A proper FAA reauthorization may have to wait (again) thanks to this week’s surprise retirement of a Supreme Court justice. All of the focus in Washington will be on the maneuvering ahead of President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy and unless everything goes exactly right for the long-awaited FAA bill, it’s likely to be kicked down the legislative corridor. Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune told reporters on Thursday that the drive to confirm a new member of the top bench “obviously affects the legislative calendar on lot of issues.”
The FAA has been funded on a series of short-term extensions since 2012 and that hampers long-term planning at the agency. The latest version of the bill, which eliminates the contentious language over air traffic control privatization, was given a good chance of passing before the summer break but Kennedy’s retirement put that in jeopardy. Thune said he thinks there might be a chance of passing the bill, however. “If we can get a time agreement on this—and we’re running the hotline to see where the issues are—and we can get everybody to sort of agree that we can wrap this up on the floor in a couple of days, I still think we can get it done in the July work period,” he said.
