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Gallego addresses Tom Homan, authorities shutdown and Adelita Grijalva
U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, feedback on Tom Homan claims, a looming authorities shutdown and newly elected Adelita Grijalva on Sept. 25, 2025.
- A possible authorities shutdown could trigger journey delays.
- Essential journey staff like TSA officers and air site visitors controllers should report back to work.
- Passport providers will proceed.
Don’t rush to cancel your journey plans due to the potential authorities shutdown.
But for those who plan to journey or get a passport for a future worldwide journey, you may encounter some delays.
The federal government would shut down if Congress cannot agree on the right way to preserve the federal government funded after Oct. 1, affecting providers resembling nationwide parks.
Essential staff like airport safety officers and air site visitors controllers should report back to work throughout a authorities shutdown however would work with out pay. After earlier shutdowns, individuals who labored by the shutdown obtained again pay for the time they labored.
A protracted shutdown could possibly be devastating for journey. The U.S. Travel Association estimates the probably affect of a shutdown to the U.S. journey business could be $1 billion per week.
“The longer a shutdown drags on, the more likely we are to see longer TSA lines, flight delays and cancellations, national parks in disrepair and unnecessary delays in modernizing travel infrastructure,” stated Geoff Freeman, the affiliation’s president and CEO.
Freeman added {that a} shutdown would place “unnecessary strain on an already overextended federal travel workforce.” Aviation specialists stated previous shutdowns performed a component in ongoing air site visitors management staffing points.
Here’s what vacationers ought to learn about how a authorities shutdown would have an effect on airport safety, air site visitors management and passports.
Does a authorities shutdown have an effect on TSA?
Transportation Security Administration officers, who’re chargeable for airport safety in airports nationwide, together with Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, are thought of important and would proceed to work.
A shutdown wouldn’t make air journey any much less safe, stated Caleb Harmon-Marshall, an aviation professional and former TSA officer who writes the journey e-newsletter Gate Access.
But vacationers ought to put together for longer than normal wait instances in safety as some officers do not report back to work by the shutdown, he stated. Security officers may be unfriendly, “as these workers may not be pleased to be in the midst of a shutdown,” he stated.
On most days, common safety wait instances at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are lower than 20 minutes. Travelers can acquire dwell updates on the airport’s safety waits at skyharbor.com.
The TSA didn’t reply to a request for remark from The Arizona Republic about how a shutdown would have an effect on their operations.
Do air site visitors controllers work throughout a authorities shutdown?
Air site visitors management is overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration, and controllers would proceed to work when a shutdown occurs.
But just like the TSA, some controllers did not report back to work throughout earlier shutdowns due to the monetary uncertainty.
Issues with air site visitors management staffing can result in flight delays and/or cancellations.
Shutdowns can have long-term impacts on air site visitors management staffing, stated Tim Kiefer, assistant professor of air site visitors administration at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott campus.
Even the specter of a shutdown disrupts efforts to enhance air site visitors management, from controller hiring processes and the FAA Academy facility in Oklahoma City the place controllers are skilled, he stated. Such disruptions additionally have an effect on the FAA’s work to improve applied sciences that controllers use to handle air site visitors.
“You don’t have a consistent workflow to move forward in whatever project that is supposed to improve the system,” Kiefer stated. “That is what’s got us to where we are (today), particularly in some of the issues that are happening in the East Coast.”
The FAA didn’t reply to a request for remark from The Republic about how a shutdown would have an effect on its operations, together with air site visitors management.
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Does a authorities shutdown have an effect on passports?
Passport providers will proceed by a shutdown, Rep. Greg Stanton stated in an FAQ page about the upcoming shutdown. This is as a result of passport operations are fee-funded.
Applications for brand spanking new passports and renewals can be processed, and passport businesses and the National Passport Information Center had been anticipated to stay open. Passport businesses, together with the Western Passport Center in Tucson, deal with emergency passport providers for life-or-death journey.
Most passport acceptance services, locations the place individuals can apply for passports, wouldn’t be affected by the shutdown; these embody the Maricopa County Clerk of the Superior Court places of work, some publish places of work, libraries and metropolis halls. However, acceptance services situated in buildings operated by an company that shut down wouldn’t be open.
While passports will proceed to be processed, delays are attainable, particularly if the shutdown is extended. Current passport processing instances are 4 to 6 weeks for routine service, or two to 3 weeks for expedited service, in line with the U.S. Department of State.
Michael Salerno is an award-winning journalist who’s lined journey and tourism since 2014. His work as The Arizona Republic’s shopper journey reporter goals to assist readers navigate the stresses of touring and get one of the best worth for his or her cash on their holidays. He may be reached at [email protected].
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