Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday threatened to fire "problem children" air traffic controllers who fail to show up for work during the government shutdown.
Duffy's threat came as flight delays, caused in large part by controllers calling out sick, has snarled air traffic across the country for four straight days.
Delays have been reported at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and other major hubs like Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, as well as smaller airports elsewhere in the country.
“If we have a continual small subset of controllers that don’t show up to work, and they’re the problem children ... if we have some on our staff that aren’t dedicated like we need, we’re going to let them go,” Duffy said on Fox Business News. “I can’t have people not showing up for work.”
Duffy insisted controllers calling out sick is not yet a widespread problem.
"It’s a small fraction of people who don’t come to work that can create this massive disruption and that’s what you’re seeing rippling through our skies today," he said.
Not long after Duffy's remarks, President Donald Trump warned at a Cabinet meeting: "We'll be making cuts that will be permanent, and we're only going to cut Democrat programs."
The government shut down after Democrats balked at passing the Republicans' proposed "clean" spending measure because they want to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies and ensure that millions of Americans do not lose their health care.
The Trump administration has already furloughed thousands of federal workers from agencies, including the Commerce and Education departments, the IRS and NASA.
Meanwhile, the White House has ratcheted up the pressure to end the shutdown by floating a draft memo arguing that furloughed federal workers are not entitled to back pay after the government shutdown lifts.
That argument would run up against the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, which says all federal employees, whether furloughed or deemed essential and working without pay, must receive back pay after a shutdown ends.
Air traffic controllers are considered essential workers. The staffing shortages began Monday when the controllers started working without pay because of the shutdown.
Asked about Duffy's threat, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in an email, “There are processes and procedures in place to deal with the inappropriate use of sick leave.”
The association said in a statement Tuesday that it does not “endorse, support, or condone” federal employees from coordinating to affect flight safety or cause delays.
“Participating in a job action could result in removal from federal service,” the union posted on its website. “It is not only illegal, but it also undermines NATCA’s credibility and severely weakens our ability to effectively advocate for you and your families.”
The Transportation Department did not immediately respond to a question about Duffy is paid to run the agency. His predecessor, Pete Buttigieg, was reportedly paid an annual salary of $221,400.
When Duffy was a Republican congressman from Wisconsin in 2011, he drew scorn for saying he was struggling to get by on his $174,000-a-year congressional salary.
