VP’s office responds to PA gov who said Vance betrayed Appalachian roots with ‘bull—- politics’ over SNAP
Vice President JD Vance’s office hit back Monday at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who used a Philadelphia press conference to criticize Vance while outlining the state’s contingency plan to keep SNAP (food stamp) benefits flowing during the government shutdown. Shapiro had joined 24 states to successfully sue the USDA over November’s SNAP benefit suspension. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania itself was not a plaintiff, as Republican Attorney General David Sunday was not involved. Shapiro referenced Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy” and the Ohioan’s strong bonds with his elders in Breathitt County, Kentucky – the heart of Appalachia – as he lit into what he described as the vice president’s “bull—- politics” that belie his Appalachian roots. “America has a president and a vice president that don’t give a damn about all Americans,” he added. SCHUMER, DEMS CALL ‘BULL—-‘ ON TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER FOOD STAMP SHUTDOWN THREAT Vance press secretary Taylor Van Kirk responded in comments to Fox News Digital on Monday, saying the governor should “take a look in the mirror if he wants to see who is to blame for this Democrat shutdown.” She said Shapiro and Democrats supported “Schumer’s shutdown” and in doing so “screwed over working-class men and women.” “While little Josh was whining like a child about the problems his own party created, the Trump administration has been crafting a deal with commonsense Democrats to reopen the government and fund SNAP benefits,” Van Kirk added. YOUNGKIN DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER ‘DEMOCRAT SHUTDOWN’ DEPLETING SNAP BENEFITS FOR 850K VIRGINIANS Shapiro had joined his fellow Montgomery County Democrat Val Arkoosh to discuss the SNAP freeze’s effects and what he and Arkoosh – the state’s human services chief — were doing to help affected families. When a reporter told Shapiro that Vance criticized the court order demanding the release of SNAP funds, the governor said that he would expect President Donald Trump to do so but that Vance’s history wouldn’t presage the same response. “JD Vance is a total phony… [he] rose to some prominence by writing a book about growing up in Appalachia, where there’s a whole lot of people who get SNAP,” Shapiro said. VANCE BLAMES SCHUMER’S FEAR OF AOC PRIMARY CHALLENGE AS SHUTDOWN CAUSE The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), led by permanent co-chair Gayle Manchin and 2025 co-chair Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, considers 423 counties from Alabama to New York part of Appalachia, including three-quarters of Pennsylvania. ARC reported 1.4 million families in its region are on SNAP, including 14% of families in Appalachian Pennsylvania. “[Vance] made millions of dollars on the backs of telling their stories, and then he turned his damn back on those very people who he likes to write about and claim as his own,” Shapiro said. He added that Vance professes to be a person of faith, and cited a passage from the book of Deuteronomy that says people should respond to those in need with an open hand. IN A SNAP, TRUMP BLAMED FOR BLOCKING FOOD ASSISTANCE TO LOW-INCOME FAMILIES “So for JD Vance now to turn around after claiming all these things his whole life and literally go to court to stop hungry people from eating, that is not only phony, it’s shameful.” “You’ll excuse me for getting emotional about it, but when I see hungry people in my state who are hungry because of JD Vance’s bull—- politics, that makes me angry. And that’s why I went to court.” At the presser, Shapiro explained that Arkoosh’s office was able to fund SNAP through a state disaster declaration and directing millions of dollars to food banks through the Feeding Pennsylvania program. “Republicans in Congress must work across the aisle to quickly reopen the government and protect food assistance and access to health care for the millions of people in Pennsylvania and around the country still at risk because of this continued inaction,” Arkoosh said in a statement. The war of words could preview a potential 2028 matchup as both Vance and Shapiro are considered top potential contenders for their parties’ presidential nominations next cycle.
