As a federal government shutdown stretches into its second week, freshman Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie visited Lehigh Valley International Airport to speak with TSA officials working without pay, and make the GOP’s case that blame for the shutdown lies with Democrats.

Around 1.4 million federal workers are either furloughed or working without pay as of Oct. 1, when the government shut down after Congress failed to come to an agreement about federal funding. That includes Transportation Security Administration employees at the Lehigh Valley airport, to whom Mackenzie and several staffers delivered pizzas from the Pizza Joint on Tuesday afternoon.

Mackenzie, who represents the Lehigh Valley-based 7th District, also spoke with Department of Homeland Security employees Lori Ann Avizof, transportation security manager; Don Weston, deputy federal security director; and Michael Kichline, assistant federal security director, who oversee safety operations at LVIA.

The security officials said the Lehigh Valley airport’s operations have not been affected by the shutdown so far. Airport employees have not yet missed a paycheck due to the timing of their pay period, and security operations like TSA security checks at the airport are continuing as normal.

“What we heard, thankfully, from TSA is that they have not been impacted, yet, and so people have not missed paychecks at this particular location yet, that’s good to hear,” Mackenzie said. “I’m an advocate for reopening the government. I voted for the continuing resolution and we are asking that the Senate Democrats actually vote to reopen the government as quickly as possible.”

Mackenzie placed blame for the shutdown on Democrats, who have refused to support a Republican-backed continuing resolution that would keep the government open and funded through the end of the year.

Democrats are demanding Republicans extend Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, which has made health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans and will expire at the end of the year without intervention from Congress. The expiration is expected to more than double what people enrolled in the program pay annually in premiums, according to a KFF analysis.

Mackenzie has said he is in favor of extending the tax credits by at least one year, but said reforms to the program are needed to ensure that the subsidies are not available to high-income earners who could afford to pay more.

Further, he said that Republicans are open to negotiating an extension of the credits only after the government is reopened. House Republicans approved a continuing resolution in September, but the same bill continues to stall in the Senate, where it must overcome a 60-vote threshold in order to pass.

Mackenzie said negotiations with Democrats have made very little progress, which could contribute to a longer shutdown. The longest shutdown in U.S. history happened under President Donald Trump in late 2018 through early 2019, lasting 35 days. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the country is “barreling toward” an even longer shutdown this time.

“That is where negotiations could be happening, with Senate leadership and some rank-and-file members,” Mackenzie said. “Democrats have said that they might be interested in voting for something, but today it seems no progress is being made.”

Mackenzie also said that he disagrees with the White House’s choice to permanently fire thousands of employees due to the shutdown, though he stopped short of agreeing that every fired employee should be rehired once the shutdown ends.

“If [layoffs] are done in some kind of way that is disruptive to operations of the federal government, then yes, those people should be brought back, and again we will fully study the shutdowns and permanent layoffs, but again it’s not something I support,” Mackenzie said.

Mackenzie and staffers also paid a visit to Head Start in Carbon County, which could be forced to close its doors because its contract with the federal government is set to expire Nov. 1, he said.

Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.

Originally Published: October 14, 2025 at 4:21 PM EDT