Politics

(NEW YORK) — While Democrats have been celebrating some recent wins in the ongoing mid-decade congressional map redistricting sweeping the country, they face some roadblocks in Democratic-aligned states over building on those wins – and the future of President Donald Trump’s agenda remains at stake regardless of how long the battles drag on for.

Why Republicans and Democrats are trying to redraw seats

Which party controls the House after the 2026 midterm elections could come down to just a couple of seats. As of Thursday, Republicans hold 219 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives while Democrats hold 214, with two seats vacant. 

If all of the seats are filled by the midterms, Democrats need to only net three seats to flip the House in 2026, allowing them to thwart Trump’s legislative agenda during the second half of his presidency. Republicans, meanwhile, hope to bolster their razor-thin majority and continue moving Trump’s legislative priorities forward.

That’s why fighting over five seats in one state or fewer in another matters so much.

The ongoing mid-decade redistricting also further narrows what was already a relatively small field of truly competitive seats. The Cook Political Report only rates 16 seats as of Thursday as a “toss-up” out of all 435 U.S. House seats. The ratings factor in states that completed mid-decade redistricting already.

Some wins for Democrats, but roadblocks ahead

Initially, it appeared like the new scramble of congressional map redrawing would favor Republicans. Texas legislators pushed through a map that redraws five congressional seats to favor Republicans; GOP-controlled legislatures or commissions in Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio soon followed suit with maps that could allow the GOP to flip at least one seat in each state. 

And Republican-controlled legislatures in Florida, Kansas, and Louisiana are mulling redrawing their maps and could box out even more Democrats.

Kansas may be an unusual case. Republican state legislators have discussed redrawing the state’s congressional map to box out the Sunflower State’s lone Democratic member of Congress, Rep. Sharice Davids.

But Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is staunchly opposed to mid-decade redistricting, and Republican legislators have indicated they will not be able to get enough signatures to bypass her to call a special session about the issue. Some have also indicated they want to resist White House pressure to redistrict.

A pending Supreme Court ruling in a Louisiana case might trigger more redrawing in favor of Republicans.

Democrats said they’d try to counteract that Republican push – and their first major win came when California voters chose on Election Day to vote yes on “Proposition 50,” which will redraw their state’s congressional map to make five seats potentially winnable by Democrats. 

(The Department of Justice on Thursday joined a legal effort by Republicans in California suing over the new map; Newsom’s office responded that “these losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court.”)

After California, one less expected success for Democrats came about in Utah, which was redrawing its congressional map due to a court order.

A judge ordered late Monday that the state must adopt a congressional map proposed by plaintiffs in a lawsuit, ruling in favor of a map that includes a redrawn Salt Lake City-based district that leans strongly in favor of Democrats.

Utah’s four-member U.S. House delegation is currently fully Republican. The new map creates a congressional district centered around Salt Lake City that analysts say strongly favors Democrats.

And notable names are taking note. On Thursday, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, who once represented Utah’s 4th congressional district, announced a run for the new district.

But further success for Democrats in mid-decade redistricting ahead of the midterms is not assured.

For instance, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has formed an advisory commission on redistricting, but state Senate President Bill Ferguson, also a Democrat, has said he opposes moving forward with redistricting. 

Ferguson wrote in a recent letter, obtained by ABC News, to Democratic state Senators that “mid-cycle redistricting for Maryland presents a reality where the legal risks are too high, the timeline for action is dangerous, the downside risk to Democrats is catastrophic, and the certainty of our existing map would be undermined.”

But Maryland U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin and Steny Hoyer, both Democrats, wrote in a separate letter obtained by ABC News that Maryland Democrats should redistrict “to make Maryland House seats more competitive in a way that counters the Trump national steamroller.” The Baltimore Sun first reported on the letter.

Democratic state legislators in Illinois have, similar to Maryland lawmakers, not been entirely on board with possible redistricting, even though national Democratic leaders such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are pushing for it.

