Senators are starting to feel some personal pain from the shutdown, as many of their scheduled flights home from Washington on Thursday afternoon were delayed.
Senators took their typical “fly-out day” vote and prepared to jet back home for a long weekend amid the ongoing government shutdown, only to find a ground stop at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, known as DCA.
The reason, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, was “staffing.”
The FAA’s advisory did not elaborate but staffing shortages have become an increasing problem during the government shutdown as air traffic controllers, who are not getting paid, have been calling out of work.
Senate Republicans tried to advance a bill last week to pay air traffic controllers and other essential federal workers who are working during the government shutdown.
Democrats blocked it, as they pushed an alternative to pay all federal workers, including those who are furloughed, and halt reductions in force.
The ground stop at DCA hit right as senators were casting their final vote of the week and heading to the airport. It was later downgraded to a ground delay, but all departing flights were affected by an average of 90 minutes.
It also came at the same time Vice President J.D. Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy were holding a roundtable with aviation leaders at the White House to discuss the impact of the shutdown on their industry.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, told reporters his flight home was among those delayed and that he expected increasing staffing problems at airports across the country.
“I think it’s going to intensify and increase and get worse,” he said. “That’s what happens when you have a government shutdown. That’s why you need to open the government up.”
Some senators objected to the chamber adjourning for the weekend, forcing Mr. Thune to ask for a voice vote since he couldn’t get unanimous consent.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, Nevada Democrat, said she wouldn’t consent to Senate Republicans “acting as if it’s business as usual.”
She said lawmakers should be working on a bipartisan solution to prevent Americans’ health care costs from rising due in part to the impending expiration of enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies.
Obamacare open enrollment begins Saturday and many consumers will have to pay more than double for premiums next year without access to the subsidies.
“This is truly outrageous,” Ms. Rosen said. “After doing nothing all year to prevent a massive spike in health care costs, Senate Republicans now want to go home for yet another weekend and do nothing, like the House Republicans have been doing for the past month.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Republican, said in a social media post that she asked to be recorded as “no” on the motion to adjourn.
“This is a missed opportunity to stay in town and hammer out an agreement,” she said. “We shouldn’t be going home. Just ask the air traffic controllers at DCA.”
Mr. Vance and Mr. Duffy did not mention the staffing shortage at DCA during a press conference after they met with aviation leaders, nor were they asked about it. But they stressed concerns that the impacts at airports will only get worse if the shutdown drags on.
“Everybody here is very worried that we’re going to see more delays, more stresses on the people who are actually making the aviation system run, and more problems for also the consumers but also the great workers,” Mr. Vance said.
He and Mr. Duffy said air traffic controllers, TSA agents and other federal aviation workers can only go without a paycheck for so long, and they expect staffing shortages will increase because those people will look for other paid work to support their families.
“A lot of our people can go through the miss of one paycheck, and it’s hard for them, but a lot of them can get through it,” Mr. Duffy said. “None of them can get through two paychecks. And so if Democrats don’t get their act together very quickly, you’re going to see huge problems.”
Mr. Duffy said there have been minimal disruptions during October – fewer than 2% of flights have been delayed during the month-long shutdown – because it’s a slower travel month with “great weather.” If the shutdown continues well into November and the Thanksgiving holiday season, air traffic will be “snarled,” he said.
“The delays are going to reach a point where it makes it very, very hard for the American people to fly,” Mr. Vance said.