Stock image of police lights. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
(DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind.) — A semitruck fatally struck a sheriff’s deputy in Indiana while he was assisting a stranded motorist along an interstate, according to local officials.
“This is a heartbreaking loss for our law enforcement family and for the entire Delaware County community,” Jeff Stanley, the chief deputy for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The tragedy occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning, after officials received calls at approximately 3:30 a.m. of a disabled vehicle along Interstate 69, officials said.
The Delaware County sheriff’s deputy, who was identified as Corporal Blake Reynolds, responded to the scene and found a semitruck partially in the roadway, officials said.
The deputy stopped behind the disabled vehicle to “provide protection for the driver” and activated his emergency lights, Indiana State Police Sgt. Scott Keegan said during a press conference on Wednesday.
While Reynolds was outside his vehicle, another semitruck traveling northbound “lost control and collided with the deputy’s vehicle and the disabled semi that was on the side of the road,” Keegan said, calling the crash a “tragic event.”
“Despite immediate emergency response efforts, the deputy did not survive his injuries,” Stanley said.
The driver who struck Reynolds was transported to a local hospital and was undergoing surgery, but Keegan said his medical condition is not known at this time.
The sheriff’s officials said no further details on the crash will be provided at this time “out of respect for the ongoing investigation and the family’s privacy.”
Reynolds joined the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in 2022 and “quickly distinguished himself through his hard work, professionalism and leadership,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“His passing is an immeasurable loss to his family, his brothers and sisters in uniform and the entire community he served with pride,” Stanley said.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend de Grisogono Sponsors The 2005 Wall Street Concert Series Benefitting Wall Street Rising, with a Performance by Rod Stewart at Cipriani Wall Street on March 15, 2005 in New York City. (Patrick Mcmullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein referred to Donald Trump as the “dog that hasn’t barked” and told his former companion Ghislaine Maxwell that an alleged victim had “spent hours at my house” with Trump, according to email correspondence released Wednesday by Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
“I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump,” Epstein wrote in a typo-riddled message to Maxwell in April 2011. “[Victim] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.”
“I have been thinking about that … ” Maxwell replied.
That email exchange — which came just weeks after a British newspaper published a series of stories about Epstein, Maxwell and their powerful associates — was one of three released by the Democrats from a batch of more than 23,000 documents the committee recently received from the Epstein Estate in response to a subpoena.
The names of alleged victims and other personally identifying information were redacted from the messages.
The other newly released email exchanges are between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, who has written four books chronicling the Trump presidency. Wolff has said he spoke to Epstein at length about Trump during his reporting for the books.
“I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you–either on air or in scrum afterwards,” Wolff wrote to Epstein in December 2015, six months after Trump had officially entered the race for the White House.
“If we were to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?” Epstein replied.
“I think you should let him hang himself,” Wolff replied the next day. “If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt. Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he’ll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime.”
The third message — exchanged between Epstein and Wolff while Trump was well into his first presidential term in January 2019 — appears to touch on the topic of whether Trump had banned Epstein from membership at Mar-a-Lago years earlier.
“Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever,” Epstein wrote, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop”
The full context of these email exchanges is not clear from the portions released by the committee Democrats.
Wolff in a phone interview on Wednesday said of the 2015 exchange that he couldn’t remember “the specific emails or the context, but I was in an in-depth conversation with Epstein at that time about his relationship with Donald Trump. So I think this reflects that.”
“I was trying at that time to get Epstein to talk about his relationship with Trump, and actually, he proved to be an enormously valuable source to me,” Wolff said. “Part of the context of this is that I was pushing Epstein at that point to go public with what he knew about Trump.”
None of the documents previously made public as part of civil lawsuits or Maxwell’s trial contain allegations of wrongdoing by Trump.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump in July posted a lengthy social media post that in part blamed Democrats for creating a controversy about files related to Epstein, which he called a “scam” and “hoax.”
