US President Donald Trump accused "kamikaze" Democrats of being prepared to destroy the country as the government shutdown became the longest in history on Wednesday, eclipsing the 35-day record set during the Republican leader's first term.
"I just got back from Japan," the Republican president told a breakfast meeting with Republican senators at the White House as the shutdown entered its sixth week.
"I talked about the kamikaze pilots. I think these guys are kamikaze," he said, referencing Democrats. "They'll take down the country if they have to."
Hours before the shutdown record toppled at midnight, the Trump administration sounded the alarm over turmoil at airports nationwide if the crisis drags further into November, with worsening staff shortages snarling airports and closing down sections of airspace.
"You'll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don't have the air traffic controllers," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told a news conference in Philadelphia.
Federal agencies have been grinding to a halt since Congress failed to approve funding past September 30, and the pain has been mounting as welfare programmes — including aid that helps millions of Americans afford groceries — hang in the balance.
Some 1.4 million federal workers, from air traffic controllers to park wardens, remain on enforced leave or are working without pay. Some courts are using emergency funds to stay open, and warning that operations could slow if the shutdown drags on.
‘Defiance’
Democrats say they will only provide votes to end the funding lapse after a deal has been struck to extend expiring insurance subsidies that make healthcare affordable for millions of Americans.
But Republicans insist they will only address healthcare once Democrats have voted to switch the lights back on in Washington.
Democrats believe that millions of Americans seeing skyrocketing premiums as they enrol in health insurance programmes for next year will pressure Republicans into seeking compromise.
But Trump has held firm on refusing to negotiate, telling CBS News in an interview broadcast Sunday that he would "not be extorted."
The president has sought to apply his own pressure to force Democrats to cave by threatening mass layoffs of federal workers and using the shutdown to target progressive priorities.
Trump on Tuesday repeated his administration's threat to cut off a vital aid programme that helps 42 million Americans pay for groceries for the first time in its more than 60-year history, even though the move was blocked by two courts.
The White House later clarified, however, that it was "fully complying" with its legal obligations and was working to get partial SNAP payments "out the door as much as we can and as quickly as we can."
