The shutdown stalemate that has dragged on in the Senate officially ended late Monday night, and it places Congress on a path to reopen the government later this week.

Senators advanced a bipartisan funding package to end the government shutdown after a group of Senate Democrats broke from their colleagues and joined Republicans in their bid to reopen the government.

Those same eight Senate Democratic caucus members stuck with Republicans and provided the crucial votes needed to send the package to the House.

The votes went deep into Monday night on the shutdown’s 41st day and resulted in an updated continuing resolution (CR) being combined with a trio of spending bills in a minibus package that is now headed to the House.

Whether the Senate would get to this point was in the air for much of last week and even earlier in the day. On Monday, lawmakers were riding high after smashing through the package’s first procedural test, but concerns of objections and other procedural maneuvers threatened to derail the process.

‘I think everybody’s pretty united [behind] this bill,’ Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said. ‘We want to reopen the government.’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus demanded throughout the entirety of the shutdown that they would only vote to reopen the government if they received an ironclad deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies.

But that deal, or at least the one that Democrats wanted, never materialized. Instead, eight Senate Democrats took the offer that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has made since the beginning: A guarantee to vote on legislation that would deal with the subsidies.

Thune reiterated his promise and noted that a vote would come, ‘No later than the second week of December.’ The subsidies are set to expire by the end of the year.

‘We have senators, both Democrat and Republican, who are eager to get to work to address that crisis in a bipartisan way,’ he said. ‘These senators are not interested in political games, they’re interested in finding real ways to address healthcare costs for American families. We also have a president who is willing to sit down and get to work on this issue.’

Senate Democrats did not leave completely empty-handed, however.

Included in the revamped CR, which would reopen the government until Jan. 30, was a reversal of the Trump administration’s firing of furloughed federal workers, a deal to ensure that furloughed workers would get back pay and future protections for federal workers during shutdowns.

‘This was the only deal on the table,’ Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., one of the eight that crossed the aisle to support the package, said. ‘It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the [Obamacare] tax credits that tens of millions of Americans rely on to keep costs down.’

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., another of the eight Senate Democrats to break with Schumer, said that it was clear that Republicans weren’t going to budge on their position that healthcare would be dealt with after the government reopened. 

But it wasn’t the guarantee of a vote on the expiring subsidies that got him to splinter, it was promises that there would be protections for federal employees. 

‘If you wait another week, they’re going to get hurt more, another month or even more,’ Kaine said. ‘So what got me over the line was the pledge that they were able to give the federal employees.’ 

On the House side, it appears GOP leaders are eager to move quickly on ending the prolonged shutdown.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., earlier Monday told Fox News Digital that he would bring the House back into session ‘immediately’ upon Senate passage of the legislation.

He later told House Republicans on a lawmaker-only call that he anticipated a vote in their chamber midweek at the earliest, Fox News Digital was told.

‘We’re going to plan on voting, on being here, at least by Wednesday,’ Johnson said. ‘It is possible that things could shift a little bit later in the week, but right now we think we’re on track for a vote on Wednesday. So we need you here.’

Johnson signaled the House would not move to fast-track the legislation via suspension of the rules however, which would bypass procedural hurdles in exchange for raising the passage threshold to two-thirds of the chamber.

It’s not a surprising move given House Democratic leaders’ opposition to the bill.

He said, however, that the House Rules Committee should be ready to move by Tuesday at the earliest.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, will not seek re-election in 2026.

The senior Republican lawmaker will have finished serving a decade in Congress when he leaves at the end of next year.

‘I have a firm conviction, much like our founders did, that public service is a lifetime commitment, but public office is and should be a temporary stint in stewardship, not a career,’ Arrington said.

And the conservative Texan told Fox News Digital he felt he was leaving on a high note, having played a key role in crafting President Donald Trump’s big, beautiful bill.

