Bill to end government shutdown passes the Senate, heads to the House next for final vote

The longest shutdown in U.S. history is closer to an end after a small group of Senate Democrats struck a deal with Republicans on Monday.

The shutdown could last a few more days as members of the House, which has been on recess since mid-September, return to Washington to vote on the legislation.

Trump has signaled support for the bill, saying Monday that “we’re going to be opening up our country very quickly.”

The final 60-40 Senate vote broke a grueling stalemate that lasted more than six weeks as Democrats demanded that Republicans negotiate with them to extend health care tax credits. The Republicans never did.

New Mexico has enacted legislation that uses state funding to ensure food assistance reaches its residents each week if federal SNAP food aid falters.

Lt. Gov. Howie Morales signed a bill Monday as acting governor that provides up to $20 million a week in food assistance amid a flurry of legal activity over the distribution of SNAP benefits. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is traveling to a climate conference in Brazil.

The initiative provides enough state funding to backfill SNAP benefits if necessary until mid-January when the Legislature meets again.

“This legislation ensures New Mexicans can feed their families this holiday season,” Morales said.

Democrats in the legislative majority and some Republicans voted for the bill — including a GOP-backed amendment aimed at reducing mistakes in the state’s distribution of federal SNAP aid.

Asked where he’d get the money during an interview with Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham, Trump replied, “I don’t know. I’ll get it from someplace. I’ll get it from — I always get the money from someplace. Regardless. It doesn’t matter.”

The president earlier Monday proposed $10,000 bonuses for air traffic controllers who stayed on the job and didn’t call out sick during the government shutdown.

He earlier tapped research and development funds at the Pentagon to pay service member salaries.

Michelino Sunseri briefly took a prohibited trail on his way to a record time up and down the tallest peak in the Teton Range of western Wyoming.

His pardon, unlike recent pardons of Trump allies, appears apolitical.

Sunseri, 33, ran up and down Grand Teton, the 13,775-foot (4,200-meter) centerpiece of the iconic Teton Range, in 2 hours, 50 minutes, 50 seconds in 2024.

It was an epic feat, covering 13.3 miles (21.4 kilometers), gaining 7,000 feet (2,133 meters) in elevation, then back down again.

On the way down, Sunseri left a switchback to avoid casual hikers. Going off-trail in a national park is considered a no-no because it can cause erosion, especially when a shortcut over time becomes a popular way to go.

Sunseri, who was open about taking the two-minute detour, got a misdemeanor conviction from a judge in September.

▶ Read more about the pardon

The Senate has blocked a Democratic effort to extend the expiring tax credits that make health insurance coverage more affordable for millions of Americans.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin led an effort to try and extend current law for one year. It was blocked as part of a party-line vote.

“My Republican colleagues are refusing to act to stop health care premiums from doubling for over 20 million Americans,” the senator from Wisconsin said. “I just can’t stand by without a fight.”

No Republican spoke against her failed effort, though Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, has promised a Senate vote later this year on a tax credit extension.

A bill allowing New Mexico to use state funding to ensure food assistance for the rest of the year in case of interruptions in SNAP federal food aid has been approved by the state Legislature.

The state Senate voted 30-6 on Monday to send a bill to the governor’s office that makes up to $20 million in food assistance available each week should federal SNAP aid fall short of that typical weekly transfer.

The initiative provides enough state funding to backfill SNAP aid to New Mexico residents through mid-January when the Legislature meets again.

“Even with the discussions happening in Washington, we needed to be here so that those benefits can continue,” said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, of Santa Fe.

Democrats in the the legislative majority and some Republicans supported the food assistance bill.

Clean energy groups and the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, sued the Trump administration Monday over its cancellation of $7.6 billion in grants for projects in states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election.

The Energy Department said the projects were terminated after a review determined they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable. Russell Vought, the White House budget director, said on social media that “the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled.”

The cuts affect battery plants, hydrogen technology, upgrades to the electric grid and carbon-capture efforts. The lawsuit says Vought and other Trump officials took advantage of the government shutdown to chop programs in states where voters back Democrats.

The Trump administration did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Senators have begun debate on a bill to reopen the government, setting the course for likely passage early Monday night.

The leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee kicked off debate. Republican Sen. Susan Collins said the bill includes backpay and key protections for federal workers.

“That will make a huge difference to these federal employees who have worked so hard to serve the people of our nation,” said Collins, chair of the committee.

