Politics

Gallup will no longer track presidential approval ratings

The company will continue to conduct the annual Gallup World Poll which measures public attitudes in about 140 countries

The monthly poll has been used to measure presidential performance for almost nine decades

The F.A.A. generally goes to great lengths to avoid closing airports because unplanned closures even for a few hours can severely disrupt air travel

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on social media the F.A.A. an agency within the Transportation Department the Defense Department acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion the threat had been eliminated

Bryan Bedford the F.A.A. administrator declined to answer questions from reporters after a closed-door briefing with lawmakers in Washington on Wednesday

There have been drone incursions from Mexico going back to as long as drones existed Representative Veronica Escobar an El Paso Democrat said at a news conference

Multiple people briefed on the situation said the abrupt airspace closure was prompted by Customs and Border Protection officials deploying an anti-drone laser in the area without giving aviation officials enough time to assess the risks to commercial planes

The C.B.P. officials thought they were firing on a cartel drone but it was a party balloon

According to four people briefed on the situation Pentagon and F.A.A. officials were set to meet on Feb 20 to discuss the safety implications of deploying the military’s new anti-drone technology which was being tested

Senators Ted Cruz John Cornyn Republicans of Texas both said they wanted a classified briefing on the incident from the F.A.A. the Defense Department

Earlier on Wednesday a Pentagon spokesman repeated the military’s assertion it had responded to a drone incursion

You cannot restrict air space over a major city without coordinating with the city the airport the hospitals the community leadership Mayor Johnson said

Federal agencies have largely stayed mum on the closure

Military has been developing high-energy laser weapons to intercept and destroy drones

The restrictions were lifted less than eight hours later much remains unclear about why officials shut down a major regional airport for more than a week

The restriction encompassed a 10-mile area around El Paso included the neighboring community of Santa Teresa N.M. did not apply to planes flying above 18000 feet

In one notice the F.A.A. said the federal government may use deadly force if an aircraft violating the airspace was determined to pose an imminent security threat

Renard Johnson the mayor of El Paso said at a news conference Wednesday morning many local officials remained unclear about why the F.A.A. had shut down the airport the failure to communicate is unacceptable

The Trump administration blamed the halt on a cartel drone incursion others disputed that explanation