Canceled flights are displayed on an arrivals board at San Francisco International Airport on Nov. 7, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The first flights affected by a new Federal Aviation Administration directive led to widespread delays and cancellations Friday.
The FAA will ramp up to a 10% reduction in flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports by Nov. 14, starting with a 4% reduction Friday.
More than 1,000 flights had been canceled by 5 p.m. Eastern Friday, according to the flight tracker FlightAware.com, compared with just more than 200 on Thursday.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced the plan Wednesday. The reductions would help ease the strain on air traffic controllers, who have been working without pay during the government shutdown that began Oct. 1.
Duffy said controllers were taking second jobs to make ends meet and were experiencing fatigue and stress, leading to safety concerns.
Seven airports on the list of 40 had ground delays Friday, with staffing shortages at 18 air traffic control towers triggering delays at others, according to an FAA advisory.
Departures at Washington Reagan National Airport, just outside the nation’s capital in Northern Virginia, were averaging a four-hour delay Friday afternoon, according to FAA data.
The airport led the nation with 73 cancellations Friday, according to FlightAware. Chicago O’Hare, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, Denver International and Dallas/Fort Worth airports were also in the top five for cancellations.
Duffy visited Washington Reagan National earlier in the day to check in with travelers and brief reporters. He said he couldn’t give an exact figure on the number of affected flights, but said he hoped the reduction in flights would help controllers miss less work.
“I don’t want to see the disruption,” he said. “I don’t want to see the delays. Now, there could be a benefit if I can get the controllers to come back to work.”
Duffy recommended Friday that travelers continue to book flights now, rather than waiting for the shutdown to end. He said in an ABC News interview that waiting to book a flight could put fliers in the position of paying higher prices.
Nate Vallier, a partner at Alaska Travel Desk, a travel agency, said in a Friday press release the cancellations appeared to mostly hit smaller regional carriers.
“We’re seeing a lot of randomness in the cancellations, as a way to spread the pain per se,” Vallier said. “But the majority of canceled flights so far are with regional jets, such as those flown by SkyWest, Horizon, and American Eagle’s Envoy Divisions.”
Alaska Beacon reporter James Brooks contributed to this report.
Furloughed federal workers stand in line for hours ahead of a special food distribution by the Capital Area Food Bank and No Limits Outreach Ministries on Barlowe Road in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Senators on Friday said they plan to remain in town for the weekend, a sign negotiations may be picking up to approve a stopgap spending measure and end the government shutdown, now at day 38.
A vote on a package of spending bills could come either Saturday or Sunday that would partially fund the government, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters.
“Our members are going to be advised to be available if there’s a need to vote,” Thune said. “We will see what happens and whether or not, over the course of the next couple of days, the Democrats can find a way to reengage again.”
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer offered a proposal from Democrats to agree to reopen the government if health care tax subsidies are continued for a year.
As open enrollment begins, people who buy their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace are seeing a drastic increase in premium costs.
“We’d like to offer a simple proposal,” the New York Democrat said. “To reopen the government and extend the (Affordable Care Act) tax credits simultaneously.”
Republicans have maintained that any discussion on extending the health care tax credits set to expire at the end of the year will only happen after government funding resumes. House Speaker Mike Johnson this week said he would not promise a vote on the GOP-controlled House floor regarding the issue.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in September found that if lawmakers permanently extend the enhanced tax credits for certain people who buy their health insurance through the ACA Marketplace, it would cost the government $350 billion over 10 years and increase the number of those with health insurance by 3.8 million.
But it was unclear how much traction Schumer would get. Several Republicans called the proposal a “non-starter,” such as Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota.
Rounds also questioned if the stopgap spending bill that Democrats agreed to support is the House-passed version that would extend government funding only to Nov. 21 or another that would run longer.
“It’s good that they’re recognizing that we have to open up the government,” Rounds said of Democrats.
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin called the proposal from Democrats “absurd,” and said there was no way senators could negotiate a deal on health care quickly.
He added that Trump also wants to be part of the negotiations on health care.
“Whatever we do as Republicans, we’ve got to really work close with the president,” Mullin said. “The President wants to be involved in this negotiation.”
Separately, senators failed Friday in a 53-43 vote to move forward on a bill from Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson to pay federal workers who Friday missed their second paycheck. Georgia’s Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock voted with Republicans. Sixty votes were needed.
President Donald Trump on social media said, “The United States Senate should not leave town until they have a Deal to end the Democrat Shutdown. If they can’t reach a Deal, the Republicans should terminate the Filibuster, IMMEDIATELY, and take care of our Great American Workers!”