A separate effort by Democratic legislators in Virginia to allow the legislature to redraw congressional districts is still moving forward, but will need to go through many steps before legislators can even propose a map. However, Democrats maintained control of the state House of Delegates and won the governorship in 2025’s elections.

How do Americans feel – and how long could this go on for?

Americans are caught in the middle of the redistricting struggle, facing confusion over who will represent them and what district they’ll be voting in. A Marquette University Law School poll taken in September found that 70% of American adults oppose states redrawing districts “to make them as advantageous as possible for the party with the majority in the state.”

And how long could the back-and-forth on mid-decade redistricting go on for?

It may depend on candidate filing deadlines, which are the dates by when a candidate needs to submit paperwork to get on the ballot for a state’s primary. In Maryland, for instance, the filing deadline for the congressional primary is on Feb. 24. In Kansas, it’s not until June 1.

If state legislatures aiming for new congressional maps haven’t passed them into law by then, candidates will likely still be filing to run in the current districts. Lawsuits or legislative action could change deadlines as well.

The real date to watch is Nov. 3, 2026. The midterms themselves will be the true test of whether Republicans or Democrats have won, lost, or fought the redistricting wars to a draw – and what lies ahead for Trump’s agenda.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s path to service began in the uncertain moments after 9/11 when fears of terrorism reshaped both the country and her own sense of duty. She’s a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve and the first person in U.S. history to serve as DNI while in military uniform.

Two decades later, she told ABC News in an exclusive interview, the same early lessons still guide her approach to leadership, and that the resurgence of terrorism remains her greatest concern.

A principled independence or shifting with political winds
Allies often describe Gabbard as disciplined and mission-driven, shaped by the rigors of military life. Yet some former colleagues say the former Democrat’s views increasingly aligned with the Republican Party she once criticized. Admirers see a principled independence; detractors see a political evolution that mirrors Washington’s shifting winds. Gabbard, however, says her compass has never changed, only the terrain around her.

From her congressional campaigns to the 2020 presidential race, Gabbard was one of the only candidates treating foreign policy as a defining issue. While some of her domestic exchanges on the trail went viral, her presidential campaign remained grounded in her foreign policy message. Her events drew a mix of supporters across party lines, many of whom responded to her foreign policy message of a once-rising Democrat whose view of the world at times clashed with her party’s establishment.

For Gabbard, the focus of her public life and private moments has always been service, and days like Veterans Day are personal.

“It’s a day where I think about the great Americans I’ve had the opportunity to serve with now for 22 and a half years,” she said. “What does it mean for me in the mission that I have as director of national intelligence? It’s personal, because it’s about people. It’s both the people that I’ve had the opportunity to serve with and had the opportunity to lead, and it’s the people who paid the ultimate price who never got to make that trip home.”

A life shaped by deployments, a worldview shaped by war
In 2021, Gabbard deployed to the Horn of Africa. She told ABC News she spent time working with the Somali government along with other armed forces across the continent who had “a singular mission of defeating al-Shabaab, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, and one of the biggest financial funders of al-Qaeda in that region.”

“The reality is that Islamist terrorism continues to pose the greatest — both short- and long-term — threat to the American people on freedom and Western civilization,” Gabbard said. “The reason why I enlisted in the military has been at the forefront in going after these Islamist terrorists, and remained at the forefront.”

She said ODNI, working with federal and local partners, has “thwarted some of these lone wolf actors who, in some cases, are becoming harder to find,” noting that the threat has evolved from structured networks overseas to individuals radicalized online or inspired remotely.

Her focus on Islamist terrorism has also drawn criticism at times, with some accusing her of Islamophobia, a charge she rejects.

As a Democratic member of Congress and a Democratic National Committee vice chair, Gabbard publicly broke with much of her party over the Obama administration’s reluctance to describe ISIS as an Islamist extremist group, drawing praise from some Republicans and sharp pushback from Democratic leadership, cementing her reputation as someone willing to challenge her own side on national security.

