The Senate is racing against a Friday deadline to pass legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration at a time of intense uncertainty and disruption to the air travel system, but a series of political disputes and unrelated issues threaten to prolong the delay. debate.
As one of the few remaining bills considered a must-have item this year, the FAA package has become a magnet for dozens of policy amendments and provisions that lawmakers are fighting to get a vote on, slowing its progress in the Senate. Regional interests have also disrupted the usual political alliances among lawmakers, making quick action difficult.
“All of us need to work constructively and urgently to finish the job at the FAA,” Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “No one, absolutely no one, should want us to miss the deadline. “That would unnecessarily increase the risks for so many travelers and so many federal workers.”
The bill, which would reauthorize the agency over the next five years, would provide more than $105 billion to the FAA and another $738 million to the National Transportation Safety Board for airport modernization, technology programs and safety. It would also strengthen the hiring and training of air traffic controllers, codify airlines’ reimbursement obligations to passengers, and strengthen protections for passengers with disabilities.
The legislation is a bipartisan compromise negotiated for months by the Senate and House committees with jurisdiction over the FAA, after Congress authorized several short-term extensions of the agency when lawmakers failed to meet earlier deadlines. The House passed its version of the bill nearly a year ago in a lopsided 351-69 vote.
“To get the FAA done, we need hurry and a common desire to get to yes,” Schumer said Wednesday. “Any member who insists on superfluous changes will only increase the likelihood that we will miss the deadline.”
As the legislation threatened to stall, the House approved a one-week extension on Wednesday before leaving Washington over the weekend. But it was unclear whether the Senate could do the same before the deadline, and leaders continued to push for longer-term reform.
The debate comes at a time of acute uncertainty about the aviation system, which has had a recent series of worrying episodes, including dangerous runway collisions, aircraft malfunctions and thousands of flight delays and cancellations.
Senate leaders scheduled a key test vote for early Thursday afternoon that will determine how quickly the bill can advance.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, said the Senate had a “very good prospect of passing the bill” by Friday and that he expected “a strong bipartisan vote at the end of the day.”
“That’s what I would like to happen,” he said. “This is a bill that incorporates hundreds of priorities from members on both sides of the aisle and makes real progress in terms of improving safety, in terms of investing in air traffic controllers to reduce delays.”
Senators maintain their influence as the clock ticks on a body that requires 60 votes to break a filibuster. They have submitted dozens of amendments to the bill that they want Senate leaders to vote on. Some proposals relate to the aviation system, while others are completely separate laws that their proponents want to incorporate into the FAA bill to increase its chances of passage.
One of the most intense regional fights has been over a provision of the bill that would add five round-trip flights from Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington, DC. Proponents, which include Delta Air Lines, have said they want to expand access to the nation’s capital and increase competition.
But the proposal has outraged lawmakers representing the area, who have argued that the airport maintains the busiest runway in the country and cannot accommodate additional flights. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia and Benjamin L. Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, all Democrats, introduced an amendment to eliminate the new flights. If they do not receive a vote on their proposal, Kaine and Warner threatened Thursday to oppose the quick passage of a one-week extension, which they said would allow leaders to run out procedural time on the broader package without allowing any vote on amendment.
Another group of senators was pushing for a vote on their bipartisan proposal to stop the Transportation Security Administration’s expansion of facial recognition technology at airports and restrict it where it is in use.
Senators have also proposed adding a number of unrelated policy ideas.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., demanded a vote on his bill that would expand eligibility for federal compensation to the group of people harmed by exposure to the nation’s nuclear weapons program. (The Senate passed the bill in March, but the House did not take it up.) He also promised to block quick passage of an extension if his measure did not receive a vote.
Cardin and Van Hollen wanted to add a bipartisan measure to allow the federal government to fully fund the replacement of the Francis Key Scott Bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed in late March.
Senators Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, and Roger Marshall, Republican of Kansas, wanted to attach their legislation related to credit card competition.
And Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., were seeking to attach the Child Online Safety Act, which would require social networks to take “reasonable steps” to prevent harm to minors on their sites.
Senate leaders pointed to an overwhelming vote last week, 81-10, to begin considering the legislation as a sign of momentum and consensus around the measure. But on Thursday they were still working to secure a deal to speed up the process, and the path to approving the short-term extension was unclear.
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, said Wednesday that it seemed “increasingly unlikely” that a deal could be reached, but that “there is always hope.”
“Everyone has control over this right now,” he said. “Whether or not they are fully exercised remains to be seen.”
Any major changes the Senate makes to the measure would affect the House, where leaders have urged their colleagues across the Capitol to keep unrelated provisions out.
The bill is a “carefully negotiated package, and support for the package could be compromised if the Senate begins to undo key components of the deal or add completely unrelated legislation to the package,” said Justin Harclerode, a spokesman for Republicans on the House Committee. Transportation of the House of Representatives. . He added that the political clauses could “complicate its passage in the House.”
Air transportation industry players have urged quick passage of the bill to address a number of critical issues in the system and provide the FAA with long-term operational certainty.
“A4A supports the swift passage of agreed-upon bipartisan, bicameral language released Sunday night after months of thoughtful negotiations,” Airlines for America, a trade group, said in a statement. “Strange, non-German amendments threaten this bill that must be passed amid the looming May 10 deadline.”
“We urge Congress to approve the FAA reauthorization agreement without delay,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, said in a statement. “This agreement will stabilize the FAA and provide it with the resources necessary to ensure that the United States aviation system remains the gold standard for safety, security and connectivity.”