“Democratic support for a potential deal to reopen the government has crumbled because of deep mistrust among Senate Democrats over whether they can trust President Trump to act in good faith to extend health insurance subsidies or to stop firing federal workers,” NewsNation reports.
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“A growing number of Senate Republicans are indicating they’re open to a deal on extending the Affordable Care Act premium subsidies,” Axios reports.
“A clear path forward on the ACA issue would solve one corner of the Senate’s puzzle to end the government shutdown. But reforms will be needed. There’s very little appetite for a straight extension.”
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Shutdown forcing airport capacity cuts
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters on Tuesday the air travel system will experience “mass chaos” if the shutdown doesn’t end by Nov. 11, featuring flight delays, cancellations and the possible closing of certain parts of the U.S. airspace. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the next day that the agency would reduce flights by 10 percent at 40 “high-volume markets” throughout the country to ensure safety.
The rollbacks come as the agency faces staffing shortages amid the lapse in government funding. Air traffic controllers have been working without pay for more than a month since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, and many have been required to work six days per week as part of mandatory overtime.
Absences have increased over these past weeks, causing disruptions to the country’s air travel system. Staffing issues plagued air-traffic controllers long before the shutdown began.
“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating,” Bedford said at a press conference Wednesday.
A preliminary list of airports included in the reduction features almost every major air travel hub, from New York City to Washington, D.C., to Chicago to Los Angeles.
A source briefed on the matter told NewsNation that the reductions will start at 4 percent on Friday before increasing to 10 percent. They said this is the “preliminary understanding,” but the aviation industry is waiting for the final word.
The Associated Press reported that up to 1,800 flights and 268,000 seats could be affected.
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Johnson refuses to promise House vote on extending ObamaCare subsidies
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Thursday he would not offer Democrats a House vote on extending expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies as part of a deal to end the government shutdown.
Asked at a press conference if he could assure Democrats in the House that they would get a vote on extending the subsidies, Johnson said, “No, because we did our job, and I’m not part of the negotiation.”
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Desperate airlines plead with Congress to end shutdown
Major airlines, industry trade associations and labor unions have been calling for an end to the shutdown for weeks, pushing senators to pass a clean continuing resolution already approved by the House to open the government. And top airline CEOs have been working the phones since the shutdown began, Sununu said, leaning on personal relationships with lawmakers from their states to advocate for a resolution.
“The healthcare fight’s important,” he said, referring to Democratic demands to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. “But that’s not the fight of keeping the government open, that’s completely separate.”
Air traffic controllers, TSA agents and other essential federal employees have been working without pay for more than a month, leading to concerns that aviation safety could be compromised as labor shortages increase and the Thanksgiving travel rush approaches.
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Freshman Senate Dems and House Republicans to huddle on bipartisan ACA plan
Two Senate Democrats and two House Republicans are planning to huddle Friday over a possible bipartisan plan to extend soon-to-expire Obamacare subsidies, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Centrist Senate Democrats are working feverishly to hammer out an ACA framework in more detail to give Democrats an off-ramp to vote to reopen the government.
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