Over 1,100 U.S. flights were canceled for Sunday, on top of roughly 800 cancellations on Saturday and 1,000 cancellations on Friday, as the Federal Aviation Administration's service reductions entered their third day. Currently at 4%, the cuts to air traffic are expected to increase to as high as 10% by Friday. The FAA ordered the slowdown amid staffing shortages due to the government shutdown. Flight reductions are affecting 40 cities, including Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York City.
Donald Trump became the first sitting president in nearly a half-century at a regular-season NFL game, attending the Washington Commanders’ 44-22 loss to the visiting Detroit Lions on Sunday.
There were loud boos from some spectators in the stands when Trump was shown on the videoboard late in the first half — standing in a suite with House Speaker Mike Johnson — and again when the president was introduced by the stadium announcer at halftime.
The jeering continued while Trump read an oath for members of the military to recite as part of an on-field enlistment ceremony during the break in the game.
“I’m a little bit late,” Trump told reporters earlier when he got off Air Force One after landing at Joint Base Andrews, following a flyover of Northwest Stadium during the game. He then got in his armored car for the drive to the arena.
“We’re gonna have a good game. Things are going along very well. The country’s doing well. The Democrats have to open it up,” he said — a reference to the government shutdown.
In the first quarter on Sunday, before the president arrived, Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown celebrated a touchdown catch by pointing into the stands and moving his arms a la the “ Trump dance ” that several athletes began doing last year.
“I heard Trump was going to be at the game,” St. Brown said afterward. “I don’t know how many times the president’s going to be at the game, so I just decided to have some fun.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell said he was too consumed by the game itself to notice that Trump had arrived, “But that’s cool. ... You’re talking about the president of the United States. That’s a big deal.”
His team’s quarterback, Jared Goff, was intrigued with seeing Trump’s plane fly so low over the stadium.
“Awesome that he was here,” Goff said.
During the third quarter, Trump joined Fox broadcasters Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma for about eight minutes of lighthearted chat. Albert opened by asking Trump about his time playing high school football at the New York Military Academy.
“I played tight end, but it was not quite football like this. It was a little bit easier. It wasn’t so tough,” Trump said.
Trump left before Sunday’s game ended.
Only two other times did a president go to an NFL game during the regular season while in office, according to the league: Richard Nixon in 1969 and Jimmy Carter in 1978. Trump became the first president at a Super Bowl while residing in the White House when he watched the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in February.
According to a report by ESPN on Saturday, an intermediary for the White House has told the Commanders’ ownership group that Trump wants the club’s new stadium — part of a nearly $4 billion project in the nation’s capital at the site of what was known as RFK Stadium — to bear his name.
In Sunday’s TV appearance, Trump spoke about the team’s plans to return to Washington.
“They’re going to build a beautiful stadium. That’s what I’m involved in, we’re getting all the approvals and everything else,” he said. “And you have a wonderful owner, Josh (Harris), and his group. And you’re going to see some very good things.”
Sunday’s visit was the latest in a series of high-profile appearances at sporting events by Trump, including golf’s Ryder Cup, auto racing’s Daytona 500, and tennis’ U.S. Open.
“I just love it. It’s a microcosm of life,” Trump said about sports during Sunday’s broadcast. “It’s sort of like life -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
Before the game, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth chatted with Harris — the leader of the group that purchased the Commanders from Daniel Snyder for about $6 billion in 2023 — and took part in an on-field ceremony with members of the military.
Hegseth was among those watching the game with Trump, along with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana.
There was friction between Trump and the NFL during his first presidential term, when he objected to players kneeling during the national anthem to protest social or racial injustice. That movement began in 2016 with then-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Via social media and other public comments, Trump insisted that players should stand for the national anthem and called on team owners to fire anyone taking a knee.
Job cuts in the United States last month reached the highest level since 2003.
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, employers announced 153,074 job cuts in October, a 175% rise from the 55,597 cuts announced in October 2024. The industries with the most cuts were warehousing, technology, retail, and the service sector.
