ICYMI: Belgrade News: Daines hopes federal shutdown could end soon as flight delays surge, major cancellations loom

• November 7, 2025

U.S. SENATE - U.S. Senator Steve Daines spoke with Belgrade News about the consequences of the Schumer Shutdown. Read highlights from the story below.

Daines hopes federal shutdown could end soon as flight delays surge, major cancellations loom

Belgrade News

Mike Sunnucks

November 6^th, 2025

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, is hopeful the record-long federal government shutdown could end "within the next few days."

Daines said there have been discussions with Democratic senators about bringing the shutdown, which began Oct. 1, to an end.

Daines said five to 10 Democrats are part of those shutdown discussions.

Senate Republicans need five Democrats to vote for federal spending measures that will reopen the government…

…The U.S. government has been shutdown since Oct. 1, and reached its 37th day Thursday. The shutdown is the longest in U.S. history.

Democrats want the GOP and the Trump administration to address rising health insurance premiums under Affordable Care Act/Obamacare.

…Daines criticized Democrats for shutting down the government over the issue.

He said Obamacare costs were promised to help lower health care costs by as much as 25%. Instead, Daines said Obamacare costs have gone up 100% since its inception in 2014.

The Republican said approximately 7% of the U.S. population is on Obamacare and that the premium subsidies were approved during the COVID-19 pandemic and meant to be temporary.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 24.3 million Americans are enrolled in ACA health insurance programs. That's 7.1% of the U.S. population.

…The shutdown has closed many federal offices, left government workers without paychecks and has disrupted SNAP (food stamps) payments. Federal home heating oil assistance for need households could also feel the shutdown's sting.

The Trump administration said flights would be reduced as much as 10% at 40 airports nationally because of the shutdown and air traffic controller staffing issues. That could nix as many as 4,000 flights daily across the country.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said reductions could start Friday.

Air traffic controllers and other 'essential' government workers are still on the job but are not getting paid.

That's resulting in a number of callouts. Already there was a big uptick of flight delays and cancellations at U.S. airports Thursday. FlightAware.com (which tracks air traffic) reported more than 3,300 flight delays across the U.S. Thursday.

Daines said it's Democrats who are responsible for the shutdown strains. He expects senators to stay in Washington for a potential deal.

"We will be here until this gets resolved," Daines said, hopeful of a Democratic "jailbreak" from party leaders to end the shutdown.

Read the full article HERE.

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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Gabby Wiggins