Good luck at the airport

Jun 30, 2023

AIR TRAVEL AGONY — If you’ve been sitting on the floor of an airport for 18 hours, Congress isn’t coming to save you. Not with haste, anyways.

Summer air travel is shaping up to be a nightmare heading into the July 4 weekend and the frequent fliers on Capitol Hill are taking notice, even if they landed safely at their destination weeks ago. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. travelers were stuck or stranded this week.

Blame game: Airlines blamed the weather and the critical shortage of air traffic controllers. They’re also heaping blame on the Federal Aviation Administration. The air traffic control union is blaming airlines, specifically United, whose flights accounted for about 84 percent of those canceled across the country this week.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said this week that he’ll use his seat on the Commerce Committee to push for more air traffic controllers to be working. “Staffing at FAA’s air traffic facilities in NY is at 54 percent,” Cruz tweeted. “Yet DOT is blaming weather for delays. Nonsense.”

On the runway: Lawmakers are seeking to solve some of these problems (not the weather, but staffing and training) in bills to reauthorize the FAA for the next five years, with both House and Senate proposals adding air traffic controllers. The Senate bill calls for the establishment of a second air traffic controller academy, while the House bill would direct the FAA to train as many new controllers as possible.

This week’s mess follows a Transportation Department’s inspector general report last week that found that the FAA had taken only limited steps to address shortages and repeated warnings by the air traffic controllers’ union that too few employees were available.

Stuck on the tarmac: Federal aviation program authorizations are set to expire Sept. 30, but there are major disagreements that could derail action before the August recess. The House Transportation Committee approved its five-year, $103 billion FAA bill, after narrowly adopting an amendment that would raise the commercial pilot retirement age from 65 to 67. After recess it will be jockeying for floor time against spending bills, the GOP tax bill and other leadership priorities.

But in the Senate, action skidded off the runway during a June 15 markup over an amendment from Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) that would allow airlines to count additional types of training toward the 1,500-hour requirement, with FAA approval. The meeting was halted and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has not signaled when the panel will reconvene.

Summertime sadness: Staff are still expressing confidence that Congress can get the FAA bill through before the Sept. 30 deadline, but travelers shouldn’t look for any immediate relief from Capitol Hill this summer. Thoughts and prayers for your August getaway.

TGIF! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, June 30, where we hope you have a fun and safe holiday weekend! Don’t play with fireworks.

Programming note: We’ll be off Monday and Tuesday for the Fourth of July but will be back in your inboxes on Wednesday July 5.

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LOOKING FOR A DIRTY DOZEN — Three House committee chairs are demanding that more than a dozen employees from the IRS, Justice Department and Secret Service get grilled by their committees as they expand their probe into Hunter Biden. They are digging into alleged political interference into an investigation into the president’s son’s taxes.

“The Committees must obtain the first-hand testimony from these individuals to fully assess the serious allegations” made by a pair of IRS whistleblowers, Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday. They want to begin scheduling interviews as soon as possible, and no later than July 13. The lawmakers said they “anticipate” seeking testimony from other IRS, Justice and Secret Service employees. Toby Eckert has more.

CROWDED IN CALIFORNIA — Silicon Valley executive Lexi Reese announced that she is jumping into the already packed field to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Reese, who has worked at Facebook, Google and American Express, is well known in the business scene but doesn’t have close to the name recognition of other Democrats in the field.

Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee are the top House members vying for the seat. Republicans Eric Early, an attorney, and veteran James Bradley are the most prominent Republicans in the race so far. Former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star Steve Garvey, also a Republican, is also considering jumping into the race.

Meanwhile in Michigan… Michigan Senate Race Could Get Crowded as Several Mull Challenging Slotkin, from Mini Racker at Time Magazine

HUDDLE HOTDISH

Seeing double… and a whole lot of Navy blue. House GOP Whip Tom Emmer met with the Winklevoss twins about crypto.

QUICK LINKS

The Military Recruiting Crisis: Even Veterans Don’t Want Their Children to Join, from Ben Kesling at The Wall Street Journal

The Senate’s Feinstein Question, from Carl Hulse at The New York Times

TRANSITIONS

Regan Williams is now legislative director for Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.). He most recently was a legislative aide for Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), and is a Jody Hice, Gary Palmer and Trump DHS alum.

Jack Colonnetta is now communications director for Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.). He most recently was press secretary for Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.).

Sara Garcia is now director of operations for Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.). She most recently was office manager for government relations at the Home Depot.

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House meets at 2 p.m. for a pro forma session.

The Senate is out.

AROUND THE HILL

A quiet Friday.

TRIVIA

THURSDAY’S WINNER: Michael Herson correctly answered that New Mexico’s Bill Richardson is the only House lawmaker who went on to be secretary of Energy.

TODAY’S QUESTION: These two founding fathers both died on the same 4th of July, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.

Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus

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