US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy warned Tuesday that the government shutdown will cause air travel chaos if it lasts another week, worsening staff shortages, snarling airport lines and closing down sections of airspace.

"So if you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos... You will see mass flight delays," he told a news conference in Philadelphia.

"You'll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don't have the air traffic controllers."

With the standoff in Congress over health care spending set to become the longest in history, Trump's Republicans and the opposition Democrats are facing increasing pressure to end a crisis that has crippled public services.

More than 60,000 air

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