‘It was a very unique, generational impact opportunity, to be almost ten years into this and to have the budget chairmanship, and to lead the charge to successfully pass that and to help this president fulfill his mandate from the people,’ Arrington said. ‘It just seems like a good and right place to leave it.’

He cited multiple legislative items across his tenure as Budget Committee chair when asked what he took pride in, but added, ‘It’s more of changing the narrative and the culture in Congress and in my party that I’m most proud of.’

‘I’m from a rural district and I can tell you, raising the profile among urban and suburban members as to the unique challenges of rural America and the unique contributions of rural America — like food security and energy independence and how much the nation depends on these plow boys and cowboys in rural areas — that’s another thing I’m proud of,’ he said.

Arrington said he had faith Republicans in Washington would pick up his mantle of fiscal hawkishness, or as he’s often called it, ‘reversing the curse’ of public debt.

‘The president’s committed to it, he talks about it all the time. He’s actually doing something about it with very difficult decisions, not politically popular decisions. This is all about political will,’ Arrington said. ‘Trump’s doing it. Mike Johnson is committed to it… And we have a growing number of fiscal hawks who are absolutely dogged on this issue.’

But he said he would continue to push for further fiscal reforms for his remaining year on Capitol Hill, including another budget reconciliation bill to follow up on the big, beautiful bill.

‘I don’t know where the Senate Republicans are. I don’t know where the president is and can’t speak for the White House. But the House is at the ready,’ Arrington said. ‘It’s been our most consequential tool to support the president and the strength of the country, and I don’t see any reason we wouldn’t utilize it to its fullest extent.’

The West Texas Republican said he had not given much thought to what he would do next but said he wanted to ‘remain in the fight,’ adding he would seek a ‘new leadership challenge’ that ‘allows me to make the biggest difference on as many people as I can.’

‘And then I would say…I am looking forward to quality time with my wife and kids and focusing on my leadership and service, not in the people’s house, but in my own house,’ Arrington said.

He said he hoped to ‘make a difference’ in the lives of his two young sons and daughter.

Arrington’s Lubbock-anchored district leans heavily Republican, meaning it’s unlikely to flip to blue in the 2026 midterms.

And come the end of his time next year, the conservative lawmaker said he would leave with no regrets.

‘I’m thankful that God called me and gave me the grace to succeed and to achieve the things that we’ve achieved,’ Arrington said.

‘His grace looks like the members of Congress that I’ve been doing battle with, my budget hawks who I’ve been in the trenches with, my constituents who I run into in the grocery store, who want to pray with me right there in the aisle while I’m checking out. The grace of God looks like my wife being both mom and dad about two-thirds of the time, because I’m in Washington doing battle for the country.’

He finished, ‘Did I make my share of mistakes? You bet. Did I learn along the way? You bet I did. But we left [the country] better than we found it, and it gives me great satisfaction.’

Critics once called it isolationist. But national security experts now say Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ strategy is proving to be something else entirely — a hard-nosed policy of deterrence built on strong alliances, especially with Israel.

Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security and former chief of staff at the National Security Council, told Fox News Digital that ‘The America First approach to U.S. national security means a strong national security policy, a decisive president, keeping our nation out of unnecessary wars, having members of alliances carry their own weight, but it also means standing strongly with Israel and fighting antisemitism.’

He said supporting Israel is not about sentiment. ‘Standing with Israel is in our strategic interest,’ he said. ‘Israel is dealing with enemies in the region that the U.S. would have to deal with if it were not there. So it’s in our strategic interest.’

Israel as America’s forward defense

Mike Makovsky, CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), said Israel effectively absorbs threats that would otherwise demand U.S. military action. ‘Historically, there are about three reasons why we have interests in the region,’ he said. ‘One is Israel. Two is oil. And three is Islamic extremism — terrorism, Shia and Sunni.’

