Stephen A. Smith walks off stage after air traffic controller says he delivers food during shutdown

(NewsNation) — A 16-year air traffic controller took lawmakers to task about his concerns over how long the government shutdown will last.

Jack Chris, an audience member at the NewsNation Town Hall, said when he gets off work, he is driving for DoorDash just to pay for his daughter's tuition. He also said he's been through the previous shutdowns under President Trump in his first term, and when Barack Obama was in office.

"This is not a game," said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., about Chris' concerns. "It's not. There are people like you who aren't going to get paid."

The government shutdown is entering its third week after Democrats and Republicans couldn't reach a deal on funding to keep it open. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted Monday the shutdown may become the longest in history, saying he “won’t negotiate” with Democrats until they hit pause on their health care demands and reopen.

"There are troops," Khanna added. "I was talking to the mom of someone who served in the Army and she didn't know until the president figured out how to jigger the funds whether she was going to be able to pay for her kids' groceries."

Goverment shutdown may last longer than previous times: Rep. Madeleine Dean

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., expanded on Khanna's remarks to Chris, saying she does believe the shutdown can go longer than previous ones.

"I was sworn in during the longest shutdown in government history under the Trump administration one," she said, "35 days, I met with air traffic controllers. They were doing garage sales, selling stuff out of their houses to make sure they could feed their families. It is absolutely irresponsible."

"Why are the Republicans not here negotiating? You (Republicans) have a responsibility to govern. You have the trifecta. You’re failing to govern."

'Don't think Washington knows how ticked off we are': Stephen A. Smith

Another panelist on the discussion, Stephen A. Smith, said that Chris is the perfect example of why so many citizens are upset with the shutdown.

"This is why you have so many Americans, excuse my language, so pissed off at Washington, because somehow, some way you get to have these conversations, engage in specific elements of it, to talk about what we need to do to get things better," Smith said.

"Our debt is $37.8 trillion. Somehow, some way, the taxpayer has been paying this, been throwing money, because we all look at our check and it's been going to the government and you're supposed to be doing something constructive and productive enough to make sure that we don't have that kind of deficit. It isn't happening."