not guilty after charges related to immigration protest
A Democratic congressional candidate from Illinois and five others have pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing them of blocking an immigration agent from entering a federal immigration facility during a protest.
Kat Abughazaleh is seeking the Democratic nomination in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky in the Chicago area.
She and five others have been charged with conspiring to impede an officer amid protests at a suburban Chicago processing center used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Prosecutors say they surrounded an agent’s van in September and banged on the vehicle.
After Wednesday’s federal court hearing, Abughazaleh told reporters that expressing First Amendment rights is not a conspiracy and dissent is not a crime.
The others who pleaded not guilty include a candidate for the Cook County Board and a trustee in suburban Oak Park.
Trump to host Saudi Crown Prince for White House talks on Tuesday
Trump’s widely anticipated talks with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Mohammad bin Salman will take place Tuesday, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the yet to be formally announced visit.
With a fragile ceasefire holding in Gaza, Trump has expressed optimism about the prospects that the Saudis will soon agree to normalize commercial and diplomatic relations with Israel.
The Saudis meanwhile are expected to use the visit to press for a formal security agreement with the United States that includes a mutual defense treaty. Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May as part of a three-country Middle East tour.
— Aamer Madhani
Adelita Grijalva sworn in as the House’s newest member, paving the way for an Epstein files vote
Democrat Adelita Grijalva was sworn in as the newest member of Congress on Wednesday, more than seven weeks after she won a special election in Arizona to fill the House seat last held by her late father.
Grijalva was sworn in by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday shortly before the House returned to session to vote on a deal to fund the federal government. The lower chamber had been away since mid-September.
Grijalva’s seating brings the partisan margin in the House to a narrow 220-214 Republican majority. She vowed to continue her father’s legacy of advocating for progressive policies on issues like environmentalism, labor rights and tribal sovereignty.
She had previously called the prospect of finally being sworn in “emotional” in an interview with The Associated Press.
▶ Read more about Adelita Grijalva
In AP interview, JB Pritzker calls Democrat’s deal to end shutdown ‘enormous mistake’
The high-profile Illinois governor said he was “extremely disappointed” in a group of Democratic senators for striking a deal with Republicans to end the shutdown earlier this week.
The deal, passed Monday, makes no guarantee of extending Affordable Care Act tax credits.
“I’ve been on team fight from the very beginning,” Pritzker said in a Wednesday interview with AP. “I don’t appreciate when we’ve got Democrats who are caving in and doing basically what the Trump administration wants.”
Among the Democrats to vote for the funding bill to end the shutdown was Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin. Pritzker said that while he has “a great deal of respect” for Durbin, his decision was “an enormous mistake.”
Airlines and hotels urge House action to prevent Thanksgiving ‘travel chaos’
At a joint news conference, Airlines for America and the American Hotel and Lodging Association urged the House to act today to end the shutdown and “stave off more travel chaos” before Thanksgiving.
“We’re heading into the busiest travel season of the year. The House of Representatives cannot delay taking action and stand in the way of families reuniting around the Thanksgiving table,” said Rosanna Maietta, president of the hotel association.
Airlines for America, which represents the major U.S. carriers, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines, estimates more than 5.2 million passengers have been affected by staffing-related flight delays or cancellations since the government shutdown began.
▶ Read more about U.S air travel
Voto Latino urges House to vote ‘no’ on bill that will end shutdown
Voto Latino leaders said they strongly oppose the bill that will end the longest shutdown in U.S. history, claiming it will jeopardize the health of Latino communities by failing to fund subsidies provided by the Affordable Care Act that make health coverage more accessible.
“The bill before the House of Representatives does not live up to the urgent needs of our families — it offers neither sufficient safeguards nor meaningful investments to protect access to health care,” Voto Latino leaders said in a statement.
“Voto Latino calls out the U.S. House of Representatives to exercise its responsibility to the American people and specifically the Latino and immigrant communities by voting no on this budget bill in its current form.”
Vance praises RFK Jr. at MAHA conference
The vice president praised Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s willingness to question established science and embrace nontraditional voices in health care.
Vance said that often throughout history, “all the experts were wrong.”
In remarks in a fireside chat between the two men at a “Make America Healthy Again” summit in Washington, Vance also propped up Kennedy’s MAHA movement, saying it has been “an incredible part of our success in Washington.”
Kennedy is a longtime vaccine skeptic who as health secretary has changed inoculation guidelines and upended many of the agencies he leads.
Critics, including the country’s leading medical associations, say Kennedy’s policies are destructive to Americans’ health.
White House says there may be no jobs or inflation data for October
The record-long government shutdown likely means the government will not report what unemployment or inflation was in October, Leavitt said Wednesday, an unprecedented disruption in key economic data relied upon by Federal Reserve policymakers.
“The Democrats may have permanently damaged the federal statistical system, with October CPI and jobs reports likely never being released,” Leavitt said.
