Senators are clashing over a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that critics say could let the Pentagon waive requirements for military aircraft to broadcast location data near Washington, D.C., raising safety concerns after a January crash at Reagan National. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell want Section 373 removed and may press their ROTOR Act as an amendment to pending spending bills. Supporters, including Sen. Jack Reed, say the language requires interagency coordination, while aviation Democrats like Sen. Tammy Duckworth argue the clause was inserted without consultation and risks safety. The dispute could spill into January if not resolved this week.
Senators Fight NDAA Clause They Say Could Weaken Air-Safety Rules Near Washington
Lawmakers are sharply divided over language in the National Defense Authorization Act that some senators warn could erode safety requirements for military aircraft operating near Washington, D.C., and raise the risk of another incident like January's crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
What Lawmakers Are Arguing About
Sect. 373 of the NDAA is at the center of the dispute. Critics say it would allow the Pentagon to waive requirements for military aircraft to transmit location data in the congested airspace around the capital and to rely on older or inferior equipment. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) are pressing to remove the provision and have flagged their proposed ROTOR Act — framed as a safety response to the DCA crash — as a potential amendment to upcoming spending bills.
The debate has cut across usual party lines and placed leaders of the Armed Services committees at odds with senators focused on aviation safety.
'There's no reason to have this language in the NDAA unless you're somebody who wants to continue ... letting the military do whatever it wants to do in a congested airspace,' said Sen. Maria Cantwell.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, defended the provision, saying it aims to improve air safety and explicitly requires the Defense Department to coordinate with the Department of Transportation. 'We're trying to improve – and we are – air safety,' Reed told Semafor, adding that it was 'troubling' to characterize the measure as reducing safety.
'We can't jeopardize aviation safety. And I am absolutely appalled that this thing was airdropped in behind closed doors without talking to me,' said Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate aviation subcommittee.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the chamber might take up the Cruz-Cantwell legislation as an amendment to the spending packages now under consideration. If leaders do not attach the measure to current must-pass bills, senators say the dispute could carry into January.
The administration has not publicly weighed in. A spokesperson told Semafor, using the president's preferred new name for the agency, that 'as a matter of longstanding Department of War policy, we don't comment on pending or proposed legislation.'
As the NDAA moves through the final stretch of the congressional calendar, the clash highlights competing priorities: preserving military operational flexibility versus strengthening transparency and safety in one of the nation's busiest and most sensitive airspaces.