The Senate has failed 14 times to move forward on approving a stopgap spending measure to fund the government until Nov. 21.
As the government shutdown has dragged on for nearly seven weeks, major airports have been hit as they struggle to maintain flight schedules, with air traffic controllers now more than a month without pay.
Meanwhile, federal courts have forced the Trump administration to release billions in emergency funds to provide critical food assistance to 42 million people. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would issue full November benefits for food assistance in compliance with a court order.
As the debate in Congress goes on, Democrats have refused to back the House-passed version of the GOP stopgap measure over their concerns about the expiration of health care subsidies.
Democrats also want to see federal workers laid off by the Trump administration amid the shutdown rehired. Major wins across the country for Democrats in Tuesday elections in the states bolstered their resolve to reject efforts to end the government shutdown that do not include certain policy wins.
Historically, lawmakers who have forced shutdowns over policy preferences have not been successful.
In 2013, the GOP tried to repeal or delay the Affordable Care Act, which did not happen, and in the 2018-2019 shutdown, Trump, in his first term, insisted on additional funding for a border wall. But that shutdown — which set a record exceeded only by the ongoing shutdown — concluded 35 days later with the same amount of money included in the original appropriations bill.
Thune told reporters Friday that he thought progress was being made on striking a deal to resume government funding, but he said after Democrats’ Thursday caucus meeting, their tune changed.
“Right now, we’ve got to get the Democrats kind of back engaged,” Thune said.
Following Thursday’s meeting, Democrats remained tight-lipped and did not seem any closer to an internal agreement on how to move forward with resolving the government shutdown.
“I thought we were on a track,” Thune, a South Dakota Republican said. “We’d give them everything they wanted or had asked for.”
Senate Republicans have agreed to allow a floor vote on the Affordable Care Act subsidies and have opened the door to rehiring federal workers, but have not gone further.
“At some point … they have to take yes for an answer, and they were trending in that direction,” Thune said. “And then yesterday, everything kind of, the wheels came off, so to speak, but it’s up to them.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told reporters Thursday that voters this week made a strong showing in rebuking the Trump administration and that Democrats need to continue their fight amid the government shutdown.
“On Tuesday, all of us in the caucus heard that loud and clear,” Murphy said. “We want to stay together and unified. I think everybody understands the importance of what happened on Tuesday, and wants us to move forward in a way that honors that.”
Federal workers going without salaries for more than a month now remains a concern, and Johnson tried to pass his bill through unanimous consent that would send them paychecks. Employees are paid after the end of a shutdown, under the law.
Michigan’s Gary Peters objected to Johnson’s bill over concerns that the Trump administration would not use the funds to pay federal workers, and the measure would not prevent the firing of federal workers.
Peters pointed to how the Trump administration initially appealed a federal court order that compelled the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay $9 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
Peters offered his own bill to set “guardrails” on the president’s authority to ensure that the funds are used to pay federal workers and not moved around. The Trump administration has moved around billions in multi-year research funds within the Defense Department to ensure that troops are paid.
“He walks over Congress all the time,” Peters said of the president while on the Senate floor.
Johnson objected to Peters’ bill. He argued that his bill does not expand presidential powers.
“We were very careful that it wouldn’t do that,” Johnson told reporters of his bill.
The American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents 800,000 federal workers, urged Democrats Friday to support Johnson’s bill.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a letter to senators Friday that with Thanksgiving in less than three weeks, Congress needs to come to an agreement on funding the government.
“Every missed paycheck deepens the financial hole in which federal workers and their families find themselves,” Kelley said. “By the time Congress reaches a compromise, the damage will have been done to their bank accounts, their credit ratings, their health, and their dignity.”
A sign in a convenience store in Hyattsville, Maryland, advertises that it accepts SNAP benefits. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
According to Gov. Tony Evers’ administration, over 330,000 Wisconsin households were paid their November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by Friday morning.
The release of the funds comes as the federal government shutdown entered day 38 on Friday; it’s the longest shutdown in American history.
The lapse in federal funding for SNAP, known as FoodShare in Wisconsin, took effect on Nov. 1 — leaving nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites, including 270,000 kids, without access to food assistance. Two court orders last week directed the Trump administration to pay SNAP benefits by a Wednesday deadline.
This week food banks across the state, including in Milwaukee, have seen a spike in need.
Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr., a federal judge in Rhode Island, ordered the Trump administration Thursday to pay the full month of food assistance benefits for November. McConnell said the Trump administration missed its chance to make partial payments after it failed to release funds by the deadline.
Shortly after the court decision was released, the Evers administration announced it was taking steps to get the funds out the door as soon as possible.
