By Allison Lampert and David Shepardson

(Reuters) -A U.S. government delay on funding a grant program risks worsening a shortage of aircraft mechanics at a time when the country’s aging aviation system is already strained by demand, lawmakers said on Monday.

Twenty-one Democratic House representatives, in a letter seen by Reuters to Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford, questioned the legality of delaying grants previously authorized by Congress. Thanksgiving, a holiday that falls on Thursday, is one of the busiest U.S. travel periods.

The letter, signed by lawmakers including Representatives Marilyn Strickland, Rick Larsen and Andre Carson, follows a September Reuters report that attributed delays to government efforts to remove references to diversity, equity a

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