Report: “No solution in sight” to FAA impasse

"There's no solution in sight" to the Capitol Hill impasse that triggered a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration and the work stoppage on the new air control tower at McCarran International Airport, Politico.com reported this morning.

"Both Democrats and Republicans are dug in, blaming one another for playing partisan politics and triggering the shutdown,"  Joseph Williams writes.

Andrew Steinberg, a former FAA administrator, told Politico the impasse was "a perfect analogy" to the debt crisis that also has stymied Congress, and a sign of "congressional dysfunctionality."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee called for a Wednesday meeting with House counterparts to iron out problems.  Rep. John Mica. R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the Senate should just pass a short-term FAA bill that the House approved last week.

Democratic Senate leaders including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, are rejecting that House bill over subsidy cuts to rural airports.