Government shuts down after Trump and Congress fail to reach deal

Billions of dollars of climate funding in mainly Democratic-led states will be canceled, according to the Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought.

“Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled. More info to come from @ENERGY. The projects are in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA,” Vought posted on X earlier on Wednesday.

All but two of the 16 states targeted have Democratic governors. New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott are Republicans.

It’s not yet clear which projects are being impacted. CNN has reached out to the Department of Energy for comment.

Earlier today, Vought also announced on X that “roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI.” Top congressional Democrats Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries both hail from New York.

Rep. Mike Lawler speaks to reporters as he arrives for a House Republican caucus meeting at the US Capitol on May 15, in Washington, DC.

Rep. Mike Lawler is objecting to Trump administration plans to target projects in New York amid the government shutdown.

“Congressman Lawler strongly opposes these harmful cuts,” a statement the New York Republican posted to X said.

The statement did not specify exactly which funding cuts the congressman was referring to but comes after White House budget chief Russ Vought announced on Wednesday that roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects were being put on hold. Vought also said that “Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled,” pointing to projects in New York as well as other states.

“My office has been actively engaged with the White House since Tuesday morning to push for the reversal of both of these decisions and restoration of full funding,” the congressman wrote on X. “We will continue working with the Administration and my colleagues in Congress to make sure New York gets the support it needs to protect its residents and strengthen our economy. Bottom line: we should not be cutting this crucial counterterrorism and infrastructure funding.”

As the government has shut down with no clear end in sight, businesses in Washington, DC, are offering federal workers happy hours — including drinks, morning coffee and food deals, according to social media posts seen by CNN.

DC is home to almost 50,000 federal workers, which is over 13% of the city’s workforce, according to the most recently available data from the Economic Policy Institute from March. Most federal employees will not be paid until after the government shutdown ends.

Local restaurants will soon feel the strain of the government shutdown too, according to a spokesperson for the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, with unpaid workers going out less or spending less.

Among the many deals offered, impacted federal workers can grab a free morning brew and pastry at the Washington-based coffee chain Compass Coffee.

Barrel, a whiskey lounge in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, is offering federal workers an “unhappy hour” with drink deals.

Colby’s Dogcare Spa said in an email that all federal workers and contractors will not be billed for memberships through the end of the shutdown. The district’s professional women’s soccer team, Washington Spirit, is giving away free tickets to its Sunday game for the first 200 federal workers and then a limited number of discounted tickets.

The Trump administration’s federal takeover of law enforcement in DC has also disrupted the capital’s economy. The restaurant association launched a campaign yesterday, ahead of the shutdown, in response to what it says is an already existing “steep decline in sales and foot traffic” from August.

“Our hearts go out to the federal workers, contractors, and families impacted by the shutdown,” said Joseph Early, the association’s spokesperson.

The Trump administration appears to have delayed putting a 100% tariff on some imported drugs – which the president threatened last week to impose on brand-name or patented pharmaceutical products unless the drugmaker is breaking ground on a manufacturing plant in the United States.

“The Commerce Department continues to evaluate pharmaceutical companies’ proposals to reshore manufacturing and reduce drug prices to (Most Favored Nation) rates as they prepare pharmaceutical tariffs,” a White House official told CNN.

The official added that the tariffs would not be going into effect Wednesday – the date President Donald Trump gave last week when announcing the levies – but said they “are still being worked on.”

Albert Bourla, chairman and chief executive officer of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, as President Trump looks on, on Tuesday.

“As Secretary Lutnick made clear in the Oval Office,” the official said, “starting October 1, the Trump administration will begin preparing tariffs on pharmaceutical companies that do not begin on-shoring their manufacturing or participate in the President’s Most Favored Nations push to reduce drug prices.”

“President Trump is wholeheartedly committed to lowering drug prices for Americans and will not hesitate to utilize tariffs to do so,” they continued.