“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘b——–,’ hook, line, and sinker,” he wrote at the time.
Republicans on Wednesday claimed Democrats were selectively choosing documents to “generate click-bait” and that they’re withholding other documents that name Democrat officials. Republicans said they’re still reviewing the documents related to Epstein to protect potential victims. They called on Democrats to stop politicizing the investigation.
“Democrats continue to carelessly cherry-pick documents to generate click-bait that is not grounded in the facts,” a House Oversight Majority spokesperson told ABC News.
The spokesperson added, “The Epstein Estate has produced over 20,000 pages of documents on Thursday, yet Democrats are once again intentionally withholding records that name Democrat officials. The Committee is actively reviewing the documents and will release them publicly once all victim-identifying information has been appropriately redacted. Democrats should stop politicizing this investigation and focus on delivering transparency, accountability, and justice for the survivors.”
Republicans on the Oversight Committee accused their Democratic counterparts of “trying to create a fake narrative to slander President Trump.”
In a social media post, the Republicans claim that in the 2011 email between Epstein and Maxwell, the Democrats redacted the name “Virginia,” a likely reference to prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who had made extensive public comments about her exploitation by Epstein, but had never accused Trump of any wrong-doing. The Republicans said that the Epstein Estate had not redacted Virginia’s name when providing the records to the committee.
“Why did Democrats cover up the name when the Estate didn’t redact it in the redacted documents provided to the committee?” the Republicans’ posted on X. “It’s because this victim, Virginia Giuffre, publicly said that she never witnessed wrongdoing by President Trump. Democrats are trying to create a fake narrative to slander President Trump. Shame on them.”
Giuffre died by apparent suicide earlier this year. Her memoir, “Nobody’s Girl,” was published posthumously last month.
The email with Virginia’s name unredacted was provided to ABC News by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee.
The publication of the emails comes on the same day that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is scheduled to swear in Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who won a special election last month.
Once sworn in, Grijalva is expected to provide the final signature on a discharge petition to force a vote on a House bill that would compel the Department of Justice to release the government’s full investigative files on Epstein.
The earliest that vote could happen is the first week of December, after the Thanksgiving recess.
“The Department of Justice must fully release the Epstein files to the public immediately,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the Oversight committee, which is conducting an investigation into the federal government’s handling of investigations into Epstein.
“The more Donald Trump tries to cover-up the Epstein files, the more we uncover. These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the President,” Garcia said.
The Trump administration has been dogged by controversy over the Epstein files since the DOJ — in an unsigned statement earlier this year — announced that the department would not be making its files public, despite earlier promises by members of the Trump administration for transparency.
The statement said that the government had not turned up evidence of a “client list” or credible evidence that “Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.”
The DOJ has so far produced only a small fraction of the documents and other evidence gathered by federal investigators over the course of multiple investigations into Epstein’s alleged international sex-trafficking operation.
It’s not clear if the email messages the estate provided to the committee are also in the possession of the DOJ.
After Epstein’s arrest in 2019, President Trump said he hadn’t spoken to him in 15 years. Earlier this year, Trump claimed he ended his association with Epstein in the early 2000s after discovering that Epstein and Maxwell were allegedly poaching employees from Mar-a-Lago.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking young girls and women.
Maxwell, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Texas for child sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrives to brief the media on a timeline to possibly end the government shutdown in the Capitol Visitor Center on Monday, November 10, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The House will be in session on Wednesday for the first time in 54 days, with all eyes on a vote to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
The House is expected to hold first votes shortly after 5 p.m. ET on Senate-passed legislation to reopen the government with a final vote after 7 p.m.
Wednesday marks the 43rd day of the shutdown, shattering the previous 35-day record.
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the “national nightmare” of the shutdown will soon come to an end. He issued an apology to Americans who are dealing with flight delays, food insecurity and those who have missed paychecks as a result of the weekslong impasse — for which he blamed Democrats.
