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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey due to staffing shortages of air traffic controllers as the government shutdown continues, according to multiple reports. Erik Wasson, a reporter for Bloomberg News, revealed in a post on X that the FAA had issued a “GROUND STOP AT NEWARK AIRPORT CITING STAFFING ISSUES.” The FAA’s “ground stop was updated to a ground delay shortly after, with an average delay time of 40 minutes,” according to Business Insider. The FAA’s advisory, which was issued a little after 3:30 p.m. ET, explained that the ground delay would last until roughly 10:59 p.m., according to the Daily Mail. Breitbart News has reported that the FAA also halted flights to locations such Los Angeles, California, due to staffing issues related to air traffic controllers, who have not been paid during the shutdown — which is now in its 29th day. In response to the FAA halting flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed out that President Donald Trump was continuing “to call on Democrats to vote” on the clean continuing resolution (CR). “This is horrible and totally unnecessary,” Leavitt wrote in her post. “President Trump continues to call on Democrats to vote for the clean CR to OPEN the government.” During an interview on Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy spoke about how “more controllers were calling in sick” as they dealt with stress and worries about not receiving their paychecks during the shutdown, ABC News reported. “Just yesterday,… we had 22 triggers,” Duffy explained. “That’s one of the highest that we have seen in the system since the shutdown began. And that’s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin.” The halt of flights at Newark Liberty International Airport comes after Senate Democrats voted against a CR that would reopen the government — for the 13th time. Though Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), and Sen. Angus King (I-ME) voted for the CR, it needs “60 votes to advance,” according to the Hill.
