As the U.S. government shutdown enters its sixth day, the U.S. Transportation Secretary says air traffic controllers are stressed by pressures the shutdown brings.

"In a job that's already stressful, this shutdown has put way more stress on our controllers, Sean Duffy said. "They're not just now thinking about the airspace, they're thinking about, am I going to get a paycheck?," Duffy said during a news conference at Newark International Airport in New Jersey

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson says it's up to a handful of Democrats to end the impasse and reopen the government, Duffy concurred, saying he wants democratic leaders to know that a shutdown "is not consequence-free."

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have provided few public signs of meaningful negotiations to break an impasse on reopening the federal government, which shut down last week.