As the record-breaking federal government shutdown stretches toward day 38, US airspace is about to get a little less busy. The same cannot be said for US airports.
Donald Trump’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said flights are being reduced to maintain air traffic control safety during the federal government shutdown, now the longest recorded and with no sign of a resolution between Republicans and Democrats to end the federal budget standoff.
Airline regulators identified “high-volume markets” where the FAA says air traffic must be reduced by 4% by 6am ET on Friday, a move that would force airlines to cancel thousands of flights and create a cascade of scheduling issues and delays at some of the nation’s largest airports.
Trump’s transportation chief, Sean Duffy, wrote on X Thursday that the decision was “not about politics” but rather “about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue working without pay”.
“It’s safe to fly today, tomorrow, and the day after because of the proactive actions we are taking,” Duffy added.
US airlines cancel flights after federal directive to cut air traffic
Experts predict hundreds if not thousands of flights could be canceled. The cuts could represent as many as 1,800 flights and upwards of 268,000 seats combined, according to an estimate by the aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The affected airports covering more than two dozen states include the busiest ones across the US – including Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Orlando, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco. In some of the biggest cities – such as New York, Houston and Chicago – multiple airports will be be affected.
All three airports serving the Washington DC area – Washington Dulles international, Baltimore/Washington international and Ronald Reagan Washington national – will be affected, inevitably causing delays and cancellations for lawmakers as well as other travelers.
US supreme court allows Trump to block passport sex markers for trans and non-binary people
The supreme court on Thursday allowed Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a policy blocking transgender and non-binary people from choosing passport sex markers that align with their gender identity.
The decision by the high court’s conservative majority is Trump’s latest win on the high court’s emergency docket, and it means his administration can enforce the policy while a lawsuit over it plays out.
The court’s three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson calling the decision a “pointless but painful perversion”.
US judge orders Trump administration to fully fund Snap benefits in November
The ruling by US district judge John J McConnell Jr on Thursday was in response to a challenge from cities and non-profits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit. The government said it will rely on $4.65bn on emergency funding.
“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund Snap,” McConnell said. “They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial Snap payments and failed to consider the harms individual who rely on those benefits would suffer.”
Workers decry Trump officials as ‘out of control’ as longest shutdown drags on
As the US federal shutdown enters its second month, government workers are accusing the Trump administration of being “out of control” and bullying people who are “simply trying to do their best”.
About 700,000 federal employees are furloughed without pay, and about 700,000 additional federal workers have been working without pay through the shutdown.
Affected workers say the shutdown has been a continuation of attacks they have experienced under the Trump administration, from mass firings – many of which have been overturned or blocked in federal courts – to drastic budget cuts, pushes to take early retirements or resignation buyouts and threats of withholding back pay for workers furloughed during the shutdown.
Nancy Pelosi, a force on Capitol Hill for decades, to retire from Congress
The California Democratic representative and the first woman to serve as speaker, announced on Thursday she will retire from Congress, two years after stepping down from House leadership.
Even when no longer in leadership, the 85-year-old remained enormously influential among Democrats, quietly counseling her party as they navigate Trump’s second term. In 2024, she played a key role in pushing Biden to withdraw from the presidential race after a disastrous debate performance against Trump.
Trump announces plan to cut cost of weight loss drugs and expand access
The agreement will make oral versions of GLP-1s, which aren’t yet to market but are expected to be approved in the coming months, available at $150 per month for starting doses. The average price for these injectables will be about $350, which will “trend down” to $245 a month over the next two years, the Trump administration said.
Trump calls the medications the “fat drug”, his term for these semaglutide or tirzepatide shots, known by their brand names: Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Senate blocks Democrats’ bid to check Trump power over Venezuela strikes
The 49-51 vote against passing the resolution, mostly along party lines, came a month after a previous effort to stop strikes against alleged drug trafficking boats in international waters similarly failed, 48-51.
The new resolution narrowed its scope to attract Republicans, but senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski remained the only two Republicans to cross party lines to support the resolution. Susan Collins and Thom Tillis, who had expressed reservations about the strikes, voted against.
What else happened today:
Here’s the list of US airports cutting flights on Friday due to federal government shutdown.
A former Department of Justice employee who threw a sandwich at a federal agent during Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in Washington DC was found not guilty of assault by a DC jury on Thursday in the latest legal rebuke of the federal intervention.
Some Democratic legislators saw Tuesday’s big electoral wins as evidence they should hold the line and extract as much as possible from Republicans before agreeing to end the longest government shutdown in history.
Democrats praised Nancy Pelosi as a “heroic, trailblazing” member of the US House of Representatives, an “icon” and the “greatest speaker in American history”, following her announcement that after 20 terms in Congress she plans to retire.
Kevin Roberts, the leader of the conservative thinktank behind Project 2025, has apologized for backing Tucker Carlson’s interview with Hitler fan Nick Fuentes, but is resisting calls to resign.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 5 November 2025.
