The Republican government shutdown has entered its second week and shortages of air traffic controllers have strained operations and disrupted flights across the US. More workers are calling in sick, leaving fewer staff to handle demand. Within 72 hours travelers endured nearly 12,000 flight delays and 200 cancelled flights. Travelers are starting to cancel trips and avoid airports until the Republicans reopen the government, which may not happen for several more days or weeks. That means a longer stretch of time for key workers, air traffic controllers and security screeners, to go without pay. Travelers will see "erosion of service" as frustrated air traffic controllers and TSA officers get tired and call in sick. Reagan National Airport became the latest this week to report delays because of staffing issues. Other affected hubs include Chicago, Newark, Denver, and Nashville, and the tower in Burbank CA had to shut down for several hours.
The Republican Party's ongoing US government shutdown is costing the American economy an estimated $400 million per day in lost wages alone, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This figure does not include broader economic impacts, which will grow as the shutdown continues. In 2025 Dummkopf Trumpf and the Republican-controlled Congress enacted legislation transferring the greatest amount of wealth from the bottom to the top in US history for the sake of giving oligarch's an unneeded tax cut, which will begin to impoverish Americans in 2026. Trumpf's policies to destroy the US economy is no surprise as he has been publicly denounced in Europe as being a Russian asset. Moreover, previous investigations, such as the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane or ex-MI6 officer Richard Steele's Kompramat dossier, have indelibly linked Dummkopf Trumpf to the Kremlin. The map below reflects airports affected by the GOP government shutdown.