“Unfortunately, a lot of politicians are too afraid to speak the truth about this because they are afraid of the political backlash they may get being called Islamophobes and so forth,” Gabbard said. “They watch what happened to me, but this has come at the cost of our own security and the threat to our freedom.”

That experience reinforced what first called her to serve, the belief that the threat never truly disappeared, only evolved. Gabbard warned that the danger today is as much ideological as operational, spreading through propaganda and recruitment networks that reach far beyond the battlefield.

“There were a lot of people who came into our country over the last four years who either are known or suspected terrorists or who have ties to them. I’m concerned about the folks that we don’t know about, that have not been identified or vetted, and the increasing spread of Islamist propaganda that we’re seeing coming from al-Qaeda.”

“This directly connects back to why I enlisted in the military. It was the Islamist terrorist attack on 9/11 that motivated me to do that in recognizing the seriousness of the threat and wanting to do my part to serve my country and defeat these terrorists who attacked us on that day,” she said.

A Washington outsider leading its most insider institution
For much of her adult life, Gabbard has lived in dual worlds, public servant and soldier, balancing the discipline of command with the weight of national decision making. The lessons she learned in uniform, she said, continue to inform how she approaches her civilian post.

During Army training in Texas, every morning at 4:30 a.m. her squad leader played Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying.” She said that daily reminder shaped her perspective on service and mortality, foreshadowing the lessons she would carry into Iraq. She was stationed at Camp Anaconda at Joint Base Balad, located in the Sunni Triangle, 40 miles north of Baghdad, nicknamed “Mortaritaville” for its constant rocket and mortar attacks, often with little or no warning. Within hours of her arrival in Iraq, she would survive her first mortar attack.

The next morning, Gabbard noticed a sign that said “IS TODAY THE DAY?” that would be a daily occurrence on the main security gate. Over the years, that one question, once literal, has remained her daily reminder of how fleeting life can be and how purpose defines sacrifice.

That sense of purpose, Gabbard said, has always been grounded in faith — including the Bible and Bhagavad Gita texts.

“Spending time in prayer, not only every morning and every night, but at every opportunity, reminded me how fragile our time on this earth is,” she said.

The weight of service and the price of conflict
The stress of that initial deployment in her mid-20s would turn her hair white. It eventually darkened again, but Gabbard has kept a streak of white hair as a physical reminder of the human cost of war and what she describes as her mission to seek and fight for peace.

“War must always be the last resort, only after all measures of diplomacy have been completely exhausted,” Gabbard said.

Last week, at the 21st International Institute for Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, a Gulf security summit that brings together officials to debate regional strategy, Gabbard warned against what she called “the mistakes of the past,” including U.S.-led regime-change wars.

Gabbard reflected on her speech, telling ABC News the focus was “pointing out the destructive effects of our country’s history of regime-change wars, not only these wars being wars of choice, incredibly costly in ways that are really impossible to measure in human life that was lost, as well as ultimately undermining our security,” she said. “Regime-change war in Iraq, for example, is what led to the rise of al-Qaeda and ISIS and their strengthening of their positions and their proliferation, not only around the region, but around the world.”

Pushing back against criticism of isolationism
Gabbard also pushed back on critics who describe the Trump administration’s America First policy as isolationist.

“People will say that America First equates to some policy about isolationism, and that’s simply not true,” she argued. “It’s very obvious how robustly President Trump engages with world leaders on a daily basis.”

“One of the biggest changes within the intelligence community, from a focus and resource standpoint under President Trump, has come about in focusing on what is actually happening here in our own backyard in the Western Hemisphere,” she said. “This has not been a focus for many previous administrations, and because of that we’ve seen and experienced the effects of these cartels and transnational criminal organizations really being emboldened, not only to wreak havoc and terror, trafficking of very dangerous and deadly drugs, trafficking in humans and babies.”