Sen. Patty Murray, the panel’s top Democratic lawmaker, said passage of the bill won’t stop her party’s fight to extend tax credits making health insurance coverage more affordable for millions of Americans. Democrats have been seeking to extend the tax credits as a condition for voting for a funding bill.

“I and many of many of us have no intention of letting Republicans off the hook,” Murray said.

The government shutdown has finally caught up to one of the nation’s busiest federal courts, leading the chief judge in the Southern District of New York to order courthouses closed to the public on Fridays.

Nevertheless, Judge Laura Taylor Swain wrote, proceedings and activities “necessary to fulfill the Court’s constitutional obligations” may still be held.

Swain’s order affects two federal district courthouses and a bankruptcy court in Manhattan, along with a federal courthouse in White Plains, north of New York City. Court papers can still be filed on Fridays through the court’s electronic system, she said.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which oversees federal court operations nationwide, said the judicial branch was shifting to limited operations “necessary to perform the Judiciary’s constitutional functions” on Oct. 20 after funding for full operations ran out.

The administrative office has said it’s up to individual court districts to decide how they handle cases and staffing during the shutdown.

The proposal would authorize $23 billion in bonds to help scientists in the state study cancer treatments, the impacts of climate change on people’s health and more after the Trump administration cut billions of dollars for scientific research.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat representing San Francisco, said the proposal would help California take the lead where the federal government has failed.

“We have an entire political movement that seems dedicated to destroying all forms of academic inquiry, including science,” said Wiener, who is running to succeed Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in Congress. “It’s horrifying and just perplexing on so many levels.”

The measure would have to be passed on a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature before it could head to the statewide ballot in November 2026.

Asked about criticism by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that he’s too focused on foreign policy and should focus more on affordability issues in the U.S., the president turned on his Republican ally.

“I don’t know what happened to Marjorie, nice woman,” Trump told reporters. “She’s lost her way, I think.”

Trump defended his focus on foreign affairs and the importance of national security, saying that Greene was “catering to the other side” and he was “surprised by her.”

Greene made her national reputation in part by defending Trump’s leadership. But as inflation has stayed high, she has encouraged the president to focus more on prices for everyday Americans.

Trump called Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa after their meeting a “very strong leader” and suggested the U.S. would work to help the country succeed.

“He comes from a very tough place,” Trump said, adding that al-Sharaa is a “tough guy” and “I like him.”

The president said that al-Sharra has “had a rough past, but he said, “We’ve all had a rough past.”

Trump didn’t provide any policy details about the meeting, but he said, “We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful because that’s part of the Middle East.”

The president said “I would say so” when asked if he backs an agreement to end the shutdown that is now winding its way through the Senate.

“We’re going to be opening up our country very quickly,” Trump said.

The emerging agreement includes provisions that reinstates federal workers who had received reductions-in-force notices, which are effectively layoff slips. It also protects against such future actions.

Trump said he will abide by those reduction-in-force protections and added: “The deal is very good.”

The president abruptly invited in the press pool on Monday afternoon to watch Sergio Gor, his former director of presidential personnel, be sworn in as U.S. ambassador to India.

Gor’s “leadership was essential to fulfilling the historic mandate entrusted to us by the American people,” Trump said as he began the event.

The president joked that Gor made a couple of mistakes in staffing up the administration, but that those officials were now gone.

The president appears to be exaggerating the hit to government finances if the Supreme Court overturns his tariffs tied to the declaration of an economic emergency.

“The actual Number we would have to pay back in Tariff Revenue and Investments would be in excess of $2 Trillion Dollars, and that, in itself, would be a National Security catastrophe,” Trump posted on his social media site.

It’s not clear how Trump reached that number, but he quoted it after saying that the figures from “Radical Left Lunatics” are too low.

What is clear is that the U.S. hasn’t collected anything close to $2 trillion in emergency tariffs.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog group, cited numbers from Customs and Border Protection to indicate that roughly $90 billion out of the $195 billion collected in import taxes so far could have to be returned.

A top leader among progressive activists is calling for New York Sen. Chuck Schumer to step aside as Democrats’ Senate leader.

Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee said the Senate deal to end the shutdown is a failure of Schumer’s leadership. Schumer publicly opposes the deal but was unable to prevent eight members of his caucus from joining Republicans to end the shutdown.

