【By Observer Net, Qi Qian】

The U.S. federal government has been "shut down" for the second week, and the two parties in Congress have yet to reach an agreement on a temporary funding bill. Due to a large number of staff being forced to "take leave", there are widespread flight delays at airports across the United States.

Facing complaints from travelers across the country, the Trump administration decided to "do something" and "blame the Democrats".

According to reports by Fox News and Reuters, on October 9 local time, the Trump administration began playing videos blaming Democrats in airports nationwide, accusing them of being responsible for the government shutdown that has lasted over a week.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the video has begun to be played in airports across the country.

In the video, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said: "Democrats in Congress have refused to fund the federal government, so many of our operations have been affected, and most Transportation Security Administration employees are working without pay."

Video screenshot

Due to the failure of bipartisan senators in the Senate to pass a temporary funding bill, the U.S. government shut down again at midnight local time on October 1.

Since the 1970s, the U.S. federal government has experienced more than 20 shutdowns due to budgetary interruptions caused by policy differences between the two parties, with most lasting only a few days. The most recent and longest shutdown occurred during Trump's first presidential term.

On the evening of October 8, the Democratic senators in the Senate rejected a bill aimed at ending the federal government shutdown for the sixth time. At present, the U.S. federal government has been closed for the second week, and there is little progress in finding a solution.

The two parties blame each other for the stalemate. The White House and Republicans accuse Democratic lawmakers of wanting to provide free medical care for illegal immigrants in the U.S., but Democrats deny this and condemn Republicans for refusing to communicate and negotiate. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said: "Republicans daily refuse to negotiate to end the 'shutdown'. The worse the situation for Americans becomes, the clearer it becomes who is fighting for them."

On October 8, President Trump answered reporters' questions at the White House, referring to the airport delays as "Democratic delays".

Twitter screenshot

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the government shutdown will result in approximately 750,000 federal employees being forced to take leave, including airport staff. Reuters mentioned that during the government shutdown, about 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officials must still work, but their salaries are not paid or guaranteed.

According to reports, since Monday (6th), due to the absence of air traffic controllers, there have been more than 20,000 flight delays across the country, with as many as 4,600 on the 9th alone. In addition, due to the absence of security personnel, the waiting time for airport security checks has also increased.

The U.S. Newsweek reported that the staffing at some regional airports has decreased by 50% since the government shutdown. Because of unpaid wages, some people have chosen to take sick leave during this period.

On the evening of October 8, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN that he encouraged air traffic controllers to continue working. He said that in the past nine months, 5% of aviation delays were due to personnel shortages, but now this figure has risen to 53%.

On September 9, Duffy was interviewed by Fox News and praised those air traffic controllers who did not receive their pay but still came to work every day, saying that they accounted for 90% to 95%. He also warned: "Only a small number of people do not come to work, but their actions can cause great chaos... If our employees do not meet our requirements and are not dedicated, we will fire them. I cannot tolerate absenteeism."

Responding to this, a spokesperson for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said that the organization has established procedures and processes for handling "improper use of sick leave".

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7559464402450268687/

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