HANOVER TWP., Lehigh County, Pa. — While food and drink aren't typically allowed through airport security, officials made an exception when U.S. Ryan Mackenzie delivered pizzas to Transportation Security Administration agents at Lehigh Valley International Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. senators still appear to be far apart on a deal to end the two-week-old shutdown of the federal government.
Without a deal in place, TSA agents and other federal workers are at risk of missing their first paycheck in the immediate future. Mackenzie delivered the pies to LVIA as a show of support for the staff.
Later that day, the freshman lawmaker intended to visit a Head Start program in Lehighton. The program is at risk of shutting down next month if a deal isn't reached, Mackenzie said. The closure would cost many people their jobs and inconvenience dozens of working families in the community.
"Holding government hostage to get some kind of policy change is, I think, reckless [and] disrespectful to these individuals," Mackenzie said in front of the TSA checkpoint.
Gridlock in Washington
Mackenzie joined most House Republicans last month in passing a continuing resolution (CR), a measure to approve temporary funding of the federal government. With gridlock a defining feature in Washington, CRs have become a common tool to keep the lights on and the federal government open when formal budgets have proven too difficult to pass.
But 60 votes are needed to pass legislation in the Senate, requiring bipartisan support to pass the measure. Senate Democrats have demanded the deal include language extending federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. The tax credits expire at the end of the year, and people receiving the packages could see their deductibles jump by 114% if a deal isn't reached.
Republicans have insisted on passing a clean CR before considering any deal on the ACA subsidies.
An eighth vote on the clean CR failed again in the Senate Tuesday evening. It fell largely along party lines. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has been one of the few Democrats to support reopening the government, though he failed to vote Tuesday.
Mackenzie has voiced support for extending the ACA subsidies, though he has called for reforms such as capping who qualifies for them and stronger rules policing pharmacy benefit managers — middlemen whom regulators sometimes accuse of inflating drug prices.
Mackenzie repeated his arguments that accuse Democrats of stalling progress on the tax subsidies. The funding fight has frozen negotiations over the tax subsidy extension that had been under consideration in the U.S. House, he said.
Several Republicans in battleground districts, including U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, D-Pa., co-sponsored legislation that would have extended the subsidies for a year. Mackenzie said Tuesday he would vote in favor of that extension if that was the best deal that could be reached.
"I think we should actually be looking at a longer-term solution to this, but I would also like to see reforms for the program," he said.
"I think we should actually be looking at a longer-term solution to this, but I would also like to see reforms for the program."U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie
Impact on air travel
TSA Assistant Federal Security Director Michael Kichline told Mackenzie the TSA checkpoint has operated as normal through the checkpoint to date.
Colin Riccobon, director of public and government relations for the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, told LehighValleyNews.com that the airport has not yet experienced any disruptions since the federal shutdown began.
As the political stalemate plays out in Washington, there's a real chance that air travel could be the issue that forces a breakthrough. The last federal shutdown, a record 35-day dispute during Trump's first term, concluded hours after staffing shortages at airports caused serious flight delays across the East Coast.
NPR reported that a greater-than-normal amount of air traffic controllers — who had gone weeks without pay — called out sick in Philadelphia, New York and Orlando. The air traffic controllers cannot legally go on strike.
