PHL hit with flight cancellations; Pa., N.J. will fund November SNAP benefits after judge’s ruling; Shapiro says ‘Americans deserve better than JD Vance’

The city of Philadelphia is expected to launch a portal early next week where furloughed federal employees experiencing financial struggles during the government shutdown can apply for emergency assistance.

Last week, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's administration announced it would be offering $1.5 million in emergency rental assistance for furloughed workers who are at risk of being evicted.

Additionally, furloughed federal employees who live in Philadelphia can utilize the Department of Revenue's temporary payment deferral program for water bills, real estate tax installment plays, and Owner-Occupied Payment Agreements without incurring late fees or penalties.

Gov. Josh Shapiro harshly criticized Vice President JD Vance Friday, calling his handling of the halt in SNAP payments "shameful," and evidence that he is a "phony."

"When I see hungry people in my state who are hungry because of JD Vance's b— politics, that makes me angry," Shapiro said at a news conference at Share Food in North Philadelphia. "Americans deserve better than JD Vance."

Shapiro's sharp rebuke of Vance came amid an announcement that the state had secured funding for SNAP benefits for Pennsylvanians owed them dating back to Nov. 1. That development came following a federal judge's ruling Thursday ordering the federal government to fully fund SNAP, which Vance later called "absurd."

Pennsylvanians who are owed SNAP benefits dating back to Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown have begun receiving funds after the state secured an estimated $100 million in federal funding, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Friday.

"The dollars are beginning to flow again to SNAP recipients who haven't received their benefits over the first six days of this month," Shapiro said during a news conference at Share Food in North Philadelphia. "Vendors are literally right now sending those dollars out onto people's cards."

Shapiro credited Department of Human Services secretary Val Arkoosh with the distribution of funds, noting that she and her team immediately began sending the names of Pennsylvanians who were owed back benefits.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) announced Friday Democrats will vote with Republicans to reopen the government in exchange for a one-year extension to expiring Obamacare tax credits.

"That is what many of our Republican colleagues have floated over the last six weeks as a compromise," Schumer said. "All Republicans have to do is say yes to extend current law for one year."

Schumer said since what Democrats are proposing is an extension of current law, the Senate could pass a bill within hours, though the House would also have to pass a similar measure.

New Jersey has issued fully funded SNAP benefits through November, state officials announced Friday afternoon.

"SNAP households across New Jersey should see those benefits reflected on their EBT cards," human services commissioner Sarah Adelman said in a statement.

“More than 800,000 New Jerseyans have been burdened with impossible economic choices, uncertainty, and fear while the Trump Administration attempted to suspend SNAP benefits and to leave almost 42 million people across the country without access to basic nutrition during the federal government shutdown. Washington Republicans’ determination to use New Jersey residents as pawns in their political ploys is shameful," Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement.

A small group of Democrats has been negotiating with Republicans on a deal that would end the shutdown with only an agreement for a future health care vote, instead of a guarantee that expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies would be expended.

While most Senate Democrats wouldn’t support that, Republicans only need five additional votes to fund the government.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) pleaded with his colleagues to “end these weeks of misery” as many Democrats have said they will continue to vote against reopening the government until Trump and Republican leaders negotiate with them on an extension of health care benefits.

United spokesperson Josh Freed said more than 80% of the people affected by the cuts have been rebooked with the vast majority of those scheduled to reach their destinations within four hours of their original plan.

“We’ve had a lot of success rebooking people is the bottom line,” Freed said.

The airlines focused the cuts on smaller regional flights to airports where they have multiple flights a day. That helped minimize the number of passengers affected and limited the disruptions to the airlines’ plan to position planes and crews in their hubs for the next flight.

On the first day of FAA-directed flight reductions, Delta Airlines has announced the cancellation of 170 out of their 5,000 daily flights.

"We’re operating the vast majority of our schedule and intend to keep access to all of the markets we serve, though frequency may be affected," said Delta spokesperson Morgan Durrant.

Delta will notify customers a day in advance of any flight cancellations, like they do during winter storm events, to give more time to change travel plans. Cancellations for tomorrow, Nov. 7, will likely be less than Friday due to fewer people typically traveling on Saturdays.

American Airlines, which operates 75% of the flights at Philadelphia International Airport, had to cancel 220 flights nationally Friday due to the FAA's order to reduce air traffic by 10%.

"That will be the same number through the weekend until we start ramping up," American Airlines COO David Seymour said on ABC's Good Morning America Friday. "We have been working tirelessly throughout, around the clock, to ensure that we’re minimizing the disruption to our customers.”

In Philadelphia, American Airlines canceled 15 flights as of 8 a.m. Friday, about 3% of 453 flights scheduled in and out of the airport.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said pressure on air traffic controllers amid the government shutdown revealed some "concerning" data, causing the Federal Aviation Administration to swiftly move to reduce flights.

Speaking on CBS This Morning Friday, Duffy didn't reveal the exact data that led to the move to cut flights by 10% at 40 airports across the country, but said staffing issues in large hubs like New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta forced the agency to take "preemptive action."

"As we were looking at the data, we were seeing increased numbers in some of the categories we don't like," Duffy said. "We saw controllers working six days a week, 10-hour days. That pressure on the controllers were giving us numbers that were not troubling, but were concerning."

Amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, ahead of one of the busiest travel times of the year, the Federal Aviation Administration told airlines to reduce their flights by 10% at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports.

On the list is Philadelphia International Airport. But on Thursday, as travelers there kissed their loved ones goodbye and rolled their luggage to check-in, the impacts from the reductions hadn’t quite yet kicked in. And for some fliers, it was the calm before the storm.

“We fully expect disruption,” said Virginia Nunn, a frequent traveler who was heading home to Tampa after visiting her family in Philly. She and her husband have a trip to Las Vegas booked for next week.

Senate Republicans are moving to try to end the government shutdown by preparing a new bipartisan package of spending bills and daring Democrats to vote for it, but it was unclear if their plan would work.

The bipartisan package Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) is proposing would fund parts of government — food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things — and extend funding for everything else until December or January.

The new package would replace the House-passed bill that the Democrats have repeatedly rejected. That legislation would only extend government funding until Nov. 21, a date that is rapidly approaching after six weeks of inaction.