She said the intelligence community, under the president’s direction, has begun reallocating resources to map who is driving those operations and how to dismantle them.

‘This has never been about politics’
Supporters see those reforms as proof of Gabbard’s willingness to challenge bureaucracy and redirect the intelligence community’s focus toward real-world threats. But her critics, including Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, say the shakeup has come at a steep cost.

In a September speech, Warner accused Gabbard and Trump of “systematically undermining the independence of the nation’s intelligence community,” pointing to firings, revoked clearances, and reassignments he said had “silenced decades of expertise.”

“At stake,” Warner warned, “is whether America will continue to have an intelligence community free to speak truth to power.”

Gabbard’s allies have dismissed those claims as politics. They argue the criticism misses the point, that “ODNI 2.0,” as she calls her overhaul, is about cutting through layers of stagnation and rebuilding trust between intelligence officers and the commander in chief.

“I love our country, and it continues to be a very special thing to serve alongside the less than 1% of Americans who volunteer to put their lives on the line to defend the safety, security and freedom of the American people,” she said. “So long as I feel I can serve in a way that’s impactful and meaningful, I’m grateful.”

That sense of purpose still drives her.

“For me, this has never been about politics,” she said. “It’s about service. Service to country, service to others, and making sure the truth reaches the people who make the hardest decisions.”  

“If I was interested in serving myself, I would be in Hawaii on a surfboard right now, living the easy life with my family in the place that we are grateful to call home,” she said. “My purpose in life is to do my very best to love and serve God.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance promised their supporters that they would release the Justice Department files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein if elected.

Since then, however, the administration has been reluctant to divulge more details about the investigation or release all of the files, angering some Republicans and Democrats and raising questions about Trump’s past connections to Epstein.

Here is a timeline of the major events surrounding the Epstein files saga since Trump returned to office.

Feb. 21, 2025
In an interview with Fox News, Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked about the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients and if the Justice Department was planning to release them.

Bondi responded, “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”

The attorney general clarified in July that she was referring to the Epstein case files, and not an alleged client list.

Feb. 27, 2025
The Justice Department invites conservative bloggers and influencers and shares with them binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” Most of the evidence had already been released to the public.

Bondi and her team did not inform White House officials in advance that she planned to distribute the binders, sources with information about the event told ABC News.

May 8, 2025
The House’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets demanded the release of the Epstein files in a letter to Bondi.

Bondi did not respond to the request before the May 16 deadline.

July 7, 2025
The DOJ and FBI released a joint statement that stated a review of its holdings uncovered no evidence of any client list kept by Epstein or other evidence that would predicate a criminal investigation of any uncharged parties.

The department also released hours of purported footage as part of its review, which officials say further confirmed Epstein died by suicide while in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019.

The video from the Bureau of Prisons showing the moments before Epstein’s death was later determined to have been missing footage. Several conservative influencers slam Bondi and the Justice Department over the memo.

July 12, 2025
Trump defended Bondi in a social media post amid the pushback from some in his MAGA base over the handling of the Epstein probe.

Trump praised Bondi for doing a “fantastic job” and urged his “boys” and “gals” to stop criticizing her.

July 15, 2025
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna seek a House vote for a discharge petition to release the Epstein files.

The same day, House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Bondi to “come forward and explain” her handling of the probe.

Signatures for the petition continue to grow, however, do not reach the 218 needed to move forward.

Asked what Bondi told him about the review of the Epstein files and if his name appeared at all, Trump responded, “No, no, she’s given us just a very quick briefing,” before making baseless claims that the files were created by some of his political foes.

“Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release,” Trump said.

July 24-25, 2025
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, interviewed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her 2021 conviction on sex trafficking and other charges related to Epstein’s illicit activities.

Maxwell initiated the meeting, multiple sources told ABC News.

A month later, the Justice Department released a transcript of the interview, which was not under oath, where she claimed there was no client list.

