Originally Posted by TheProfessor

How long do you think $15/hr TSA agent can go without a paycheck? Same for ATC with the caveat that they make quite a bit more so they probably last longer.

If thanksgiving travel gets meaningfully messed with (I wager it will if this is still going) or you have a major meltdown before then, there will be immense political pressure to unscrew this stalemate. The kind of pressure that makes the pressure up to this point look like the last couple dribbles at the end of a pee versus an industrial pressure washer. That kind of interference starts affecting the large group of people who otherwise don’t rely on time critical gubment services for much and have up to this point been pretty whatever about the whole thing.

There was going to be some posturing and measuring up this week post-special elections, but that can and will end quickly when things start going off the rails which becomes more likely every day.