(AFP) – US President Donald Trump accused “kamikaze” Democrats of being prepared to destroy the country as the government shutdown became the longest in history on Wednesday, eclipsing the 35-day record set during the Republican leader’s first term. Federal agencies have been grinding to a halt since Congress failed to approve funding past September 30, and the pain has been mounting as welfare programs — including aid that helps millions of Americans afford groceries — hang in the balance.
Some 1.4 million federal workers, from air traffic controllers to park wardens, remain on enforced leave or are working without pay. Some courts are using emergency funds to stay open, warning that operations could slow if the shutdown drags on. “I just got back from Japan,” the 79-year-old president told a breakfast meeting with Republican senators at the White House as the shutdown entered its sixth week. “I talked about the kamikaze pilots. I think these guys are kamikaze,” he said, referencing Democrats. “They’ll take down the country if they have to.”
Before the shutdown record toppled at midnight, the Trump administration sounded the alarm over turmoil at airports nationwide if the crisis drags further into November, with worsening staff shortages snarling flights and closing down sections of airspace. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told a news conference Wednesday that the scheduled capacity for flights was being cut by 10 percent starting Friday in 40 busy air traffic areas.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) says 5.3 million passengers flew domestically over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2023, and gave a projected figure of 5.7 million for last year’s holiday, which it is due to update later this month. More than 60,000 air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are working without pay, and the White House has warned that increased absenteeism could mean chaos at check-in lines. Airport workers calling in sick rather than working without pay — leading to significant delays — was a major factor in Trump bringing an end to the 2019 shutdown.
Both Democrats and Republicans remain unwavering, however, over the main sticking point in the current stoppage — health care spending. Democrats say they will only provide votes to end the funding lapse after a deal has been struck to extend expiring insurance subsidies that make health care affordable for millions of Americans. But Republicans insist they will only address health care once Democrats have voted to switch the lights back on in Washington.
While both sides’ leadership have shown little appetite for compromise, there have been signs of life on the back benches, with a handful of moderate Democrats working to find an escape hatch. A separate bipartisan group of four centrist House members unveiled a compromise framework Monday for lowering health insurance costs. Democrats believe that millions of Americans seeing skyrocketing premiums as they enroll in health insurance programs for next year will pressure Republicans into seeking compromise.
But Trump has held firm on refusing to negotiate, telling CBS News in an interview broadcast Sunday that he would “not be extorted.” The president has sought to apply his own pressure to force Democrats to cave by threatening mass layoffs of federal workers and using the shutdown to target progressive priorities. Trump on Tuesday repeated his administration’s threat to cut off a vital aid program that helps 42 million Americans pay for groceries for the first time in its more than 60-year history, even though the move was blocked by two courts. The White House later clarified, however, that it was “fully complying” with its legal obligations and was working to get partial SNAP payments “out the door as much as we can and as quickly as we can.”
– Frankie TAGGART
© 2024 AFP
