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A top US official has warned that air travel across the country could grind to a near halt before Thanksgiving if the government shutdown continues.

Getting into it: During an interview with CNN, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that “you’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle” in the days leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. “Many of [the American people] are not going to be able to get on an airplane,” he said, referencing growing nationwide delays and cancellations. Duffy warned that these cuts are not political but are being driven by urgent safety concerns: “I look at that data that came from the safety team, and the trend line is going in the wrong direction. So I need to take action and make sure that we keep people safe.”

To the contrary, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the Trump administration of “politics masquerading as safety,” criticizing officials for allowing the shutdown to drag on while Americans face growing travel chaos. “The level that they will go to putting the American people in discomfort and worse is unprecedented,” Schumer said, blaming Republicans for the gridlock and its cascading impact on holiday travel.

Despite this, Duffy revealed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had offered to deploy military reserve air traffic controllers to fill staffing gaps. “I had a text from the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth… He’ll step in and try to provide some relief in the skies,” Duffy said. However, he acknowledged that the offer may not be viable because military personnel are not certified to manage civilian airspace, adding, “We’ve got to see what airspaces they worked in.”

This comes as the shortage of air traffic controllers has become increasingly severe, with many working unpaid and some seeking side jobs to survive. According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a growing number of controllers are driving for Uber or Lyft just to make ends meet. “We have controllers who, again, are making decisions to feed their families as opposed to come to towers or [TRACON] centers and do their jobs,” Duffy explained.

Already, the FAA has imposed a 10% reduction in flights at 40 of the country’s busiest airports to mitigate risk amid the staffing crisis. These proactive cuts began with a 4% reduction on Friday and are set to increase as controller availability worsens.