Senate hopes to blow through procedural hurdles in bid to reopen government
The ball is rolling to reopen the government, but there is still much left to do in the Senate before the record-shattering shutdown comes to an end. Sunday night’s successful vote, which saw eight Senate Democrats splinter from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and their colleagues, was a massive step forward in the shutdown slog. But there are several votes left and procedural roadblocks that could be weaponized that could grind the Senate’s march to advance its package to the House to a halt. If all 100 senators agree to fast-track the process, the package could move as quickly as Monday night. SENATE DEMOCRATS CAVE, OPEN PATH TO REOPENING GOVERNMENT But if not, the bipartisan plan could stagnate in the upper chamber for several days. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was optimistic that the Senate could finish its work Monday night but said that would be up to Senate Democrats. “Obviously, there are objections from the left, but as long as the votes are there to proceed, we will move forward, and hopefully without a lot of disruption or delay or fanfare right now,” Thune said. “The point is, we are on a path to get the government reopened, and we should try to get it done as soon as possible.” Schumer didn’t say whether Democrats would block any attempt to move the process along but did blame President Donald Trump and Republicans for the shutdown, which stretched into its 41st day on Monday. The core of Democrats’ shutdown demands rested on a guarantee that expiring Obamacare subsidies would be dealt with before Schumer released the votes to reopen the government. But, the deal that was struck among bipartisan negotiators only reaffirmed Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s, R-S.D., earlier promise of a vote once the shutdown ended. SENATE DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS REACH DEAL TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT “Democrats demanded that we find a way to fix this crisis and quickly,” Schumer said. “But Republicans have refused to move an inch, so I cannot support the Republican bill that’s on the floor, because it fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s healthcare crisis.” Whether Senate Democrats are in line with a cohesive strategy to block the package remains to be seen. But Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told Fox News Digital that he “didn’t hear anything” about objections or blocks during the Democratic caucus’ closed-door meeting Sunday night. “I think a lot of us are just kind of taking in the information we heard today, talking to each other as Senate colleagues, and then we’re gonna make determinations later,” he said. And Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who was furious at the outcome of the deal, appeared to put any chance of him objecting on ice. SENATE IN LIMBO AS THUNE EYES LONG HAUL UNTIL SHUTDOWN ENDS “I understand that the way the process has been developed, it is impossible to delay the votes that are going to take place,” Sanders said. “And if that were not the case, that is certainly what I would do.” Still, there is a worry that there may be some dissension within the GOP’s ranks from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Paul is unhappy with the addition of language in the three-bill spending package that he argued would kneecap the hemp industry in his state, which played out in a battle between him and fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell earlier this year. A spokesperson for Paul told Fox News Digital that Paul affirmed “his commitment to reopening the government without delay. However, he objects to the inclusion of provisions in the government-funding package that unfairly target Kentucky’s hemp industry — language that is unrelated to the budget and the government-reopening goal.” And Paul further doused the notion that he would object with cold water, noting that he had filed an amendment to strike the provision in the bill. “Just to be clear: I am not delaying this bill,” he said on X.
Every county in one blue state shifts further left in 2025 governor race despite GOP hopes
Every county in New Jersey shifted further to the left during the high-stakes 2025 gubernatorial election when compared to the 2021 race, according to post-election data. New Jersey Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill emerged victorious in her campaign to serve as the Garden State’s top leader, defeating Republican candidate Jack Ciattatrrelli, who also ran as the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee in 2021. The election was highly anticipated following the 2024 federal election, which showed the deep blue state move closer to the right as voters increasingly voted for President Donald Trump — though not enough for the state overall to flip red. Trump saw five counties flip red, and narrowed his 2020 losses in the state from 16 points to six points in 2024. The inroads gave hope to Republicans in the state that voters could move toward Ciattarelli, but post-election data shows voters overall shifted further to the left in 2025. DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF TRUMP CUT NEW JERSEY REPUBLICANS DOWN TO SIZE The 2021 gubernatorial election teed up a battle between incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and Ciattarelli in his second campaign for Drumthwacket, the official residence of the New Jersey governor. Murphy earned 51.2% of the vote that year, compared to Ciattarelli’s 48% support. In 2025, Sherrill earned 56.5% of the total 3,256,410 votes cast compared to Ciattarelli’s 42.8%. Fox News Digital took a look at the New Jersey counties that recorded the biggest shifts, including in counties that historically