The Essential Air Service, which provides funding for rural airline routes, serves communities across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, according to the Transportation Department.

US air travellers are experiencing a second day of flight delays and cancellations, as the government shutdown causes a worsening shortage of air traffic controllers. On Tuesday evening, the flight delays hit even more airports, with the cities of Nashville, Dallas, Chicago and Newark especially affected.

President Donald Trump has accused the Democrats of carrying out a "kamikaze attack" by blocking the GOP's funding bill, as the government shutdown continues into its seventh day.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that air traffic controllers are feeling increasing pressure at work amid the government shutdown for which Republicans and Democrats are both holding each other responsible.

Air-traffic controllers make up less than half of one percent of the federal workforce, but when it comes to a government shutdown, they wield disproportionate power. During the prior shutdown, which started in December 2018,

Hospitals and health systems across the U.S. are informing some patients they will be unable to schedule telehealth appointments due to the federal government shutdown.

But others have reacted to the mass firing threats with unease. They worry that the Trump administration’s bald attempts to focus political pain on Democrats and their constituencies muddles their attempt to keep the shutdown blame game focused solely on Schumer and Senate Democrats — and makes a solution to the standoff harder to find.

Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, blamed Democrats in a tweet on Tuesday for the fact that “cruel” shutdown votes had forced the WIC nutrition program to run out of funds, prompting the Trump administration to redirect tariff revenue to keep it afloat.

On the seventh day of the shutdown, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen tells NPR she's working with colleagues from both parties to find common ground and reopen the government.

President Donald Trump signals openness to negotiate Obamacare subsidies, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blames House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for the shutdown.