News of the delay comes after Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla joined Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday to announce plans to lower drug prices at the president’s urging, including selling drugs at “Most Favored Nation” levels. He was among 17 CEOs Trump personally wrote with a list of demands.

Democrats and Republicans have not yet agreed on a stopgap funding measure – known as a continuing resolution or CR – to keep the government open, triggering a shutdown.

Continuing resolutions are bills to extend funding for the federal government on a short-term basis – often used as a way for lawmakers to avert a shutdown and allow for more time for negotiations on annual spending bills.

The bill provides funding – typically based on the previous fiscal year’s appropriations – for a specific amount of time.

A “clean” continuing resolution typically refers to one without other measures on other policy issues added on.

Visitors filter through the two open portals to enter Rocky Mountain National Park on Wednesday in Estes Park, Colorado.

Colorado is one of several states that have pledged to fund park operations to keep national parks open amid the federal government shutdown.

Gov. Jared Polis said the shutdown puts the state’s national parks at risk during its busy fall tourism season and urged the federal government to keep national parks open.

Fall is among the busiest seasons at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, which attracts more than 4 million visitors annually, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

All eight of the state’s national parks that collect fees will remain open during the shutdown until fee revenue runs out, according to the release.

The neighboring state of Utah likewise said its five national parks — which contributed $3.1 billion to the state’s economy last year — will remain open with reduced staffing and services.

“We are engaged in proactive conversations with public and private partners at all levels, offering strategic support to ensure the parks remain open with necessary resources,” Natalie Randall, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism and Film, said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs said the state cannot afford to keep national parks open.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appears on CNN on Wednesday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries maintained that Democrats are ready to collaborate across the aisle to reopen the government.

He said he hasn’t heard from the White House since Monday, when he and other congressional leaders met with President Donald Trump.

Since then, Jeffries said the president “has been behaving somewhat erratically and in unconventional fashion in the context of the government shutting down.”

The minority leader referred to a recent social media post from the president, which appeared to be a racist, AI-generated video depicting Jeffries wearing a sombrero and a mustache.

“I’m not going to dwell on the president’s erratic behavior in terms of the meme or the AI deepfake videos,” he said. “The broader problem is it’s deeply unserious, and this is a serious moment. We need to reopen the government.”

The DC court system will not issue marriage certificates or perform marriage ceremonies during the government shutdown, the DC courts website says.

However, the Superior Court will still be able to issue certified copies of marriage certificates, according to the website.

Other services provided by the courts that are considered “necessary” will also remain in place, such as juvenile probation services, according to the city’s government shutdown plan.

From left to right, first row, Sens. Chuck Schumer, John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto, Dick Durbin and Brian Schatz. From left to right, second row, Sens. Maggie Hassan, Kirsten Gillibrand, Gary Peters, Jeanne Shaheen and Angus King.

Democrats who have crossed party lines to support the latest GOP bill:

Democrats who crossed party lines to keep the government open in March:

Fetterman’s home state of Pennsylvania as well as New York, which Schumer and Gillibrand represent, both rank among the top 10 states with the most federal workers, according to March 2025 data from the US Office of Personnel Management.

People look at the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park on Wednesday.

New York will not pay to keep the Statue of Liberty open as it has done in past government shutdowns, a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office told CNN today.

During the last government shutdown in 2018, the Statue of Liberty initially closed — turning away thousands of tourists — before reopening with funding from the state.

This time around, the monument’s torch, which Hochul called a beacon to Americans, could “literally go dark,” the governor said.

Hochul said over 100,000 federal workers in the state have been furloughed or are at risk of being furloughed, including dozens working at the Statue of Liberty. It’s unclear if the monument will close and when.

Remember: A contingency plan released Thursday by the US Department of the Interior says park roads, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible, but areas with sensitive resources may close if they can’t be protected by limited law enforcement staff.

The White House is warning those who reach out to its press office that they may experience delayed responses due to the shutdown.

