Published On 9/11/2025
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Last update: 06:25 (Mecca time)
US Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Saturday that talks in the Senate between the Republican and Democratic parties to end the government shutdown have taken a positive turn, while airlines continue to reduce the number of their flights due to the shortage of air navigation workers.
In response to a question from reporters about whether positive talks had taken place between the two parties during the past 24 hours, the South Dakota Republican replied, “Yes, I can say that,” amid efforts to reach agreements to temporarily end the closure and submit 3 bills for long-term funding for some agencies.
By Sunday, 40 days have passed since the start of the closure, which affected many federal employees and affected food aid, air travel, and the operation of national parks.
Following weeks of faltering talks, Republicans and Democrats in the US Senate appeared to be negotiating seriously over the past few days.
Republican senators expressed their hope on Saturday that the full text of 3 funding measures for the fiscal year 2026 for agriculture, food and nutrition programs would be revealed, in addition to allocations for military construction projects, veterans programs, and funding for congressional operations.
According to the proposals, these operations will be funded until September 30, 2026.
But the workday ended without any bipartisan agreements announced on reopening the government and no full-year funding bills announced.
The Senate will try again in a rare session on Sunday.
Reduced flights
Meanwhile, senators are working on a stopgap measure that would give them more time to reach agreement on the nine remaining “discretionary” spending bills for the rest of the federal government, such as the Homeland Security, Defense, Housing and Health agencies.
On the other hand, American airlines canceled 1,330 flights on the second day of flight reductions imposed by the government across the country on Saturday, and the sector is preparing for more cancellations as the federal government continues to close.
The Federal Aviation Administration had instructed airlines to reduce 4% of daily flights starting Friday at 40 major airports due to concerns related to the safety of air traffic control.
The closure led to a shortage in the number of air traffic controllers because they had not received their salaries for weeks.
The percentage of flight reductions will rise to 6% on Tuesday before reaching 10% by November 14.
During the prolonged 40-day government shutdown, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security monitors were forced to work without pay, leading to increased absenteeism.
A number of air traffic controllers reported on Thursday that they will not receive any compensation for the second consecutive payroll period next week.