Donald Trump, president of the United States (US), accused the “kamikaze” Democrats of being willing to destroy the country, as the government shutdown yesterday became the longest in history, surpassing the record of 35 days set during the Republican leader’s first term.
Federal agencies have been paralyzed since Congress failed to approve funding beyond Sept. 30, and unrest has been growing as social welfare programs – including aid that allows millions of Americans to buy food – hang by a thread.
Some 1.4 million federal workers, from air traffic controllers to forest rangers, remain on forced leave or working without pay. Some courts are using emergency funds to stay open, warning that operations could slow if the shutdown is prolonged.
“I just got back from Japan,” the President said in a morning meeting with Republican senators at the White House, as the shutdown entered its sixth week.
“I talked about kamikaze pilots. I think these guys are kamikazes,” he said, referring to Democrats. “They will tear down the country if necessary.”
The Trump administration has raised the alarm about upheaval at airports across the country if the crisis drags into November, with growing staff shortages that would lead to flight delays and the closure of sections of airspace.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at a news conference that planned flight capacity would be reduced by 10% starting Friday in 40 busy air traffic zones.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) says 5.3 million passengers flew domestically during the 2023 Thanksgiving weekend, and gave an expected figure of 5.7 million for last year’s holiday, which it will update later this month.
More than 60,000 air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents are working without pay, and the White House has warned that rising absenteeism could cause chaos in check-in lines.
The fact that airport workers took sick leave rather than working without pay, causing significant delays, was a determining factor in Trump ending the 2019 shutdown.
However, both Democrats and Republicans remain firm on the main point of disagreement of the current shutdown: health spending.
Challenge
Democrats say they will only vote to end the budget shutdown once a deal is reached to extend expiring insurance subsidies that allow millions of Americans to access affordable healthcare.
However, Republicans insist they will only address the healthcare issue once Democrats have voted to reopen Washington.
Although leaders of both parties have shown little willingness to compromise, there have been signs of life among backbenchers, with a handful of moderate Democrats working to find a way out.
An independent bipartisan group made up of four centrist members of the House of Representatives on Monday presented a compromise framework to reduce health insurance costs.