“If this was Schumer’s best, his best clearly isn’t good enough,” Green said Monday in a message to PCCC donors. “The legacy of Chuck Schumer is caving, not winning. The best way to unify the Democratic Party and win big in 2026 is to make clear that the new generation of Democratic senators we elect will NOT be following Chuck Schumer down a losing path.”

Schumer aides did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The open trunk was seen during live video coverage of the president’s trip to Palm Beach International Airport in Florida for the trip back to Washington.

Here’s what the U.S. Secret Service said about it: “During the motorcade from Mar-A-Lago to Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) one of the motorcade vehicle’s trunks inadvertently opened and remained in the upright position for a part of the motorcade route. No items were lost or displaced while in transit. The issue was determined to be mechanical in nature, has been identified, and has since been repaired.”

Another Pelosi is running for elective office.

Christine Pelosi — the daughter of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — announced Monday that she would seek the California Senate seat that encompasses San Francisco in 2028.

The announcement comes just days after her mother disclosed that she would not seek reelection next year after nearly four decades in Congress. The younger Pelosi’s decision to run for state Senate was something of a surprise, since political observers had long speculated that the attorney and Democratic Party activist could follow her mother to Congress.

“We need leaders who advance our San Francisco values and build power for the people,” Christine Pelosi said on her campaign webpage.

Her decision to run for state Senate could provide some possible political symmetry in the San Francisco Bay Area. The seat is currently held by Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener, who is running to succeed Nancy Pelosi in the House.

The Trump administration made a $7.5 million payment to the government of Equatorial Guinea as it seeks to deport people to the West African country and draws closer to its heavily prosecuted leaders, according to the top Democratic senator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said in a letter sent Monday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press that “this highly unusual payment — to one of the most corrupt governments in the world — raises serious concerns over the responsible, transparent use of American taxpayer dollars.”

Shaheen said in her letter that the $7.5 million payment stood out because it would would “far exceed the amount of U.S. foreign assistance provided over the last 8 years combined” to the country.

The State Department declined to comment on the details of diplomatic communications.

New Mexico would backfill food assistance with state funding on a weekly basis past the end of the year in case SNAP federal food aid remains frozen or falters again, under a proposal from Democratic lawmakers at a special legislative session Monday.

Leading legislators say the proposal would earmark nearly $200 million in possible food aid in case of continued interruptions in SNAP federal food aid, whether by court action or an extension of the federal shutdown.

“We’re not taking any chances,” said Democratic state House Speaker Javier Martínez of Albuquerque. “This is a backstop to make sure no New Mexican goes hungry over the next couple of months.”

In October, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham already used emergency orders to funnel $30 million in food aid onto EBT cards. New Mexico also paid out full monthly federal SNAP benefits on Saturday to residents who ordinarily receive that aid at the start of the month.

A convicted drug dealer granted clemency by President Donald Trump has been sent back to federal prison for violating the terms of his release after being charged with several new crimes.

Jonathan Braun was sentenced Monday to 27 months behind bars.

The Long Island man had been accused of swinging an IV pole at a hospital nurse and threatening to kill her, screaming at a member of his synagogue, groping his family’s nanny and evading bridge tolls. He’s been in jail since April.

Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said she hoped Braun’s “expressions of remorse” and promises to “lead a law abiding life” were in good faith, noting that many of the people who he had harmed have since forgiven him.

Prosecutors had sought a five-year sentence, the maximum punishment allowed. Braun’s lawyer argued that he should be released immediately.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s role in breaking the government shutdown stalemate puts her at odds with one of her daughters who is seeking election to the U.S. House next year.

The New Hampshire senator who will be retiring after three terms helped negotiate the compromise legislation to end the shutdown. She prioritized extending subsidies for health plans offered under the Affordable Care Act but settled for a pledge to hold a vote on the subsidies in December.

“This was the only deal on the table,” she said Sunday.

Her daughter, Stefany, said Monday she would have voted no.

“We need to both end this shutdown and extend the ACA tax credits. Otherwise, no deal,” she said on social media.

Stefany Shaheen is seeking the Democratic nomination in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that President Trump’s plan to provide most Americans $2,000 funded from tariffs would cost roughly $600 billion and, if paid annually, would be twice as expensive as tariffs.

“Current tariffs have raised about $100 billion so far,“ said Matt Klucher, with CRFB, “and will raise about $300 billion per year in the steady state.”

