Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and other major airports around the country have suffered delays in recent days due to the Democrats’ shutdown of the federal government, which has lasted nearly four weeks.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the shutdown in Washington, DC, caused a brief ground stop at LAX:
Nearly four weeks into the federal government shutdown, a staffing shortage at Los Angeles International Airport prompted a temporary ground stop Sunday morning affecting flights at the West Coast’s largest and busiest airport.
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The stoppage affected most of Southern California, leaving passengers experiencing flight delays of around 49 minutes, with some waiting up to 87 minutes, according to KTLA.
Other cities experienced similar delays. The Hill reported:
[Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy] said 22 air traffic controller staffing triggers occurred at airports across the country Saturday, the highest number to date during the shutdown. Air traffic controllers are working without pay during the funding lapse.
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Staffing shortages of air traffic controllers also caused delayed at Newark Liberty International Airport and Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Meyers, according to the FAA.
The FAA said it slowed traffic to Reagan Washington National Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport, as well, as a result of staffing delays.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who has feuded with Duffy over the issue of driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, wasted no time blaming the Trump administration for the shutdown and the airport delays:
Though Democrats have attempted to blame Republicans for the shutdown, the Republican-led House has passed a stopgap spending measure to keep the government open. Senate Democrats, though in the minority, have the ability to block bills through the use of the filibuster, and have therefore shut down the government.
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal government workers, made clear that the union held Democrats responsible for the shutdown, and urged them to pass the Republican stopgap measure to reopen the government and return services to full strength.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
