Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a grace warning Tuesday over the ongoing government shutdown, predicting that if it were to persist into next week the United States would descend into “mass chaos.”
“If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos, you will see mass flight delays,” Duffy said, according to Reuters reporter David Shepardson. “You'll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it.”
Sparked over debates on government health care subsidies, the government shutdown reached its 35th day Tuesday, officially tying it with the longest shutdown on record that occurred under the first Trump administration in 2018-2019.
Amid the shutdown, an array of government services have been impacted, including transportation, with at least 35 air traffic control sites currently facing shortages as air traffic controllers continue to work without pay. Duffy warned over the weekend that flight delays and disruptions would continue to get worse, but made his most startling prediction on Tuesday when he issued a hard deadline of when “mass chaos” could erupt.
Two planes recently had a low-speed collision at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, with critics having pointed to the shortage of air traffic controllers as a potential culprit. Duffy has said that he would halt air traffic entirely should the situation become so dire that safety becomes a major concern for flyers.
“We've seen problems at LA, in Dallas, in DC, Boston, Atlanta,” Duffy said on Sunday. “And so I think it's only going to get worse.”
And, while one GOP pollster has predicted that the government shutdown may end next week, lawmakers have not budged on their irreconcilable positions.
The heart of the dispute centers around funding subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, with Democrats vowing not to support any spending bill that doesn’t include funding for the subsidies. Republicans, however, have held firm in rejecting Democrats’ demand, a position also held by President Donald Trump, who has warned GOP lawmakers against supporting an extension of the subsidies.
News from @SecDuffy: "If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos, you will see mass flight delays. You'll see mass cancelations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it"
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) November 4, 2025