“And I just want to say that we’re very optimistic about the vote tally tonight, and we think this is going to happen, and we’re sorry that it took this long. So Republicans are going to deliver for the people,” Johnson said.
The Senate on Monday night passed the deal to fund the government through Jan. 30, 2026, plus provide full-year funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and WIC, its program for women, infants and children; veterans programs and military construction. It also includes language to reverse Trump administration firings during the shutdown and to ensure furloughed workers receive backpay.
It passed in a 60-40 vote, after eight Democrats broke ranks with the party and joined Republicans to bring the weekslong impasse to a close.
Johnson, earlier this week, had advised members to begin making their way back to Washington as travel delays persist across the country. The House has been out of session since Sept. 19.
Once Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva is sworn in, Johnson can only afford to lose two Republican votes if all members are present and voting. There could also be a handful of moderate Democrats who support the legislation, though Democratic leadership is whipping against it.
Despite the fact that it reverses some of his administration’s actions during the shutdown, President Donald Trump signaled he would sign the deal.
“I’ll abide by the deal. The deal is very good,” Trump said on Monday.
Democrats are now dealing with infighting as the shutdown ends without any of the Democratic demands on health care, but sources told ABC News that Senate Republican leadership promised to allow a vote on a bill of Democrats’ choosing related to the Affordable Care Act in December.
Though Johnson notably would not commit to holding a vote in the House on the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“I do not guarantee the outcome of legislation or dates or deadlines or anything,” he said on Monday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who opposed the Senate deal, said House Democrats are considering a discharge petition related to the ACA subsidies, but declined to provide specifics on the plan.
“We’ll continue that fight today, tomorrow, this week, next week, this month, next month, this year, next year. We’re going to continue that fight to fix our broken health care system and lower the high cost of living for the American people and the American people know that we’re on the right side of this fight,” Jeffries said on Monday.
Such a move would require 218 signatures to force a vote in the House. There are several House Republicans who have advocated for a one-year extension of the ACA tax credits, though it’s unlikely Johnson would support this effort.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with Martha Raddatz of ABC News on This Week. (ABC News)
(LONDON) — Ukraine is being shaken by one of the biggest wartime corruption scandals since Russia’s invasion three years ago, after investigators raided the homes of top officials and a former business partner of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of an investigation into an alleged sprawling corruption scheme in the country’s energy sector.
Ukraine’s main anti-corruption agencies on Monday announced they had uncovered the “high-level” scheme that included corruption at Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company Energoatom. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau said it has proof that the scheme had elicited kickbacks worth $100 million from contractors hired to build defenses for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to protect it from Russian attacks. That is likely to draw particular outrage from Ukrainians as it affects the efforts to guard the country’s power systems, as they come under sustained attack from Russia.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed that Justice Minister German Galushenko — who previously served as the energy minister — was under investigation and had been removed from his position.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Galushenko said he agreed with the decision. “I believe that the suspension for the time of investigation is a civilized and correct scenario,” he said. “I will defend myself in the legal arena and prove my position.”
On Tuesday, NABU said it had detained five individuals and notified seven “members of the organization of their status as suspects,” saying they included “a businessman who is the head of the criminal organization” and “a former advisor to the minister of energy,” as well as a former deputy prime minister.
The agencies hadn’t initially named the individuals, but Ukrainian media reported one is the former business partner and close associate of Zelenskyy, Tymur Mindich.
A wealthy businessman, Mindich co-owned Zelenskyy’s production company, Kvartal 95, from the president’s years as an actor until Zelenskyy transferred ownership when he was elected. He has previously faced allegations of exploiting his connections with the president, according to Ukrainian media.
On Tuesday, prosecutors from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors’ Office reportedly named Mindich, along with six others, during an arraignment hearing for one of the suspects in the energy scheme, according to local media.
NABU said it had raided Mindich’s house on Monday but that he had fled the country, prompting speculation he could have been tipped off.
