The U.S. government shutdown continues to negatively impact travel as it moves into its second week, with both Republicans and Democrats continuing to point fingers at one another across the aisle.
Now, a new video from the Trump administration being aired at airports across the U.S. shows Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the ongoing work stoppage that continues to impact travel, mainly flights, as a result of air traffic controllers and TSA officers being forced to work without pay.
"Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay," Noem states in the video.
According to Reuters, approximately 13,000 air traffic controllers and some 50,000 TSA officers are being required to work without pay amid the shutdown.
Both sides have dug in since the shutdown began at the start of October, with Republicans blaming Democrats for refusing to vote on a stopgap effort because it fails to include funds to subsidize health insurance for low-income Americans.
Meanwhile, Democrats have fired back, accusing their political rivals of refusing to work to come to a compromise. The battle has expectedly gotten contentious in recent days, with both sides looking to remain unified. However, a notable shift saw Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene blame her own party for lacking a plan on healthcare and thus delaying an agreement.
"Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans, and the clearer it becomes who’s fighting for them," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
According to TSA, agents screened about 2.4 million people nationwide as recently as Wednesday, with travelers with standard screening facing an average wait time of just over 6 minutes. The bigger issue of late has been the tens of thousands of flight delays and disruptions at airports nationwide.
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