Makovsky said it is ironic that the America First debate has resurfaced ‘only a few months after Israel smoked America’s Mideast enemies.’ He pointed to Iran’s nuclear advances and the role of its proxies. ‘They’re building ballistic missiles… They could reach the eastern seaboard of the United States,’ he said. ‘You marry missiles with nukes that could hit the U.S. — you’ve got the North Koreans on the West Coast; do you really want Iran that could hit the East Coast?’

According to Makovsky, Israel’s campaign against those threats shows the alliance’s strategic value. ‘What did the Israelis just do? They took care of it. The United States came in with the B-2 at the very end… but it was Israel that did all that work,’ he said.

He added that Israel ‘pretty much finished off Hamas,’ weakened Hezbollah — ‘which has hundreds of American soldiers’ blood on their hands’ — and continues to confront the Houthis to ‘ensure freedom of navigation.’ That, he argued, is deterrence in action: ‘As long as we support Israel, we give them some help, we give them the weapons they need, they’re really doing our work.’

Countering Iran and its allies

Fleitz called Iran ‘the biggest threat,’ encompassing ‘Iran and Iran’s proxies in the region. This includes Hamas, Hezbollah in Syria, Iran-backed militias in Iraq, and then Iran itself, with its nuclear weapons program and its sponsorship of terror.’

He said Israel’s actions have ‘destroyed Hamas proxies and significantly weakened Iran,’ adding that ‘we joined Israel in June in taking on Iran’s nuclear program, which was a threat to global security.’

Both analysts framed Iran as part of a wider axis of power alongside Russia and China, each exploiting Middle East instability to undermine U.S. influence — by fueling proxy wars, spiking energy prices, and threatening trade routes through the Gulf and the Red Sea. Fleitz said Trump’s willingness to act decisively ‘to attack Iran’s nuclear program’ exemplified using strength to prevent costlier wars later.

Energy and economic security

Both agree that energy policy is where America First becomes measurable. Fleitz said that ‘energy independence is a very important part of President Trump’s America First policy to free Americans from high energy bills.’ At the same time, he noted, energy diplomacy abroad reinforces economic security at home. ‘By pushing the Saudis — and the Saudis, I think, are happy to help us with this — to produce more oil, it may actually help us end the war in Ukraine,’ he said.

Makovsky made a similar case for regional stability: ‘The biggest threat to the Gulf Arab oil exporters … is Iran,’ he said. Without Israel’s containment of Tehran, ‘Iran would have taken over the Middle East, most likely. And if you care about oil prices, that’s not too good.’

Both experts said that when Israel shoulders the burden of defending energy corridors and trade routes, Americans save in both dollars and deployments.

Avoiding unnecessary wars

Fleitz said Trump’s doctrine is about selective force, not retreat. ‘He wants to keep our country out of new and unnecessary wars, but he will use military force prudently to defend our national security,’ he said. ‘He is going to avoid sending American troops into certain situations and using military force. But that doesn’t mean he won’t do these things when it is in U.S. strategic interests.’

He pointed out U.S. personnel who are currently stationed in Israel but ‘they’re not going to Gaza’ and ‘will not be engaging in combat operations against Hamas.’ Their mission, he said, fits the model of minimal footprint, maximum leverage.

Credibility and global deterrence

Makovsky warned that abandoning Israel would erode America’s credibility worldwide. He recalled what a senior Arab leader once told him: ‘If America doesn’t help Israel attack the nuclear facilities of Iran, it will be one of the great catastrophes.’

‘That’s because everybody in the Mideast, everyone in Asia, knows that the U.S.–Israel relationship is one of the closest in the world,’ Makovsky said. ‘If we don’t help Israel, it undercuts our credibility. The Chinese and the Russians and the North Koreans know that if we’re not going to support Israel, we’re not going to help other allies … and it would make us more vulnerable to the Chinese without a doubt.’

Peace through strength

Fleitz said Trump’s ’20-point peace plan’ for Gaza exemplifies the America First balance between toughness and diplomacy. ‘It achieved its two primary objectives, getting all the living hostages out of Israel and enacting a ceasefire,’ he said, acknowledging that ‘the ceasefire is fairly shaky.’ The next step, he added, is ‘an international stabilization force’ — a complex process still under negotiation.

