{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-demands-all-air-traffic-controllers-who-worked-without-pay-during-republican-shutdown-not-only-trumps-favorites-receive-10000-bonuses", "Duckworth Demands All Air Traffic Controllers Who Worked Without Pay During Republican Shutdown, Not Only Trump\u2019s Favorites, Receive $10,000 Bonuses", "2025-12-03", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Tammy Duckworth", "D000622", "www.duckworth.senate.gov", "duckworth", "https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "[WASHINGTON, D.C.] \u2013 After the Trump Administration cruelly provided only four percent of the air traffic controller (ATC) and technician workforce with $10,000 bonuses, despite all of them working without pay during the Republican-led government shutdown, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)\u2014Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation, Space and Innovation\u2014demanded U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy award those bonuses to every single ATC and technician. In her letter to Secretary Duffy, Duckworth lambasted the Administration for punishing the other 96% of the men and women who bravely keep our skies safe without considering whether they had medical procedures, family obligations or any other life events beyond their control.\n\n\u201cExcluding 96 percent of the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s (FAA) Air Traffic Controller and Technician workforce from this bonus is unfair, divisive and disrespectful to the over 20,000 dedicated Federal employees who worked under extremely stressful conditions to ensure our Nation Airspace System (NAS) was safe during the 2025 shutdown,\u201d said Duckworth. \u201cWhether an Air Traffic Controller had a medical emergency or important medical procedure scheduled long before the lapse in appropriations; or had to organize and attend funeral services for a loved one; or had to care for a sick child; or simply had to find time to make ends meet to put food on the table; it is wrong to financially penalize these Federal employees for responsibly managing life events beyond their control while working without pay.\u201d\n\nDuckworth also slammed Duffy\u2019s decision for setting a dangerous precedent for ATCs and technicians to avoid using authorized leave during future shutdowns, even while suffering from illnesses that could degrade their performance, which could make our skies less safe.\n\n\u201cAir Traffic Organization jobs are extremely stressful for good reason: one mistake may be deadly,\u201d Duckworth continued. \u201cThese dedicated professionals must be at their best when on the job, but your policy encourages Air Traffic Controllers and Technicians to show up regardless of their health. That is incredibly dangerous. Sick leave exists for a reason. Claiming safety is a top priority is mere lip service if Air Traffic Controllers and Technicians fear using authorized leave, even when doing so best serves the safety of the NAS and health of their fellow FAA employees.\u201d\n\nShe also scrutinized Duffy\u2019s decision for putting even further strain on the ATC workforce, when the Administration\u2019s top priority should be working to retain and recruit as many of these brave men and women as possible to address the ongoing ATC shortage.\n\n\u201cAt a time when FAA is operating 3,800 fully certified controllers short of the agency\u2019s staffing target, and Air Traffic Controller morale is rapidly plummeting to new lows, the absolute last thing the Trump administration should be doing is excluding thousands of dedicated patriots who worked without pay during the most recent shutdown from the $10,000 award,\u201d continued Duckworth.\n\nFull text of the letter is available below and on the Senator\u2019s website.\n\nDear Secretary Duffy:\n\nI write to request that the Trump administration provide every excepted Air Traffic Controller and Technician who worked without on-time pay a $10,000 award, since these civil servants also performed patriotic work to ensure the safety of the skies during most recent government shutdown.\n\nExcluding 96 percent of the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s (FAA) Air Traffic Controller and Technician workforce from this bonus is unfair, divisive and disrespectful to the over 20,000 dedicated Federal employees who worked under extremely stressful conditions to ensure our Nation Airspace System (NAS) was safe during the 2025 shutdown.\n\nWhether an Air Traffic Controller had a medical emergency or important medical procedure scheduled long before the lapse in appropriations; or had to organize and attend funeral services for a loved one; or had to care for a sick child; or simply had to find time to make ends meet to put food on the table; it is wrong to financially penalize these Federal employees for responsibly managing life events beyond their control while working without pay.\n\nWorst of all, the Trump administration\u2019s stinginess in reserving the $10,000 award to approximately 2.4 percent of the Air Traffic Controller workforce and roughly 6 percent of the FAA Technician workforce creates a perverse and dangerous incentive that threatens to weaken NAS safety during future shutdowns.\n\nIf there is another lapse in appropriations during the Trump administration, Air Traffic Controllers will have a financial incentive to avoid using authorized leave\u2014even while suffering from illnesses that degrade controller performance and risk infecting an entire cadre of employees working a shift in a tower, center or Terminal Radar Approach Control facility.\n\nAir Traffic Organization jobs are extremely stressful for good reason: one mistake may be deadly. These dedicated professionals must be at their best when on the job, but your policy encourages Air Traffic Controllers and Technicians to show up regardless of their health. That is incredibly dangerous.\n\nSick leave exists for a reason. Claiming safety is a top priority is mere lip service if Air Traffic Controllers and Technicians fear using authorized leave, even when doing so best serves the safety of the NAS and health of their fellow FAA employees.\n\nAir Traffic Controllers and Technicians may also resent being financially punished for authorized absences, since perfect attendance may not be possible for a wide range of good reasons, including patriotic FAA employees who are members of the U.S. Armed Forces and must fulfill Guard and Reserve commitments.\n\nUsing the term President Donald Trump spewed when insulting members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including servicemembers wounded in combat or tortured as prisoners of war, these Air Traffic Controllers and Technicians may fear being \u201csuckers\u201d if they cannot avoid an absence and then fail to use ten thousand dollars\u2019 worth of authorized leave.\n\nWhile such behavior is unlikely from this dedicated and honorable workforce, the fact remains that such perverse financial incentives should not exist, and will cease to exist, if the Trump administration simply does the right thing by awarding every Air Traffic Controller and Technician who worked without pay during the 2025 shutdown a $10,000 award. The total cost of this pro-Air Traffic Controller and Technician policy would amount to less than one percent of the FAA\u2019s annual budget\u2014and likely deliver a strong return on investment in the form of improved morale among a beleaguered Air Traffic Organization workforce that has been overworked and understaffed for far too long.\n\nOur Nation cannot build an effective \u201cBrand New Air Traffic Control System\u201d without a robustly staffed and compensated Air Traffic Control workforce. At a time when FAA is operating 3,800 fully certified controllers short of the agency\u2019s staffing target, and Air Traffic Controller morale is rapidly plummeting to new lows, the absolute last thing the Trump administration should be doing is excluding thousands of dedicated patriots who worked without pay during the most recent shutdown from the $10,000 award.\n\nI do not require a response to this request. I simply want you to act swiftly in issuing $10,000 awards to the entire dedicated Air Traffic Controller and Technician workforce that patriotically worked without pay during the 2025 government shutdown to ensure the safety of the skies.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-demands-all-air-traffic-controllers-who-worked-without-pay-during-republican-shutdown-not-only-trumps-favorites-receive-10000-bonuses"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0965620167553425, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}