Ukrainian media also report that the FBI is now also investigating Mindich. ABC News has reached out to the FBI for a comment.
Ukraine’s Justice Ministry on Tuesday confirmed that Galushenko was also part of the investigation after it was reported that NABU agents had raided his home.
So far, there have been no allegations that Zelenskyy knew of the scheme or was involved in profiting from it. But he is facing intense pressure to show he is acting and will not cover for his associates.
More details of the alleged scheme are emerging as prosecutors lay out evidence in arraignment hearings against one of the detained suspects. On Wednesday, prosecutors said Mindich had texted Zelenskyy asking him to speak with Galushenko shortly before a call took place.
That appears to be the first evidence that Mindich was in contact with Zelenskyy amid the scheme. The allegations so far imply Mindich was seeking to exploit his connection with the president for his own benefit.
The allegations against a former close associate are potentially embarrassing for the president and have prompted warnings from anti-corruption activists that Zelenskyy must ensure the investigation is allowed to proceed.
Zelenskyy this summer moved to take more control over the same anti-corruption agencies now investigating the energy sector corruption scheme. That attempt triggered the first mass protests of the war and criticism from European allies, forcing Zelenskyy to back down.
The new allegations come at a moment when Ukraine is struggling to protect its energy infrastructure from the heaviest Russian attacks of the war, which have left most of the country frequently living with rolling blackouts. Zelenskyy has been seeking financial support from Western countries to help restore the system and provide greater defenses.
The scandal could also risk reigniting problems for Zelenskyy with President Donald Trump, given some influential right-wing allies have long accused the Ukrainian leader of corruption. The alleged involvement of senior government ministers could also hurt morale among Ukraine’s public amid the war.
Zelenskyy on Monday expressed support for the investigations and said convictions must follow.
“Everyone who has built corrupt schemes must face a clear procedural response,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “There must be convictions. And government officials must work together with NABU and law enforcement bodies — and do it in a way that delivers real results.
Prominent Ukrainian anti-corruption activists have now said the president must prove that he will hold his associates accountable.
Daria Kaleniuk, a veteran campaigner, wrote that if there are fresh moves against the anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAPO, “it will be a clear sign that the president decided to cover up his friends instead of supporting justice and interests of the nation of Ukraine.”
ABC News’ Fidel Pavlenko, Dada Jovanovic and Somayeh Malekian contributed to this report.
Travelers walk through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Nov. 11, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — At least 878 flights were canceled in the United States early on Wednesday, with the departures from the busy hubs of Chicago, Denver and Atlanta leading the list of the most cancellations, according to a flight-data tracker.
Another 404 flights had been delayed as of about 5 a.m. ET, according to FlightAware.
Chicago O’Hare International topped the tracker’s list of cancellations, with 44 as of about 4 a.m. local time. Next was Denver with 43 and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson with 37.
Wednesday’s flight cancellations appeared set to continue a dayslong streak of chaos at American airports, which were operating under duress amid a federal government shutdown.
The Federal Aviation Administration continues to limit capacity at 40 major U.S. airports. Many federal employees, including Transportation Security Administration staffers, were working without pay as the partisan impasse dragged on in Washington.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Rep.-Elect Adelita Grijalva speaks during Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ “Arizona First” rally at El Rio Center on November 1, 2025 in Tucson, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Speaker Mike Johnson will swear in Arizona Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva — who won a special election seven weeks ago — before the House government funding vote set for Wednesday.
Johnson has previously said he’ll swear in Grijalva — who won her special election on Sept. 23 — when the House returns for legislative session. Johnson’s office confirmed to ABC News that the swearing-in will occur before the House takes votes on Wednesday, the first time in 54 days.
The House will hold first votes as early as 4 p.m. ET on Senate-passed legislation to reopen the government, according to a notice from House Republican Whip Tom Emmer.
Grijalva’s win was four days after Johnson dismissed lawmakers following House passage of the clean continuing resolution to fund the government.
