A treat for kids found a Democrat senator pulling an oversight trick on the Trump administration, alleging a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” and invoking September 11 because of a flyover.
Should the midterm elections result in a favorable outcome for the Democrats, the left has made clear its intention to grind the gears of President Donald Trump’s executive branch to a halt with congressional hearings, investigations and possibly even yet another impeachment. Monday, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D) gave a preview when she fired off a letter to officials “demanding answers” on the president’s White House flyover for Halloween.
Writing to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford in her capacity as ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Aviation, Duckworth piled on the political attacks amid the fearmongering.
“Donald Trump’s dangerously low Halloween flyover was a reckless vanity stunt,” she insisted. “He terrified local residents, disrupted flights and risked aviation safety to parade around his new Qatar-gifted toy–wasting taxpayer dollars, even as prices keep soaring. I’m demanding answers.”
Donald Trump’s dangerously low Halloween flyover was a reckless vanity stunt.
He terrified local residents, disrupted flights and risked aviation safety to parade around his new Qatar-gifted toy—wasting taxpayer dollars, even as prices keep soaring.
I’m demanding answers. https://t.co/kgryJ9Nbqh
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) November 2, 2026
Regarding the two passes of the White House as the president and First Lady Melania Trump greeted trick-or-treaters on the South Lawn, the senator contended, “The stunt startled residents, prompted 911 calls, forced a ground stop at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), contributed to more than 200 flight delays and burned taxpayer dollars so President Trump could parade his toy before children trick-or-treating on the South Lawn.”
“For the children on the lawn, perhaps a treat; for everyone else in the National Capital Region (NCR) and across the country, a trick–dangerous, expensive and profoundly unserious,” argued Duckworth, who cited “flight-tracking data” and videos to contend the plane “flew near or below the top of the Washington Monument before invoking September 11 and the January 2025 midair collision of a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger plane.
Amid her ham-fisted efforts to denigrate Trump’s beautification agenda throughout the nation’s capital, going as far as to include former President Barack Obama’s Cheesecake Factory slight, the senator sought a timeline on the approval process for the flyover along with the notifications to relevant agencies. She also requested details about the flight logs and set a deadline of November 20 for responses.
Worth noting, as Duckworth admitted to presuming American taxpayers were on the hook for the spooky spectacle, ATIS Alerts records indicate that ground stops are a regular occurrence at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), with the FAA issuing 104 in the 12 months ending in October 2026, averaging 90 minutes, with flights typically held for over an hour.
About a third of these kinds of delays were attributed to thunderstorms, while low clouds (13%), air traffic controller staffing (9%), snow and ice (8%), and other or unspecified causes (12%) were also considered factors.
Reactions to Duckworth’s focus slammed her for treating the Senate as “an HOA” and reminded that Obama was responsible for terrorizing New Yorkers in May 2009 when Air Force One, followed by an F-16, was dispatched to New York City, where it circled low over the area for the sake of a Statue of Liberty photo op.
@briprice661 @SenDuckworth 🤣🤣🤣
Let the memes commence! https://t.co/9qROcgS2xp
— Mae Berrie (@MaeBerrie1234) November 3, 2026
Duckworth, have you forgotten Obama’s 2009 photo shoot costing tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars? Even worse, that low-altitude Air Force One flyover deeply rattled New Yorkers who were still healing from the trauma of September 11.
— David (@IdahoDaveD) November 3, 2026
Lighten up Duckworth. You are the only one bitching.
The FAA approved and coordinated a low Halloween flyover of the presidential plane over the White House for the kids’ event. It delayed flights and startled some locals due to short notice, but the crew flew it without…
— Ramblin Rover (@grablekelly05) November 2, 2026
This is what democrats are wasting their time on?
— Jaime (@jamessss1025) November 3, 2026
@13Revelation22 @SenDuckworth https://t.co/uL66smpmPl
— CarmenCutlets 🇺🇸🇵🇷🇮🇹 MAGA (@CarmenCutlets) November 3, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
- DeSantis turns fire on conservative media after GOP losses: ‘A lot of that is a grift’ - November 9, 2026
- Florida Republican delivers post-election wake-up call to GOP: Stop mourning and start fighting - November 9, 2026
- Former Trump adviser claims White House staff treated president ‘like a baby’ — and used him - November 9, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.