What are the implications of the government shutdown on Senate negotiations?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Senate Republicans are preparing a bipartisan package of spending bills they hope will win new Democratic votes and end the government shutdown. But President Trump is calling on Republicans to get rid of the filibuster, which requires 60 percent of the Senate to proceed with voting on a bill.
I am totally in favor of terminating the filibuster. And we would be back to work within 10 minutes after that vote took place. And lots of other good things would happen. And it doesn't make any sense that a Republican would not want to do that.
Democrats are proposing to extend expiring health care subsidies for a year and to create a bipartisan committee to address Republican demands for changes to the Affordable Care Act. Otherwise, many Democrats say they'll continue to hold out until Trump and Republican leaders negotiate. The Trump administration began scaling flights back today because of the government shutdown.
Airports in Chicago, Atlanta, and Denver had the most disruptions so far. The FAA is trying to reduce flights by 10 percent by next weekend. From member station GBH in Boston, Jeremy Siegel reports the move is intended to ease the burden on air traffic controllers who've been working without pay during the shutdown.
Patricia Andoweg was supposed to fly from Boston to Australia to celebrate her 90th birthday with family this week. But thanks to a series of delays and now the shutdown-induced cancellations, she missed her connecting flight. Andoweg says at this point, it's not worth the trip.
I'm missing my birthday, but on the other hand, I met so many helpful people. Right, left, and center.
I call it the journey to nowhere. Airlines are phasing in the 10% reduction in flights, so cancellations are expected to become more widespread in the days ahead. For NPR News, I'm Jeremy Siegel at Logan Airport in Boston.
Pressure on food banks has increased after the Trump administration upended SNAP benefits during the shutdown. As Alina Neal-Sacks from member station KAZU reports, this coincides with local farm contracts ending for some food banks.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ended a popular program that gave food banks money to buy fresh local produce. Sam Thorpe co-owns the farm Spade and Plow in Morgan Hill, California, where weekly food deliveries to a local food bank are about to stop.
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