“October’s pace of job cutting was much higher than average for the month,” Challenger, Gray & Christmas’ Andy Challenger said.
“Some industries are correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic, but this comes as AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs drive belt-tightening and hiring freezes. Those laid off now are finding it harder to quickly secure new roles, which could further loosen the labor market.”
Through last month, job cuts had amounted to 1,099,500 — 44% of the total cuts made throughout 2024.
Year-to-date job cuts are at the highest level since five years ago, when 2,304,755 cuts were announced through October.
“Over the last decade, companies have shied away from announcing layoffs in the fourth quarter, so it’s surprising to see so many in October,” added Challenger.
In October 2003, 171,874 cuts were recorded nationwide.
The Senate late Sunday cleared a critical procedural hurdle in its drive to end the record-long government shutdown, after Democrats provided enough votes to advance a measure designed to end the more than monthlong impasse.
The vote was 60-40 on a measure to take up House-passed spending legislation that required 60 votes under the Senate’s filibuster procedures. Eight members of the Democratic caucus joined almost all Republicans in voting in favor, allowing the bill to move forward after more than a dozen failed votes since September.
The Senate’s next big step is to amend the measure and send it back to the GOP-led House—but that can’t happen unless the Senate unanimously agrees to dispense with other procedural steps that would delay action.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, joined centrists in voting for the legislation. Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) also voted in favor, after winning provisions that reversed the thousands of firings of federal workers initiated by the Trump administration since the shutdown—and that forbid additional firings at least through Jan. 31, when a new interim spending measure expires. The bill would also ensure back pay for federal workers after the White House had earlier called into question whether the money was guaranteed.
“This was the only deal on the table,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.), who led a group of Democrats that provided the critical votes to end the shutdown. “It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the ACA tax credits.”
Earlier Sunday, the Senate Appropriations Committee released three full-year funding bills, covering veterans’ programs and the construction of military housing, as well as the Agriculture Department and the legislative branch. Republicans have guaranteed a vote on extending the healthcare subsidies by the second week of December, Shaheen said.
The eight members of the Democratic caucus who backed the bill include mostly centrists like Shaheen, Durbin, Kaine, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Jacky Rosen of Nevada. Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, also backed it.
Any deal will still need approval in the House of Representatives, which has been out of session since Sept. 19. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) has put members on notice that he would give them 48 hours to return in the event the Senate passed a spending bill.
Stock futures rose in Sunday evening trading as the deal came together, with contracts tied to the S&P 500 up 0.5% and Nasdaq futures up 0.9%. Changes in futures don’t always reflect how the market moves after the opening bell.
Democrats and Republicans have been locked in a standoff for more than a month over healthcare coverage, with Democrats repeatedly blocking a GOP bill to reopen the government. Without an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act credits, which run roughly $30 billion a year, more than 20 million Americans are set to see increases in their insurance premiums. Open enrollment for next year started this month.
A key development that appeared to break the logjam in the negotiations was that Senate Republicans proposed that some healthcare funding be provided directly to households rather than be used to pay for a one-year extension of enhanced ACA subsidies.
That GOP proposal involves sending federal money into flexible-spending accounts instead of to insurance companies that use the money to offset the cost of premiums, so consumers pay a smaller monthly bill. The money could be used to cover deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs, which Republicans see as a way to give consumers more choice and control over healthcare inflation.
“Let’s just move beyond our trench line, and let’s actually think creatively,” said Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R., La.), the proponent of the leading idea, on the Senate floor Saturday. “And can we give just a little bit to find something which actually benefits the patient but may also get us out of this situation?”
Republicans had previously said there would be no negotiations until Democrats ended their blockade, but the new healthcare pitch—despite many questions about how it would work and when it could be rolled out—showed the GOP could be flexible on that stance.
“It looks like we are getting close to the shutdown ending,” President Trump told reporters when he returned to the White House Sunday evening. “You’ll know very soon.”
The potential deal seemed to give Democrats little in exchange for voting to end the shutdown, prompting reticence from some in the party.