have been more conservative. Along the Jersey Shore, where voters frequently lean more to the right, Monmouth County saw a roughly 10-point shift to the left compared to the 2021 election, with Ciattarelli securing 54% of the total votes in 2025 compared to winning 58.8% of the vote in 2021, Associated Press election data shows. While nearby Ocean County saw a 1.4 point margin shift in 2025 toward the Democrats. FOX NEWS POLL: NEW JERSEY GOVERNORSHIP REMAINS DEMOCRATIC WITH SHERRILL WIN New Jersey is home to 21 counties, which stretch from small city jurisdictions nestled in New York City’s backyard, to neighborhoods of sprawling mansions and vast farmlands that bookend the state in the north and south. Each of the counties saw a shift to the left, with Sussex County in the most northern portion of the state seeing a 16.2 point shift, according to the Associated Press’ data. Sussex County is another county that historically leans to the right, and saw Ciattarelli earn 66.8% of the total vote in 2021, falling to 59.2% in 2025. Cumberland County, located in South Jersey, also saw a 16.2 margin shift benefiting Democrats compared to the 2021 gubernatorial election, according to the Associated Press’ data. The 2021 election saw 55.6% of its voters support the Republican ticket, but dropped to 47.6% in 2025, delivering Sherrill a win in the coastal county. FINAL FACEOFF: DEMOCRAT, REPUBLICAN NOMINEES IN KEY RACE FOR GOVERNOR BLAST EACH OTHER ON DEBATE STAGE When comparing the 2025 gubernatorial election to the 2024 federal election, five counties flipped back to the Democrats. Trump flipped Gloucester, Cumberland, Atlantic, Morris and Passaic just over a year ago, but each of those counties voted for Sherill in 2025. The New Jersey election cycle was one of just a handful of high-profile campaigns during the off-year cycle, with Democrats also winning Virginia’s gubernatorial election, and socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani elected as the next mayor of New York City. The 2025 elections are viewed as a bellwether for the 2026 midterms, when the political party holding the White House typically loses seats in Congress.
House conservative leader gives blessing to Senate shutdown deal, with ‘one caveat’
EXCLUSIVE: The leader of the House’s most conservative group is tentatively giving his blessing to the Senate’s bipartisan deal to end the government shutdown. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News Digital he was leaning in favor of supporting the legislation, though he added he was still reviewing its final details. “As it currently is formatted, I would probably be a ‘yes’ vote,” Harris said. The “one caveat,” he added, was a push by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to overturn a measure in the bill cracking down on the sale of some “intoxicating hemp provisions.” MIKE JOHNSON SPEAKS OUT AFTER SENATE BREAKTHROUGH ON GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN “If that provision is removed then … I can’t support the bill,” Harris said. “We have to close the 2018 Farm Bill loophole that allows hemp-derived products to be sold with intoxicating THC levels. And in many states, it’s even sold to children. We have to reverse that.” The Senate broke its weekslong government funding impasse on Sunday night. Eight Democrats joined all Republicans, except for Paul, to overcome a filibuster on an updated spending bill. It’s possible the Senate could strike a unanimous agreement to move quickly on the legislation, but all eyes are on Paul to see if he will drag out the process in protest of the hemp provision. Overall, however, Harris said the legislative package “looks pretty favorable” from what he’d seen so far — noting the rest of his right-wing House GOP caucus likely felt the same. “We’re still unpacking the entire package, but with the exception of the [reversal of federal layoffs], I think that the members are pretty favorable toward … the rest of the package,” Harris said. Terms of the deal include a new extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels through Jan. 30 in order to give congressional negotiators more time to strike a longer-term deal on FY 2026 spending. SENATE VOTE TO END GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IGNITES DEMOCRAT CIVIL WAR It would also give lawmakers some headway with that mission, advancing legislation to fund the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration; the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction; and the legislative branch. They are three of 12 individual bills that are meant to make up Congress’ annual appropriations, paired into a vehicle called a “minibus.” In a victory for Democrats, the deal would also reverse federal layoffs conducted by the Trump administration in October, with those workers getting paid for the time they were off. It also guarantees Senate Democrats a vote on legislation extending Obamacare subsidies that were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are set to expire at the end of this year. Extending the enhanced subsidies for Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was a key ask for Democrats in the weekslong standoff. No such guarantee was made in the House, however, so Democrats effectively folded on their key demand in order to end the shutdown — a move that infuriated progressives in Congress. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said both publicly and privately that he would not promise Democrats a vote on the enhanced Obamacare subsidies in the House in exchange for their support. Harris told Fox News Digital that he did not believe such a vote would pass the House or Senate. “The COVID-era extensions, I think there is no way that that passes either chamber,” he said, referring to “clean, straight-up extensions” specifically.