Some of the data for the two reports is collected electronically, but the bulk of it depends on surveys or store visits that were cancelled by the shutdown. For example, the monthly calculation of the unemployment rate is based off a survey of 60,000 households in the middle of the month, when the government was closed.
The data disruption comes as the Federal Reserve is sharply split on whether to cut its key interest rate at its next meeting December 9-10.
Democrats raise possibility of another shutdown, if heath care is not addressed
House Democrats returning to the Capitol for a vote on legislation to end the government shutdown raised the possibility that it could happen again when the bill’s funding runs out again in January, if they aren’t able to get some concessions on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year.
Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said it depends “on the vulnerable House Republicans who are not going to be able to go back to their constituents without telling them that they’ve done something on health care.”
Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern said that he would not vote “to endorse their cruelty” if Republicans don’t support extending the subsidies.
House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said Republicans have wanted to repeal the ACA for the last 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.
“When it comes to January 30, we’ll see what progress has been made,” she said.
White House does not detail why Trump had an MRI in October
Leavitt was asked about her promise earlier this month that she would follow up with the president to find out more about why he had an MRI in October.
The press secretary said she was “glad” for the question but didn’t answer it.
Leavitt said Trump “received advanced imaging” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in October “as part of his routine physical examination.”
Leavitt did not specify what part of Trump’s body was imaged in the scan.
“The full results were reviewed by attending radiologists and consultant and all agreed that President Trump remains in exceptional physical health,” she said.
Trump says Democrats using Epstein case to ‘deflect’ from shutdown failure
In his first comment since additional files were released this morning, the president said Republicans should ignore the latest developments.
“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”
He added that “any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!”
White House says Epstein emails are a ‘manufactured hoax’ by Democrats
“These emails prove absolutely absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” Leavitt said of the documents released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
She said Trump knew Epstein from Palm Beach but that the president kicked the financier out of his Mar-a-Lago club “because Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile and he was a creep.”
Leavitt was also asked about reports that the White House met with U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, to discuss the Epstein files and she said it shows “transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress.”
Leavitt then seemed to indicate that White House officials met with Boebert in the White House situation room to discuss the Epstein files, saying, “I’m not going to detail conversations that took place in the Situation Room in the press briefing room.”
White House offers mixed, often contradictory, messages on promoting affordability nationwide
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed affordability issues on the media, saying prices at the grocery store, and other key costs for consumers, are actually lower than has been reported.
She also insisted White House has “done so much to lower prices and increase the economic prosperity of the American people” while also acknowledging, “There is more work to do.”
Leavitt said the administration had lowered energy and prescription drug prices, while also blaming Democrats for a government shutdown she said hurt the economy.
She mistakenly suggested that energy prices were the top driver of inflation. Shelter costs are the most important driver of key inflation measures and spending on groceries is a larger share of income than spending on gasoline.
Rubio meets G7, other counterparts in Canada
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with his counterparts from the G7 group of industrialized democracies and other nations, including Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, South Korea and India.
He traveled to southern Ontario for a foreign ministers meeting largely focused on Russia’s war with Ukraine, maritime security and critical minerals that are used in major technology.
Although Rubio didn’t make any specific announcements about additional U.S. aid to Ukraine or new sanctions against Russia, he said on social media that he and the others had discussed “ways to strengthen Ukraine’s defense and find an end to this bloody conflict.”
“The United States remains steadfast in working with our partners to encourage Russia to pursue diplomacy and engage directly with Ukraine for a durable and lasting peace,” he said on X.
The State Department said Rubio and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand discussed transatlantic security, the Indo-Pacific, Haiti and supply chains in a separate meeting. It comes after trade tensions recently heightened between the two North American allies.
Maine candidate alters 2 races by dropping Senate bid for House primary
The Democratic primary to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was shaken up Wednesday by the decision of one candidate to drop out and join a different race.
The top Democratic challengers to face Collins are Gov. Janet Mills, a party mainstay, and Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who has gained attention for progressive views and provocative online posts. Jordan Wood, a onetime chief of staff to former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., has also run an aggressive social media campaign.
Wood said Wednesday that he is dropping out of the Senate race to instead run for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat. The incumbent, Democrat Jared Golden, announced last week that he is not seeking reelection.
Wood’s announcement sets up a potential primary with former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap. The leading Republican candidate is former Gov. Paul LePage.
Republican congresswoman says she’ll support deal to end shutdown after voting ‘no’ in September
Rep. Victoria Spartz said Wednesday that she will vote for a deal to reopen the government. The Indiana lawmaker was one of only two Republicans to vote against the original resolution in September to prevent a shutdown.
Spartz said she’d support the Senate deal, which includes three full-year spending bills and keeps the rest of the government open until late January, because it doesn’t have a deadline just before Christmas. Republicans frequently criticize expensive end-of-year spending bills designed to jam lawmakers just before they leave for the holidays.
“We need to open the government, pay our military, and provide essential services,” Spartz said in a post on X.