FAA furloughs thousands amid congressional funding stalemate
The Federal Aviation Administration, the arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation responsible for air passenger safety, furloughed about 4,000 of its workers on Saturday after Congress failed to reauthorize the agency’s funding.
This must be the most nonsensical, out-of-touch inaction of the current Congress. I am at a loss for words to describe how utterly stupid it is for Congress to hold up funding on a crucial agency. By the way: The SEC is still operating on continuing resolutions, as well IIRC. Thanks, GOP. Remind me again why I should cast my votes for a know-nothing, do-nothing party.
As a result, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned the partial shutdown would immediately filter into the private sector, including the hard-hit construction industry, by bringing about $600 million in airport improvement projects around the country to a standstill.