Travelers wait in line at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in Dallas, Texas. The White House on Monday blamed Democrats for the disruptions at U.S. airports amid the government shutdown. (Getty Images)
The White House said Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint wait times ballooned over the weekend as essential workers like air traffic controllers and TSA agents were forced to work without pay.
Checkpoint wait times exceeded three hours at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, with some passengers enduring up to five hours in line, the White House said. At nearby William P. Hobby Airport, security wait times routinely exceeded one hour.
Passengers in the New York City area were warned of schedule changes, gate holds, and missed connections, while major disruptions hammered airports in Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Austin, Cleveland, Seattle, Boston, Indianapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C., the administration said.
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A screen displays a delayed United Airlines flight at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
"There’s a reason every major travel stakeholder — from air traffic controllers to pilots to the nation’s largest airlines — is begging Democrats to stop the insanity by passing Republicans’ clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution," the White House said. "Each week the Democrat Shutdown is prolonged, more than $1 billion in travel-related spending is lost, all while Democrats try to leverage the suffering in their demented political game."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Democratic Party.
In addition to the disruptions at America’s airports, funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), meant to be a lifeline for low-income households, was set to expire over the weekend.
"Not a single American should go hungry. Not a single American. And it's the fault of Republicans that that is happening in this country right now," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Monday.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said Sunday in an interview that he "won’t be extorted" by Democrats who are demanding negotiations to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year for millions of Americans.
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Trump said he will only negotiate once the shutdown ends.
Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-says-thank-democrat-weekend-airport-delays-government-shutdown-drags