Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that the government shutdown is putting more stress on air traffic controllers who already have an extremely stressful job, as well as threatening a program that small communities rely on to help subsidize airline service.
Controllers are expected to continue working without a paycheck, Duffy said, so they are now worried about how to pay their bills in addition to worrying about keeping flights safe. And there have started to be instances of controllers calling out sick, leading to delays at several airports Monday.
“Now what they think about as they’re controlling our airspace is, how am I going to pay my mortgage? How do I make my car payment? I have a couple kids at home. How do I put food on the table? I’m working six days a week. Do I have to take a second job and drive Uber when I’m already exhausted from doing a job that’s already stressful to think about how I can make extra money because the government may not provide me a paycheck?” Duffy said.
Travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport, where Duffy held his news conference, said controllers should be paid for their work.
“Everyone should get paid for what they are doing. Of course it bothers me,” said Daniel Johansson from North Carolina.
A traveler from Utah, Nancy Taylor, agreed.
“Yeah, that would be hard to work for no pay," Taylor said. "But I think they understand the importance of their job. And the safety that provides to us as travelers. They need to get paid.”
The Transportation Department has been able to keep the air traffic controller academy in Oklahoma City open for now with funding from previous years, but Duffy is still concerned about the potential impact on efforts to hire and train new controllers in the hope of eliminating a longstanding shortage. Duffy said the support staff who train controllers after they come out of the academy could be laid off.
The head of the air traffic controllers union, Nick Daniels, stayed away from political comments, but he urged Congress to end the shutdown.
“We need to bring this shutdown to a close, so that the Federal Aviation Administration and the committed aviation safety professionals can put this distraction behind us, and completely focus on their vital work,” Daniels said.
Duffy said there has already been a small uptick in controllers calling out sick in a few places. Anytime that gets worse and creates a shortage of controllers, the FAA reduces the number of takeoffs and landings to ensure controllers aren't overwhelmed and the system remains safe. But that creates delays and possibly cancellations. Near the end of the 35-day shutdown during the first Trump administration, there were widespread flight delays because of shortages of controllers.
By Monday evening, the FAA was reporting that staffing shortages were creating delays in the Burbank, Newark and Denver airports. The worst problems were in Burbank, where California Gov. Gavin Newsom said no controllers were on duty during the evening, leading to average delays of two-and-a-half hours at that airport.
The Essential Air Service program that subsidizes airline service to small communities across the country will also quickly run out of money. Duffy said that program enjoys strong bipartisan support and provides an important lifeline to many small communities. It is especially important in Alaska, where flying is the only way to travel between many communities.
“That money runs out this Sunday. So there’s many small communities across the country that will now no longer have the resources to make sure they have air service in their community,” Duffy said.
Associated Press videographer Joseph B. Frederick contributed to this report from Newark, New Jersey.
FILE - Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks during a news conference Aug. 5, 2025, at the Department of Transportation in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Galileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
