— The first congressional hearing on the Boeing door blowout crisis is this week, but Boeing won’t be there.
— Sen. Ted Cruz is proposing a measure to shield lawmakers from public view as they move through airports.
— It’s been one year since a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, and Congress hasn’t passed a bill to address some of the safety problems that disaster revealed.
IT’S MONDAY: You’re reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. We miss Alex. You can reach Oriana and Tanya at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively. Find us on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @Oriana0214 and @TSnyderDC.
FIRST BOEING HEARING THIS WEEK, BUT NOT WITH BOEING: The House Transportation Committee — which has declined to schedule a hearing specifically about Boeing’s ongoing 737 MAX problem until NTSB has something to say about it — is about to have its first Boeing hearing anyway. That’s because FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker was already scheduled to testify before the T&I’s Aviation Subcommittee about the state of the system on Tuesday before the Alaska Airlines door blowout crisis broke. Questions for Whitaker the committee made public Friday tell the tale of a hearing that’s going to be focused on how FAA safety oversight could have let something like this happen, especially given the extreme scrutiny Boeing’s been under since the 2018 and 2019 737 MAX 8 crashes on Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines.
A preview of the grilling Whitaker is in for: T&I Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and top Democrat Rick Larsen of Washington — along with the chair and ranking member of the Aviation Subcommittee, Reps. Garret Graves (R-La.) and Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) — wrote to Whitaker last week outlining what they expect to have answered. That includes what aspects of production oversight and quality assurance FAA delegates to Boeing and how the agency interacts with the Boeing officials who perform those functions. They also want an update on the aircraft certification safety law that was passed in the wake of the 737 MAX 8 crashes as well as a litany of questions about whether FAA is adequately staffed, how the agency is managing risks at aircraft manufacturers and more.
The lawmakers expressed their support for the FAA’s decisions so far, including an upcoming audit of Boeing’s quality control and safety practices and an investigation into Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 manufacturing.
By the way, this will be Whitaker’s first time testifying before Congress as the head of the agency.
Still to come: Neither chamber has yet scheduled a time to haul Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to the Hill to testify, though the Senate has at least expressed plans to do so.
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NO MORE EMBARRASSING VACATION PICS: A measure proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) would allow lawmakers to move around airports protected from the attention of other travelers — and reporters, Oriana reports. The move recalls the 2021 scandal in which Cruz was photographed jetting off to a tropical vacation amid the worst winter storm his state had seen in decades, triggered an avalanche of scorn and criticism. Cruz is trying to attach the amendment to the FAA reauthorization, S. 1939, that is slated to be marked up in the Senate Commerce Committee, on which Cruz serves as ranking member, on Thursday. The amendment would “offer lawmakers a dedicated security escort at airports, along with expedited screening outside of public view,” Oriana reports. Federal judges and Cabinet members, as well as some of their family and staff, would get the same privileges.
Cruz justified the measure, first reported by POLITICO, by pointing to “serious security threats facing public officials” that require “reasonable measures to keep everyone safe.” Senate Republican Commerce Committee spokesperson Melissa Braid additionally said: “This language was drafted in a bipartisan manner to address the growing number of serious threats to justices, judges, public officials, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. With rising security incidents at airports, this amendment ensures that — when law enforcement determines that there is a serious threat — reasonable security measures will be taken to keep everybody safe.”
A burden on local police: But airport police agency representatives say it could present a burden, as the amendment language requires TSA to “arrange” escorts but it could fall to local officials to provide them.
IT’S BEEN A YEAR: Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. A local advocacy group, the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment, held an environmental film festival and speaker series, a “We Refuse to Die” ceremony, a community unity event and even an all-day mobile phlebotomy lab with University of California, San Diego experts trying to document the link between the toxins released at the derailment and the health effects community residents continue to suffer.
What hasn’t happened is action from Congress on a rail safety bill that’s been languishing in the Senate. “This will happen again if we don’t take action,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in a statement Friday. “Every day that goes by without this bill becoming law is a day when another Pennsylvania community could be at risk.”
Aid to end: The railroad will end its financial assistance to families that have relocated this week, though the Unity Council group estimates that more than 200 families are still living outside the town because of health and safety concerns. Other recovery and restoration efforts by Norfolk Southern continue.
Remember: At the time of the derailment, as people sought to place blame, the left pointed fingers at the Trump administration for killing a rail braking mandate that wouldn’t have prevented the derailment anyway, and the right called for DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s resignation in part because he didn’t visit the site soon enough. Buttigieg went three weeks later, but not before former President Donald Trump visited to call attention to Biden’s absence. (He still has not gone to East Palestine, though last week Biden announced a plan to visit later this month.)
TESLA RECALL COMING: NHTSA appears to be edging closer to calling for a recall of more than 334,000 Teslas after posting documents Friday showing that the agency has moved from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis — the final phase of a NHTSA investigation in which the agency decides whether to initiate a safety recall or close the investigation. The preliminary evaluation was opened last July after NHTSA received a dozen complaints about loss of steering control in 2023 Model Y and 3 vehicles. It has now received 115 complaints, and another 2,176 after requesting information from the company, The Associated Press reports.
Let us point out: This recall is unrelated to one issued in December related to Autosteer, or a recall initiated on Friday to address warning lights that are too small.
GOP EV OPPO: House Energy and Commerce Republicans launched an opposition campaign Friday against what they’ve coined “Biden’s radical forced EV transition,” insisting that “Americans should choose the car they drive.” They hit on themes of affordability, practicality and Chinese dominance of the EV supply chain. The House has already passed two of the committee’s bills to slow down the EV transition: H.R. 1435, which would revoke EPA waivers for states like California to enact and enforce stronger clean air laws than the federal law, H.R. 4468, which would stop EPA from advancing its vehicle emissions rule. Expect to see more Republican bludgeoning of the Biden administration over the “EV mandate” as the election draws closer.
NEWS FROM CALIFORNIA: Union activists rallied at Los Angeles City Hall Friday in support of state Senate bill 915, which would require autonomous vehicle companies to get local approval before starting operations.
TRANSIT ADVOCATES CELEBRATE, ADVOCATE: Sunday was Transit Equity Day, which celebrates the birthday of civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Advocates hosted more than 45 events across the country in support of robust federal funding for transit, including Rep. Hank Johnson’s (D-Ga.) recent bill which would authorize $20 billion a year for four years for transit operating budgets. Federal funds are generally earmarked for capital and maintenance expenditures only — not operations. Cities still struggling to rebuild ridership in a post-pandemic, work-from-home world have been facing massive deficits and asking for federal operations support.
— “A Town Derailed.” TIME.
— “Railroads say they’re making safety changes to reduce derailments after fiery Ohio crash.” The Associated Press.
— “Germany’s Dream of 15 Million Electric Vehicles Is Fading Away.” Bloomberg.
— “A Train Derailment Scarred One Ohio Town. Little Changed in the Railroad Industry.” The Wall Street Journal.
— “Flight emergencies have turned some fliers into armchair investigators.” The Washington Post.
– “Musk wants Tesla investors to vote on switching the carmaker’s corporate registration to Texas.” The Associated Press.
— “A Brief History of Superyachts.” Mother Jones.
— “Virginia pitches traffic, Metro fixes for planned Caps, Wizards arena.” The Washington Post.
— “DC leaders say they’re prepared to give Metro $200M to fill looming budget gap.” NBC4.
— “The MTA just tested its shiny new ‘open gangway’ train.” Time Out.
— “Bike-friendly Paris votes on triple parking fees for SUVs.” Reuters.