“Due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown, the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays. We ask for your patience as our staff work to field your requests in a timely manner,” the White House press team writes in an automatic reply email.

The message continues blaming Democrats for the shutdown after the Senate failed to pass a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open until late November.

“As you await a response, please remember this could have been avoided if the Democrats voted for the clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open,” it said.

The press shop also notes that request forms and escorts for visitors of the White House cannot be accommodated at this time.

National Guard members who have been tasked by President Donald Trump with assisting federal agents in Portland, Oregon, are now training for the mission but won’t be paid until the federal shutdown that started early this morning has concluded.

Trump said on social media today that Oregon National Guard members were “in place” to support anti-crime efforts in Portland.

Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman, said the guard members “are reporting for duty, conducting training, and preparing to support US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other US Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property in Oregon.”

Trump has already deployed National Guard members under federal authority to Washington, DC, and is preparing troops for Memphis, Tennessee. Those troops also won’t be paid until after the shutdown concludes, consistent with rules for full-time military service members. After the shutdown concludes all troops who are federally funded would receive back pay.

A US official said the lapse in funding impacts all guard members assigned to the ongoing DC mission — which as of Tuesday morning was 2,215 people from DC and 7 supporting states — as well as the guard members mobilized in Oregon and roughly 300 remaining guardsmen in Los Angeles, California.

The ongoing government shutdown could create some issues for homeowners facing flooding as Atlantic hurricane season is in full swing.

The shutdown will limit how the Department of Housing and Urban Development is able to provide disaster relief, Democrats on the House Committee on Financial Services warned in a statement today.

The department is “unable to deploy new funding and may only have access to previously obligated funds,” the statement read.

Currently, two massive tropical systems are swirling off the Southeast coast. While they aren’t poised to make landfall, the systems were forecast to bring heavy rain to several states.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is now limited in what it can pay out because of the shutdown, the Democrats said.

“Its ability to borrow funds from Treasury is reduced from over $30 billion to $1 billion during a shutdown, and its flood mapping process ultimately comes to a halt,” the committee Democrats said.

The NFIP also can’t issue new polices, potentially snagging home sale closings, the statement added.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries conducts a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on Wednesday.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday affirmed that he’s confident in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s ability to hold his caucus together against the Republican short-term funding bill.

“Yes,” Jeffries said bluntly during a press conference on Capitol Hill, when asked if he’s confident in Schumer to keep his members in line as Senate Republicans plan to keep bringing the House-passed measure to the floor for a vote.

Asked about the White House budget office’s warning to House Republicans that permanent layoffs of federal workers would take effect in “one to two” days, Jeffries argued that this is just a continuation of what the Trump administration has been doing since the start of President Donald Trump’s term.

“These are all things that the Trump administration has been doing since January 20th. The mass firings of federal workers – Trump administration has been engaging in this since January 20th,” he said.

He added later, “So all this talk that we see right now, as if it had anything to do with the shutdown that Republicans have caused. No, it’s their ideology. Cruelty is the point when it comes to the Republican Party.”

Jeffries wouldn’t say if he feels personally targeted by the White House budget office’s decision to freeze billions in federal funding for infrastructure work in New York City.

“It’s shameful, but it’s very consistent with the Trump administration’s track record of failing on the economy and targeting working class Americans,” he said.

Senate Democrats are showing no wavering in their stance in the face of threats from the White House of mass federal firings during the shutdown, saying President Trump would have done it anyway.

Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego told CNN’s Manu Raju that the threats from the administration do not have any effect since the administration has implemented cuts to the federal workforce regardless of congressionally appropriated money.

Sen. Ruben Gallego appears on CNN on Wednesday.

“There’s been, there’s been budgets all year these guys haven’t listened to,” Gallego said, slamming cuts to the Department of Education, adding, “So their threat doesn’t work on me.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal speaks to members of the media on Wednesday.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he believes the momentum in the caucus is in favor of “standing resolutely and strongly in favor of saving health care” and while he conceded the shutdown “will be painful,” he said Democrats “need to take a stand.”