“I’m not voting for these bills,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.), complaining about the lack of a guarantee that the healthcare subsidies will be extended into next year. Senate Republicans have for weeks guaranteed a vote but not an outcome. “That’s a show vote.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has kept the Senate in session all weekend, as lawmakers see urgency to end the shutdown amid growing airport snarls and delays in food aid being distributed to millions of Americans.
Adding to the pressure was the fact that the Trump administration on Saturday told states to undo any steps they have taken to issue full federal food-assistance benefits for November. The memo from the Agriculture Department came after a Supreme Court order on Friday paused a lower-court order directing the Trump administration to fully fund food aid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) rolled out the idea for a one-year extension of enhanced ACA subsidies on Friday as the price of Democratic votes to fund the government. But the idea was promptly rejected by Republicans, who said it showed Democrats were desperate. Democrats had previously proposed a permanent extension of the enhanced ACA credit, which was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, the overture looked to point to actual negotiations, and by late Friday Cassidy was pitching his idea on the floor—and drawing engagement from Democrats like Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), who took to the floor to ask about his idea.
President Trump then said in a social-media post that he wanted Republicans to send money currently going to insurance companies directly to individuals buying health insurance.
That was viewed within the Senate as an endorsement of the sort of approach being pursued by Cassidy—albeit suggesting a broader version that would put the entire federal subsidy into health savings accounts. Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) said in a separate post, “Totally agree,” and added: “I’m writing the bill right now.”
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said that Trump had discussed the idea with Cassidy.
“Why not take the people who have higher healthcare premiums and just mail them a check and let them decide?” Hassett said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
It isn’t clear exactly how the Cassidy accounts would work. Flexible-spending accounts, which are typically used with employer coverage, not ACA plans, are tax-advantaged setups that consumers can fund themselves, up to around $3,300 a year. The tax-free money can then be used for a variety of health needs that would typically be paid for out of the enrollee’s pocket, including hospital or doctor care, or other expenses such as glasses. However, the money can’t be used to pay an insurance premium.
A different type of account, known as a health savings account, or HSA, can currently be used with ACA plans, but they are only allowed if the coverage has a deductible above a certain level—now set at $1,650 for an individual or $3,300 for a family.
A third type of setup, known as an individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement, can be used differently. Employers can put money in these accounts, and the funding can be applied toward workers’ premiums for coverage that they purchase themselves through the ACA marketplaces.
Some Democrats don’t like the broader idea of rerouting the subsidies. They view it as making it harder for people to buy health insurance and particularly difficult for lower-income people.
“This is, unsurprisingly, nonsensical. Is he suggesting eliminating health insurance and giving people a few thousand dollars instead?” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) in reaction to Trump’s post.
But others were open to engaging with Republicans. On Saturday, multiple Democrats approached Cassidy or said they had spoken with him.
“Republicans are now talking about how they want to go after big insurance companies,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. “If they’re serious, I’m all in.” But he also said that the idea couldn’t be implemented right away.
Acorn squash, Spam, and baby food lined the shelves on a recent day at a college food pantry in California’s capital city, a resource that students receiving federal aid to purchase groceries may have to increasingly rely on because that assistance has been in limbo during the government shutdown.
Hundreds of students at California State University, Sacramento, or Sac State, visit the school’s Basic Needs Resource Center every week, where they can select up to a dozen items per trip — ranging from fresh produce and meat to toiletries and secondhand clothes.
“It’s a big blessing,” said Antonette Duff, a junior studying psychology at the university who’s enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.
More than 3,600 students at the college of roughly 31,000 receive aid through SNAP, said Emily Tupper, the college’s director of Crisis Assistance and Resource Education Support. More than 200,000 college students in California and 1.1 million nationwide are on SNAP, according to the state’s Department of Social Services and the U.S. Government Accountability Office, respectively.
Many students are facing tuition and housing bills, juggling classes, and often working lower-paying part-time jobs that make it difficult to afford groceries, with prices on the rise.