For both experts, the takeaway is the same: America First doesn’t mean isolation. It means strategic partnerships that keep U.S. troops out of long wars while preserving American dominance.

Senate Republicans unveiled a crucial piece of the puzzle in their bid to reopen the government and plan to plow ahead with a vote on Sunday. 

While both sides still appear at an impasse on extending expiring Obamacare subsidies, appropriators moved ahead with a package of spending bills that Republicans hope will jumpstart the government funding process, and lead to an end to the 40-day government shutdown. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee released the three-bill spending package, known as a minibus, Sunday afternoon. Lawmakers are still waiting on text for an updated continuing resolution (CR), that, if passed, is expected to reopen the government until late January. 

It includes legislation that would fund military construction and the VA, the legislative branch and agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

Senate Republicans view the package as a sweetener that they hope attracts enough Senate Democrats to break through the logjam and move toward reopening the government. And given that the minibus is a largely bipartisan product, lawmakers believe it could succeed. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., made clear in the last few days that he would not put a bill on the floor that did not have the votes to pass after spending several weeks daring Senate Democrats to vote against the original House-passed continuing resolution (CR). 

‘There’s going to be something to vote on, let’s put it that way,’ Thune said. 

Still, the package does not include a deal on Senate Democrats’ chief demand throughout the government shutdown to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. 

Thune has promised Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus a vote on the expiring subsidies after the government reopens. And for several weeks, Senate Democrats said that was not enough to assuage the concerns. 

Senate Democrats are expected to huddle Saturday night before a likely vote to plot a path forward. If Schumer and his caucus agree to the deal, they would effectively be caving from their deeply-entrenched position that has seen the government shutdown stretch over a month. 

Lawmakers will now have time to read over the bills, with a vote expected later Sunday evening. 

But, it’s just the first step in what could be a long and drawn-out process. First, Thune will tee up the original House-passed CR for a vote, which lawmakers view as the vehicle to attach the minibus and updated CR to. 

Then there will be two more votes before the package advances from the Senate. Then, it will have to go back to the House before making its way to President Donald Trump’s desk. 

Schumer and his caucus could still apply pain on the process, too, through procedural hurdles. And despite rumblings of some in the caucus ready to break ranks, some Republicans aren’t too optimistic that this will be an easy process. 

‘I don’t expect anything from the Democrats,’ Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said. ‘At this point, their demands have been so ridiculous, I don’t know what they’re going to do, and at this point, I frankly, don’t give a crap.’ 

Iran is facing its worst drought in decades, raising fears of evacuations in Tehran while threatening the regime’s stability and nuclear ambitions, according to a leading environmental expert.

Kaveh Madani, Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, said Iran’s worsening ‘water bankruptcy’ would impact the country’s ability to function and weaken its position on the global stage.

‘This water bankruptcy weakens Iran on the world stage,’ Madani told Fox News Digital.

‘If they want to stick to their ideology and fight with the West, they must use their natural resources and burn them, so if there is no water, there is less resilience and less capacity to resist.’

Madani, who has long warned of environmental mismanagement in Iran, said the current water crisis across the nation was predictable.

‘The water bankruptcy situation was not created overnight,’ he said. ‘The house was already on fire, and people like myself had warned the government for years that this situation would emerge.’

President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that without rainfall before winter, Tehran could face partial evacuation, according to The Associated Press.

Of the five major dams supplying the capital, one has already run dry and another is operating below 8% capacity, according to AP.

Energy Minister Abbas Alibadi also announced that water supplies will be cut off on some evenings to refill reservoirs, urging citizens to reduce consumption by 20% to avoid rationing.

‘The symptoms were already present, and now the flames are undeniable. We are discussing Day Zero, when the taps would run dry in Tehran and other cities once immune to shortages,’ Madani said.