Blumenthal said the mass firings threatened by the White House were inevitable under this administration.

“This administration is boundlessly cruel and, and they have threatened maximum pain, but that’s they’re doing and they will do it regardless of whether there’s a shut down, they’ve done layoffs before, and they will continue them unless we take a strong stand and show, we will not be bullied,” said Blumenthal.

An AI-generated fake video posted on US President Donald Trump's Truth Social account plays in the White House Briefing Room on Wednesday.

The White House is again using screens inside the briefing room to troll Democrats on the shutdown, this time, amplifying a vulgar and racist, AI-generated video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer first posted by President Donald Trump on Monday.

The video began playing on loop from the briefing room this afternoon.

The video depicts Jeffries in a sombrero and mustache and Schumer arguing for undocumented immigrants to get “free healthcare,” among other expletives describing Democrats, with the Mexican song “Jarabe Tapatío” playing in the background.

Vice President JD Vance earlier denied that the video was racist, saying, “The president’s joking, and we’re having a good time.”

Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday as investors tried to look past concerns about the government shutdown.

The Dow rose 43 points, or 0.09%, to close at a fresh record high. The broader S&P 500 rose 0.34% and also closed at a record high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.42%.

Stocks had opened lower Wednesday morning before turning higher during trading. History shows that stocks are usually unfazed by government shutdowns.

Elsewhere, data from payrolls firm ADP showed the private sector lost 32,000 jobs in September. That spurred traders to increase bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in October to stimulate the economy. Fed rate cuts, though in response to a weakening economy, can be a boon for stocks.

While stocks hit record highs, gold and silver prices also rallied. The precious metals are considered safe havens, and investors tend to scoop them up when there is lingering political and economic uncertainty.

You can read more here.

An air traffic control tower is seen at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, on Wednesday.

When the federal government shuts down, it “undermines” the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to effectively perform its “safety-critical” mission, according to a 2023 report from an independent panel of aviation safety experts.

The National Airspace System Safety Review Team was commissioned by the FAA to identify risks in the National Airspace System. Their report details past shutdowns and the direct impacts on aviation.

During this shutdown, the Department of Transportation has furloughed a quarter of FAA employees, mostly in support staff or non-safety focused roles. More than 13,000 air traffic controllers are still working, but without pay.

The report also notes that another impact of government shutdowns and continuing resolutions is increasing costs to programs. It said it makes it “extremely difficult for the FAA to effectively conduct long-term business planning and execution.”

“The efficient use of tax dollars and the preservation of benchmarked schedules are nearly impossible when the budgetary appropriation for a program is not known until mid-way through the budget year,” the report said.

Between 2007 and 2012, there were 23 short-term extensions to legislation authorizing the FAA, and a two-week lapse in 2011.

Cargo ships and shipping containers are seen at the Port Jersey Container Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey on September 22.

US Customs and Border Protection will continue to collect tariff revenue from US importers during the government shutdown, according to a document published by the Department of Homeland Security.

“In the event of a temporary federal funding hiatus, DHS and its Components will stop all financial operations and financial system operations, including processing payments, receipts or performing funds control,” said the document, which was published ahead of the shutdown.

However, one of five exceptions to that is CBP revenue collections, which would include tariffs.

As of September 29, CBP collected $31.2 billion in tariff revenue last month, according to the latest available data published by the Treasury Department on Wednesday. With one day’s worth of data still unreported, the US is likely to break August’s record tariff collections of $31.4 billion.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Oval Office of the White House on September 25.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday posted a message to his official X account blaming congressional Democrats for the government shutdown.

“Congressional Democrats made the choice to shut down the government,” he wrote in the post. “Their partisan actions are undermining America on the world stage and jeopardizing our national security.”

