The brinksmanship over the budget and debt limit isn't the only game of Legislative Chicken being played out in Washington, D.C., as the Federal Aviation Administration is heading for a partial shutdown because of a dispute between House Republicans and Senate Democrats.
At issue is the legislation that authorizes the operations of the FAA; a full re-authorization bill has not been passed by the Congress in over four years, as instead, the Congress has approved 20 short term extensions, 17 of them while Democrats controlled both the House and Senate.
Extension #21 runs out Friday night at midnight, meaning as many as 4,000 FAA workers in 35 states and Washington, D.C. will be furloughed because of the legislative impasse.
This isn't the first example of legislative gridlock on an authorization bill - just last year, the Transportation Department had a partial shutdown because the Congress could not agree on a short term extension of operations of the Highway Trust Fund.
This dispute echoes the battle now going on in the Congress over the budget and debt limit, as neither side wants to give and both say the other is guilty of refusing to compromise and address wasteful spending.
On one side is House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica, a GOP Congressman from Florida who says he is fed up with foot dragging by Democrats on efforts to save money at the FAA.
Mica used the House version of the FAA bill to try to squeeze savings from the Essential Air Service program, where the feds help smaller airports stay open by subsidizing the ticket cost of each plane passenger.
"I put provisions in there to stop subsidies of over $1,000 a ticket," Mica said.
And it was notable that the provision affected small airports in some states with very powerful Democrats: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) among others.
And obviously, those three Democrats weren't just going to accept those changes.
"Your attempt to punish the Senate by hurting small-community air service has backfired," Rockefeller said in a letter to Mica earlier this week.
"The refusal by the House to extend the FAA's funding authorities is a disservice to the American public and the aviation industry," Rockefeller said in a statement.
"I am disappointed and stunned by their failure," the West Virginia Democrat added.
Other sticking points in the FAA bill included how many flights should be allowed at Washington's main airport, Reagan National; also, there is a dispute over a 2010 ruling that made it easier for airline employees to unionize.
Republicans want to overturn that decision by the National Mediation Board and Democrats basically say that's not going to happen.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned in vain that new construction projects would be put on hold at airports and that airline ticket taxes might not be collected either.
Mica told me in the U.S. Capitol on Friday morning that he wasn't moved by all of the appeals for another short term extension of the FAA bill.
"I'm tired of playing games," Mica said.
"We're paying $3,700 to subsidize one plane ticket in one Senator's district - that's not right."
What airport gets that kind of subsidy? Ely, Nevada. Yes, the home state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
So, the House went home on Friday with no deal. We'll see how easily this is resolved next week, or whether this is just a warm-up for the upcoming showdown on the debt limit.