While the question has followed the speaker throughout the shutdown, Johnson has shrugged off the delay in Grijalva’s swearing-in, arguing that his decision is not about Grijalva’s intent to become the decisive signature on a discharge petition that would force a floor vote on compelling the Department of Justice to release the complete files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The state of Arizona sued the House of Representatives over the speaker’s decision to not swear in Grijalva during the government shutdown and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed their opposition to Johnson’s decision.
Grijalva said in a statement on Monday that she is traveling back to Washington, D.C., for her swearing in and the shutdown vote.
“While I am eager to get to work, I am disappointed that one of my first votes will be on a bill that does nothing to protect working people from skyrocketing premiums, loss of health coverage, or do anything significant to rein in Trump’s abuse of power,” she said, referring to the Senate funding bill.
When could a vote on the Epstein files discharge petition occur?
Once Grijalva signs the discharge petition, a procedural maneuver to bypass House leadership on forcing floor votes on legislation, it will have reached the necessary threshold for a vote to be forced in the lower chamber. The magic number is 218 votes — a majority of the House’s 435 members.
Grijalva is expected to sign the petition after she is sworn in.
The petition, led by Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, would then need to “ripen” — meaning it would receive floor consideration after seven legislative days, according to House Rules. After that, any member who signed the petition could call up the measure and notify of an intention to offer a discharge motion on the floor.
So the earliest the House will hold a vote on the discharge petition is in early December after the chamber’s Thanksgiving recess.
The committee has released thousands of records related to Epstein, provided by the Department of Justice. Some of documents released by the committee include public court filings and transcripts from his associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, previously released flight logs from Epstein’s plane, already-public Bureau of Prisons communications the night of Epstein’s death and various other public court papers from Epstein’s criminal case in Florida. Maxwell has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking young girls and women.
Jack Schlossberg, grandson of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, speaks on stage during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, announced late Tuesday that he would run for Congress in 2026.
Schlossberg, 32, said he would seek a seat representing New York’s 12th congressional district, which is held by Rep. Jerry Nadler, who announced in September that he wouldn’t run for reelection.
Schlossberg positioned his run as a response in part to the economic agenda put forth by Republicans and President Donald Trump, including Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Schlossberg said had led to a “cost of living crisis” with historic “cuts to social programs working families rely on. Health care, education, child care.”
“We deserve better, and we can do better, and it starts with the Democratic Party winning back control of the House of Representatives,” Schlossberg, whose full name is John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg, said on Instagram as he announced his run.
He added, “With control of Congress, there’s nothing we can’t do. Without it, we’re helpless to a third term.”
The president in late October appeared to acknowledge that he cannot run for a third term, after previously declining to rule out the possibility.
The political heir, a Yale and Harvard alumnus who is running as a Democrat, in a press release also sought to burnish his status as a member of that party.
The release noted that he had “has spoken across the country as a surrogate for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris,” as well as speaking a the most recent Democratic National Convention.
(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans from the Midwest to the Northeast to the South are facing the first deep freeze and snow of the season.
Parts of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan saw more than 1 foot of lake effect snow on Monday, with the Indiana State Police saying it “responded to hundreds of calls for assistance.”
Flurries even fell in Nashville, Tennessee, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The snow moved east on Tuesday, hitting Buffalo and Syracuse in upstate New York, as well parts of Pennsylvania. Hydetown, Pennsylvania, recorded more than 12 inches of snow while Central Square, New York, near Syracuse, saw more than 11 inches.
New York City saw light snow on Tuesday, and local emergency officials warned of reduced visibility on Tuesday afternoon due to the combined gusty winds and snow showers.
The lake effect snow will continue across western New York and northern New England through Wednesday. A winter weather advisory is in effect in Buffalo for an additional 3 to 5 inches of snow through Wednesday morning.
The cold blast brought record low temperatures to dozens of Southern cities, from Knoxville, Tennessee, to the Florida Keys.
