Johnson orders lawmakers back to DC 'right now' as shutdown sparks travel chaos

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is sending a critical warning to House lawmakers as the government shutdown continues to wreak havoc on air travel.

"As of Sunday, nearly half of all domestic flights and U.S. flights were either canceled or delayed, and it's a very serious situation," Johnson said in comments to reporters on Monday.

"So I'm saying that, by way of reminder, I'm stating the obvious, to all my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats in the House, you need to begin right now returning to the Hill. We have to do this as quickly as possible."

The House leader was referring to taking up the Senate's bipartisan measure to finally end the government shutdown, now on its 41st day.

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Speaker Mike Johnson is citing airport chaos in his warning to House lawmakers to return to D.C. soon. (Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to reduce air travel at the nation's 40 busiest airports by 6% as of Tuesday, amid widespread staffing shortages that have been attributed to the shutdown.

Thousands of federal employees have been furloughed as agencies and critical programs run low on funds, while government workers deemed "essential" have been forced to work without pay for weeks.

People in the latter group include air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, many of whom have been forced to take second jobs and call out sick to make ends meet.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said airlines will not return to normal for days, possibly a week, after the shutdown. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

"The problem we have with air travel is that our air traffic controllers are overworked and unpaid, and many of them have called in sick. That's a very stressful job, and even more stressful, exponentially, when they're having trouble providing for their families. And so air travel has been grinding to a halt in many places," Johnson said on Monday.

He delivered a statement to the press less than 12 hours after the Senate broke its weeks-long impasse on the shutdown, with eight Senate Democrats joining the GOP to overcome a filibuster.

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Sen. Jeanne Shaheen speaks at a press conference with other Senate Democrats who voted to restore government funding, in Washington, Nov. 9, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Johnson told Fox News Digital exclusively earlier Monday that he would call the House back "immediately" upon Senate passage of the bill — which he suggested could come sooner rather than later.

"We're going to get everybody back on a 36-hour notice, so it'll be happening early this week," Johnson said.

The House has not been in session since Sept. 19, when lawmakers there first passed a bill to avert a shutdown by extending current federal funding levels through Nov. 21. Democrats rejected that deal, however, kicking off weeks of a worsening impasse where millions of Americans' federal benefits and air travel were put at risk.