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On Tuesday, Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to close airspace across portions of the United States unless Democrats agreed to end the standoff over the government shutdown.

“If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos, you will see mass flight delays,” Duffy warned. “You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it.”

Air traffic controllers across the country haven’t been paid since the shutdown began more than four weeks ago. However, they are legally required to continue working through the shutdown.

There are around 14,000 air traffic controllers currently in the U.S. Close to a fifth of those workers

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