November 7, 2025
Are we getting a deal to end this government shutdown or not?
Let’s talk about it because the airport chaos is only going to get worse by next week. I have more on that in a second…and you need to hear it if you have travel plans anytime soon –including for thanksgiving.
But first – let’s talk about what’s happening on capitol hill. The house is still out of session….they’ve been on recess for 7 weeks…nearly two months! The senate is in session but there is literally no movement. Everyone is dug in to their position.
It’s true — this morning Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer offered Republicans a deal. He said Democrats would agree to reopen the government if Republicans agreed to a one-year extension to the Affordable Care Act subsidies. Schumer also said Democrats would like to create a bipartisan committee so both Democrats and Republicans could come together after the shutdown is over and negotiate real reforms to bring down the cost of the affordable care act before next year. This is a change in tactics. The Democrats were originally demanding a permanent extension of the ACA subsidies – so just extending by one year –is a compromise.
Senate Majority leader John Thune – a Republican — said – no. That’s a “nonstarter.” And President Trump agrees. Plus House Speaker Mike Johnson has said that he would not even allow a stand alone bill on ACA subsidies on the floor of the House for a vote. Over the last few days other senators both Republicans and Democrats have tried to bring up stand alone bills to try and get federal workers paid and military members paid and even a bill to stop the pay for lawmakers during government shutdowns. All of those have failed. In the end – you have to understand this has to be a deal amongst Democratic and Republican leadership and the president. And right now – neither side wants to back down.
But the real pressure is on. It’s going to increase on those lawmakers by next week — because the pressure is going to be turned up on *you* especially if you are traveling next week or even for Thanksgiving.
As you know today airports are a mess across the country. That’s because the Trump administration issued this emergency order last night to airlines at 40 of the biggest and busiest airports in the country. The order says starting today, they were required to cut flight capacity by 4%. – so all this chaos you’re seeing at airports is because of just a 4% cut. But if the government is still shutdown by next Tuesday November 11 – the Trump administration is ordering a 6% capacity cut – then an 8% cut if the government is still shut down next Thursday and a 10% cut in flight capacity if the government is still shutdown one week from today. The order says airlines will be required to issue full refunds for cancellations but they will not be required to cover secondary costs, like hotel stays if you get stuck somewhere.
Now – if we are still shut down next week – your Thanksgiving flights are probably going to be impacted too. That’s because the airlines usually increase their flight capacity around that holiday because it’s the busiest travel time of the year. And even if the government miraculously reopens next week – it’s not like the air traffic control system can just snap back into place…it’s going to take time to reset. How long? That’s unclear.
FAA Emergency Order here.
