Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois is calling on the Transportation Department to broaden its $10,000 shutdown bonus to every air traffic controller and FAA technician who performed work without receiving on-time pay.

The department previously announced that 776 personnel with perfect attendance during the 44-day shutdown would receive the payments, following a directive to recognize those who maintained operations during that period. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said last month he was proud of the selected employees, calling their efforts “the highest levels of public service.”

In a letter first obtained by CBS News, Duckworth described the current criteria as excluding “96 percent” of the workforce, saying the approach was “unfair, divisive and disrespectful” to thousands w

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