Aug. 1, 2025
Maxwell was transferred from a federal prison in Florida, which is labeled “low security” to a federal prison camp in Texas, which is labeled “minimum security,” the Justice Department announced.

Sept. 8, 2025
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a 238-page PDF document of the 50th birthday book to Epstein that includes a prologue by Maxwell and a page allegedly written by Trump.

Trump’s page features a typed letter written inside a doodle of a woman’s body, with his signature located in a provocative spot on the body.

The president denied that he wrote and signed the letter.

Nov. 12, 2025
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails that were part of more than 20,000 from the Epstein estate.

Some of the messages show Epstein talking about Trump, including one where he claimed Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of the sex-trafficked victims.

The White House accused Democrats on the House Oversight Committee of releasing “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative” about Trump.

Later that evening, Arizona Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn into office, a month after she won a special election, and became the final signature on the discharge petition to get it over the 218 threshold.

Johnson announced that he would bring a bill to release the Jeffrey Epstein files to a vote on the floor next week.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, in a social media post on Friday, said he will “be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him.”

“Stay tuned!!!” Trump wrote.

Clinton has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and has denied ever visiting Epstein’s private island.

The post comes after House Democrats released emails from Epstein that mentioned Trump by name, including a post that referred to Trump as the “dog that hasn’t barked” and told his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell that an alleged victim had “spent hours at my house” with Trump.

Bipartisan pressure is ramping up on the administration to release the rest of the Epstein files. This week, Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva became the 218th signature needed on a discharge petition to compel the DOJ to make those records public.

Trump, who was friendly with Epstein for years, said after Epstein’s arrest in 2019 that they hadn’t spoken in more than a decade after having a falling out. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the new emails in a press briefing earlier this week, saying they “prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has been briefed on updated options for potential military operations in Venezuela, including a strike on land, ABC News has confirmed. 

The briefing on Wednesday followed the arrival of the USS Gerald Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier — in the U.S. Southern Command area of operations north of the Caribbean Sea. The carrier is accompanied by some 60 aircraft, including F-18 fighter jets, that dramatically increases the military’s firepower in the region and boost the number of troops in Latin American to 15,000. 

Sources cautioned that the briefing itself was not an indication that an attack was imminent.

Trump has been weighing his options for weeks, which experts say could range from no action to air strikes on seaports, airports and military facilities. Another option, considered less likely, could be sending in a team of special operations forces to apprehend or kill Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his senior advisers. 

The latest briefing at the White House was conducted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in Canada at a G7 summit of foreign ministers, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were not present.

The White House and Pentagon declined to comment on the briefing, which was first reported by CBS News.

Any strike against Venezuela is seen as particularly risky. Trump has called for Maduro to step down, accusing him of encouraging drug trafficking and illegal migration to the United States. But the sudden departure of Maduro could also create a power vacuum that risks further instability. 

It’s also not clear whether the administration would be legally justified to force out Maduro. Late last month, senators were briefed on a secret list of targets inside Venezuela developed by the Pentagon. But lawmakers said they were told the administration’s current legal analysis only applied to the ongoing boat strikes and did not make the case for a direct strike against Venezuela.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s mayor-elect, has spoken with several Democratic governors — seeking their insight for how to navigate certain aspects of governing and best deal with President Donald Trump, several sources familiar with the conversations confirmed to ABC News.

Mamdani has spoken to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro recently, the sources said — with conversations happening as recently as this week. All of the governors has clashed with the president.

Mamdani and Pritzker discussed how to approach Trump, Pritzker’s experience with the president’s effort to send troops into Chicago and how to prepare should a similar incursion happen in New York City.

Trump has claimed Democratic-run cities, such as New York and Chicago, are in “bad shape,” and has threatened to “straighten them out, one by one.” On his social media platform Tuesday evening, Trump said his administration will “ramp up” efforts to crack down on crime in Chicago.