“My administration worked quickly to ensure these benefits could be released as soon as possible so that our kids, families, and seniors have access to basic food and groceries without one more day of delay,” Evers said in a statement Thursday evening. “But let’s be clear — it never should’ve come to this. Wisconsinites should’ve never been without food assistance, period, and they wouldn’t have been if President Trump and the Trump Administration had listened to me and so many who urged them to use all legal funds and levers to prevent millions of Americans from losing access to food and groceries.”
The Evers administration said Friday morning that it used the same process it typically uses to process benefits, submitting information to its SNAP payment vendor, which processes payments to QUEST cards, a few hours after the court decision to ensure payments would go out as soon as possible.
The funds became available to households at midnight. According to the administration, a total of about $104.4 million was issued for 337,137 households. It said the payments went out before the Trump administration requested that a federal appeals court block the order from McConnell on Friday morning. The emergency stay has not been granted as of Friday afternoon.
The administration received notification from the federal Food and Nutrition Service on Friday morning that it was working to implement November benefits in accordance with the Thursday court order.
The Evers administration said it is still monitoring the situation for any issues that may arise related to processing last night’s payments.
Evers said the actions of the Trump administration are “contemptible” and called on federal Republicans to work with Democrats to end the government shutdown. Last week, Evers had also declared a state of emergency due to the lapse in funding for food assistance, directing state agencies to do everything they could to support Wisconsinites.
“Wisconsinites simply cannot afford another month of Republican dysfunction in Washington,” Evers said. “It’s time for Republicans to get back to work and do the right thing by working across the aisle to end the federal government shutdown to ensure Wisconsinites continue to have access to basic needs, including affordable healthcare and food assistance, moving forward.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting was absolutely full of news. More than 75 percent of the company’s shareholders voted to approve Elon Musk’s one-trillion-dollar compensation plan, split into 12 tranches of shares that unlock only if Tesla meets a series of milestones over the next decade. Musk also confirmed that series production of the long-awaited CyberCab will begin in April next year.
Also: Elon Musk’s Trillion Dollar Pay Hinges On A Bet That Could Break Tesla
The Roadster 2 demo is now slated for the same month, and in classic Musk style, the timing isn’t without a joke. He says it’s happening on April Fools’ Day, partly because it “affords some deniability.” If the demo slips, he quipped, “I could say I was just kidding.”
What’s New With the Semi?
And then there’s the Semi, which is heading for a redesign and full-scale production next year, following its unveiling all the way back in 2017 The redesigned Class 8 hauler gets meaningful efficiency gains, higher payload capacity, and a package clearly engineered around Tesla’s autonomy ambitions.
While the original Semi entered limited production back in 2022, this is a full-scale update with big aspirations and changes.
Efficiency is the biggest news. Tesla claims energy consumption drops to 1.7 kWh per mile, a 15 percent improvement over the current Semi. Paired with a 500-mile range rating, the update positions the new truck more competitively against rivals from Daimler and Volvo.
Drive power holds at 800 kW, but Tesla says that internal improvements under the skin, such as cooling, software, and thermal routing, provide more consistent performance under load.
Fast Charge Future
Another major upgrade is charging. The new Semi supports a peak rate of 1.2 MW (1,200 kW). That eclipses the current Megacharger output and allows for significantly shorter high-volume charging stops when paired with compatible infrastructure. Payload capacity also increases, though Tesla didn’t reveal by how much.
Visually, the Tesla truck looks a lot more like the rest of the family now. It gets a new Model Y-style front light bar, cleaner body surfacing, and a reshaped roof to improve aerodynamic flow. The black glass side panel is narrower, the bumper is reworked, and that continues to the wheel openings.
Read: Tesla’s Cybercab Might Become The Affordable Model 2 After All
Tesla frames all of this as groundwork for a future autonomous freight platform. Amazingly, the brand and its CEO avoided reaffirming any specific Level 5 self-driving timelines.
How Fast Can It Build the Cybercab?
Elon Musk didn’t stop at teasing the Cybercab itself; he also boasted about how it would be built. According to him, the dedicated production line will operate on an astonishing sub-10-second cycle time, compared with the roughly one-minute rhythm it currently takes to assemble a Model Y.
If that target holds, Musk suggested, it could translate to an annual output up to five million Cybercabs, a figure that would eclipse the production pace of nearly any vehicle on the road today. Still, as with most of Musk’s projections, take everything said with a grain of salt.
Either way, it’s going to be a wild year for Tesla. From Semi production ramp-up to the launch of the Cybercab and the potential demo of the Roadster, there’s a lot to live up to and lots that could go wrong.
Login