WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The ongoing government shutdown has raised concerns about potential flight disruptions as U.S. air traffic controllers are going to miss their first full paycheck. The Trump administration and Republican leaders in Congress have warned that the situation could worsen as the shutdown enters its 24th day.
Addressing a news conference with House Republican leadership in the Capitol on Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, 'I can't guarantee you that your flight's going to be on time. I can't guarantee you that your flight's not going to be cancelled. It's going to depend on our air traffic controllers coming in to work every single day. If they do not, we'll know whose fault it is.'
He put the blame on the Democrats.
Democrats denied the allegation and hit back at President Donald Trump and the Republicans for their non-cooperation on negotiations to end the stalemate.
The U.S. federal government's shut down continued for the fourth week after the Senate failed to reach an agreement on the spending bill.
The Bill needs 60 votes to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate, where they have only 53 seats.
The Democrats pressed for major concessions on Obamacare subsidies, mainly ensuring subsidies for health insurance for the low-income group, and reversing the Trump administration's cuts to Medicaid, in return for their support to pass the funding bill.
Affordable Care Act benefits, also known as Obamacare, will expire within months.
The nation's 13,000 air traffic controllers are left to work without paychecks.
'They're angry. They're frustrated that the Congress - at least in the Senate - is focused on paying for health care benefits for illegals as opposed to paying their paychecks for the great work that they provide to the American people,' Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters.
'Next Tuesday is the first paycheck that they will not receive for the work that they did in October. I don't want my air traffic controllers to take a second job. I want them coming to their facilities and controlling the airspace, but they're having to make decisions about how they spend their time to make sure they put food on their table'.
Duffy added, 'They're thinking about leaving the Academy - smart young men and women - because they don't want to work for a system that won't pay them, that doesn't guarantee them a paycheck. Problems that ricochet in the months and the years to come.'
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