Shutdown? Military Reserve Controllers Offered to Work for Free
When a government shutdown threatened to ground air travel in 2018, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) touted a noble fix: offering to deploy air traffic controllers from military reserves, as reported by The Hill. Patrick Hegseth, Fox News personality, amplified the idea for those unpaid civilian controllers (The Hill, March 1, 2018). While this sounds like a heartwarming display of civic duty, it's a stark
reminder of who bears the brunt of congressional dysfunction. The US government consistently finds unlimited funds for global military interventions and aid packages like the billions routinely sent to Israel (e.g., HR 815, 2024, allocating over $14B). Yet, a 'shutdown' can't be avoided when it comes to paying domestic workers. One wonders, would these same politicians, many of whom accept
significant donations from entities like AIPAC to fund those very military-industrial projects, ever volunteer their own salaries during a fiscal crisis? How many 'selfless acts' are required when the system is designed to fail its own citizens for the sake of foreign policy priorities?