WATCHDOG: How universities are rebranding DEI to skirt Trump’s crackdown
As universities across the country have been accused of trying to hide their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts to avoid federal scrutiny, Fox News Digital spoke to a leading parents’ rights activist about how serious the problem is and what can be done about it. “I look at… the responses to the Trump administration and the executive orders falling into three buckets,” Nicole Neily, founder and president of the nonpartisan grassroots organization Defending Education, told Fox News Digital about the continuation of DEI activities despite the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate it. Neily explained, “The first bucket are the proud resisters. I put Princeton, Harvard, schools like that in that category, where they’re just going to, you know, ‘hashtag resist’ and do their thing. The second bucket is, I think it’s the biggest category, and I think they’re the ones that are trying to put lipstick on a pig. They are renaming the departments. The DEI department is now the ‘belonging department.’ The coordinator, the DEI dean, is now compliance dean or something like that. But those people are doing the same damn thing and just trying to wait the Trump administration out.” Fox News Digital has extensively reported on schools in the first two buckets as defined by Neily, including at Washington University in St. Louis, where one of the nation’s top medical schools was accused of moving the DEI office to a restricted floor rather than close it. CLICK HERE FOR MORE CAMPUS RADICALS COAST TO COAST Earlier this month, Princeton University was hit with a scathing federal complaint over a DEI agenda that allegedly involved female students sharing “gender-neutral” restrooms with gaps in the stalls, as well as graduations segregated by gender identity. At the University of Utah and University of Virginia, Fox News Digital reported on staffers being caught on hidden camera explaining their efforts to continue DEI efforts by simply rebranding or renaming them. “The third category are the schools that actually want to comply in good faith,” Neily told Fox News Digital. “I think a lot of schools, a lot of administrators, got pretty frustrated with the excesses of the DEI movement, and they’re secretly relieved that they now have a little bit of air cover to wind those programs back. And they might hand wring and do a little performative ‘this is the orange man’s fault,’ but at the end of the day, I think they really are relieved.” Neily told Fox News Digital that the “second bucket” is the “biggest and most challenging category.” She said she was recently at a university board conference where speakers on a DEI panel were openly calling for “inclusivity work” to be continued because the Trump administration “only cares about” Ivy League schools and “they can’t sue us all.” UNIVERSITY DROPS JOB POSTING AFTER DEI REQUIREMENT EXPOSED, PROFESSOR SAYS ‘I WOULD NOT BE HIRED’ TODAY “To me, that demonstrates real mens rea, which is Latin for a guilty mind,” Neily said. “I think that shows that these people are the real evildoers and those are the ones where I think, obviously, the Trump administration has spent a lot of time over the past few months going after Harvard, going after Columbia, like the real bad actors that are out there trying to, you know that clearly have to be cleaned up. But I think that there is a much more significant and long-term effort to uproot and eradicate the DEI that is just trying to hide in plain sight. And I think that’s a really, really important mission.” Defending Education recently sent a letter, first reported by Fox News Digital, to elected officials in all 50 states calling for a top-to-bottom audit of state laws at the K-12 level to ensure that no loopholes are being exploited, allowing schools to continue DEI efforts. Combating DEI at all levels of education will require a “whole of government” approach, Neily told Fox News Digital, adding that it will be important to not let administrators “whitewash their records” or pass the blame onto someone else for policies they have supported. Additionally, Neily expressed optimism that the tide is turning against DEI in terms of popularity. “I think we’re at a moment where there is kind of a perfect storm taking place in academia. This incoming freshman class this year is the largest freshman class that American universities will ever have… Clearly, we have seen polling over the past couple years