Live updates on government shutdown as funding shortfall becomes third longest in history

As expected, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives officially canceled the votes on Monday, per direction from the Democratic whip’s office. The cancellation means the House will be on recess for more than a month when they return. The House last voted on September 19 in favor of the Republicans’ short-term funding measure.

The House was scheduled to recess from September 22 to 26 and return for two days starting September 29. But House Speaker Mike Johnson overturned the September 29 and 30 votes. He also canceled votes from October 7-10 and October 14-17.

The House was previously in recess from late July until Labor Day in September.

Rogers’ office agreed with the advisory provided Thursday by the National Nuclear Security Administration. He said the money used to pay salaries and expenses is expected to run out by Saturday. Once this happens, approximately 1,400 employees will be furloughed and 375 employees will continue to work.

The agency also said it is reviewing contractors’ plans to place facilities in a “minimum security” state, meaning continuing “only those functions necessary to ensure the safety of people or the protection of property.” The NNSA “will provide estimates of the number of affected contractor employees once these plans are finalized.”

During his daily news conference at the Capitol, House Speaker Mike Johnson responded to Jeffries’ comment that refusing to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona would result in “swift and decisive legal action” from the state’s attorney general.

“I thought Hakeem was a better lawyer than that. This is a publicity stunt by a Democratic attorney general from Arizona who sees a national moment and wants to call me out. She has nothing to do with what’s happening in Congress,” Johnson said.

He added: “Congresswoman-elect Grijalva is to be congratulated for winning her late father’s seat. We love it. We are going to swear her in as soon as we return to our regular legislative session, as I have said a thousand times.”

Johnson said he had “no ill will towards her.”

“I’m going to congratulate her like all my colleagues who are coming, and we will do it as soon as we can reopen the government and take care of all these Americans who are suffering,” he said.

At the House Republicans’ daily news conference, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the federal agency that oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile risks deep staff reductions 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 funding carryover that they have been using is about to run out,” Rogers said. “They are going to have to lay off 80% of their employees. These are not employees we want to send home. They manage and manipulate a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and get paid.”

A Rogers spokesperson clarified that the president meant that staff would be furloughed, rather than permanently laid off.

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

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

Learn more here.

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

Democrats accused Johnson of delaying his oath of office to deny the final signature needed to force a vote on requiring the Justice Department to turn over records related to Jeffrey Epstein. They attempted to gain recognition during the House’s brief pro forma sessions to request that she be sworn in, without success. Jeffries said Democrats would try again Friday.

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

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

“If 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 he had not heard from Johnson regarding the letter. Johnson said the delay in Grijalva’s swearing-in had nothing to do with the Epstein files.

Speaking on Capitol Hill, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats remain united in their demands to expand health care tax credits to reopen the government.

“House and Senate Democrats are going to continue to hold firm on a fundamental, common-sense position that when we pass spending bills, we should help the American people, not hurt them,” Jeffries said.

“We have to reopen the government, and we have to reopen the government now,” he later said. “Part of the problem is that House Republicans are nowhere to be found, literally, they’ve been on vacation for three weeks in a row. They’ve overturned votes for three weeks in a row. They’re in the legislative witness protection program.”

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

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 vote has been officially scheduled. The previous 10 votes on GOP funding legislation failed to reach the 60 votes needed to move forward.

Three Democrats cast regular votes to advance the measure, but five more would be needed to reach 60 votes, a dynamic that hasn’t changed since the lockdown began.

A government shutdown occurs when Congress does not approve funding for federal agencies. Before 1980, agencies largely continued to operate during a period of interrupted funding, under the assumption that Congress would act quickly. But in 1980 and 1981, then-Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti wrote a series of legal opinions that said government agencies did not have the authority to continue operating when there was a funding shortfall.

President Ronald Reagan oversaw eight shutdowns during his term, with the longest lasting three days. There were three funding gaps between 1990 and 1995, then none until 2013.

The longest shutdown occurred between late 2018 and early 2019, when funding was cut off for 34 days. The second longest period occurred in December 1995, lasting 21 days. The 2013 shutdown lasted a full 16 days, which the current shutdown has now eclipsed.

Learn more about shutdown history here.

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

Thune called Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin’s bill “paying everyone.”

Typically, during a shutdown, some essential federal workers are expected to continue reporting to work, but they are not paid until after the government reopens.

Nikole Killion and Alan He

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

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

It is not clear who at 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 officers, such as air marshals. CBS News has reached out to DHS and TSA for clarification.

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

Members of the military and FBI were also promised pay during the shutdown. The legal authority to continue paying federal workers remains unclear.