Wednesday will be another chilly morning for the South. The wind chill — how cold it feels — will drop to 34 degrees in Jacksonville, Florida; 36 degrees in Charleston, South Carolina; 30 in Atlanta; 35 in Nashville, Tennessee, and Montgomery, Alabama; and 29 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Northeast will also be feeling the freeze, with temperatures feeling like the 20s to low 30s.
The U.S. Capitol, November 11, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Win Mcnamee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history could end as soon as Wednesday, ultimately putting hundreds of thousands of federal employees back to work, funding food stamps and smoothing out major travel disruptions.
The reopening averts a recession that may have come to pass in the event of a prolonged shutdown lasting weeks or months longer, analysts told ABC News.
A return of federal-worker backpay and the resumption of SNAP benefits, meanwhile, is set to undo most of the economic damage incurred by the shutdown, the analysts said. Still, they added, the two-month continuing resolution passed by the Senate risks future losses if a second shutdown begins early next year.
The shutdown arrived at a delicate moment for the nation’s economy, as a hiring slowdown raises fears of a recession and inflation proves difficult to fully contain.
“If the government opens up and people get back to work, this will prevent what might otherwise have been a pretty serious downturn in the economy,” Gerald Epstein, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, told ABC News. “Come January, we could be in this same mess again.”
The Senate on Monday passed a short-term government funding bill and sent it to the House, where a vote could come as early as Wednesday. The bill would fund the government through Jan. 30 and provide funding for some government agencies for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Economic damage during the government shutdown centers primarily on unpaid government workers, who have foregone or limited spending, with negative consequences for nearby businesses, some economists said.
Many federal employees deemed non-essential have been furloughed without pay during the shutdown, while others, such as air traffic controllers, have been forced to work unpaid. In recent shutdowns, the total number of furloughed workers amounted to about 800,000 people, the Bank of America Institute found.
The loss of worker pay has caused considerable economic damage, amounting to a loss of 0.8% or $55 billion of annualized gross domestic product in the current quarter, Gregory Daco, chief economist at accounting firm EY, told ABC News. For reference, the economy grew by an average annualized rate of 1.6% over the first half of 2025, meaning the shutdown wiped away growth equivalent to about half of that achieved over a preceding six-month period.
“There’s a benefit to us having this very large U.S. employer now paying its workers again. That’s going to help,” Erica Groshen, a senior economics adviser at Cornell University and former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics under President Barack Obama, told ABC News.
An interruption of SNAP payments this month and major air-travel disruptions have also hindered the economy. Approximately 42 million recipients depend on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which in turn fuel business for local grocers. More than 3 million passengers fly each day, and about one of every five of those travel for business, meaning disruptions hinder output at companies across the economy, some analysts said.
“There was growing disruption of air travel,” Daco said. “That’s an important part of the economy.”
The end of the government shutdown would also allow the federal government to resume the collection and release of key government data, including monthly inflation and hiring reports closely watched by policymakers, Groshen said.
The Federal Reserve is set to issue a decision on the level of interest rates early next month.
“When we get the government up and running again, we will reduce the uncertainty under which many decisions are being made,” Groshen said.
The end of the government shutdown will quickly reverse most of the economic damage, since furloughed workers are expected to spend backpay and SNAP recipients will likely rush to address any household food shortage, Jeffrey Campbell, an economics professor at Notre Dame University and a former senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, told ABC News.
Some federal workers likely took out loans to fill the gap in pay, meaning the resolution will allow them to pay back creditors and smoothly sustain typical spending levels, Campbell added.
“Everybody understood that workers who showed up to work would eventually be paid,” Campbell said. “That prevented damage from happening.”
While several economists warned of a possible recession in the event of a continued shutdown, Campbell downplayed that possibility, saying the economy would likely have remained relatively unscathed.
A recession, he said, would have been “an unlikely event piled on top of another unlikely event.”