demonstrate a massive loss in public confidence in the institutions of higher education at a time when costs are through the roof, the return on investment for sending your child to some of these schools is horrible. So I think a lot of people are really rethinking, is this the correct track for me, period?” Neily said. UNIVERSITY DOCTOR RESIGNS AFTER UNEARTHED AUDIO EXPOSES HIM BOASTING ABOUT SKIRTING ANTI-DEI LAWS “We also have fewer international students coming in, thanks to the efforts of the Trump administration, and so I think what we’re gonna see over the next several years is a number of universities that actually start to close. And how do those schools differentiate themselves in the marketplace?” Neily said she has witnessed students “vote with their feet” and choose to attend schools that don’t promote “woke” ideologies, particularly in the South as students are looking for a “proper college experience.” Earlier this year, Fox News Digital reported that several Southern states banded together to establish their own accrediting body for higher education in order to “upend the monopoly of the woke accreditation cartels.” “They don’t wanna be surrounded by a bunch of pearl-clutching Victorian scolds that are going to reprimand them for using the wrong pronouns and for not wearing masks in the middle of the winter, and so we’re watching people and some of those state schools in the South now, realizing, OK, we can get more out-of-state students coming in, paying higher out-of-state tuition,” Neily said. “But it’s also changing and altering what our campus life is like, and so we’re
Judge set to choose new congressional map in fight that could reshape House control
A district judge in Utah is expected to make a blockbuster ruling on Monday on which of three congressional maps the red state will use in the 2026 midterm elections. The decision by Utah District Judge Dianna Gibson on which map she chooses could determine if Democrats have a fighting chance next year of flipping one of the state’s current four Republican-controlled U.S. House seats. Utah is the latest state to find itself smack in the middle of the high-stakes redistricting showdown between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to shape the midterm battlefield in the fight for the House majority. The faceoff over redistricting in Utah, a state Trump carried by nearly 22 points in last year’s presidential election, was triggered by a lawsuit by the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, which prompted Gibson to throw out the state’s current congressional map. The plaintiffs argued that the current map favored Republicans. NEWSOM TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER LANDSLIDE REDISTRICTING VICTORY IN CALIFORNIA Gibson’s move required the GOP-controlled state legislature to draw a new map, which lawmakers approved last month. The map drawn by the legislature could give Democrats a chance of flipping a U.S. House seat in two of the state’s four districts. Gibson, who will choose between the legislature’s map and two others drawn up by the plaintiffs, said she would rule by Nov. 10, which is the day Utah Lt. Gov Deidre Henderson said any new congressional map must be in place to be used in next year’s elections. TRUMP-BACKED REDISTRICTING PUSH TURNS MIDWESTERN STATE INTO NEXT POLITICAL BATTLEGROUND The ruling in Utah comes six days after California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative which will temporarily sidetrack the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democrat-dominated legislature. That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which would counter the passage earlier this year in the reliable red state of Texas of a new map that aims to create up to five right-leaning House seats. “California stepped up. Now, we are taking this fight across the country — helping Democrats in other states push back against Trump’s election rigging,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital last week, as he pointed to the push by Trump and Republicans for rare mid-decade redistricting. It’s part of a broad effort by Trump’s political team and the GOP to pad the party’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push. Trump is aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections. Illinois and Maryland, two blue states, and Virginia, where Democrats control the legislature, are moving towards redistricting or are seriously considering, as are the red states of Indiana, Kansas, and Florida.