Trump has said that Pritzker, who has pushed back against Trump’s efforts, “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!” as he and Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson oppose Trump’s push to deploy the National Guard. 

“Come and get me,” Pritzker fired back on ABC’s This Week last month, responding to Trump.

Pritzker also played a major role in assisting Texas state Democrats in their attempt to blunt Republicans’ first crack at redrawing congressional maps mid-decade.

Mamdani and Pritzker also discussed their commitments to centering affordability, according to the sources familiar with the conversation.

In his conversation with Moore on election night, Mamdani applauded Moore’s work cutting red tape and discussed innovations in government. The two also discussed how to stand up to Trump, sources familiar with the discussion said.

Moore has previously praised Mamdani’s campaign narrative around affordability, saying it mirrors parts of his own agenda in Maryland. Prior to the government re-opening, Moore announced the release of $62 million to ensure full November SNAP benefits for Marylanders and singled Trump and his administration out for leaving his residents in the cold. 

“But no state can fill the enormous gap created by Donald Trump and his administration,” Moore said in a statement.

Trump has criticized Moore, saying in a post on his social media platform earlier this year that his “record on Crime is a very bad one.”

Axios was first to report the calls with Pritzker and Moore.

Mamdani’s call with Shapiro occurred before last week’s election.

Shapiro told Semafor that he had a “healthy dialogue” with Mamdani and cleared the air regarding their differences after Shapiro in July criticized Mamdani’s campaign, saying it left “far too much space for extremists.”

Campaign sources familiar with the discussion said Shapiro and Mamdani also talked about the importance of permitting reform and reconstructing Interstate 87, a major national thoroughfare that runs through New York.

Shapiro has been critical of the White House’s handling of the government shutdown, particularly on reimplementing SNAP benefits in his state. 

Trump called Shapiro “highly overrated” in a social media post.

Mamdani has said he plans to keep working the phones.

In an interview with NBC 4 New York, Mamdani said he’ll reach out the White House ahead of taking office “because this is a relationship that will be critical to the success of this city.” 

A day after the election, Trump, after calling Mamdani a “communist” — a label Mamdani, who identifies as a Democratic socialist, has rejected — said he is willing to help Mamdani “a little bit, maybe.” 

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — After 43 days, the longest federal government shutdown in history is history after President Donald Trump late Wednesday night signed the funding bill passed in both chambers of Congress.

With the bill now signed, federal agencies and services are expected to immediately return to normal; however, some benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, will take a little time to be doled out.

The spending bill reopens and funds the federal government until Jan. 30, 2026, with some agencies like the Department of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs funded through the end of the fiscal year.

Here’s what to know about the government reopening.

When will federal employees return to work?

At least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed during the shutdown, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Furloughed employees are expected to return to work immediately and there is some indication that those orders have gone out to specific agencies.

Furloughed employees at Health and Human Services were told to “report for duty” on Thursday, according to a memo obtained by ABC News.

“If HHS employees do not have previously approved leave scheduled, or do not get leave approved, then they will be “considered absent without leave (AWOL),” the memo reads.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) also told agencies Thursday that they should consider “the disruption in the lives and routines of furloughed employees.”

Back pay and undoing Trump firings

Federal workers deemed essential, including Capitol Police officers, Transportation Security Administration workers and air traffic controllers, were forced to work without pay during the shutdown.

During the shutdown, the administration issued layoffs through Reduction in Force orders for federal workers in various agencies.

All federal workers are entitled to back pay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, signed into law by Trump during the now-second-longest shutdown in his first term in office.

The law covers both furloughed employees and those required to work without pay during a government shutdown.

The funding bill includes additional language to reverse Trump administration firings during the shutdown and ensures that furloughed workers receive back pay.

It also includes language to prevent any additional reductions in force until the next government funding deadline on Jan. 30, 2026.

When will SNAP benefits get doled out?

The bill includes a provision to fully fund SNAP benefits through the end of September 2026.

