Government shutdown live updates as funding lapse becomes third-longest in history

At the House Republicans’ daily press conference, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the federal agency that oversees the country’s stockpile of nuclear weapons is at risk of making deep cuts as the shutdown continues. 

“We were just informed last night that the National Nuclear Security Administration, the group that handles and manages our nuclear stockpile, that the carry-over funding they’ve been using is about to run out,” Rogers said. “They will have to lay off 80% of their employees. These are not employees that you want to go home. They’re managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and being paid.”

The National Nuclear Security Administration is part of the Department of Energy, and one of its core missions is “to ensure the United States maintains a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear stockpile through the application of unparalleled science, technology, engineering, and manufacturing,” according to its website.

CBS News has reached out to the Department of Energy for more details about Rogers’ comment.

Democrat Adelita Grijalva won a special election to fill her late father’s seat several weeks ago, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to swear her in, saying he will do so once the House is back in full session.

Democrats have accused Johnson of slow-walking her swearing in to deny the last signature needed to force a vote on requiring the Justice Department to hand over files related to Jeffrey Epstein. They have tried to earn recognition during the House’s brief pro forma sessions to call for her to be sworn in, with no success. Jeffries said Democrats would try again on Friday.

“This has gone on now for weeks, and so it’s my expectation that, if she is not sworn in today, during the pro forma session today, as the Arizona attorney general has made clear, expect swift and decisive legal action,” Jeffries said.

Earlier this week, Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a letter to Johnson demanding Grijalva “be immediately sworn into office and admitted to her rightful seat.” She asked for Johnson to provide assurances within two days that he would do so, and threatened legal action if he did not.

“Should you fail to provide such assurance, we will be forced to seek judicial relief to protect Arizona and the residents of its Seventh Congressional District,” Mayes said. 

Jeffries said Friday that he has not heard from Johnson regarding the letter. Johnson has said the delay in Grijalva’s swearing in has nothing to do with the Epstein files.

Speaking at the Capitol, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats remain united in their demands for an extension of health care tax credits to reopen the government.

“House and Senate Democrats are going to continue to hold firm as it relates to a basic common sense position that when we enact spending bills, we should be helping the American people, not hurting them,” Jeffries said. 

“We need to reopen the government, and we need to reopen the government now,” he said later. “Part of the problem is that House Republicans are nowhere to be found, literally, have been on vacation for three consecutive weeks. Have canceled votes for three consecutive weeks. They are in the legislative witness protection program.”

The Senate is not in session Friday and plans to return at 3 p.m. Monday. 

Thune said Thursday that senators will have another opportunity to vote on the House-passed GOP funding bill when they return next week, but no votes have been officially scheduled. The previous 10 votes on the GOP funding legislation have failed to reach the 60 votes needed to advance. 

Three Democrats have voted consistently to advance the measure, but five more would be needed to reach 60 votes, a dynamic that has not changed since the shutdown began.

A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to approve funding for federal agencies. Before 1980, agencies largely continued operating during a lapse in funding with the assumption that Congress would act quickly. But in 1980 and 1981, then-Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti authored a series of legal opinions that found government agencies didn’t have the authority to continue running during a gap in funding.

President Ronald Reagan oversaw eight shutdowns during his time in office, the longest of which lasted three days. There were three funding gaps between 1990 and 1995, then none until 2013.

The longest shutdown occurred from late 2018 into early 2019, when funding lapsed for 34 days. The second-longest came in December 1995, at 21 days. The 2013 shutdown lasted for 16 full days, which the current shutdown has now eclipsed.

Read more about the history of shutdowns here.

Thune’s office confirmed Thursday evening that the South Dakota Republican plans to bring up a bill next week that would pay “excepted” federal employees, including active-duty military, who are required to work during the shutdown. 

Thune referred to the bill, from Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, as the “pay everybody” bill. 

Typically during a shutdown, some essential federal workers are expected to keep reporting to work, but they don’t get paid until after the government reopens.

Nikole Killion and Alan He

Law enforcement officers from the Department of Homeland Security will be paid if they work during the government shutdown, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said on X on Thursday afternoon.

That includes “sworn law enforcement officers” from the Transportation Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the Secret Service.

It’s not clear who at the TSA will be included in the policy. The agency employs tens of thousands of security officers who work at airport checkpoints, as well as law enforcement personnel like air marshals. CBS News has reached out to DHS and TSA for clarification.

Noem said law enforcement officers will get a “super check” by Oct. 22 that covers four days of lost pay, overtime and their pay for the next pay period.

Members of the military and FBI have also been promised pay during the shutdown. The legal authority to keep paying federal workers remains unsettled.