Portland-area county declares state of emergency over ICE activity, as police probed for helping DHS
As the Trump administration adds federal law enforcement focus to Portland, Oregon, local officials in neighboring areas are pushing back on the Department of Homeland Security and investigating their own police forces for alleged collaboration. Unrest in the Portland area grabbed President Donald Trump’s attention over the summer – and by late September – he announced deployment of troops to the “war-ravaged” city – an effort that Trump-appointed Judge Karin Immergut blocked in October. Washington County, an area home to about 600,000 people immediately west of Portland, declared a state of emergency last week in response to DHS’ increased enforcement in the area. PORTLAND CODIFIES SANCTUARY STATUS, ORDERS CITY POLICE TO FURTHER SEPARATE FROM ICE The move opens up $200,000 in emergency funding to help community organizations that serve impacted residents, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). An immigrations rights group official was one of several residents to complain about ICE ramping up enforcement, telling OPB that her organization was receiving 100 phone calls on the matter daily and that broken glass is “everywhere” from ICE officers breaking car windows to detain occupants. County Commissioner Nafisa Fai told the outlet that residents may benefit from moratoriums on evictions and having their electricity shut off over nonpayment if breadwinners in their family are taken away by ICE. ICE DIRECTOR SAYS PORTLAND FACILITY FACES VIOLENCE WITH ‘LITTLE HELP FROM LOCAL POLICE’ Meanwhile, in nearby Eugene – the state’s third-largest city – the police department will reportedly be subject to independent review over allegations that officers aided or coordinated with federal immigration authorities. The Eugene Police Auditor, an agency independent of the force itself, will be conducting a “complete and thorough investigation,” according to Eugene’s CBS affiliate, citing an auditor’s office official. The issue arose after residents complained that Eugene police were not following Oregon’s sanctuary state laws. ICE DIRECTOR REVEALS DANGEROUS NIGHTLY ANTIFA ‘BATTLE’ AS TRUMP PREPARES FEDERAL DEPLOYMENT TO PORTLAND A police spokeswoman rejected the claim in comments to the local NPR affiliate. “Eugene Police Department has nothing to do with immigration, nor with raids [Wednesday],” said Melinda McLaughlin – adding that images on social media from the events of the week are not Eugene police officers. After a Eugene-area ICE raid last week, several lawmakers slammed the feds for “violent detentions” and allegations the suspects were not given full due process. Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore., Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., state House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, and state Senate leader James Manning Jr., D-Eugene, said they were “alarmed” by ICE’s enforcement actions. “This was only the most recent in a series of aggressive raids carried out across the state in recent months. We are working together with community leaders and local law enforcement to learn more and ensure that all of our constituents are accounted for,” they said in a letter signed by several other lawmakers. “Every Oregonian and every person in the United States, regardless of immigration status, is entitled to the full protections guaranteed by the Constitution.” Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.
Johnson orders lawmakers back to DC ‘right now’ as shutdown sparks travel chaos
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is sending a critical warning to House lawmakers as the government shutdown continues to wreak havoc on air travel. “As of Sunday, nearly half of all domestic flights and U.S. flights were either canceled or delayed, and it’s a very serious situation,” Johnson said in comments to reporters on Monday. “So I’m saying that, by way of reminder, I’m stating the obvious, to all my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats in the House, you need to begin right now returning to the Hill. We have to do this as quickly as possible.” The House leader was referring to taking up the Senate’s bipartisan measure to finally end the government shutdown, now on its 41st day. SENATE DEMOCRATS CAVE, OPEN PATH TO REOPENING GOVERNMENT The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to reduce air travel at the nation’s 40 busiest airports by 6% as of Tuesday, amid widespread staffing shortages that have been attributed to the shutdown. Thousands of federal employees have been furloughed as agencies and critical programs run low on funds, while government workers deemed “essential” have been forced to work without pay for weeks. People in the latter group include air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, many of whom have been forced to take second jobs and call out sick to make ends meet. “The problem we have with air travel is that our air traffic controllers are overworked and unpaid, and many of them have called in sick. That’s a very stressful job, and even more stressful, exponentially, when they’re having trouble providing for their families. And so air travel has been grinding to a halt in many places,” Johnson said on Monday. He delivered a statement to the press less than 12 hours after the Senate broke its weeks-long impasse on the shutdown, with eight Senate Democrats joining the GOP to overcome a filibuster. EIGHT SENATE DEMOCRATS BREAK RANKS WITH PARTY LEADERSHIP TO END HISTORIC GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN Johnson told Fox News Digital exclusively earlier Monday that he would call the House back “immediately” upon Senate passage of the bill — which he suggested could come sooner rather than later. “We’re going to get everybody back on a 36-hour notice, so it’ll be happening early this week,” Johnson said. The House has not been in session since Sept. 19, when lawmakers there first passed a bill to avert a shutdown by extending current federal funding levels through Nov. 21. Democrats rejected that deal, however, kicking off weeks of a worsening impasse where millions of Americans’ federal benefits and air travel were put at risk.