The money is expected to be doled out soon, but the timetable has not been revealed by officials.

Federal courts ordered the administration to pay SNAP benefits during the shutdown, however, the administration went to the Supreme Court to get the order paused as the appeals litigation continued.

On Thursday, the administration withdrew its case.

Solicitor General John Sauer said in a filing that the “underlying dispute here is now moot.”

When do D.C.’s museums open?

All of the Smithsonian museums have been closed since Oct. 12 after running out of funding.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazey Center will reopen on Nov. 14, according to a notice on its website.

“All other museums,  research centers, and the National Zoo will reopen on a rolling basis by Monday, Nov. 17,” the message read.

When will the air traffic system 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 to 20 controllers resigned during the shutdown, according to the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

Duffy told reporters Tuesday that air traffic controllers will get 70% of their back pay within 24 to 48 hours of the reopening.

It could take up to a week for air travel to return to normal operations after the government shutdown ends, Airlines for America President and CEO Chris Sununu said at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.

Sununu said he doesn’t see any impacts lasting into the holiday season.

“I don’t think any flights over the Thanksgiving week have actually been canceled yet. I think the airlines have been pretty tight working with the FAA looking a few days out to be sure,” he said.

Where do Obamacare subsidies stand?

Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that Democrats held out for during the shutdown were not included in the Senate deal to reopen the government, which passed with the help of eight moderate Democrats.

The enhanced ACA tax credits don’t expire until Dec. 31, and if no deal is reached, health premiums will jump for more than 20 million Americans.

Sources told ABC News on Monday that Senate Republican leadership promised to allow a vote on a bill of Democrats’ choosing related to the ACA in December.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to holding a vote in the House on the subsidies.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday filed a discharge petition to extend the Obamacare subsidies. He would need a few House Republicans to vote with Democrats for it to pass.

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(PITTSBURGH) — Sen. John Fetterman’s office said the Pennsylvania Democrat is under “routine observation” in a Pittsburgh hospital after he fell during an early morning walk Thursday near his home in Braddock, Pennsylvania.

“It was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face with minor injuries,” a statement from his office said.

“If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!” Fetterman said, according to the statement.

Fetterman opted to stay in the hospital so doctors can “fine-tune his medication regimen,” the statement said.

Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022 during the Democratic primary for the state’s open Senate seat. Despite his condition limiting his campaigning, he won the Democratic nomination and later defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz, now President Donald Trump’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, in the general election.

The following February, Fetterman was hospitalized for several days of observation after feeling lightheaded, though his aides said testing ruled out seizures or another stroke.

Weeks later, Fetterman checked himself into a Washington hospital for treatment of depression.

“While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Adam Jentleson, his chief of staff, said at the time.

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(NEWARK, N.J.) — Congresswoman LaMonica McIver must face at least two of three federal charges accusing her of assaulting and impeding immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center after federal judge on Thursday rejected her attempt to dismiss the case.

The New Jersey Democrat was charged with three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials following her May 9 visit to Delaney Hall, a privately owned, 1,000-bed facility in Newark that ICE uses as a detention center. 

The government alleges McIver intervened as federal agents attempted to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper turned down McIver’s arguments that she is immune from prosecution under the Speech or Debate Clause.

“Impeding an arrest, whether lawful or unlawful, goes beyond any reasonable definition of oversight and, accordingly, exceeds the safe harbor of legislative immunity,” Semper wrote in an order published Thursday. 

McIver’s actions as described in count one, which alleged she placed her arms around the mayor in an attempt to thwart his arrest and then slammed her forearm into a federal agent, were “wholly disconnected from the oversight she and the Representatives later conducted when touring the facility, where they engaged in protected fact-finding related to federal immigration policy,” the judge continued. “Defendant’s presence at Delaney Hall does not grant constitutional protection for every act performed in connection to that visit.”

