2m ago
Shutdown would lead to at least 477,366 federal employees being furloughed
Barring a last-minute deal to fund the government, at least 477,366 federal employees would be placed on furlough beginning as soon as Wednesday, according to a CBS News review of guidance documents issued by federal agencies.
At least 1.3 million employees will be considered “excepted” and required to still show up to work. Both groups would miss paychecks if the shutdown stretches on too long but would receive back pay once a funding bill is passed.
The White House Office of Management and Budget has required all departments and agencies to post their shutdown plans on their website, but many have not done so as of Wednesday morning. Of the 15 Cabinet-level departments, eight have released updated contingency plans for a shutdown. Some, like the Agriculture, Transportation and Interior Departments, have plans from previous funding fights listed on their sites, and it’s unclear if those plans would be used now. Many independent executive branch agencies have also not released their shutdown plans.
The departments that have released figures for upcoming furloughs include the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, the two largest civilian employers of the federal government.
Here’s a rundown of the numbers from departments and independent agencies that have released their plans, along with links to the documents:
- Defense Department (civilians only): 741,477 total; 334,904 furloughed; 406,573 excepted
- Department of Veterans Affairs: 461,499 total; 14,874 furloughed; 446,625 excepted
- Department of Homeland Security: 271,927 total; 14,184 furloughed; 257,743 excepted
- Justice Department: 115,131 total; 12,840 furloughed; 102,291 excepted
- Department of Health and Human Services: 79,717 total; 32,460 furloughed; 47,257 excepted
- Social Security Administration: 51,825 total; 6,197 furloughed; 45,628 excepted
- Commerce Department: 42,984 total; 34,711 furloughed; 8,273 excepted
- NASA: 18,218 total; 15,094 furloughed; 3,124 excepted
- Department of Labor: 12,916 total; 9,775 furloughed; 3,141 excepted
- Education Department: 2,447 total; 2,117 furloughed; 330 excepted
- Office of Personnel Management: 2,007 total; 210 furloughed; 1,797 excepted
By Stefan Becket
- https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/#post-update-a68df16d
10m ago
Jeffries: “We are in this fight until we win this fight”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reiterated the Democrats’ position with just hours to fund the government on Tuesday, flanked by House Democrats on the steps of the Capitol.
“We are in this fight until we win this fight for the people,” Jeffries said of the Democrats’ health care push.
“In just a few days, notices will go out to tens of millions of Americans because of the refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits which will result in tens of millions of Americans experiencing dramatically increased premiums, copays and deductibles,” he said.
Jeffries said “our position is a simple one: Cancel the cuts, lower the cost, save health care.”
“That’s what this fight is all about,” he said.
Still, Jeffries said Democrats are ready to find a bipartisan path forward to fund the government. But he said, “Here’s what we’re not going to do: We’re not going to support a partisan, Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people.”
The minority leader also responded to the video Mr. Trump posted late Monday, saying, “Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video. When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face.”
By Kaia Hubbard
- https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/#post-update-a5e2883d
26m ago
Trump again suggests Canada should “just join our country … become the 51st state”
COPY: Mr. Trump continued baiting Canada, which he has said wants to join the U.S., though Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in an Oval Office meeting in May that his country is “not for sale, ever.”
“Canada called me a couple of weeks ago — they want to be part of it,” Mr. Trump claimed. “To which I said, why don’t you just join our country? You become the 51st state and you get it for free.”
Mr. Trump said he didn’t know if “that made a big impact,” but he said “it made a lot of sense” because of his tariffs. In August, he imposed a so-called reciprocal tariff of 35% on Canadian goods.
By Caroline Linton
- https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/#post-update-65c98b35
38m ago
Blumenthal says shutdown is a “self-inflicted, totally unnecessary avoidable wound” by Trump
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said Mr. Trump’s move to post a fake video of Democratic leaders Monday night indicates that the president “has no expectation or desire to avoid a shutdown.”
“President Trump evidently wants it, otherwise he wouldn’t have posted what he did last night, which was really despicable in its use of AI to distort a colleague’s position,” Blumenthal said.
The Connecticut Democrat said “this kind of shutdown is a self-inflicted, totally unnecessary, avoidable wound that Donald Trump, not necessarily my Republican colleagues, but Donald Trump is bringing on the American people.”