Shutdown nears an end, but flight delays and cancellations keep piling up, data shows
As the gridlock on Capitol Hill loosens its grip and the government shutdown nears a resolution, the effects on the nation’s air travel system highlight the fragility of critical infrastructure during political standoffs. As the shutdown dragged on, its ripple effects spread across the nation’s air network, fueling a steady climb in flight delays and cancellations by early November. The crisis hit an agency already under pressure. Even before the shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration was grappling with a shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers. With Congress deadlocked, about 13,000 controllers and 50,000 TSA agents are working without pay. That strain has only deepened as nationwide staffing shortages disrupt air travel, causing tens of thousands of delays and affecting at least 3.2 million passengers, according to airline estimates. FLIGHT DELAYS WORSEN AS UNPAID AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS FEEL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN PAIN Major hubs like Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty in New Jersey and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta have seen the brunt of flight delays and cancellations among the 30 core U.S. airports, according to FlightAware data. In Chicago alone, more than 1,400 flights were delayed and nearly 500 canceled on Sunday, according to the aviation tracking website. Of the four major airlines analyzed — Southwest, United, American and Delta — Southwest logged the most flight delays nationwide this week, while Delta recorded the highest number of cancellations, according to FlightAware data. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ISSUE DESPERATE PLEA AS FAMILIES STRUGGLE WITHOUT PAYCHECKS On Monday, the aviation tracking website FlightAware reported nearly 3,830 delayed flights and more than 1,650 cancellations within, into or out of the U.S. As lawmakers work to finalize a deal to reopen the government, aviation officials warn that the effects of the shutdown won’t disappear overnight. Rebuilding schedules, restoring staffing levels and regaining public confidence could take weeks, a reminder of just how quickly political gridlock can bring the nation’s airways to a standstill.
Supreme Court rejects appeal from county clerk who sought to overturn same-sex marriage decision
The Supreme Court on Monday said it will not revisit its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, leaving intact the 2015 protections granted to couples in Obergefell v. Hodges. Justices rejected an appeal brought by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who was held in contempt after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples due to her religious beliefs. The Court declined to take up her appeal without explanation and without any noted dissents. SUPREME COURT WEIGHS TRUMP TARIFF POWERS IN BLOCKBUSTER CASE Though Davis’s appeal centered largely on First Amendment issues and questions of religious protection, her lawyers also requested that the Supreme Court consider overturning the 5-4 ruling in Obergefell, or the 2015 decision that granted same-sex couples the constitutional right to marry. It is time for a “for a course correction” on Obergefell, her lawyers argued. Davis was briefly jailed in 2015 after she refused to issue the marriage licenses to same-sex couples due to her religious beliefs, prompting a federal judge to hold her in contempt. She was also ordered by the court to pay $100,000 in damages to the couple, and to cover their legal fees. “If ever a case deserved review,” Davis’s lawyers said in their appeal, “the first individual who was thrown in jail post-Obergefell for seeking accommodation for her religious beliefs should be it.” JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA Though her appeal was considered a long shot, it had prompted fresh speculation about whether the court’s conservative majority might agree to review the seminal case, especially in light of the court’s 2022 decision to overturn abortion protections in Roe v. Wade. Others noted that three of the justices that dissented from the majority in Obergefell — Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts — remain on the court. Davis’s lawyers also hewed closely to language used by Justice Clarence Thomas in their appeal, who used a concurring opinion in 2022 to urge the court to “reconsider” gay marriage and other constitutional protections after it overturned Roe v. Wade. Even so, it takes four votes to get a case onto the docket — a somewhat heavy lift for the court. The decision also comes at a time when justices have agreed to review a number of politically charged cases in their upcoming term.