Semper said he is still considering whether the Speech and Debate Clause might apply to count two — which alleged she forcibly struck an ICE officer following the arrest — noting, “the factual record is still being developed.”

The judge also rejected McIver’s argument that her case amounted to selective and vindictive prosecution by a Republican administration that called her visit to Delaney Hall a “reckless stunt.”

“Defendant has not demonstrated that her prosecution is a result of personal animus harbored by the prosecution,” Semper said.

McIver has pleaded not guilty. The trial was supposed to start this week but had been delayed pending the judge’s ruling.

She has alleged the prosecution is politically motivated, and her office called the charges “baseless.”

“This is Trump weaponizing the DOJ for people who speak out against him, for members and elected leaders who do their jobs to hold this administration accountable,” she said at a press event following her arraignment in June. “We will not be intimidated.”

Tensions escalated at the facility when a federal officer ordered Baraka to leave a secured area of the facility or face arrest, and pushing and shoving allegedly occurred, according to prosecutors.

Baraka was arrested at the facility and charged with trespassing, which was later dropped.

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(WASHINGTON) — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history came to an end on Wednesday night, after six House Democrats joined Republicans to pass a funding package in a narrow 222-209 vote.

The Democrats’ defections helped push the bill over the finish line, as two Republicans opposed against the measure to reopen the government. President Donald Trump signed the bill in the Oval Office shortly after it was passed.

The moderate Democrats who voted yes were Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Adam Gray of California, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas and Tom Suozzi of New York. 

They all cited the growing impacts of the shutdown on Americans as a reason why they moved to end the 43-day impasse, despite Democratic leadership opposing the funding package because it does not address their key demand of extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year.

“Tonight, I voted to end this partisan car crash of a shutdown. Nobody likes paying even more money to insurance companies — and the fight to stop runaway health insurance premiums won’t be won by holding hungry Americans hostage,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in a statement. “Americans can’t afford for their Representatives to get so caught up in landing a partisan win that they abandon their obligation to come together to solve the urgent problems that our nation faces.”

Gray said it was not a “perfect deal,” but one “born of compromise,” and touted how the bill will extend funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and SNAP for a full fiscal year.

“Some critics have asked why I supported the bill when it did not include an immediate extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits. Here’s why: Protecting families from hunger today does not prevent us from lowering health care costs tomorrow,” he said.

“People are hurting right now — they are in pain!” Davis said after the vote.

When asked by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott if the impacts of the shutdown outweighed everything else, Davis said “absolutely.”

“And it is listening and hearing from constituents who are deeply, deeply concerned. They’ve been affected in ways that we don’t even understand,” he told ABC News’ Scott.

“Parents are telling their kids to eat more at school because they don’t know if they’re going to be able to eat when they get home,” Davis continued, adding “This is real.”

But Democrats are now dealing with infighting after eight Senate Democrats and the six House Democrats broke ranks to end the shutdown without a deal on ACA subsidies. The agreement to end the shutdown included a promise from Senate Republican leadership to hold a vote on health care subsidies in the coming weeks, but Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to such a vote in the House.

Democrats who voted to reopen the government said the fight will continue on the ACA, as premiums are set to skyrocket for recipients next year.

“Now, with the shutdown ended, Congress should take immediate action to extend expiring ACA premium tax credits that keep health insurance plans affordable for millions of Americans. We still have a window to pass bipartisan legislation to extend these credits,” Golden said.

Suozzi echoed that sentiment.

“Everyone knows that I have been preaching bipartisanship for years. I am relying on the representations of some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, that they want to get something done to extend the Premium Tax Credits,” Suozzi said.

“If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are willing to work together to address this health insurance affordability crisis by extending the premium tax credits, then we will have accomplished something meaningful,” the New York Democrat added. “If we are not successful, it will deal yet another blow to the already eroding trust in Washington, D.C., and it will be clear who failed to deliver.”

ABC News’ Arthur Jones II contributed to this report.

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