On Tuesday, US congressional members announced a bipartisan spending agreement to provide funding for aviation safety, railways, and transportation assistance for upcoming international sports events.
According to Reuters, this spending agreement will allocate funds for hiring 2,500 air traffic controllers and provide $24 billion for the US passenger rail service Amtrak, while cutting funding for electric vehicle charging networks and high-speed rail projects.
The allocation also includes $514 million for the Essential Air Service program subsidizing air services in rural communities, rejecting the White House’s proposal to cut the program by 50% and increasing the annual funding for modernizing air traffic control towers by $824 million.
Additionally, the budget bill allocates $2 million for an independent study of Washington, D.C. airspace following a collision between a US Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane in January 2025, resulting in 67 fatalities and revealing significant vulnerabilities in the region’s aviation safety.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) currently faces a shortage of around 3,500 air traffic controllers compared to target staffing levels. To ensure aviation operations, many controllers have been forced to work overtime and six days a week.
Last year, Congress approved $12.5 billion to modernize the aging US air traffic control system. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently expressed hope in securing an additional $19 billion to complete the project.
The legislation reallocates the $879 million in electric vehicle charging network funds approved during the Biden administration to other infrastructure priorities and cuts $928 million in high-speed rail appropriations.
The spending agreement will provide $100 million supplemental support for public transportation agencies in the 11 host cities of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US and allocate $94 million for transportation assistance projects related to the 2028 Olympics.
Moreover, the bill rejects the White House’s proposal to reduce the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff by 3%-4%, half of which involves personnel responsible for exit lanes at airports.
These exit lanes are located between the secure area after airport security and the public area, preventing unauthorized individuals from entering the secure area while allowing screened passengers or staff to exit the secure area back into the public area (e.g., leaving the airport or transferring to other areas).
The White House believes that TSA’s professional security personnel are better suited for core security positions, such as security checkpoints, rather than monitoring exit lanes. This reduction is estimated to save approximately $98.5 million, affecting around 1,173 positions.
However, the spending bill passed by Congress rejects the White House’s proposed staff cuts and specifically allocates $300 million to continue funding TSA personnel at exit lanes to maintain airport security and access control levels, avoiding potential security risks.
This bipartisan agreement highlights Congress’s priority to safeguard aviation safety and critical transportation infrastructure, showcasing bipartisan cooperation. By increasing air traffic controllers, improving the modernization of control towers, and maintaining rural air services, it addresses recent aviation incident concerns and injects necessary resources to support major international sporting events.