‘Iran is in a state of water bankruptcy, the result of decades of mismanagement, worsened by prolonged drought and climate change,’ he added.

Madani also said that the collapse of basic infrastructure could spark wider unrest.

‘When people are out of water and electricity, you face domestic and national security problems that even Iran’s enemies, not even President Trump or Prime Minister Netanyahu, could have wished for this to happen.’

Madani warned that the crisis threatens not just its citizens but also Iran’s energy and nuclear infrastructure.

Despite U.S. claims that airstrikes destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilites, new intelligence reported by The New York Times suggested ongoing enrichment at a fortified site known as Pickaxe Mountain.

‘If water and electricity shortages persist, any nuclear program would also be impacted,’ Madani claimed.

‘Lack of rain means less hydropower generation, leading to both water and power outages,’ he said.

The U.S. and its allies reimposed sweeping sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and banking sector and the end of the 2015 nuclear deal triggered penalties.

‘Additionally, they face the issue of sanctions,’ said Madani, ‘There were already sanctions in place, imposed by the United States and there were also Security Council sanctions that, as you know, have been reintroduced.’

‘Iran is in resistance mode, and remaining in this mode means increased pressure on Iran’s ecosystem, natural resources, and water, but it also means heightened concerns about food insecurity issues and dependence on food imports.’

Evacuation of Tehran, however, remains improbable, Madani said. ‘People have jobs, children are in school, so it can’t happen overnight. The government hopes for rain, but people are already afraid.’

‘Iran is in resistance mode, and remaining in this mode means increased pressure on Iran’s ecosystem of natural resources and water,’ Madani concluded.

There are now enough Senate Democrats willing to back a revamped plan to reopen the government. 

A source familiar with the newly-unveiled plan told Fox News Digital that there are enough Senate Democrats ready to join Republicans for a key vote Sunday night as Congress readies to reopen the government. 

The latest development comes after an updated continuing resolution was revealed that would reopen the government until Jan. 30, 2026, reverse firings of furloughed workers carried out by the Trump administration and ensure that furloughed workers get back pay. 

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, led the bipartisan deal, but a trio of Democratic caucus members, Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., proved crucial in striking a way forward. 

Lawmakers are expected to take the first of a trio of votes on reopening the government later Sunday night. But it will require action from the House before the closure is officially ended. 

Earlier in the day, Senate Republicans unveiled another crucial piece of the puzzle in their bid to reopen the government and plan to plow ahead with a vote on Sunday. 

While both sides still appear at an impasse on extending expiring Obamacare subsidies, appropriators moved ahead with a package of spending bills that Republicans hope will jumpstart the government funding process, and lead to an end to the 40-day government shutdown. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee released the three-bill spending package, known as a minibus, Sunday afternoon. Lawmakers are still waiting on text for an updated continuing resolution (CR), that, if passed, is expected to reopen the government until late January. 

It includes legislation that would fund military construction and the VA, the legislative branch and agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

Senate Republicans view the package as a sweetener that they hope attracts enough Senate Democrats to break through the logjam and move toward reopening the government. And given that the minibus is a largely bipartisan product, lawmakers believe it could succeed. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., made clear in the last few days that he would not put a bill on the floor that did not have the votes to pass after spending several weeks daring Senate Democrats to vote against the original House-passed continuing resolution (CR). 

‘There’s going to be something to vote on, let’s put it that way,’ Thune said. 

Still, the package does not include a deal on Senate Democrats’ chief demand throughout the government shutdown to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. 

Thune has promised Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus a vote on the expiring subsidies after the government reopens. And for several weeks, Senate Democrats said that was not enough to assuage the concerns. 

Senate Democrats are expected to huddle Saturday night before a likely vote to plot a path forward. If Schumer and his caucus agree to the deal, they would effectively be caving from their deeply-entrenched position that has seen the government shutdown stretch over a month. 

Lawmakers will now have time to read over the bills, with a vote expected later Sunday evening. 

