| | | | |  | | By Tanya Snyder and Oriana Pawlyk | Presented by Capital Access Alliance | | | | | — FTA is proposing a new rule that would let transit workers refuse dangerous work. — FAA is stepping up its oversight of United Airlines in the wake of recent safety incidents. — Rep. Mike Gallagher’s imminent departure from Congress will leave a hole on the China select committee he leads, and in Republican thought leadership on cybersecurity. IT’S MONDAY: You’re reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. We’re glad you’re here. Send tips, feedback and song lyrics to Tanya at tsnyder@politico.com and Oriana at opawlyk@politico.com, and follow us at @TSnyderDC and @Oriana0214. “Now the cars are all passing me / Trucks are all flashing me / I'm headed home from your place / And now the sun's coming up / I'm riding with Lady Luck / Freeway, cars and trucks.” (h/t Jacob Fischler)
| | | | A message from Capital Access Alliance: Congress is positioned to include a pro-consumer measure in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization package. With the Senate reaching a bipartisan compromise to add a modest number of new flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), travelers are much closer to greater access to Washington, D.C. Learn more. | | | | | WORKER SAFETY RULES: FTA is proposing a new rule in today’s Federal Register that would set minimum safety standards, for the first time, for rail transit workers who have to be on or near the tracks as part of their job. The rule would enshrine a worker’s right to refuse unsafe work, known as a “good faith safety challenge.” The move comes just weeks after a New York subway operator was stabbed in the neck and months after another MTA worker was killed while working as a flagger. Assaults on transit workers have tripled in the last 15 years, according to a study by the Urban Institute. “We need this,” said Transport Workers Union of America International President John Samuelsen in an interview. He credited FTA Acting Administrator Veronica Vanterpool, who just took over a month ago when Administrator Nuria Fernandez retired. “She's a blue collar New Yorker, running the FTA now,” Samuelsen said. “This is an amazing moment. It took for Veronica to take the helm — right out of the Bronx, who grew up riding the New York City subway system — to step up and take specific action on behalf of transit workers in New York and across the country.” APTA, which represents transit systems, had no comment. The FTA rule also proposes nationwide minimum standards to protect track workers for all rail transit agencies nationwide. Transit agencies would be required to create a track worker protection program, train workers and ensure that safety problems are reported. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
| | MORE EYES ON UNITED: After a string of high-profile safety and mechanical incidents involving United Airlines’ fleet of aircraft, the FAA on Friday announced it was stepping up its oversight of the airline, Oriana reports. United's facilities will see “more of an FAA presence,” said the airline’s vice president of corporate safety Sasha Johnson — including inspection of manuals, work procedures and safety processes as well as a “pause” of a “variety of certification activities for a period of time.” The FAA on Saturday added that certification pause applies to future projects, not projects already in the certification process, based on findings from the added oversight. BOOM’S FIRST FLIGHT: Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 prototype aircraft took its first flight in Mojave, California on Friday, marking a major first step for the company as it hopes to revive civil supersonic air travel — similar to the Concorde — but with a smaller carbon footprint. The XB-1 is just a demonstrator aircraft ahead of its larger ambition: its Overture airliner, which could one day run completely on sustainable aviation fuel. The company says it’s moving to get Overture in the air by the end of the decade — following the huge undertaking of FAA certification, of course. A SECURITY VIOLATION IN THE MAKING? Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee sent a letter to TSA Administrator David Pekoske last week requesting additional information about whether migrants are able to pass through airport security checkpoints across the country by bypassing stricter TSA screening measures most passengers abide by. The lawmakers said TSA has the ability to clear individuals via the CBP One app, which registers migrants in a database once they come into the U.S. The lawmakers said because much of these documents rely on self-reported information, it may not be sufficient to verify identities. (Earlier this month, TSA started requiring facial identification that is cross referenced with other information provided to and cleared by DHS for migrants that seek to travel domestically without a valid passport). TSA spokesperson R. Carter Langston said the agency is aware of the letter and will respond to lawmakers directly.
