US Government Shutdown Enters Record 36th Day: Impacts on Air Travel, Federal Workers, and Economic Stability

Air traffic controllers working without compensation are reporting absent at increasing rates.

The United States government has reached an unprecedented level of dysfunction as Congress has allowed a federal shutdown to extend into its 36th day - marking the longest in history - amid deadlock over healthcare priorities and spending allocations.

As the impasse continues, economic consequences are intensifying.

Budget arrangements to compensate active-duty military personnel and partially fund food assistance programs will likely be depleted before November ends. Air traffic controllers working unpaid are increasingly calling out sick as one of the year's busiest travel seasons approaches.

Additionally, policymakers may be operating with incomplete or inaccurate data for months to come after the Labor Department ceased collecting vital information on employment statistics and consumer prices.

Economists indicate the shutdown is creating lasting damage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the shutdown could reduce fourth-quarter growth by up to 2 percentage points if it persists for eight weeks, followed by a temporary recovery early next year. Nevertheless, the economy would suffer billions in lost output.

Approximately 600,000 federal employees are currently working without compensation, another 650,000 are furloughed, and unemployment could increase by 0.4 percentage points if all furloughed workers are counted as temporary layoffs.

The shutdown reaches its record-breaking milestone shortly after Democrats secured electoral victories in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races and the New York City mayoral contest. Trump partially attributed Republican losses to the ongoing congressional stalemate.

The shutdown has persisted so long that it's now approaching two weeks beyond the expiration date of the House-passed bill that would have maintained government funding through November 21. This means even if lawmakers quickly negotiate an end to the shutdown - which remains unlikely - Congress would immediately face another funding lapse threat.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged Monday that the November 21 date "is going to have to change" in any new legislation reopening the government to prevent another imminent shutdown.

Government functions that most Americans can tolerate losing briefly become increasingly critical when unavailable for over a month.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the shutdown has disabled the agency's FluView dashboard, which monitors weekly flu, Covid and RSV data, and halted publication of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, an essential resource for epidemiologists worldwide. This interruption coincides with the beginning of respiratory illness season.

Approximately 85% of employees in the Education Department's Office of Federal Student Aid have been furloughed, potentially delaying FAFSA applications during peak college application season.

Businesses and individuals who filed extended-deadline tax returns in October will likely experience delays receiving refunds.

Other regulatory applications for new products - ranging from prescription medications to seasonal holiday beverages - are also suspended.

Mounting flight delays helped pressure Congress to end the 35-day shutdown in January 2019. That shutdown - resulting from disagreement over Trump's request for border wall funding - now ranks as the second-longest in history.

This pattern has begun repeating as unpaid air traffic controllers take unscheduled absences, causing staffing shortages that prompt the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce arrivals and departures.

Late last week was particularly problematic, with major US airports from Boston to Texas experiencing difficulties. Approximately 7,300 flights were delayed and 1,200 canceled that day, according to FlightAware, with disruptions extending into Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated Monday he would "shut the whole airspace down" if flying became unsafe, though he indicated the US "isn't there yet."

The Sunday following Thanksgiving - which falls on November 30 this year - historically represents the busiest travel day for American airports.

President Trump's administration informed a federal judge Monday it will comply with an order to restore half of November's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, utilizing the $4.65 billion remaining in its contingency fund. This will cover only about half of normal monthly food stamp payments for 42 million Americans.

Agriculture officials warned that recalculating partial payments could require "anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months." Two judges, in Rhode Island and Boston, determined that completely suspending the program likely violated federal law.

Public opinion largely mirrors previous impasses: 45% of voters blame Republicans for the shutdown while 33% blame Democrats, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll - a smaller gap than in 2019 but consistent with historical patterns.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated Democrats remain unified in demanding complete government reopening. "Our position as Democrats remains the same - and will continue to be our position," he told reporters Monday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson countered that Republicans have voted over a dozen times to fund the government, while Democrats have blocked each attempt in the Senate. "It's the most extreme example of gaslighting in the history of American politics," he said.

With both sides entrenched, resolving the stalemate may require external pressure from voters or extraordinary procedural intervention.

Trump has renewed calls for Senate Republicans to employ the "nuclear option" - eliminating the long-standing filibuster - to pass funding legislation. Thune rejected this suggestion, saying "the votes aren't there" even among Republicans.

Democratic New Jersey Senator Andy Kim suggested the beginning of open enrollment for subsidized health plans could generate necessary pressure if senators hear constituent anger over increased costs.

Tuesday's elections, which elevated Democrats Abigail Spanberger to Virginia's governorship and Mikie Sherrill to lead New Jersey, may also influence the situation. Zohran Mamdani - whom Trump has called a "lunatic" - won the New York City mayoral race. These contests were viewed as previews of each party's messaging ahead of 2026 midterm congressional elections.

Democrats - after losing to Trump a year ago - found success focusing on affordability, a message reflected in their shutdown demands: lower healthcare costs in exchange for supporting government reopening.

Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Tuesday's Republican losses, blaming both the shutdown and his absence from ballots for the defeats.

The president is scheduled to meet with Republican senators at the White House Wednesday morning.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)