But, it’s just the first step in what could be a long and drawn-out process. First, Thune will tee up the original House-passed CR for a vote, which lawmakers view as the vehicle to attach the minibus and updated CR to. 

Then there will be two more votes before the package advances from the Senate. Then, it will have to go back to the House before making its way to President Donald Trump’s desk. 

Schumer and his caucus could still apply pain on the process, too, through procedural hurdles. And despite rumblings of some in the caucus ready to break ranks, some Republicans aren’t too optimistic that this will be an easy process. 

‘I don’t expect anything from the Democrats,’ Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said. ‘At this point, their demands have been so ridiculous, I don’t know what they’re going to do, and at this point, I frankly, don’t give a crap.’ 

The Senate took a massive step forward on its way to reopening the government on Sunday, with a group of Senate Democrats caving and joining Republicans in their bid to pass a revamped plan to end the shutdown.

Signs that the shutdown, which entered its 40th day, could be ending became more and more clear as the day went on, particularly with the unveiling of a bipartisan package of spending bills that lawmakers hope to attach to a modified bill to reopen the government.

Eight Senate Democrats crossed the aisle to mark the first step in the GOP’s quest to end the shutdown. Many of the lawmakers that splintered from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., were among those engaged in bipartisan talks over the last several weeks.

Among the defectors were Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Jacky Rosen, D-N.M., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and the number two Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

‘The question was, does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed support for the extension of the tax credits? Our judgment was that it will not,’ King said. ‘It would not produce that result. And the evidence for that is almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make that happen.’

Schumer and Senate Democrats long stayed the course that they would only vote to reopen the government in exchange for a solid deal on extending expiring Obamacare subsidies.

But the solution developed over the last several days included nothing of the sort. While there were some wins in the updated continuing resolution (CR), like reversals of some of the firings of furloughed workers undertaken by the Trump administration and guaranteeing back pay for furloughed workers, there was no guaranteed victory in sight on the Obamacare issue.

That means that Senate Democrats effectively caved with little to show for their healthcare push, save for the guarantee of a vote on the subsidies from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., which was reflected in the updated CR. 

Schumer panned the compromise deal, and charged that when Republicans rejected Democrats’ own counter-proposal that would have extended the expiring subsidies for a year, ‘They showed that they are against any health care reform.’

‘This healthcare crisis is so severe, so urgent, so devastating for families back home that I cannot, in good faith, support this CR that fails to address the healthcare crisis,’ Schumer said. 

Thune was optimistic that the plan would work, and reiterated his promise of a vote on the expiring subsidies. However, whatever legislation is produced to address the Obamacare issue is likely to fail. 

‘Regardless, as I have said for weeks to my Democrat friends, I will schedule a vote on their proposal, and I’ve committed to having that vote no later than second week in December,’ he said. 

Progressives in the caucus were unhappy with the developments, too.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, charged that it would be a ‘horrific mistake’ for Democrats to cave now without an Obamacare deal.

‘If Democrats cave on this issue, what it will say to Donald Trump is that he has a green light to go forward toward authoritarianism,’ Sanders said. ‘And I think that would be a tragedy for this country.’

Still, there is a long way to go before the government officially reopens.

Sunday’s vote was the first in a series needed in the Senate to modify the original House-passed continuing resolution and combine it with the three-bill spending package and updated CR, which, if passed, would reopen the government until Jan. 30, 2026.

Lawmakers hope that if given the extra time, they could finish funding the government with spending bills rather than turning to another CR or colossal omnibus spending package, which crams all 12 government funding bills into one piece of legislation.

‘If we blow this window, we’re going to get stuck with a yearlong CR,’ Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said.

And the shutdown won’t end in the Senate, given that the changes to the legislation will need to be greenlit by the House before making it to President Donald Trump’s desk.

Democrats could still extract pain through procedural hurdles unless there is unanimous agreement from all 100 senators to move forward with the remaining votes.

