US flight delays: Video of Kristi Neom blaming Democrats for government shutdown rolled out at airports

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President Donald Trump’s administration has commenced airing a video at airports nationwide, directly attributing blame to Democrats for the ongoing nine-day government shutdown, which has already led to considerable flight delays.

The shutdown has left approximately 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers working without pay, though they are still required to report for duty.

A partial paycheck for work completed before the shutdown is anticipated next week.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the video’s broadcast across US airports.

In the footage, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem states: “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.”

This comes as Democratic lawmakers have rejected a Republican bill offering temporary government funding, citing its failure to include provisions for subsidising health insurance for low-income Americans.

The video features Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying ‘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’ (AP)

Fox News originally reported that the video was being shown at airports.

There have been more than 20,000 flight delays in the US since Monday, including 4,600 on Thursday, with thousands tied to the FAA delaying flights because of air traffic controller absences.

Republican and Democratic leaders both blame the other side for the shutdown, which started October 1 after Congress failed to approve new spending legislation.

“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,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.

There have been more than 20,000 flight delays in the US since Monday, including 4,600 on Thursday, with thousands tied to the FAA delaying flights because of air traffic controller absences (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The TSA said wait times for airport security remain low, and that on Wednesday, it screened about 2.4 million people with an average wait time in standard screening of 6.28 minutes.

Many government agencies have posted banner messages on their websites blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending checkpoint wait times at some airports.

Authorities then were forced to slow air traffic in New York, which put pressure on lawmakers to quickly end the standoff.