Although his message aligns with that of other Trump administration officials, secretaries of state typically have said they seek to avoid partisan politics and instead focus on foreign policy.

Rubio himself, in an interview in July, would not engage in a question on electoral politics, saying, “Being in the role that I’m in here as the Secretary of State, I really don’t play in politics.”

“There’s actually rules against me being involved in domestic politics,” he said at the time. Rubio is also serving as interim national security advisor.

The official State Department website on Wednesday was displaying a banner that read, “Due to the Democrat-led shutdown, website updates will be limited until full operations resume.” Before the shutdown took effect, the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs’ website similarly had red banner stating, “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.”

Internal messaging from the top State Department official for management, seen by CNN, also blamed congressional Democrats for the impasse. Other agencies similarly sent emails to their employees blaming Democrats for the impasse.

Federal employees who are not deemed essential were furloughed as part of the government shutdown.

How their pay works: Typically in a shutdown, federal employees that remain on the job continue work often without pay until Congress acts to fund the government. Others are furloughed, meaning they are not expected to work. Once lawmakers pass a funding package and shutdown ends, federal staffers receive back pay.

Take a look at how many employees were affected at federal agencies:

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand speaks with CNN on Wednesday.

Senators representing New York slammed White House budget chief Russ Vought’s move on Wednesday to freeze billions in federal funding for infrastructure projects in New York City.

Vought announced in a pair of X posts on Wednesday morning that the Trump administration was putting on hold roughly $18 billion funding for two major construction projects.

“Total BS,” the state’s senator junior Kirsten Gillibrand said of the move. “He’s doing something that this administration said they would not do.”

She said, “Gateway is the entire economy for the Eastern Seaboard. It’s hugely important for the US economy. It’s going to harm lots of New Yorkers, and it’s just spiteful and political and probably illegal, so it’s disgraceful.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Vought of using New York and New Jersey residents as political pawns.

“It’s a disgusting thing, and it shows how little regard Vought and Trump have for working families,” he said. “New Jersey families need this to commute. New York families need this to commute. It shows you that they’re just totally using average American working families as pawns they don’t give a hoot about.”

In a joint statement criticizing the move, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “Donald Trump is once again treating working people as collateral damage in his endless campaign of chaos and revenge.”

The road to Fort Point National Historic Site from Crissy Field in San Francisco on Wednesday.

The government is shut down, and departments across the administration are making adjustments. This means furloughing workers, shuttering services and delaying reports.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said layoffs to the federal workforce are “imminent.”

Here’s a look at what’s happening:

The US Capitol Visitors Center is closed to visitors on Wednesday.

Senators are leaving town until Friday, meaning the government will be shut down at least until then — though likely longer as a solution to the impasse over funding remains elusive.

Senate GOP leaders are allowing members to leave Washington to observe Yom Kippur with the Senate set to take a break from voting on Thursday, with the expectation of more votes Friday and Saturday.

The House is also not in session and will return next week.

Jared Kushner looks on during a swearing-in ceremony of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Oval Office at the White House on May 6.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt flatly rejected the suggestion that it’s inappropriate for President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to help the federal government with matters concerning Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, given their investments in his firm Affinity Partners.

“I think it’s frankly despicable that you’re trying to suggest that it’s inappropriate for Jared Kushner, who is widely respected around the world and has great trust in relationships with these critical partners in these countries, to strike a 20-point comprehensive, detailed peace plan that no other administration would ever be able to achieve,” Leavitt said in response to a question from a reporter during the White House press briefing Wednesday.

Leavitt phrased Kushner’s involvement as a donation of his “energy and time to our government” to “secure world peace,” as he is not working in an official capacity.

“Virtually everyone in the world is supportive of this plan that Jared Kushner offered his time to help put together alongside our special envoy Witkoff, the vice president, the president of the United States, Secretary Rubio, and the president’s entire national security team. We are very proud of that plan, and we hope Hamas will accept it because it will lead to a more peaceful and prosperous Middle East,” Leavitt said, referring to the 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, on Monday.