The Obamacare issue is still bubbling on both sides of the aisle, however. Senate Republicans slammed the state of healthcare throughout Saturday, particularly over how the subsidies funneled money to insurance companies.

Democrats still remained skeptical if their frustration, and desire to make changes to take on insurance companies, was legitimate.

‘The point, I think that’s really relevant here, is if they’re serious, and I really question whether that’s the case,’ Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) started reducing air traffic across 40 airports Friday due to air traffic controller staffing issues stemming from the government shutdown.

As the government shutdown has hit 40 days, more air traffic control workers have refused to come to work as they’re about to miss a second paycheck next week — prompting the FAA to make cuts to ensure no safety issues arise.

But these flight reductions will likely continue if the shutdown does — or worsen — and could impact thousands of flights daily, according to Marc Scribner, a senior transportation policy analyst at the libertarian Reason Foundation think tank.

‘This would affect thousands of flights per day, and tens of thousands of passengers potentially seeing their flights canceled — a major disruption,’ Scribner told Fox News Digital Thursday.

As of Sunday, there are now enough Senate Democrats willing to back a revamped plan to reopen the government. But if the shutdown doesn’t end, air travel disruptions are at risk. 

‘I don’t think we would expect, if the shutdown continues, for staffing levels to improve over what they are right now,’ Scribner said. ‘If anything, they will continue to deteriorate as controllers call out sick or perhaps even resign. So I would expect it would not get better as long as the shutdown continues.’

Scribner said that travelers shouldn’t be concerned that the reduction in flights would translate to a lapse in safety, but said they should be aware that their travel schedules will likely take a hit as a result.

‘They’re not going to allow unsafe flights. So whatever that means in terms of staffing capability and workflow, they are going to reduce the flights in order to maintain that very high level of safety that’s demanded of that,’ Scribner said. ‘Travelers shouldn’t be concerned about safety in this, but they should be concerned about their travel schedules, which are likely to be impacted.’

Richard Stern, director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, also said he expects this reduction to continue until the shutdown ends. 

‘Unfortunately, I think it’s going to have to continue until the shutdown ends, because they’re running through resources that they don’t have until this funding again,’ Stern told Fox News Digital Thursday. 

Stern said the government has been entering into uncharted territory now with what minimum services the government is required to provide, despite the fact that funding has expired. 

‘No one really knows exactly what the next steps are after this,’ Stern said. 

No clarity has been provided regarding how long this reduction in flights is expected to continue. The Department of Transportation, which oversees the FAA, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The FAA said Friday that air traffic will be cut by 10% in the coming days across 40 ‘high-volume’ markets, including those in major cities like Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Orlando, Miami and San Francisco, according to a list of airports obtained by The Associated Press. Major metropolitan areas with several airports like New York and Chicago will have outages at multiple locations.

Reducing air traffic in response to the lapse in funding from the government shutdown is unprecedented, according to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.

‘I’m not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,’ Bedford said at a news conference Wednesday.

Air traffic controllers have been working without pay since the shutdown kicked off Oct. 1, and often are required to work six days a week in addition to mandatory overtime.

Bedford said that the decision to reduce air traffic was made in order to prevent a crisis from emerging, amid increased staffing pressures and voluntary safety reports from pilots suggesting that air traffic controllers were facing heightened levels of fatigue.

‘We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating,’ Bedford said. ‘The system is extremely safe today and will be extremely safe tomorrow. If the pressures continue to build even after we take these measures, we’ll come back and take additional measures.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has granted ‘full, complete and unconditional’ pardons to several key allies accused of attempting to overturn the 2020 election, U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin announced Sunday night.

In a post on X, Martin shared Trump’s proclamation granting pardons for dozens of people, including notable figures like Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows and Sidney Powell.

The pardon proclamation was posted in response to a message Martin shared on X on May 26, 2025, that said, ‘No MAGA left behind.’

‘This proclamation ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 Presidential Election and continues the process of national reconciliation,’ the document reads.