| | THE DEED IS DONE: The House passed the fiscal 2024 appropriations bill, H.R. 2882, Friday (at a reasonable hour), the Senate cleared it at a far less reasonable hour, and President Joe Biden signed into law Saturday — a few hours after the deadline, but before any significant shutdown was required. “And after all of that delay — how different ultimately was the outcome?” Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Friday on the floor. Democrats held Republicans’ proposed deep spending cuts at bay and “in the end, the funding legislation hews closely to the spending levels [former House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy struck with Biden last summer,” reported Jennifer Scholtes, Caitlin Emma and Ursula Perano. AN IRISH GOODBYE: Rep. Mike Gallagher, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, will leave Congress April 19, he announced Friday. He had previously said he wouldn’t be running for reelection. His House seat will remain vacant but Gallagher said that Speaker Mike Johnson will appoint a new chair for the Select Committee. Eleanor Mueller and Olivia Beavers have the story. Context: Johnson is now working with a two-seat Republican majority in a House, and he’s facing a motion to vacate by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) Other GOP committee chairs leaving the House after this year include Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Appropriations Chair Kay Granger (R-Texas). Granger is staying in Congress until the end of her term but said Friday that she would step down as Appropriations chair. Next move: Gallagher is taking a job with the defense tech contractor Palantir, Forbes reported. The committee he chairs: A China Committee staffer told Eleanor and Olivia that Gallagher’s departure “is only a speed bump,” and the panel’s work will continue uninterrupted into the next session. But under Gallagher’s leadership, the brand new committee — just 14 months old, and with no authorizing or appropriations power — has had a remarkable impact, most notably with a bill targeting TikTok that passed the House two weeks ago. “The TikTok thing went from zero to 60 fast — really fast,” said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, in a recent interview. “It shows the power of the select committee to ignite an agenda.” Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), a member of the committee, called Gallagher’s leadership “exemplary” in a recent appearance at an electric vehicle conference. A hole to fill: Gallagher’s departure also leaves "a hole in Republican leadership on cyber policy, which no one immediately looks able to fill,” reports Maggie Miller. Under his leadership, the committee has taken strong positions and pushed the executive branch to take action on Chinese lidar and other vehicle technology, as well as the import of Chinese automobiles.
| | | | A message from Capital Access Alliance:   | | | | | FAILURE TO LAUNCH: Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn last week introduced legislation that would potentially give commercial space companies a faster way to obtain a launch license through the FAA, paving the way for increased U.S.-made technologies in space. The bill, S. 3966, aims to reduce the red tape around the FAA’s application process. Space coasts: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, chair of the Senate Commerce Space and Science Subcommittee; Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.); Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.); and Republican Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott are sponsors of the legislation. How long? When asked about the average timeline for the application process, the FAA said that safety drives its timeline “for all commercial space licensing decisions,” and did not comment on the pending legislation.
| | BHATT STUMPS FOR EVs: FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt on Friday delivered one of the administration’s strongest defenses of electric cars yet — days after it doubled down on its EV push with new tailpipe emissions rules. Bhatt argued at the EV Charging Summit in Las Vegas that the U.S. will fall behind its global competitors in the automotive industry if it continues to let EVs “sink down into a partisan argument.” “We have to be building the technology that the world is going to be buying,” he said. And Bhatt said he thinks that global race will insulate EV manufacturing investments from being rolled back, even if Donald Trump wins the White House in November. “My sense is no matter who is president next year, we’re going to continue this drive towards electrifying the fleet because it’s what’s happening globally,” Bhatt said, adding that red state governors are happy with the EV manufacturing going on in their states. — James Bikales
| | DJI LOBBIES BACK UP: After getting dumped by its previous lobbying firms amid threats of boycotts on the Hill, DJI has found new lobbying muscle. POLITICO Influence reports: “White shoe law firms Sidley Austin and Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, and Liberty Government Affairs, the lobbying firm started by former Rand Paul staffer Brian Darling, have signed on to help the dronemaker lobby for its removal from government blacklists over its ties to the Chinese military.”
| | — “Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 passengers receive FBI letter identifying them as the victims of a possible crime.” NBC News. — ”The Rust Belt road to the White House.” POLITICO. — “As aviation industry becomes butt of jokes, officials stress flying is safe." The Washington Post. — “Yes, That Was Billy Joel Riding the Long Island Rail Road." Vulture. — “Metro cracks down on fare evasion in D.C., leading to jump in fines." The Washington Post. — “Airlines Are Getting Better at Baggage, Except These." The Wall Street Journal. — “David E. Harris, Trailblazing Airline Pilot, Is Dead at 89." The New York Times. — “In New Zealand, Experiencing the Miracle of Flight Anew." The New York Times. — “Airbus Inks $14 Billion Deal With Korean Air as Boeing Snubbed." Bloomberg. — “After the eclipse, exodus of drivers could create a path of gridlock.” The Washington Post. — “These Startups Wanted to Be the Next Tesla. Will They Survive the EV Slowdown?” The Wall Street Journal.
| | | | A message from Capital Access Alliance: With bipartisan support in Congress for authorizing a modest number of additional flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), travelers would benefit from more competition, greater access and more affordable prices. Congress: It's time to expand access at DCA.
Did you know that DCA's on-time performance is now top five in North America, despite false claims that the airport is "over capacity?" A leading global travel data provider, OAG, has proven DCA has a nearly 80 percent on-time arrival rate. The outdated federal perimeter rule is limiting consumer choice, and travelers who want to visit Washington, D.C. are burdened with the most expensive airfare in the nation. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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