Airport Alert: Senate Clears ROTOR Act, House Committee to Consider Bill to Protect Aviation During Government Shutdown
December 17, 2025
Congress is trying to wrap up as much work as possible before lawmakers leave town for the holidays. Today, the Senate passed the ROTOR Act – a top priority for Senate Commerce Committee leaders. Tomorrow, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will consider a bill to ensure aviation workers continue to get paid during a government shutdown and avoid disruptions in the National Airspace System.
Senate Clears ROTOR Act
The Senate today passed S. 2503, the ROTOR Act – a bipartisan bill that would require aircraft in controlled airspace to be equipped with ADS-B In. It would also close a loophole that allows military aircraft to operate without using ADS-B Out. The Senate cleared the measure by unanimous consent after proponents tried unsuccessfully to add it to the National Defense Authorization Act.
“This bill will be a fitting way to honor the lives of those lost nearly one year ago over the Potomac River,” Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) said today in a press release. “The ROTOR Act will save lives.”
When the Senate Commerce Committee marked up the bill earlier this year, AAAE, ACI-NA, and airports around the country worked together to beat back efforts by Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) to add an AOPA-backed bill that would have prevented airports from using ADS-B data to collect landing fees.
The ROTOR Act now goes to the House, and it is unclear how the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will proceed. Meanwhile, Chairman Cruz and the bipartisan group of Commerce Committee leaders may also attempt to add the ROTOR Act to a package of fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills.
House Committee to Consider Aviation Funding Solvency Act
Tomorrow, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is slated to mark up several bills including H.R. 6086, the Aviation Funding Solvency Act – a bipartisan bill that would allow the FAA to dip into the Aviation Insurance Revolving Fund to pay air traffic controllers and other FAA employees during a government shutdown. The fund covers war risk insurance claims by airlines and currently has a balance of more than $2.6 billion.
AAAE President and CEO Todd today urged lawmakers to pass the Aviation Funding Solvency Act. In a letter to Committee leaders, he pointed that “government shutdowns place significant strain on the aviation workforce, including air traffic controllers, transportation security officers, FAA specialists, and other federal employees, essential to the safe and efficient operation of our National Airspace System.”
The Modern Skies Coalition, which includes AAAE, USCTA, and a long list of aviation stakeholders, also lined up in support of the legislation. In its letter to Committee leaders, the coalition said that the bill “will eliminate the additional strain on the U.S. aviation system that can build during government shutdowns by ensuring that air traffic controllers and other Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) professionals responsible for maintaining safety of the airspace will continue to get paid.”
Tomorrow, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will also consider H.R. 6427, Airport Regulatory relief act – a narrow proposal aimed at streamlining the way GA airports use state highway specifications for runway projects. A bill requiring FAA to set a course for the approval of supersonic jet transport -- H.R. 3410 -- is also on the agenda.
