Senate Democrats Extend Government Shutdown Amid Safety Concerns

By Newsmax Wires | Friday, 07 November 2025 09:40 AM EST

Senate Democrats are prolonging the government shutdown at the expense of American workers through “the politics of pain,” Rep. Mark Harris claimed on Friday, blaming the party for harming critical services while shifting blame onto Republicans.

“We’ve been saying for now, 38 days, somebody needs to ask [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer when he’s going to bring an end to this charade,” the North Carolina Republican stated on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America Early.” “It’s been tragic for the American people. It seems to be the politics of pain trying to be inflicted upon Americans.”

Harris criticized Democratic negotiations as inconsistent, expressing uncertainty about when the shutdown might conclude. “I don’t think that they have any idea now,” he said. “I think that many of them want an off-ramp, and I think they’re trying to look for an off-ramp, and then there are others of them that I think feel a certain sense of being emboldened after Tuesday night, and they’re thinking, if we hold out longer, maybe we’re going to get more.”

The shutdown has disrupted vital federal operations, including aviation safety and national security, Harris noted. “We’ve got to begin to pay our air traffic controllers again,” he emphasized. “We’ve got to get back [to] paying border patrol, paying our military.”

Harris highlighted Republican efforts to keep the government open, pointing to a House vote on Sept. 19 as evidence of their stance. “The Democrats are the ones that have said over and over again, now 14 times, ‘No, we’re going to keep it closed,'” he argued. “I think the American people are wise to that overall.”

He cited thousands of flight cancellations early Friday as a direct consequence of the shutdown. “As of 6 a.m., thousands of flights were canceled via [Transportation Secretary] Sean Duffy because of safety issues,” Harris said, adding that unpaid air traffic controllers exacerbated the crisis.