Congressional leaders sparred publicly but made no further progress Wednesday toward resolving an impasse that has led to a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, leaving 80,000 workers in the lurch as the Senate and House begin a five-week-long recess. At an at-times confrontational news conference in the Senate TV Studio, Senate and House Democratic leaders accused House Republicans of engaging in “the politics of hostage-taking” on the FAA issue by rejecting a “clean” reauthorization measure in favor of one that would cut funding for a program for airports in several rural areas. Read full article >>