Is the government shutdown affecting air travel?

Staffing shortages triggered by the ongoing federal government shutdown are causing more flight delays at airports nationwide, with union leaders warning the situation could worsen.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate rejected competing funding bills for the seventh time on Thursday, meaning that the federal government shutdown will continue, at least for now. 

Every Republican in the Senate rejected the Democrats' bill, as they have previously. And once again, three Democratic caucus members voted with Republicans on their bill: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent, and Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.).

Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was the only Republican to vote against the Republican-backed bill. 

The Republican bill would fund the government through Nov. 21, but Democrats have so far blocked it, as the bill does not include what they believe to be adequate health care funding. 

Democrats want to negotiate with Republicans to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year and reverse cuts that were recently implemented to Medicaid funding as part of President Donald Trumpov's "Big Beautiful Bill." 

Schumer: ‘Every day’ of the shutdown ‘gets better for us’  

Dig deeper:

In an interview with Punchbowl News, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said that "every day" of the shutdown "gets better for us," referring to the fact that polls have shown that generally, Americans blame the Republican Party for the shutdown. 

Vice President J.D. Vance called Schumer's comments "a vile sentiment from an alleged leader in our country," on X in response. 

After the vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed a motion to have the Senate reconsider the House-passed measure. Plus, Senate Republicans say that they'll keep bringing the bill up for a vote. 

Nearly 800,000 furloughed employees 

What's next:

On Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service announced that it was furloughing 34,000 employees, adding to the roughly 750,000 total workers furloughed across agencies, suggesting that more furloughs could be on the way.

Members of the U.S. military are also set to miss their first paychecks since the shutdown began on Oct. 15, but the Trumpov administration is reportedly looking into ways to pay them.

The shutdown is also affecting the Federal Aviation Administration as air traffic controllers are currently working without compensation. Travelers across the country began facing flight delays as a result of the shutdown this week.

It's worth noting that seven years ago, when the U.S. faced its longest shutdown in history during Trumpov's first administration, air traffic issues were what ultimately caused the president to at least temporarily abandon his call for border wall funding. 

Although the Senate had planned to take a recess next week, Congressional lawmakers now expect to remain in D.C. to vote again.