Senators are growing increasingly concerned that the mounting flight delays and air traffic controller absences could balloon to the level experienced during the 2019 government shutdown, with some believing it could again be key to breaking the stalemate.
Air traffic control staffing issues caused significant delays Monday and Tuesday as the shutdown extended into a second week, with roughly 10,000 flights being affected. Those troubles weren’t as pronounced Wednesday, though more than 3,000 flights experienced delays, albeit some of those stemmed from weather in the Northeast.
But worry is starting to escalate for lawmakers, who remember the air travel tumult that ultimately forced President Trump to cave on his demand for border wall funding nearly seven years ago.
“It becomes a pressure point,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said. “You talk about disruptive — if air travel shuts down and all the air traffic controllers are sick, you basically have shut down the economy.”
“I hope we don’t get to that point,” he added.
The 35-day shutdown in 2019 reached a tipping point when 10 air traffic controllers — six from Northern Virginia and four from Florida — called in sick, causing a domino effect that resulted in major delays at LaGuardia Airport in New York, including a ground stoppage, and at multiple other East Coast airports.
This go-around hasn’t been as painful so far, though troubles have been reported at airports in and near New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Nashville, Tenn., in recent days. More than 1,000 flights have been canceled, though weather played a role in some.
The Department of Transportation announced earlier in the week that more than 13,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay during the shutdown as they, along with Transportation Security Administration workers, are considered essential workers.
But lawmakers are keeping a close eye on the situation, especially as they search for potential off-ramps amid the ongoing stalemate.
Democrats have demanded action to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire on Dec. 31, with Republicans maintaining that there will be no talks on that front until the minority party votes to reopen the government.
The upper chamber showed no signs of movement Wednesday as Democrats voted for the sixth time against the GOP’s “clean” stopgap spending measure that would fund the government through late November. The deepening impasse has left lawmakers acknowledging that it will likely take forces outside the Capitol to push one side or the other to the negotiating table.
“I certainly worry about it,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), whose state has seen issues this week at the Denver International Airport. “I think it is one of many things that is complicating having a government shutdown.”
Hickenlooper noted that he and his colleagues have had a couple of conversations about air travel issues in recent days.
“In the universe, that means we’re paying attention,” Hickenlooper said, adding that it’s not “dominating” conversations yet.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a top ally of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), is taking part in informal discussions to see if there’s a path forward. He declined to shed much light on those talks Wednesday, saying only that they have been “pretty productive.”
Some senators, however, worry that air travel chaos, even if it reaches the levels experienced in 2019, may not be enough to end the shutdown this time around.
They point to the posture of the administration, which they argue is in a less forgiving mood this go-around.
“I think they’re too hunkered down,” one Senate Republican said. “The difference is that in the past, [it] has been, kind of, hardball that was only pitched out of one corner. This administration is wired for a fight.”
“You’ve got the bully pulpit saying that it’s only happening because the Democrats refuse to fund the government at levels that they’ve voted for in the past,” the lawmaker continued. “They may be erroneously banking on that pressure being what breaks the logjam. I don’t necessarily see it.”
Nevertheless, some optimistic lawmakers still believe that if push comes to shove and the air travel problems rise to that level again, there would be little choice but to move toward a reopening.
“Of any of the factors that led President Trump in 2019 to, ‘We’ve got to solve this,’ it was the air traffic control issue. The reason we don’t have a solution now is we have an unengaged president,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said. “I’m hoping he rethinks his ‘be disengaged’ strategy because he’s got the key to helping resolve this if he wants to.”
“It wasn’t the air traffic controllers saying ‘we’re overworked and underpaid,’ it was the economic issue that made Trump realize, ‘Oh wait, we need to have vigorous aviation or the American economy doesn’t work,’” Kaine said. “This one is really serious and he grasped that six years ago. I think there’s a good chance he’ll grasp it again.”