Senate prepares for fights over FAA reauthorization

Senate work to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will begin in earnest on Wednesday as members push to meet the May 10 deadline despite several looming battles, including the push to add additional flights leaving the Reagan Washington National Airport.

The FAA reauthorization has already been challenged three times, but Congress is trying to pass a full five-year extension. It’s likely to be one of the last bills to be passed — and legislative fights — before the fall.

Lawmakers are hopeful they can complete the work by next week’s deadline, but are worried the process could get complicated.

“It’s going to be bumpy. Turmoil,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters.

Sen. John Thune (RS.D.) noted that Republican senators have nearly 20 amendments they want votes on, some of them unrelated to the FAA bill.

“It’s a pretty complex piece of legislation, with a lot of moving parts, and I think there will be good interest in some amendment process,” Thune said, adding that it’s an “open question” whether lawmakers can reach a deal to speed up passage. .

A compromise bill released Monday morning includes a codification of the Department of Transportation’s recent rule requiring reimbursements to travelers for some domestic and international flights, funding to hire more air traffic controllers and other provisions to improve safety. on the tracks and avoid near collisions.

Removed from the final package was raising the retirement age for pilots from 65 to 67 and language introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would have allowed lawmakers and judges facing threats to receive special security escorts at airports.

The must-pass bill was expected to be an excellent opportunity to advance the ambitious bipartisan agenda that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) has put forward.

But lawmakers indicate it would be a difficult task to attach any unrelated provisions to the bill.

Punchbowl News reported Monday that Schumer’s attempt to include a cannabis banking and cryptocurrency stablecoin reform package was shot down. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is a longtime opponent of SAFE banking legislation, which would give the cannabis industry access to the U.S. banking system.

Democrats were also unable to win inclusion of a federal cost-sharing measure as part of the reconstruction of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after its collapse last month. Top Republicans believe it is too early to approve federal cost-sharing, as state officials have not yet revealed an estimate of recovery costs.

“There are a lot of non-German things that people want to put into this,” Thune said. “I just don’t know what the appetite for non-German amendments will be, because once you go down that path, everyone will want your non-German amendments too.”

The big fight in the coming days continues to be whether five additional slots, or 10 round-trip flights, will be added to the National Airport. Washington, D.C.-area lawmakers are complaining about its inclusion in the negotiated package.

A quartet of Democratic senators — Ben Cardin (Md.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Mark Warner (Va.) — have argued for months that adding slots will increase delays and decrease safety.

“It goes without saying that the safety of the traveling public must be a higher priority than the convenience of some lawmakers who want direct flights home from their preferred airport,” the four said in a statement Monday. “We will continue to fight this ridiculous and dangerous provision.”

National Airport is predominantly known as a short-haul airport. Most of its flights are kept under 1,250 miles, with only a few exceptions.

Lawmakers from greater distances have pushed to increase the number of these exceptions. The other two airports in the area, Dulles International Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), are better suited for long-haul flights but are further from DC.

The area’s four senators are also concerned that adding flights to National Airport could hurt Dulles and BWI. Dulles is also a hub for United Airlines, with the airline lobbying heavily against the additional National Airport slots.

Members based in Virginia and Maryland are expected to receive an amendment vote to overturn the provision.

Kaine noted to reporters last week that two planes nearly collided at National Airport in April and that more flights increase the chances of that happening in the future.

“That near miss at Reagan National two weeks ago is a flashing red warning light telling Congress: Don’t do this,” Kaine told reporters late last week.