The 60-40 vote in the Senate in support of reopening the government included three full-year appropriations bills, including funding for SNAP benefits. But government funding would expire on Jan. 30, leaving open the possibility of a second shutdown.
Some analysts warned that a potential repeat of the shutdown could put the U.S. on the brink of another round of economic disruption.
“The crisis isn’t over,” Epstein said. “This is just a pause.”
ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey and Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
The Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible November 10, 2025 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is close to being over as the House is slated to convene on Wednesday to vote on the federal spending bill.
The Senate passed the measure Monday night with eight members of the Democratic caucus joining Republicans.
President Donald Trump said he supports the deal, and pushed for its passage in the House. If it passes and if Trump signs it, federal agencies and services are expected to immediately return.
Here’s what to know about the implications of the bill that addresses SNAP benefits, federal workers and more.
When will the government reopen?
The bill reopens the government through Jan. 30, 2026, starting at the time Trump signs the legislation.
Some agencies, like the Department of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, will be funded for the remainder of the fiscal year.
When will SNAP benefits resume?
The bill includes a provision to fully fund SNAP benefits through the end of September 2026.
The money will immediately go out to SNAP beneficiaries once the bill is signed.
Federal courts ordered the administration to pay SNAP benefits during the shutdown, however, the Supreme Court paused the order as the appeals litigation continued.
When will federal workers go back to work?
At least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed during the shutdown, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Furloughed workers will be expected to return to work after the bill is signed.
When will employees receive back pay?
Federal workers deemed essential, including Capitol Police officers, TSA workers and air traffic controllers, had been forced to work without pay during the shutdown.
During the shutdown, the administration issued layoffs for federal workers in various agencies.
The Senate bill includes language to reverse Trump administration firings due to the shutdown and ensures that furloughed workers receive back pay.
Trump signaled Monday that he would abide by the Senate reversing his administration’s mass firing.
“I will be. I’ll abide by the deal. The deal is very good,” Trump told ABC News’ Karen Travers.
All federal workers are entitled to back pay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, which was signed into law by Trump during his first term in office.
The law covers both furloughed employees and those required to work without pay during a government shutdown.
When will air traffic controllers be fully staffed?
The shortage of air traffic controllers, who were not furloughed, was so dire during the shutdown that the Federal Aviation Administration was forced to reduce flights by 10% at 40 airports — leading to thousands of flights being canceled and delayed across the country.
As many as 15-20 resigned during the shutdown, according to the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
Amid the shutdown, Trump said in a social media post on Monday that he was recommending a $10,000 bonus to air traffic controllers who did not take any time off during the shutdown, though he did not provide specifics on how that would be done.
To those who took time off, he said, “I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU,” and called for them to leave the profession “with NO payment or severance of any kind,” despite ongoing staffing shortages.
Once the Department of Transportation sees staffing levels return to pre-shutdown levels, it will ease the 10% flight cuts.
It is still unknown how the controllers will respond to the shutdown’s waning hours.
When will flights go back to normal?
It is not immediately clear how long it will take for flights return to their normal schedules and capacity once the spending bill is signed.
When asked on Monday by ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers if he could guarantee to Americans that travel will go back to normal once the government re-opens, Trump responded, “It’ll go better than normal,” and talked about upgrading technology in control towers, though he did not address the personnel issues.
Where do ACA subsidies stand?
Affordable Care Act subsidies demanded by Democrats were not included in the Senate bipartisan deal to reopen the government.
The enhanced ACA tax credits don’t expire until Dec. 31, and if no deal is reached, health premiums will jump for over 20 million Americans.
Sources told ABC News Monday that Senate Republican leadership promised to allow a vote on a bill of Democrats’ choosing related to the ACA in December.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday that he would not commit to holding a vote in the House on the subsidies.
– ABC News’ Justin Gomez, Alexandra Hutzler and Sam Sweeny contributed to this report.
