Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell are pushing to restore military flight-tracking requirements before current federal funding lapses, citing the Jan. 29 midair collision that killed 67 people. They criticized a provision in the defense authorization bill that would allow waivers permitting military aircraft to operate without broadcasting precise locations. With changes to the defense bill unlikely, the senators plan to pursue the ROTOR Act through the appropriations process to reimpose ADS-B requirements supported by the FAA, NTSB and victims’ families. A final NTSB report is expected next year.
Senators Race To Reinstate Military Flight Tracking Rules Ahead Of Funding Deadline After Deadly Midair Crash
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, speaks with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., right, before a hearing on the nomination of Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, for Commandant of the Coast Guard, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell pressed for swift action to restore military flight tracking rules before current government funding expires next month, saying the measures are necessary to prevent a repeat of the Jan. 29 midair collision near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.
The senators held a news conference Monday with family members of the victims to criticize language in a large defense authorization bill that would allow military aircraft to obtain waivers from broadcasting precise position data. That exemption would return helicopters to the operating rules in place before the January collision between a commercial airliner and an Army helicopter.
Cantwell and Cruz urged removing the waiver provision, but acknowledged that altering the defense bill now could send it back to the House and risk delaying troop pay raises and other central measures. With changes to the authorization bill unlikely, Cruz said he will push to include the ROTOR Act in the next appropriations package. ROTOR stands for Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform.
“I’m seeking a vote on the ROTOR Act as part of any appropriations measure before the current continuing resolution expires at the end of next month,” Cruz said, framing the measure as a way to reimpose requirements that helicopters broadcast their locations.
Why This Matters
The debate has renewed scrutiny of safety in the congested airspace around the nation’s capital. Before the Jan. 29 collision, military helicopters frequently transited the busy Washington-area airspace without using ADS-B, an onboard system that broadcasts precise position and altitude information. The Federal Aviation Administration began requiring ADS-B for all aircraft earlier this year.
FILE - A diving team and police boat is seen near a wreckage site in the Potomac River, from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, multiple senators, commercial carriers and major transportation unions sharply criticized the helicopter exemption when it surfaced in the defense bill.
“The special carve-out was airdropped in at the last moment,” Cruz said, saying the language would roll back safety steps taken by the administration and transportation officials after the crash.
Families of the victims warned the provision would erode hard-won safeguards. Amy Hunter, who lost relatives in the collision, said the administration had been implementing NTSB recommendations and that the defense-bill language threatened to reverse that progress.
Investigators have not yet released a final NTSB report on the cause of the crash; a full report is expected next year. NTSB investigators have already highlighted concerns about roughly 85 near misses near Ronald Reagan National Airport in the years before the collision and about helicopter routing that allowed military helicopters to operate close to aircraft using the airport’s secondary runway.
The ROTOR Act — which would require all aircraft operating in the area to broadcast their location — has broad support from the White House, the FAA, the NTSB and victims’ families. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he hopes the ROTOR language can be included in a funding package, but acknowledged it would be difficult to unwind the defense authorization bill at this stage.
What Comes Next: With the defense bill likely to move forward unchanged, Cruz and Cantwell plan to press for a vote on the ROTOR Act as part of upcoming appropriations work. The senators and victims’ families say that approach would restore recent safety reforms without imperiling other priorities tied to the defense bill.
Note: Earlier versions of related reporting incorrectly suggested Sen. Cruz threatened a government shutdown. Cruz has said he will seek to reimpose the tracking restrictions through the appropriations process; he did not say he would force a shutdown.
