The scenes at our airports should shame Washington: flights are being canceled and delayed across the country as the government shutdown grinds on, leaving families stranded and schedules ruined. Essential air traffic controllers and TSA officers have been ordered to work without pay while politicians trade blame on Capitol Hill. This is not a minor inconvenience — it is a predictable consequence of a government that refuses to do its basic job of funding operations.
The Federal Aviation Administration has already moved to trim traffic at major hubs and asked airlines to cut schedules to preserve safety, with some airports seeing delays soar and cancellations piling up. Airlines are scrambling to reschedule passengers while travelers face gate holds, missed connections, and long lines at security. The American people pay for a federal government that is supposed to keep air travel safe and reliable, not create chaos through petty political standoffs.
Air traffic controller absenteeism has spiked as unpaid workers make the painful choice to miss shifts or pick up private work to feed their families, and the FAA has warned that staff shortages could force larger slowdowns. Reports show significant shortfalls at key airports, and Transportation officials have been forced to consider reducing traffic in the busiest markets to avoid risking safety. The optics are damning: the people who keep our skies safe are doing their duty while Congress punts responsibility.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate have refused repeated clean funding measures that would reopen government, preferring political theater over pragmatic solutions that would restore paychecks and services. Republicans have repeatedly offered continuing resolutions to reopen government, only to be blocked time and again by procedural votes and partisan maneuvering. If those who control the levers of power truly cared about working families, the doors of the Capitol would not stay shut while airports and schools bear the cost.
Worse still, millions of Americans who rely on SNAP food benefits are now caught in the crossfire, with courts ordering the administration to release funds amid legal fights and threats to suspend payments. Judges have stepped in because the political logic of the moment cannot be allowed to starve families for leverage; this is what happens when governance collapses into brinkmanship. The images of parents and children worried about their next meal should be the final irony of a shutdown driven by politicians who put power plays ahead of people.
Conservatives believe in accountable government, secure borders, and a strong economy that works for working Americans — none of which are advanced by dragging the nation into paralysis. Republican leaders have proposed pragmatic fixes and warned that piecemeal politics will only deepen the pain, yet the circus on the Hill continues while ordinary citizens suffer. It’s past time for both parties to stop manufacturing crises for headlines and instead reopen the government, pay our essential workers, and protect American families from needless chaos.
