Republicans are warning that Americans could face delayed and canceled flights if Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats do not agree to the GOP's government funding plan. (Mario Tama/Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Duffy said that many air traffic controllers are already working under difficult conditions, noting they would get even worse if the shutdown persists.
"If you have a controller that's working six days a week but has to think about, 'How am I going to pay the mortgage, how am I to make the car payment, how am I going to put food on my kid's table?' They have to make choices, and the choice they're making is to take a second job," he said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., noted that roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers will work without pay the longer the shutdown goes on.
"There were 19,000 delayed flights from Saturday to Monday and an additional 1,600 canceled flights during that same period. That number is only going to increase as the Democrat shutdown continues," Johnson said.
"We are rounding into a holiday season, as we all know, and we're in the middle of the height of the football season. This is peak travel time for the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are going to travel to football games this weekend, for example."
U.S. travelers could soon start to feel the pain of the ongoing government shutdown, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Thursday. (Denver International Airport)
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"I do think, in the Democrat senators' hearts, they want to vote to open the government up. They don't want to hurt the American people. But we've seen they have a radical base," Duffy said. "This is because Democrats are concerned about their own hide, and they've sold the country to the most radical element of their country. And I think that's really shameful. It's too bad."
The government shutdown shows no signs of ending for now as Democrats and Republicans remain in disagreement over federal funding.
Senate Democrats, who are demanding any funding bill be paired with healthcare concessions from the GOP, have rejected Republicans' plan — an extension of current federal funding levels through Nov. 21 — 12 times.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/americans-could-face-airport-chaos-dems-dont-end-shutdown-trump-official-warns