DAY 37: Not leaving on a jet plane: Shutdown drags on as sides dig in
- Agora
- Nov 6
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 7
AGORA SHUTDOWN UPDATE
November 6, 2025
Any hope that Tuesday’s election would kickstart the endgame on the shutdown was dashed Wednesday, as many Democrats took their strong showing at the polls as a signal to keep fighting. For his part, President Trump’s strategy appears to be browbeating Senate Republicans into ending the filibuster.
Meanwhile, the FAA announced that it will order a 10-percent cut in flights at major airports, one of several developments that demonstrate the shutdown’s increasing toll on the country.
Here’s the latest on the Neverending Shutdown.
CONGRESS
Senate Democrats ended their workday Tuesday agonizing over what to do about the record-setting government shutdown. Many of those same lawmakers woke up Wednesday morning ready to fight on.
Senate Republican support for eliminating the filibuster is picking up momentum after President Trump invited members of the Senate GOP conference to the White House for a breakfast meeting Wednesday to demand they reform the Senate’s rules in order to reopen the government.
Republicans say they are close to finalizing a package of full-year funding measures for select federal agencies — a critical piece of bipartisan negotiations over the terms for ending the prolonged government shutdown.
FEDERAL AGENCIES
The Trump administration on Wednesday announced it will reduce flight traffic by 10 percent in 40 “high traffic” markets across the United States as part of an effort to ease pressure on air traffic controllers, who will miss another paycheck next week as the government shutdown enters its second month.
The impacts of the shutdown have been uneven across the government — including at energy and environmental agencies — as the administration has found cash to keep some programs funded and officials have prioritized some favored projects over others. Some energy and environmental work has stopped entirely, while other projects are expected to grind to a halt as funding dries up.
The Department of Homeland Security says it’s proceeding with planned layoffs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, despite a recent court order barring workforce reductions across parts of the federal government during the ongoing shutdown.
FEDERAL WORKFORCE
Roughly 700,000 federal employees are working without pay during the government shutdown, which recently became the longest in U.S. history. Here are agencies that Mr. Trump targeted for layoffs during the shutdown.
The ongoing government shutdown, which became the longest one in history on Wednesday, has inflicted financial pain on federal employees, who aren’t being paid, and left many workers furloughed. Some have turned their attention to volunteering in the absence of their normal public service roles.
THE IMPACT
As millions of Americans face a gap in food assistance due to the federal government shutdown, some families also worry about how they'll pay their winter heating bills.
What does a shutdown mean for government contractors, employees, grantees and the general public? Click here for more information.
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