“That post last night shows where his heart is,” Blumenthal said. “He wants to mock, he wants vengeance and vanity, and using the government for those ends, I think, will be seen by the American people as a profound disgrace and shame.”
By Grace Kazarian
- https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/#post-update-2494a40a
9:40 AM
How would a government shutdown impact the U.S. military?
During a government shutdown, all active-duty personnel, as well as National Guard who are currently deployed, must carry out their assigned duties with their pay delayed until the shutdown is over. Civilian personnel whose work the Defense Department considers essential, or “excepted,” will also continue to work, while other civilians are furloughed for the duration of the shutdown.
“After the government shutdown, all government employees will automatically receive back pay, based on the terms of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019,” said Seamus Daniels, a fellow for Defense Budget Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Active-duty service members won’t get paid on time unless Congress passes a separate piece of legislation, as it did in 2013 with the “Pay Our Military Act,” which ensured military pay and allowances continued during a government shutdown.
Read more here.
By Eleanor Watson
- https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/#post-update-6537db5c
9:34 AM
Trump on laying off federal workers amid shutdown: “We may do a lot”
President Trump, asked by CBS News’ Nancy Cordes outside the White House how many federal workers the administration plans to lay off if there’s a shutdown, replied, “We may do a lot, and that’s only because of the Democrats.”
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to federal agencies last week telling them to consider reduction-in-force notices, or layoffs, for employees in programs, projects or activities that received discretionary funding as the shutdown deadline approached. The RIF notices would come in addition to any furlough notices directing federal workers to stay home from work without pay if Congress fails to extend government funding by the deadline.
By Gabrielle Ake
- https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/#post-update-e61c18e3
9:05 AM
Johnson: Democrats are “pursuing a very reckless strategy right now”
Asked on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” whether he thinks lawmakers will avert a shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “You know me, I’m an optimist. But I am a little skeptical this morning.”
“Whether or not the government shuts down at midnight is entirely up to two people, it’s Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries — primarily Chuck Schumer,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said.
Johnson said Democrats are “pursuing a very reckless strategy right now,” adding “for the life of me, I cannot understand what they hope to accomplish other than giving themselves temporary political cover from the far-left portion of their base who are demanding that they fight Trump.”
“There is no basis whatsoever for them to oppose this continuing resolution,” Johnson said.
By Kaia Hubbard
- https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/#post-update-6fd266b2
Updated 9:05 AM
Senate to vote on House-passed measure to fund the government
The Senate is expected to again vote on a House-passed measure that would keep the government funded until Nov. 21 at some point on Tuesday.
After the House passed the continuing resolution earlier this month, the measure fell short in the Senate, where a 60-vote threshold is needed to advance most legislation. With 53 Republicans, the GOP needs support from Democrats to fund the government.
Democrats put forward their own proposal earlier this month, which also failed in the Senate. The measure would keep the government funded until Oct. 31 and includes one of their key priorities — extending expiring health insurance subsidies.
Whether more Democrats are willing to back the House-passed bill to keep the government funded this time around remains to be seen.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Monday that he planned to bring up the bill for a vote Tuesday, saying that it’s “up to Democrats” whether a shutdown is averted.
“We have a clean, short-term bipartisan CR sitting at the desk,” he said. “It’s up to them.”
By Kaia Hubbard
- https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/#post-update-a8ea8fa4
Updated 9:05 AM
Trump posts fake video of Jeffries and Schumer outside White House; Jeffries calls it “disgusting”
Hours after meeting at the White House with the top two congressional Democrats, President Trump posted a fake video to Truth Social mocking the lawmakers.
The video, which appeared to be generated by AI, shows Schumer and Jeffries standing outside the White House, but splices in fake audio of Schumer claiming Democrats’ plan is to “give all these illegal aliens free health care.” Jeffries, meanwhile, is shown with a moustache and a sombrero, and the Mexican hat dance plays in the background.
In an interview later Monday with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, Jeffries called the video “disgusting,” adding: “Bigotry will get you nowhere.”
Schumer responded to the video by writing on X: “If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate. You can only throw tantrums.”
Mr. Trump has posted fake images on Truth Social in the past. Over the weekend, he posted a cartoon of him firing his foe, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The president hasn’t attempted to fire Powell.
CBS News has reached out to the White House for comment.
By Joe Walsh
- https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-senate-vote/#post-update-d4aec5ca
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