Budget paralysis | The glimmer of hope of an unblocking in the Senate

(Washington) Disruptions to American air traffic worsened with more than 2,000 flights canceled on Sunday, a direct consequence of a budgetary paralysis which could soon be resolved after 40 days of blockage.

For the first time in weeks, the activity of the Senate seems to indicate a breakthrough in negotiations between Republicans and Democrats to find a way out of what is already the longest “shutdown” in the history of the country.

This prospect of a resolution comes as the chaos at the airports has become the main focus of the political battle over the budget, with each party seeking to blame the other for the troubles experienced by travelers across the country.

More than 2,200 flights were canceled on Sunday in the United States, a much higher figure than on Saturday, according to the specialist site Flightaware. International journeys are essentially spared.

Since Friday, the American aviation regulator, the FAA, has been asking companies to gradually reduce their domestic flight schedule, as a major crossover approaches in the country.

“Air traffic will be reduced to nothing while everyone wants to travel to see their family” on the occasion of the traditional Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November, warned Transport Secretary Sean Duffy on Fox News.

“You’re going to see fewer air traffic controllers coming to work, which means there’s only going to be a handful of flights taking off and landing,” he added.

“Big disruptions”

The gradual reduction in traffic should reach 10% of canceled flights next Friday, compared to around 4% today, said Donald Trump’s secretary. “It’s going to be a big disruption, and Americans are going to be upset about it. »

“Thank a Democrat,” launched one of the official White House accounts on X, accusing the opposition of being responsible for the blockage.

Since the beginning of October, the American government has been in a situation of budgetary paralysis. Hundreds of thousands of federal civil servants work without pay, including air traffic controllers.

Some of them “will be faced with the idea (…) of finding an extra job to make ends meet”, regretted the Secretary of Transport on CNN.

But, for the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, the instructions to cancel flights are “a political trick” which has “nothing to do with security”.

Rare progress in Congress

For weeks, pressure has been mounting on parliamentarians to agree on a way out of the crisis – a pressure which seemed on the way to leading to initial progress on Sunday.

An agreement “is coming closer,” the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, John Thune, told the American press.

“After 40 days (of blockage), the Senate is showing real signs of progress,” also explained on »

“This is the most important step towards compromise in weeks,” he added.

The Senate could vote as early as Sunday evening.

But approval, not acquired at this stage, does not guarantee the end of the budgetary impasse, because the text would then have to pass to the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority is very thin.

The budget shutdown also disrupts the federal food assistance program that supports 42 million Americans – one in eight – each month. Its non-payment due to the “shutdown” is the subject of legal proceedings but, in the meantime, thousands of beneficiaries are plunged into uncertainty.