US Government Shutdown Tests Air Travel, Federal Workers And Patience

The US government has reached a major milestone of dysfunction as Congress has allowed a federal shutdown to drag into its 36th day - the longest in history - amid a stalemate over health-care and spending priorities.

As the standoff continues, the economic pain is deepening. 

Budget maneuvers to pay active-duty troops and partially fund food aid will likely run out before the end of November. Air traffic controllers working without pay are calling out at higher rates as one of the busiest travel periods of the year approaches. 

And policymakers could be working with flawed or missing data for months to come after the Labor Department stopped collecting crucial data on employment and prices. 

Economists say the shutdown is beginning to leave a permanent scar. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the shutdown will cut fourth-quarter growth by as much as 2 percentage points if it continues for eight weeks, followed by a short-term rebound early next year. Even then, the economy would lose billions in output. 

About 600,000 federal employees are working without pay, 650,000 more are furloughed, and unemployment could rise by 0.4 of a percentage point if all furloughed employees are counted as temporary layoffs.

The shutdown hits the longest-ever milestone hours after Democrats landed a series of electoral wins in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races and in the New York City mayoral contest. Trump blamed the GOP losses - in part - on the ongoing impasse in Washington. 

The shutdown has gone on so long that it's now about two weeks from outlasting the House-passed bill that would have kept the government funded through Nov. 21. That means even if lawmakers were to quickly negotiate an end to the shutdown - an outcome that still appears unlikely - Congress would imminently face a new funding lapse threat.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday that Nov. 21 date is "going to have to change" in any new bill to reopen the government to ward off that possibility.

Seasonal Shutdown

Government functions that most Americans can live without for a few days or weeks become more critical when they're down for a month and counting.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the shutdown has darkened the agency's FluView dashboard, which tracks weekly flu, Covid and RSV data, and halted publication of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a mainstay for epidemiologists worldwide. The gap comes just as the season for respiratory illnesses begins.

About 85% of the employees in the Education Department's Office of Federal Student Aid have been furloughed, and financial aid applications known as the FAFSA could be held up as college application season reaches its peak.

Businesses and individuals who filed extended-deadline tax returns in October will likely face delays receiving their refunds.

Other applications to bring regulated products to market - everything from new prescription drugs to seasonal Christmas ales - are also on hold.

Air Travel

It was mounting flight delays that helped put pressure on Congress to end a 35-day shutdown in January 2019. That shutdown - caused by a standoff over Trump's request to fund a wall on the US-Mexico border - is now the second-longest in history. 

That pattern has begun to repeat itself, as unpaid air traffic controllers begin to take unscheduled time off and staffing shortages prompt the Federal Aviation Administration to slow arrivals and departures. 

Late last week was particularly hectic, with major US airports from Boston to Texas experiencing problems. About 7,300 flights were delayed and 1,200 canceled that day, according to FlightAware, with the impact stretching into Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday he would "shut the whole airspace down" if flying became unsafe, though he said the US "isn't there yet." 

The Sunday after Thanksgiving - which this year will hit on Nov. 30 - is historically the busiest day for the nation's airports. 

Food Stamps

President Donald Trump's administration told a federal judge Monday that it will comply with an order to restore half of November's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, using the $4.65 billion remaining in its contingency fund. That will cover only about half of the normal monthly food stamp payments for 42 million Americans.

Agriculture officials warned that recalculating partial payments could take "anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months." Two judges, in Rhode Island and Boston, ruled that suspending the program outright likely violated federal law.

Blame Game

Public opinion largely mirrors past showdowns: 45% of voters blame Republicans for the shutdown and 33% blame Democrats, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll - a smaller gap than in 2019 but consistent with historical trends.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats are unified in demanding a full reopening of government. "Our position as Democrats remains the same - and will continue to be our position," he told reporters Monday,

House Speaker Mike Johnson countered that Republicans have voted more than a dozen times to fund the government, while Democrats have blocked each attempt in the Senate. "It's the most extreme example of gaslighting in the history of American politics," he said.

Off Ramps

With both sides dug in, it could take an external pressure from voters or an extraordinary procedural maneuver to end the stalemate. 

Trump has renewed his call for Senate Republicans to use what's called the "nuclear option" - ending the century-old filibuster - to pass a bill. Thune rejected the idea, saying "the votes aren't there" even among Republicans.

Democratic New Jersey Senator Andy Kim said the beginning of open enrollment for subsidized health plans could provide the necessary pressure, if senators hear anger over sticker shock. 

And then there's Tuesday's elections, which buoyed Democrats Abigail Spanberger to the governor's mansion in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill to lead New Jersey. Zohran Mamdani - whom Trump has called a "lunatic" - won the New York City mayoral race. The contests were seen as a test run of each party's brand ahead of midterm congressional elections in 2026. 

Democrats - after losing to Trump a year ago - found results focusing on affordability, a message that's also reflected in their shutdown demands: lower health care costs in exchange for their support to re-open the government.

Trump, late Tuesday, expressed his displeasure with the losses, blaming the shutdown - and that his name wasn't on the ballot - for the Republican defeats.

The president is set to meet with Republican senators at the White House on Wednesday morning.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)