White House budget chief Russ Vought warned a group of House Republicans on Wednesday that some permanent layoffs of federal workers would take effect in “one to two” days, according to four people on the call.

Speaking on the House GOP conference call, Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, did not offer clarity on which federal workers could see layoffs or how many people could be affected, those people said. But Vought signaled that the administration would start with agencies that fall outside their priorities, the people said.

Vought and others in the Trump administration have previously warned that they would use their powers during a shutdown to further shrink the size of the federal government to reflect the White House’s agenda. Even GOP committees, however, have gotten little information about what that means for key federal agencies.

Vought also warned that a popular federal safety net program for mothers and young children – called WIC – will run out of money by next week.

Asked about the call Wednesday by CNN’s Kristen Holmes, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vought was “going to kind of walk them through what this, unfortunately, is going to look like, so they can discuss it with their constituents back home in their respective districts.” She declined to say if any force reductions during the shutdown would be permanent.

“Well, sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do, and it’s because the Democrats have put us into this position,” Leavitt said. “If the Democrats did not vote to shut down the government, we would not be standing up here talking about layoffs today, we’d be talking about all the other news stories going on in the world in our country.”

The Senate will take a break from voting on the competing Republican and Democratic government funding bills on Thursday so Jewish members can observe Yom Kipper.

But lawmakers will be back for votes on Friday and Saturday, assuming an agreement isn’t reached to end the stalemate.

It’s not yet clear what time Friday and Saturday votes would be held.

The Senate is not expected to be in on Sunday, according to multiple Republican leadership aides, and will return on Monday to continue efforts to end the shutdown.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to explain why President Donald Trump posted an artificially created video of himself promoting the fake “medbed” conspiracy theory to social media, saying only that it was his “right” to do so.

“I think the president saw the video and posted it and then took it down, and he has the right to do that,” Leavitt said. “He likes to share memes, he likes to share videos, he likes to repost things that he sees other people post on social media as well.”

The president last week posted the AI video to Truth Social depicting him promising access to a cure-all bed — a so-called medbed that has been at the center of conspiracy theories spread within QAnon circles. In the video, the AI-generated Trump called them “safe, modern and designed to restore every citizen to full health and strength.”

Trump later deleted the video from his account without explanation. On Wednesday, Leavitt dodged questions about why the president posted it, casting the episode as a “refreshing” display of transparency.

“I think it’s quite refreshing that we have a president who is so open and honest directly himself, many a times on Truth you are hearing directly from the president of the United States,” she said.

Federal courts across the US are grappling with the government shutdown in different ways, with some carrying on as usual and one trial-level court in Washington, DC, issuing a broad extension on most deadlines in cases involving the Trump administration.

The order issued today by James Boasberg, the chief judge of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, noted that during the lapse in federal funding, many federal employees, including those at the Justice Department, which represents the government in court, are “generally prohibited” from working until appropriations are restored.

The judge said that for now, in all civil cases involving the Trump administration, many deadlines imposed on the government — including those pertaining to court-ordered discovery — will be paused during the shutdown and for at least five days thereafter.

But for other courts, it’s mostly business as usual.

The Administrative Office of the US Courts that federal courts said today there is enough money to remain open through October 17 thanks to “court fee balances and other funds.”

The Supreme Court, which kicks off a new term next week, has said that it, too, will maintain operations. A spokesperson said that the court anticipated “no change to the court’s” oral arguments schedule in October.

Initially, that office said the federal judiciary would begin to feel the pinch of a shutdown by Friday.

Rep. Jared Golden attends a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC, on July 17.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, the only Democrat in the House to vote for the Republican-led government funding bill, criticized his party for leaning into demands from far-left groups.

“This government shutdown is the result of hardball politics driven by the demands far-left groups are making for Democratic Party leaders to put on a show of their opposition to President Trump” Golden posted on X.

