Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy demonstrated Friday that he either was unaware of the highly-publicized demands of Democratic lawmakers amid the ongoing government shutdown, or feigned ignorance about the matter during a Fox News appearance.
Having reached its 38th day on Friday, the ongoing government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. It began on Oct. 1 after Democrats refused to support a spending bill that did not include an extension of government subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, which are set to expire at the end of the year.
Despite Democrats’ demands in the shutdown fight being widely publicized for well over a month, Duffy said Friday that he was unaware what the fight was about.
“What are we fighting over? What is the issue that Democrats want addressed?” Duffy said. “It'd be one thing if we knew that, that would be fine, but I don't know what the fight is over! And the American people are being used as leverage.”
Duffy’s complaints come as his agency slashed air traffic by 10% on Thursday to relieve pressure from understaffing, with at least 35 air traffic control sites facing severe shortages due to air traffic controllers having gone without pay since mid-October. He warned last weekend that flight delays and disruptions would worsen significantly should the government not reopen soon.
Duffy took his complaints to Fox News, but in doing so, continued to insist he had no idea what the dispute among lawmakers was even about.
“I think it's unfair that the American traveler is being held hostage and used as leverage for a fight that I can't figure out what it's about!” Duffy continued.
Democrats have made clear what their demands were since well before the shutdown commenced on Oct. 1, citing concerns about rising health insurance costs for millions of Americans should ACA subsidies not be extended.
According to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, enrollment in the ACA is projected to fall by nearly 4 million should the subsidies be allowed to expire, a projection also supported by the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. Additionally, premiums for the millions of ACA enrollees are projected to increase by 114%.Transporation @SecDuffy either legimately doesn't know or pretends not to know what the government shutdown is about.
"What is the issue that Democrats want addressed? It'd be one thing if we knew that, that would be fine, but I don't know what the fight is over!" pic.twitter.com/ekloT5Rovk
— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) November 7, 2025