If paid annually, dividends would be twice as expensive as tariffs, he said.
President Trump has floated the idea of $2,000 checks to all Americans except for “high-income people.”

The Senate Democratic leader has faced criticism from some progressives after several Senate Democrats sided with Republicans to begin reopening the government.

But Jeffries said it was on those Democrats to explain their vote, and that he still supported Schumer as the party’s leader in the Senate.

“Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats over the last seven weeks have waged a valiant fight,” said Jeffries.

In March, Jeffries declined to say whether he had confidence in Schumer after Schumer helped Republicans pass a funding bill.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries says that Democratic senators who voted to advance a government funding bill Sunday are “going to have to explain themselves.”

“But the overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats continue to remain in the area fighting to fix our a broken health care system,” Jeffries said.

He is speaking to reporters as Congress inches closer to approving a bill that would reopen the federal government after a shutdown that has lasted nearly six weeks.

Democrats had been insisting the bill include an extension of enhanced tax credits that makes health insurance coverage more affordable, but they were unsuccessful in including that demand.

“As House Democrats, we know we’re on the right side of this fight, the right side of the American people, and we’re not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people,” Jeffries said.

Eight Democratic senators faced almost instant blowback from members of their own party as they voted to allow the Senate to move forward on compromise legislation that would reopen the government.

Their decision Sunday night was labeled a “betrayal” and “pathetic” by some of the most prominent voices in the Democratic Party. “To my mind, this was a very, very bad vote,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats.

The group of defectors includes senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Angus King of Maine.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said Monday that they “decided to put principle over their personal politics.”

▶ Read how they are explaining their votes

Gov. Tony Evers on Monday wrote to the state’s congressional delegation urging them to pressure the USDA to “stop trying to take food out of the hands” of SNAP recipients.

The Democrat reiterated that Wisconsin will not “undo” its distribution of SNAP money as the Trump administration has asked.

“This is a shocking and disturbing request—and one that should be condemned by every person, regardless of their political beliefs or party,” Evers wrote to the seven Republicans and three Democrats who represent the state. He called it “deeply troubling” that Republicans have not joined Democrats in calling for full funding.

Sen. John Thune is asking both Republican and Democratic colleagues to allow for quick passage of a bill to end the federal shutdown.

“I’m hoping that will be hours, not days,” he said. “The American people have suffered for long enough. Let’s not pointlessly drag this bill out.”

The Senate voted Sunday night to advance the continuing resolution to fund the government through Jan. 30th. But it takes agreement from all senators to allow for a speedy final vote.

Thune also told reporters he’s confident that Trump would sign the bill once it reaches his desk.

The visit by Ahmad al-Sharaa is the first by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946.

The meeting also comes after Trump lifted sanctions imposed on Syria during the decades the country was ruled by the Assad family.

Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that toppled then-Syrian President Bashar Assad last December. He was named the country’s interim leader in January.

The White House said the meeting would be private and closed to press coverage.

Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, on Monday met with wounded soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center ahead of Veterans Day.

While there, the Vances spoke with patients and medical providers at Walter Reed, listened to them about the soldiers’ injuries and treatment plans, and handed out challenge coins while posing for photos.

One Army sergeant who met with the Vances on Monday lost his left leg during his second combat deployment. Impressed with the amount the sergeant was deadlifting, the vice president joked that the visit was designed to shame him because of how strong the injured servicemembers were, despite their wounds.

Vance served in the Marines, and he and Usha Vance headlined the Marine Corps’ 250th Birthday Ball over the weekend.

The White House is calling the emerging agreement to reopen the federal government a “positive development.”

“We look forward to seeing it progress,” said a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s deliberations.

Trump has not indicated whether he would sign the funding measure into law, and the White House official stopped short of saying the president would do so.

Hormone-based drugs used to treat hot flashes and other menopause symptoms will no longer carry a bold warning label about stroke, heart attack, dementia and other serious risks, the Food and Drug Administration announced Monday.

U.S. health officials said they will remove the boxed warning from more than 20 pills, patches and creams containing hormones like estrogen and progestin, which are approved to ease disruptive symptoms like night sweats.

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has called the current label outdated and unnecessary. Many doctors — and pharmaceutical companies — have called for removing or revising the label, which they say discourages prescriptions and scares off women who could benefit.

But other experts have vigorously opposed making changes to the label without a careful, transparent process. They say the FDA should have convened its independent advisers to publicly consider any revisions.

