Longest Shutdown Tests Air Travel, Federal Workers and Patience

The US government has reached a major milestone of dysfunction as Congress has allowed a federal shutdown to drag into its 36th day — the longest in history — amid a stalemate over health-care and spending priorities.

As the standoff continues, the economic pain is deepening.

Budget maneuvers to pay active-duty troops and partially fund food aid will likely run out before the end of November. Air traffic controllers working without pay are calling out at higher rates as one of the busiest travel periods of the year approaches.

And policymakers could be working with flawed or missing data for ...