[moelf]

IIUC they legally can't do that. ATC are federal employees, you can't just have private companies pay off federal workers. (Well, I know Trump's friend is literally doing that for the military so idk, maybe laws are just words these days)

[whatever1]

Companies can give gifts to individuals, as long as they report them and pay tax on them.

[hshdhdhehd]

Why hire private? Why not fund the existing federal ones?

[trenchpilgrim]

In previous shutdowns, Congress passed temporary funding bills to keep paying certain functions such as ATC for a few weeks while negotiating the budget.

This time, negotiations seem to have entirely stalled.