▶ Read more about the FDA’s decision on menopause drug warning labels

• Is my airport affected? There’s a good chance it is. Here’s the list.
• How long will this go on? The Federal Aviation Administration said it won’t lift flight restrictions until air traffic control staffing makes it safe.
• Know before you go Check your airline’s app or a flight-tracking site for updates before leaving for the airport.
• My flight was canceled. Now what? If you’re at the airport, line up at customer service, and call or go online for airline reservations staff while you wait.
• Try another way? Consider traveling by train, car or bus instead.
• Can I get a refund or compensation? Airlines must fully refund tickets, but not meals or hotel stays unless the delay or cancellation was within their control.
• Should I just stay home for the holidays? Not necessarily. You might just need a little more planning and flexibility than usual.

The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court on Monday in a push to keep full payments in the SNAP federal food aid program frozen.

The request is the latest in a flurry of legal activity over how a program that helps buy groceries for 42 million Americans should proceed during the U.S. government shutdown. Lower courts have ruled that the government must keep full payments flowing, and the Supreme Court asked the administration to respond after an appeals court ruled against it late Sunday.

States administering SNAP payments continue to face uncertainty over whether they can — and should — provide full monthly benefits during the ongoing legal battles.

▶ Read more about court action over SNAP benefits

Representatives of European, Latin American and Caribbean nations are meeting in Colombia to strengthen ties. A key point of discussion is how to handle U.S. military air strikes on boats it says are carrying drugs, killing at least 75 people so far.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has called the deaths “extrajudicial executions,” said he wants the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union “to be a beacon of light amidst the barbarity.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he would attend even as Brazil hosts the COP30 climate conference, to urge Latin American nations to stand together to prevent conflict. He said last week that he spoke with Trump about Venezuela. “I told Trump that Latin America is a region of peace,” Lula said.

Mike Johnson said that with the government shutdown near an end, he’s calling on lawmakers to “begin right now returning to the Hill.”

“It appears to us this morning that our long national nightmare is coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that,” Johnson said Monday.

Johnson said he’s hoping senators can fast-track a final vote to open the government through Jan. 30. He says that as soon as the Senate completes its final vote, he’ll give notice for a House vote 36 hours later, but in the meantime, lawmakers should not wait on returning to Washington, given possible travel delays.

A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track Monday after a handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to break the impasse in what has become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services, the longest in history.

What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal drew sharp criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation provides funding to reopen the government, including for SNAP food aid and other programs, while also ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers the Trump administration had left in doubt.

But notably lacking is any clear resolution to the expiring health care subsidies that Democrats have been fighting for as millions of Americans stare down rising insurance premiums. That debate was pushed off for a vote next month, weeks before the subsidies are set to expire.

▶ Read more about the details of the proposal to end the shutdown

The flight cancellations at airports across the U.S. are expected to persist.

The Federal Aviation Administration has reduced flights as some air traffic controllers — unpaid for weeks — stopped showing up for work.

The Senate took a first step toward ending the shutdown Sunday, but final passage could be days away, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made clear last week that flight cuts will remain until the FAA sees safety metrics improve.

Over the weekend, airlines canceled thousands of flights to comply with the order to eliminate 4% of flights. The cancellations are scheduled to rise to 6% of all flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports on Tuesday, and 10% by week’s end.

As of Monday morning, airlines had already canceled 1,600 flights for Monday and nearly 1,000 for Tuesday.

• 11 a.m., Trump will meet with Syria’s al-Sharaa in the Oval Office.
• 3 p.m., he will participate in a swearing in ceremony for the Ambassador to India, also in the Oval Office.

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether states can continue to count late-arriving mail ballots, a target of Trump.

Three Trump-nominated appellate judges ruled last year that Mississippi’s law allowing ballots that arrive shortly after Election Day to be counted violates federal law.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long as the ballots are postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Swing states such as Nevada and states such as Colorado, Oregon and Utah rely heavily on mail voting. An additional 14 states allow the counting of late-arriving ballots from some eligible voters.

A ruling is expected in time to govern the counting of ballots in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a call to overturn its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

The justices turned away an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the high court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. Davis had been trying to get the court to overturn a lower-court order for her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney’s fees to a couple denied a marriage license.

Her lawyers repeatedly invoked the words of Justice Clarence Thomas, who alone among the nine justices has called for erasing the same-sex marriage ruling.