House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries rebuffed calls from major U.S. airlines to get behind a clean continuing resolution and end the 30-day shutdown on Thursday.
Delta Air Lines called on Congress to “immediately pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government” and ensure air traffic controllers and TSA agents among other federal employees receive their paychecks. Though Delta and other air travel industry leaders did not mention either party by name, Republicans have consistently urged Democrats to support their clean continuing resolution to open the government.
Jeffries, however, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he would not get behind the bipartisan clean continuing resolution (CR) under consideration in the Senate, arguing the measure is a “partisan Republican spending bill.”
“Is it your suggestion that the partisan Republican spending bill that has now been voted down by the Senate 13 different times, that guts the health care of the American people is a so-called clean continuing resolution?” Jeffries told the DCNF.
When pressed about how the measure largely extends Biden-era spending levels, Jeffries accused Republicans leaders of being “stone cold, extremist liars.”
Legacy media outlets, however, have taken issue with Jeffries’ assertion that the House-passed spending bill is not a “clean” continuing resolution.
The New York Times notably issued a fact check on Democrats’ claim the Republicans’ proposal is not “clean,” stating that Jeffries has “misused budget jargon.”
“I appreciate people throughout corporate America urging the Congress to pass a bipartisan spending agreement,” Jeffries continued, referring to multiple airlines calling for the passage of a clean CR. “Over the last 30 days we’ve said the same thing. Over and over and over again, we’ll sit down with Republicans any time, any place, anywhere, in order to reopen the government and enact a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people.”
Jeffries and nearly all House Democrats voted against the clean spending bill favored by Republicans in mid-September. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the majority of the Democrat caucus have similarly rejected that measure 13 times. Just three members of Schumer’s caucus have crossed party lines to support the clean CR.
Airline executives have begun to sound the alarm on the shutdown’s impacts on air travel as the government funding lapse reaches its 30th day with no resolution in sight.
Scott Kirby, chief executive officer of United Airlines, joined Vice President JD Vance and other airline executives at a press conference Thursday where he called for Congress to pass a clean CR because the shutdown is “putting stress on the economy.”
“It is time to pass a clean CR. Use that as the opportunity to get into a room behind closed doors and negotiate hard on real substantive issues that the American people want our politicians on both sides of the aisle to solve,” Kirby said Thursday. “Let’s get a clean CR and get that negotiation done behind closed doors without putting the American workers and the American economy at risk.”
Delta Air Lines cast their call for an open government as well, issuing a statement on Thursday imploring Congress to pay workers for doing their jobs.
“Delta Air Lines implores Congress to immediately pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government so that our air traffic controllers, TSA and CBP officers charged with the safety and efficiency of our national airspace can collect the paychecks they deserve,” the airline’s statement said. “A system under stress must be slowed down, reducing efficiency and causing delays for the millions of people who take to the skies every day.”
Multiple public sector unions have also joined in on calling Democrats to pass the clean CR and reopen the government. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents over 1.3 million workers, urged the Senate to agree to the House-passed CR before the shutdown began on Oct. 1
“American workers are not bargaining chips,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien posted on social media. “Senators should stop screwing around and pass the House-passed clean, short term funding bill.”
O’Brien, also speaking alongside Vance and Kirby outside the White House on Thursday, told reporters, “We got to think about the families that are going to be affected.”
“Think about when you have to tell your son or daughter they can’t play sports because you’re not getting paid. Think about when you can’t pay your mortgage. Think about when you can’t pay your tuition,” O’Brien said. “Put the politics aside, get to the table, negotiate a deal, pass a clean CR right now and then figure out the problems moving forward.”
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the country’s largest federal workers’ union that oversees over 800,000 members and longtime Democratic Party ally, pushed Democrats to vote for a clean continuing resolution on Tuesday.
“A strong America requires a functioning government – one that pays its bills, honors its commitments, and treats its workforce with respect by paying them on time,” AFGE National President Everett Kelly said in a statement. “The path forward for Congress is clear: Reopen the government immediately under a clean continuing resolution that allows continued debate on larger issues.”
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