“The shutdown is hurting Americans and our economy, and the irony is it has only handed more power to the president,” the Maine Democrat added.

Golden, who is known to break with his party at times, called on Democrats to separate “policy disagreements” from a shutdown.

“There’s room and time to negotiate. But normal policy disagreements are no reason to subject our constituents to the continued harm of this shutdown,” he said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters durin a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said today that layoffs to the federal workforce are “imminent,” marking a new front in the Trump administration’s efforts to transform the size and scope of the federal government.

“Unfortunately, because the Democrats shut down the government, the president has directed his Cabinet, and the Office of Management and Budget is working with agencies across the board to identify where cuts can be made,” Leavitt said.

Remember: While many federal employees have been furloughed and some have worked without pay during a shutdown, previous government shutdowns have not led to mass layoffs in the past, including during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Leavitt declined to say what percentage of the federal workforce would be impacted.

Pressed for specifics on the timing, she said they could happen “very soon.”

“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Highly Respected Economist, Dr. E.J. Antoni, as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, on August 11.

The White House confirmed Wednesday that it was pulling the nomination of its controversial pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, E.J. Antoni, after CNN reported last month that Antoni operated a since-deleted Twitter account that featured degrading remarks on Kamala Harris, derogatory remarks about gay people, and conspiracy theories.

“Look, E.J. Antoni remains a great ally of the president and our team,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a press briefing. “It became clear, unfortunately, that he was not going to have the votes and so we will be announcing a replacement nominee very soon.”

On Tuesday, CNN reported that a person familiar with the matter said GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski had declined to meet with Antoni, potentially raising concerns that his nomination was in trouble. CNN has reached out to the White House and Antoni.

Trump nominated Antoni in August after firing the previous commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, whom he accused without evidence of rigging jobs data. The ouster came after the July jobs report showed weak growth that month, with significant downward revisions to the May and June reports.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration maintains that President Donald Trump has the authority to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, who will remain in her role until the Supreme Court rules on the case.

“Look, we have respect for the Supreme Court, but they’re going to hear the actual case and make a determination on the legal argument in January, and we look forward to that, because we maintain that she was fired well within the president’s legal authority to do so,” Leavitt said.

“She was removed from the board, and we look forward to that case being fully played out at the Supreme Court,” she continued.

Vice President JD Vance speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on Wednesday.

Vice President JD Vance dismissed questions over whether President Donald Trump’s sharing an offensive, AI-generated video mocking Democratic leaders was racist and contrary to his contention that the White House was ready to negotiate in good faith to end a government shutdown, arguing the president “was joking” and having “a little bit of fun.”

“I think it’s funny,” Vance told reporters during Wednesday’s White House briefing. “You can negotiate in good faith, while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions, and even, you know, poking some fun at the absurdity of the Democrats themselves.”

The post included a video depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is Black, with a fake mustache and wearing a sombrero. It also fabricated the voice of Senator Chuck Schumer at a news conference on Monday afternoon and falsely accused Democrats of trying to give free health care to undocumented immigrants to gain their support.

“I mean, I’ll tell Hakeem Jeffries right now, I make this solemn promise to you that if you help us reopen the government, the Sombrero memes will stop. And I’ve talked to the President of the United States about that,” Vance said.

When pressed whether Trump’s post was racist, as Jeffries characterized it, Vance responded, “I honestly don’t even know what that means.”

“Like, is he a Mexican American that is offended by having a sombrero meme? I saw one of the major TV stations put the meme up and then say, this is AI-generated and he had, like, the curly animated mustache, too,” Vance said.

“Do you really not realize the American people recognize that he did not actually come to the White House wearing a sombrero and a black curly animation mustache? Like, give the country a little bit of credit. We’re all trying to do a very important job for the American people. The President United States likes to have a little bit of fun when he’s doing it. And I think that’s okay,” he added.