Democrats on Capitol Hill continue to hold the federal government hostage, bowing to the demands of their leftist base.
Since Oct. 1, Senate Democrats have voted 12 times to thwart a budget extension that would reopen the government, demanding a $1.5 trillion ransom for their pet projects.
To keep their allies in line, George Soros-backed radicals staged a nationwide block party Saturday, protesting against a supposed “king.”
Their Hate America rallies had everything — a teacher mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination, overt references to murdering President Donald Trump, demands for ICE agents to be “shot and wiped out,” even a topless purple-haired woman brandishing a “Free Luigi, Jail Trump” sign.
While Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries scramble to placate their base, our air traffic controllers are now in their fourth week of paycheck anxiety.
If the Schumer-Jefferies shakedown continues past Tuesday, controllers will miss their full paychecks next week, after getting partial ones on Oct. 14.
As Transportation secretary, nothing is more abhorrent to me than messing with the livelihoods of these patriotic men and women — all for the sake of health care for illegal immigrants.
I’ve visited with controllers over the last few weeks at Newark Liberty and Baltimore International, and the stress this shakedown is putting on them is real.
They’re already working overtime, managing the most complex airspace in America with outdated, dilapidated equipment — and now Democrats are forcing them to worry whether they can pay their bills on time.
Many are furious: Why are legislators putting illegal immigrants’ needs before their own?
Others tell me they’re on the brink of taking on odd jobs — driving for Uber, delivering for DoorDash — just to make sure they can put food on the table.
Let me be clear: American air travel is safe, even as the government remains shut down.
The vast majority of our dedicated air traffic controllers continue to come to work six days a week, despite the uncertainty of their next paycheck.
While we’ve recently seen a slight increase in the number of controllers calling out sick, the Federal Aviation Administration will not permit planes to fly if the airspace is unsafe.
But the position Democrats are putting them is wrong, and it will exacerbate the challenges facing our airspace today.
More controller shortages will mean long airport lines, delayed flights, cancelled trips and increasing disruptions for the flying public.
Worse yet, the shakedown isn’t just hurting staffing today in our towers — it discourages the next generation of controllers from pursuing this critical but demanding career.
At our FAA Academy, I’m hearing of candidates who are hesitant to attend, worried that future government shutdowns will threaten pay stability once they begin their careers.
Additionally, some current students are reluctant to complete their training, knowing that if they’re assigned to a facility, they’ll have to begin work without pay.
The longer this limbo drags on, the less attractive this career path and compensation will appear to future recruits.
This threatens to destroy months of hard-fought progress we’ve made to erase a nationwide shortage of controllers.
The FAA was previously on track to hire 8,900 new controllers through 2028, and my agency exceeded its goal of 2,000 new recruits for the 2025 fiscal year, bringing 2,026 into the Academy.
That’s 20% higher than Pete Buttigieg’s total for the same period in 2024 — but every day the shakedown continues is another day of discouragement for the American patriots who we’ll need to keep our skies safe.
Schumer and Jefferies see no problem with any of this.
“Every day gets better for us,” the senator said weeks ago, as top Democrats pledged to keep the government closed until there are “planes falling out of the sky.”
Democratic Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland and Gavin Newsom of California even had the audacity to blame the president and me for the budget impasse — ignoring that their own party is the one rejecting the clean funding bill Republicans have already approved.
Here’s the bottom line: Our runway to fixing our skies and launching a golden age of air travel is being blocked by Congressional Democrats’ refusal to fund the government.
And more planes will be grounded as Democrats continue their reckless, risky taxpayer shakedown.
Sean P. Duffy is Secretary of Transportation.