Trump wrote in that proclamation that he did not include himself in the pardons.

Let’s put politics aside, as if that were possible, and look at how the craziness of the last few days is affecting people.

A week ago, President Donald Trump announced that the 42 million Americans on the SNAP nutrition program would not be getting their benefits — this against the backdrop of a government shutdown that has now reached its 40th day.

This against the backdrop of millions of federal workers who have not been paid while the shutdown drags on — and many of whom live paycheck to paycheck.

This against the backdrop of Trump throwing a lavish, Great Gatsby-themed Mar-a-Lago bash where guests in formal wear watched opera and feasted on blue cheese mousse, sliced beef filet, seared scallops and Trump chocolate cake.

Meanwhile, a federal judge ordered the administration to resume SNAP benefits, which cost $8.5 billion a month, but the Supreme Court gave Trump time to appeal.

And when at least nine states said they would pay for SNAP benefits during the crisis, Trump ordered them to ‘immediately undo’ any effort to provide food stamps to lower-income families — or face financial penalties.

Let’s see: how does this make the president look?

I hate this word, but what are the optics of this determined effort to stop these benefits from reaching hungry families?

After all, when a wealthy donor pal, Timothy Mellon, a banking and railroad heir, offered $130 million to ensure that American troops get paid during the shutdown, Trump seized the opportunity.

After all, the Trump tax cut was tilted toward the wealthy.

After all, Trump has further cut capital gains taxes on home sales that will mostly benefit the affluent and wealthy, enabling many to pay zero, or a reduced rate, on these sales. If you are totally unaware of this, you probably don’t qualify.

After all — this may have been the weirdest thing — Trump said Obamacare is so terrible that he wants to send people $2,000 checks so they can buy their own insurance.

But, where would they buy it, if not from an insurance company? And what would they do if the stock market plunged? There’s a reason that privatization of health insurance has never gone anywhere.

So to come back to politics (inevitably), how does any of this help Trump?

I get the notion that he’s trying to boost the pain level so that Democrats will end the shutdown on his terms.

The Democrats, who have made soaring Obamacare premiums a central part of their pitch — and fear millions will lose coverage unless expiring subsidies are extended — have hung on longer than anyone expected.

For what it’s worth, both sides deserve a ton of blame for failing to keep the lights on during this endless blame game, rather than work out a compromise, which is what we pay them to do.

But don’t Trump and JD Vance, who called the judge’s order ‘absurd,’ look like they don’t particularly care if millions of families go hungry, or are taking food from dumpsters?

Seriously, is there an alternative explanation?

Blaming the other side is fine for the usual political fun and games. But doing it during this kind of self-inflicted crisis?

With the opposition throwing out charges of cruelty, is there some nine — dimensional chess level on which this helps Trump?

Trump says former President Joe Biden ‘went totally crazy’ and handed out food stamps to ‘anybody that would ask.’ So is this liberalism gone wild? I decided to do a little digging.

Turns out there are income limits, and those in the program must meet work requirements. What’s more, the oft-repeated charge that illegal immigrants are getting SNAP benefits is simply untrue, though there are exemptions for children and refugees. (Obviously, you can never completely rule out instances of fraud.)

During the pandemic, when unemployment soared, Congress passed an emergency measure that temporarily suspended a work requirement for adults without dependents who were capable of holding jobs. This happened under … President Trump, in his first term, in 2020.

Under a deal with Republicans in 2023, work requirements for SNAP were increased. That happened under … Biden. Some Republicans, meanwhile, said the measure didn’t go far enough.

By the way, SNAP participation peaked in the fall of 2017, under Trump, which was related to hurricane emergencies.

Sorry for the green-eyeshade stuff, but I thought it was worth more research.

Most people don’t have the time or interest in excavating the details. They just know they aren’t getting the food aid they expected and that neither are millions of other lower-income families. And especially with his dogged determination to block the states from helping out, many are holding Trump accountable.