Business groups, organized labor, and representatives of the airline industry all urged Senate Democrats on Thursday to abandon their filibuster and allow a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) to pass the U.S. Senate and reopen the federal government.
But New Hampshire Democrats remained united in their support for the shutdown and their demand that Republicans support unrelated legislation funding Obamacare subsidies before they will let federal funds flow again.
Five major unions, including the largest representing federal workers, are calling on Democrats to abandon their filibuster and allow a clean CR to pass the Senate.
On Thursday, they were joined by a coalition of business associations ranging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the National Association of Home Builders, which released a statement making the same request.
“We urge Congress to swiftly pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the federal government. Immediately reopening the government would avert further economic disruption and give Congress and the administration time to negotiate a longer-term funding package and address other pressing issues.”
And in perhaps the most concerning conversation a month into the shutdown, representatives of America’s airline industry joined the call to pass the clean CR and warned that safety could be eroded if the shutdown continues.
“Every day that they go to work, they have not only the weight of one of the highest-consequence jobs in the entire world. Now they’re feeling, how do I pay for my gas? How do I put food on the table?” Nick Daniels, head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in a video message released by the White House on Thursday.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu made a similar point on Jack Heath’s radio show Thursday morning. Sununu, who now heads Airlines for America, appeared in the same White House video alongside the heads of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association, and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien.
On Heath’s program, Sununu expressed frustration over the disconnect between politics and the people who work to make America’s air travel safe.
“I don’t care what party you’re from, but anyone who’s going against opening the government right now, knowing the risk to the [air traffic control] system,” Sununu said. “You’ve got to keep the system running. You can’t shut the whole system down. It’s frustrating.”
An estimated 64,000 TSA employees and 13,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay during the shutdown. Sununu noted that many TSA workers — who missed their first full paycheck on Oct. 24 — are middle-class Americans who need to get paid.
“They can only defer their paychecks for so long. They’re earning maybe $50,000 a year,” Sununu said. “They’re living paycheck to paycheck. So the message is just really clear: this is daunting.”
Air traffic controllers missed their first paycheck on Tuesday. They would miss a second paycheck in November if the shutdown continues.
Sununu was also at the White House on Thursday with representatives of the airline industry and O’Brien. He said it was time for Democrats to “pass a clean CR” and “not put working people in the middle of a problem.”
Granite State Democrats are unmoved. Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen — who have voted 13 times to uphold the filibuster keeping the government closed — continue to say Republicans must commit to billions of dollars in Obamacare subsidies before they will let a funding bill move forward.
Rep. Chris Pappas, who hopes to replace the outgoing Shaheen, agrees, as does Rep. Maggie Goodlander.
Polls show Americans increasingly see Democrats as the party most responsible for the shutdown — a reversal of the political template of the past 20 years.
And Democratic analysis shows the divide between blue-collar union workers and their party continues to grow. As an Axios headline put it, “Democrats’ rift with unions erupts as shutdown pain worsens.”
None of the members of New Hampshire’s federal delegation responded to NHJournal questions about their message to federal workers or union members regarding the impact of the Democrats’ filibuster.
“Every single day we move over 45,000 aircraft [and] three million passengers,” Daniels said. “We move tons of cargo that keeps America running — protecting the National Airspace System and, even more importantly, people’s lives.”