SNAP benefits for roughly 42 million people in the U.S. were cut off at the beginning of November due to the government shutdown. A federal judge last week ordered the Trump administration to fully fund the program, but late Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the administration’s emergency appea,l temporarily blocking the order. The mixed messaging has left students who rely on SNAP confused, and colleges trying to curb hunger on campus by spreading awareness about food pantries and handing out free meals.
“It just puts students in a really horrible position,” said Mike Hannigan, a student at Greenfield Community College in Massachusetts and an advocate against food insecurity on college campuses.
Hannigan receives just under $300 a month from SNAP, but the benefits didn’t come through at the beginning of November due to government delays.
If SNAP benefits keep getting delayed, he doesn’t know what he would do to afford groceries, he said. Some students, including those at community colleges who don’t have meal plans, may “have to decide whether or not they are going to attend a class or they’re going to pick up an extra shift to try to make money to be able to feed themselves or their families,” Hannigan said.
Hannigan and other students recently hosted a free farmers' market on campus and gave out thousands of pounds of vegetables from local farms. Nothing was left over.
Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, a tribal college of about 250 students in North Dakota, hosts ‘Soup Tuesdays’ to feed students on campus for free. Students can also access a food pantry and kits with easy-to-prep meals such as chicken Alfredo or chili, and they’ll soon be able to pick up gift cards from the school to use at local grocery stores.
Many people living on tribal land or in rural areas are in so-called food deserts with limited access to grocery stores, College President Twyla Baker said. The uncertainty over SNAP caused by the political stalemate in Washington adds another layer of difficulty.
“To essentially use the most vulnerable as political pawns is just untenable,” Baker said. “It’s unsustainable, and it’s detrimental to the country as a whole.”
Food insecurity on college campuses has been on the rise in the past decade, and students have had to make tough choices about how to stretch their wallets to cover the necessities, said AJ Scheitler, director of the Data Equity Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Health Policy Research.
“Students will first make sure that they pay for tuition and books and all that stuff so that they can stay enrolled at school,” she said. “After that, they concern themselves with transportation so that they can get to school, then housing, and then food almost becomes this category that you can go without if you have to, if after all of those other categories you don’t have any money.”
Sac State’s food pantries host grocery pop-ups on campus twice a mont,h where students can pick up fresh produce for free, said Tupper, the school official. The college may hold the events more often if federal food aid keeps getting delayed.
At the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, which estimates that at least 4.5% of students receive SNAP benefits, officials have encouraged people to donate food, funds, or their time to the campus food pantry.
Between 100 and 150 students pop into the campus pantry every day, said Lisa Lindquist, director of the LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center. The pantry is free and open to all students. Some fill up baskets with as many as 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of food per visit, while others are looking for a snack to hold them over between classes.
The pantry is fueled by donations, but there have been times when staffers have had to run out to the grocery store to buy more items to keep the shelves stocked.
“It’s not necessarily for a lack of people donating, it’s just that the food just goes in and out so quickly,” she said. “That tells me anecdotally, there’s ga reat need.”
On a recent trip to the grocery store, July Star Medina, a senior studying biology at Sac State, was shocked she had to spend about $30 just to buy chicken and a few spices. She’s had to make more frequent trips to the Basic Needs Resource Center in recent months because her SNAP benefits decreased from $290 to $120 a month this year. The assistance was lowered after she started working more hours during the summer, but it hasn’t gone back up now that she’s working less during the fall semester.
“I don’t think it’s enough at all,” Medina said. “After one week of groceries that’ll last me maybe two weeks.”
The prospect of that $120 going away has been stressful, she said.
“And that’s why I’ve been trying to come here to see what I can get,” Medina said outside the center. “Now I need to see where I can pull money aside to just get basic things.”
Scheitler, the UCLA researcher, said the uncertainty “is just so rough” for students.
“And the number of students who may have to drop out of school because they need to eat, their grades are going to fall,” she said. “Their mental health is going to be hurt by the stress of not being able to eat. This is going to have a significant impact if they can’t figure out how to fix this and fix this quickly.”