| The FAA impasse: A primer
Considered a minor subplot of the months-long debt ceiling/deficit melodrama, the ongoing standoff between House Republicans and Senate Democrats over the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill - a partisan fight that has caused a partial FAA shutdown, sidelined 74,000 government employees and construction workers and is costing the government as much as $30 million a day - has now taken center stage.
For those consumed by the debt ceiling, here's a primer on what you missed:
What's the issue?
Depends on whom you ask.
House Republicans blame pork-addicted Democrats, who they say are insisting on keeping millions in subsidies to rural, lightly traveled airports, while Democrats say the GOP's cost-cutting argument is a smoke screen to hide its goal of gutting a rule that makes it easier for airline employees to unionize.
On Tuesday, President Barack Obama urged both sides to return to Washington from their August recess to pass a bill, even if it's a temporary one, to end the standoff, and he said Wednesday it's his "expectation" that progress should be made by the weekend. For now, at least, that seems unlikely.
How did this happen?
Since 2007, the FAA, which regulates the nation's air traffic and safety, has been operating without a permanent, long-term reauthorization bill, a common, routinely bipartisan piece of legislation. Congress has passed 20 separate temporary bills while a long-term compromise was under construction in the background.
But in July, the GOP-controlled House passed a long-term reauthorization bill that also neutralized a National Mediation Board ruling allowing airline employees to unionize with a simple majority vote. Then it passed a temporary bill slashing the small-airport subsidy funding, which helped entice big air carriers to fly into rural communities.
Democrats and labor unions cried foul, claiming the subsidy cut was an attempt to force them to give up the pro-union rule in the longer-term bill, while Republicans, backed by the airline industry, dug in and pointed to necessary fiscal discipline in tough times. Partisan bickering ensued and the standoff was on.
What was the impact?
When a July 23 deadline came and went without a temporary bill, the FAA was forced to shut down, at least partially. The agency sent home 4,000 "nonessential" employees - basically, anyone who isn't responsible for keeping planes from falling apart in the sky or crashing into one another.
"Let me be clear: Flying is safe," declared Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman who has been pushing hard, in public and in private, for a compromise.
The partial shutdown forced the FAA to sidetrack a slew of airport infrastructure and safety upgrades, ranging from runway extensions and new control towers to installation of the badly needed NextGen cutting-edge air-traffic system, which is designed to make flying safer, more efficient and productive.
Robert Mann, an industry analyst and former airline executive, said Congress seems "more interested in going on vacation" than solving the problem.
How does it affect ordinary people - also known as voters?
Airports and airlines have continued day-to-day operations without much impact, and the standoff is all but invisible to passengers - until they check their ticket bills.
Say you buy an airline ticket for $350. Normally, the government would collect a $50 surcharge off the top and the airline gets the rest. In the partial shutdown, however, the FAA lost its ability to collect that surcharge, giving airlines an unintentional tax holiday - and leaving about $30 million a day on the table, money wasted in a time of government belt-tightening.
But instead of passing on that savings to the consumer, some airlines have kept the money, outraging LaHood and consumer advocates.
"The irony/hypocrisy is, since the tax holiday began, this is the same airline industry that vociferously argued that the taxes and fees suppressed demand," Mann said.
Some airlines have voluntarily refunded the fee to consumers, and LaHood said the Treasury Department is examining whether it can collect back taxes once the FAA is reauthorized, but it's unlikely that money will ever be collected by the government.
Is there an end in sight?
It's possible either chamber could take a step toward solving the impasse, and LaHood, who spent decades on Capitol Hill, has pleaded with them to do so. Obama's statement during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday was also designed to dial up the pressure.
But given the heated rhetoric - and the bitter aftertaste of the debt ceiling debate on both sides - there are few signs of that happening.
Democratic leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, blasted the GOP on Wednesday for repeatedly blocking their solution of one more clean reauthorization bill, which - after 20 temporary ones have already passed - shouldn't be a big deal.
Because both chambers are in pro forma session, either can pass an FAA bill by unanimous consent. Reid and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) urged House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to pass an extension out of his chamber, something they said could be done within minutes.
"I again say, 'Speaker Boehner, stop this nonsense,'" Reid said.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, answered with a broadside at Democrats, including a not-so-subtle dig at Reid, whose vast, sparsely populated state would lose out on funding.
Rather than reaching a deal, Mica said, Democrats "chose to protect outrageous ticket subsidies, as much as $3,720 per ticket in Ely, Nev., on the backs of 4,000 furloughed FAA employees and thousands more out-of-work airport construction workers."
Mann said a solution could be reached if lawmakers saw a greater sense of urgency or more outrage from the public. "If you want to see [something happen] quickly in Congress, let air transport grind to a halt," he said. "You'd see screaming immediately."
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