On the 4th, the United States Senate once again failed to pass the federal government's temporary funding bill. The duration of the federal government's "shutdown" since October 1 has now tied the record of 35 days set from late 2018 to early 2019. On the same day, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that if the "shutdown" continued for another week, "some airspace may be forced to close.".
The longest "shutdown" in American history
On the 4th, local time, the US Senate made its 14th attempt to advance a temporary funding bill that had been passed by the House of Representatives to maintain the normal operation of the federal government. However, the relevant procedural vote failed to secure the 60 votes required to proceed with the bill. This resulted in the continuation of the fiscal deadlock that triggered the government shutdown, and the record for the length of the shutdown will be updated starting from 0:00 Eastern Time on November 5th.
The main dispute between the Democratic and Republican parties over the temporary funding bill revolves around healthcare benefits spending. The open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the United States for the year 2026 began on November 1st. Due to the failure of the two parties to reach an agreement on relevant government subsidies, insurance companies have announced a significant increase in annual premiums. On the 4th, Senate Democratic leader Schumer posted on social media, stating that Republicans should be held accountable for the soaring healthcare prices next year, and that "4 million Americans will completely lose their healthcare insurance.".
U.S. President Trump continued to blame the "shutdown" on the Democrats. On the 3rd, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, stated that it would use a $4.65 billion emergency fund to distribute some food relief funds for the program in November. However, on the 4th, Trump posted on social media that these tens of millions of low-income people urgently needed relief funds "can only be distributed after radical left-wing Democrats open the government.".
The current government shutdown has severely impacted various aspects of American people's livelihood, including food relief, preschool education, air transportation, and medical care.
Transportation Minister: "A massive chaos" is imminent
Currently, the government's "shutdown" order, which is about to break the record for duration, has further strained the already short-staffed air traffic control department, causing flight delays that have affected various parts of the United States. On the 4th, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that if the "shutdown" continued for another week, some airspace might be forced to be closed. Several airline stocks fell on the same day.
According to Duffy, the longer the government shutdown lasts, the greater the economic pressure faced by furloughed workers, and the situation will only deteriorate further. Employees of the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States missed a paycheck on October 28, with the next payday being November 11. "Many controllers are saying, 'Many of us can survive one furlough... but no one can survive two.'"
Tamiflu warned that if the "shutdown" continued until next week, "you would see massive chaos, with numerous flight delays and cancellations, and we might even have to close some airspace - because without enough air traffic controllers, we simply cannot maintain operations."
Duffy did not provide more details about the closure of airspace. Industry experts believe that since the air traffic control system is an intertwined network, even partial closure of airspace will have nationwide consequences.
According to Reuters, after the comments related to Tamiflu were made, the stock prices of Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines fell by 3% to 5% at the close.