With help from Tanya Snyder
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— Democrats still want to push something on infrastructure after talks broke down with the White House. But they’ll have to face the reality that they probably won’t be getting new revenue.
— Don’t look for Congress to step into the breach and make changes at the FAA as the agency continues to face questions about its certification of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX.
— House appropriators approved a transportation spending bill through a subcommittee markup on Thursday, but expect debate over riders in the near future.
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CAN’T LET GO: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer both were still thinking about their aborted infrastructure meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday. Pelosi told reporters that she and fellow leaders in Congress are “very busy” and that when they come together with the president for “an historic meeting,” everyone should be prepared to “make it count for something.” She said Trump “obviously was not prepared … and so he used some excuse to go out the door.”
Schumer called on his fellow senators — especially Republicans — to move forward on an infrastructure bill. “Let’s put together a large, strong, well-funded, and clean infrastructure bill,” he said. “There is no reason — no reason — why the Senate should not pursue a bipartisan infrastructure bill. … Just because President Trump doesn’t want to lead doesn’t mean that our work on infrastructure is over — not by a long shot.”
TURNING TO THE SURFACE BILL: The breakdown of infrastructure talks is likely to affect Congress’ efforts to pass a surface transportation reauthorization bill, House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio told your host on Thursday. The most important line from the brief interview: “There probably will be no new revenue.”
That’s a blow to Democrats’ dreams of passing a bill that would fund major infrastructure improvements using a gas tax increase. It means they’ll have to hunt around for $4 billion in spending reductions somewhere, or some other way to “stopgap and fill that,” as DeFazio put it.
The timeline: Senate committee leaders are pushing ahead to mark up a bill before August, but the House isn’t quite on the same timeline. “If we have a bill to conference with the Senate by next winter that should give us more than 10 months to negotiate,” DeFazio said.
CHAO CHATTED WITH N.J. GOVERNOR: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy talked to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao earlier this month about the Gateway project. But as POLITICO New Jersey’s Ryan Hutchins reports, the Democratic governor did not sound particularly hopeful that his efforts will make a difference on the project that the administration has been blocking.
CONGRESS NOT RUSHING TO MAKE FAA CHANGES: All eyes in the aviation world remain on the Boeing 737 MAX, still grounded after two deadly crashes and several ongoing reviews of the FAA’s certification. But don’t expect any swift action on Capitol Hill, our Brianna Gurciullo writes in a detailed story on Thursday.
Much of the focus has centered on an FAA program that allows companies like Boeing to help certify their planes as safe. It’s unlikely Congress will overhaul the program, though, given there’s no expert consensus on a solution and no extra money floating around to, for example, hire and train more government inspectors.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former DOT assistant inspector general, said lawmakers will probably wait to write legislation until experts make recommendations.
But they do need to ensure they’re filling their oversight role. As former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall said: “I would hope that they’re going to look at it closely and ensure that the certification process is what the name is: It is a certification process.”
ELWELL’S HOPE: Brianna, who’s in Fort Worth covering a meeting with aviation regulators from around the globe this week, reports that the FAA’s acting director said he hopes a “global decision process” will materialize as Boeing prepares a fix for the plane, but admitted he can’t predict what other countries will do. He got some quick support from Canada’s civil aviation head, who said shortly after the meeting that the agency has “full confidence in the FAA” and its processes.
REMOTE ID RULE PUSHED BACK AGAIN: A long anticipated rulemaking on remote identification for drones has been delayed yet again, Brianna writes. Earlier this month, an FAA official told lawmakers the agency was looking at July, but the latest regulatory agenda released by the administration has it scheduled for September. The rule has “proven complex,” the FAA’s congressional liaison wrote in a letter to industry members and obtained by POLITICO.
JACKSONVILLE UPDATE: The NTSB issued an investigative update on the runway overrun in Jacksonville, Fla., earlier this month that ended up with a Boeing 737 in a river. The report doesn’t indicate what caused the accident (that will come later in the investigation), but it does include new details from air traffic control transmissions and the plane’s flight data recorder.
STAMP OF APPROVAL: The House’s fiscal 2020 transportation spending bill sailed through a subcommittee by voice vote Thursday morning, as is tradition; amendments aren’t considered until the full committee markup. But equally as traditional, a member of the minority voiced concern about some of the bill’s policy riders.
Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), ranking member of the full Appropriations Committee, called out provisions that would prevent DOT from rolling back fuel economy standards, preempting state meal and rest break rules, and rescinding funding from California for high-speed rail. “I hope we can work together to eliminate some of these riders,” Granger said.
Look for the battle over these riders (and others) to heat up as the appropriations process continues.
SENATORS SKEPTICAL OF TSA PLANS: The leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee are adding themselves to the list of those concerned about diverting staff and funding from TSA to the southern boarder. As our Stephanie Beasley reports, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) sent a letter to TSA on Thursday saying they’re worried an agency proposal to shift 175 federal air marshals to the southern border would “significantly diminish operational capacity.”
Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan told lawmakers on Thursday that baggage screeners have not yet been reassigned, but they might soon. “It’s going to be managed carefully. We’re not going to increase risk in other mission areas. But we might increase wait times, here and there,” McAleenan said at a Senate hearing.
DOT DITCHES RULE ON FREIGHT CREW SIZES: FRA is withdrawing a proposed rule that would have mandated the presence of at least two crew members on freight trains, Tanya reports. An agency spokesperson said rail’s safety track record without the rule had been strong, and that a staffing rule would have “posed an unnecessary obstacle to future innovation in the rail industry.” Supporters of the rule said that having at least two people on a crew at all times would be safer for surrounding communities and alleviate the pressures on a one-person train crew.
— “U.S. airlines expect Boeing 737 MAX jets need up to 150 hours of work before flying again.” Reuters.
— “A subway saboteur is pulling brakes across the system, causing big delays.” New York Times.
— “Google Assistant can now tell you when your next NYC subway train will arrive.” The Verge.
— “NASA’s first-of-kind tests look to manage drone in cities.” AP.
— “Poor neighborhoods endure worst LAX noise but are left out of home soundproofing program.” Los Angeles Times.
DOT appropriations run out in 129 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,590 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 496 days.
