Two of President Trump's cabinet secretaries demanded $50 billion from Congress on Friday to replace air traffic control hardware and software that has been in service since the 1980s, hours after a nationwide ground stop delayed roughly 10,000 flights and forced nearly 5,000 cancellations.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued the demand at a press conference on Friday evening. They attributed the failure to "old switches, old routers" that became overloaded with data and disrupted communications at multiple air-route traffic-control centers, the facilities that manage aircraft flying between airports.

The request comes from the Department of Homeland Security, which said it wants the full $50 billion appropriated to replace aging technology at the root of Friday's disruption.

What caused the nationwide halt?

The Federal Aviation Administration halted departures across the United States on Friday as a safety precaution. Aircraft already in the air continued toward their destinations or were diverted as needed.

Duffy and Mullin said the core problem is hardware and software installed in the 1980s. According to Duffy, the legacy system can no longer handle the volume of data moving through it, and the overload triggered repeated communications failures across multiple air-route traffic-control centers.

The officials said they have seen no evidence that the failure was caused by a cyberattack or by system failures linked to artificial intelligence. They added that investigators are still working to determine the precise cause of the outage.

The ground stop was lifted at approximately 8:15 p.m. ET on Friday. The disruption left airlines scrambling to reposition aircraft and crews. Business Insider's count put the damage at roughly 10,000 delayed flights and nearly 5,000 cancellations.

How much money do the secretaries want?

Duffy repeatedly pressed the case for $50 billion during the press conference. The figure covers the replacement of the entire hardware and software stack that has been operating since the 1980s, rather than incremental patches.

"How many times does this have to happen before Congress gives the money to fix it?" Duffy said.

Mullin framed the request as an argument against piecemeal modernization. "We need one complete system. We need someone to come in and build the whole system. Doing it — nickel-and-diming it together — does not work. This is what happens when that takes place," Mullin said.

The secretaries' joint appearance signals that the request is coordinated across two departments rather than a single-agency budget bid.

What did Duffy tell the public?

Duffy directed his appeal to voters, urging them to pressure their elected representatives directly.

"We should talk to our senators and our members of Congress to say 'we don't deserve this, America,'" Duffy said. "This is the greatest country — by the way, with the greatest president — let's give the money to fix this very real problem."

The transportation secretary tied the funding request explicitly to the Trump administration's political standing, pairing praise for the president with the argument that American travelers should not accept repeated system failures.

What happens next?

The precise cause of the outage remains under investigation. Officials have ruled out, at least preliminarily, a cyberattack and failures connected to artificial intelligence systems.

The immediate operational recovery is underway, with airlines working to reposition planes and crews after the 8:15 p.m. ET lifting of the ground stop.

The $50 billion request now sits with Congress. Duffy's public framing — asking how many failures must occur before lawmakers act — positions the appropriation as a test of legislative willingness to fund a full replacement of infrastructure that predates the internet era.