With help from Brianna Gurciullo
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— The House Oversight Committee is ready to take TSA to task at a hearing today, focusing on the agency’s failures to meet watchdog recommendations and the recent diversion of resources to the southern border.
— Chinese dronemaker DJI isn’t hiding in the shadows after taking a battering in a hearing on drone security last week.
— The House passed an amendment aimed at chastising Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao for designating a special Kentucky liaison for grants in her office.
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HOUSE OVERSIGHT TAKING ON TSA: The House Oversight Committee will grill TSA head David Pekoske today about what they see as the agency’s failings. According to the committee, the hearing will look at:
— Whether diverting TSA employees to the southern border is harming aviation security.
— The agency’s failure to address outstanding recommendations from both the DHS inspector general and internal inspectors.
— The need for legislation to require TSA to ensure that its covert tests are “risk-informed and yield statistically valid results.”
The hearing will pick up on the work of the Homeland Security Committee, which has examined TSA closely so far in this Congress, but it’s the first time Pekoske will be appearing on Capitol Hill since the border diversion was announced (and since he picked up the second job title of acting deputy DHS secretary).
DJI FIRES BACK: Chinese drone manufacturer DJI, which has come under increasing suspicion by U.S. government agencies and security researchers in recent weeks, shot back at claims that data on its drones is not secure in a new letter Monday. As our Brianna Gurciullo reported, the company said it’s concerned that inaccurate and speculative information aired at a hearing last week could damage the U.S. drone industry.
The company wrote that witnesses who said that the U.S. should shift away from DJI drones “want to limit competition, innovation, and the availability of drone technology based solely on its country of origin” and that they “resorted to offering highly speculative risks and inaccurate information about data transmission functionality.”
DJI also announced Monday that it’s rolling out a new system for government agency use called Government Edition, which creates a “data firewall” for photos, videos and flight logs created by drones. The company says the Interior Department has already vetted the function, and other government agencies can now purchase it.
Also: The New York Times reported Monday that DJI is trying to get on U.S. officials good side by building a new product in the U.S. According to the Times, the company is planning to “repurpose a warehouse in Cerritos, Calif., to assemble a new version of a drone that has been popular among federal and local government agencies.”
TRANSPO AMENDMENTS HIT THE FLOOR: The House sped through amendments to a spending package, H.R. 3055 (116), that includes fiscal 2020 funding for DOT on Monday, adopting some aimed at Chao. They were in response to New York Times investigations into her family’s business as well as POLITICO’s reporting about her office’s special liaison for her and her husband’s home state of Kentucky. As Brianna reports, one of those would funnel money from Chao’s office to the agency’s inspector general. Another serves as a reminder to the agency that public office can’t be used for private gain. DOT had no comment on the amendment Monday evening.
What’s next: The bill could pass the House as soon as today, but remember: Many of these provisions will probably be stripped out during negotiations with the Senate, which hasn’t even started the process of passing its version of appropriations bills.
QUINTIN KENDALL JOINS FRA: The Federal Railroad Administration has a new No. 2, even if they’re not making a big thing out of it, your host reported. DOT confirmed on Monday that Quintin Kendall is the new FRA deputy administrator.
The CSX connection: Kendall was at DOT for seven years, including serving as chief of staff to Mary Peters. After that, he went to freight rail company CSX where he was in several positions. He’s the second former CSX exec to join DOT after lobbyist Anne Reinke earlier this year.
A TECHY TAKE ON SURFACE REAUTH: The Intelligent Transportation Society of America released its platform for the surface transportation reauthorization bill today. The document is a mix of traditional transpo asks like ensuring the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund, tech-focused policies like prioritizing the 5.9 GHz spectrum for vehicle communications technology, and support for language which boosts electric and alternative fuel vehicles.
Pros can read the document here, and anyone can tune in to a Senate Commerce hearing later in the day to hear ITS President Shailen Bhatt testify.
It’s been a while since we’ve given an update on transportation lobbying, so here’s some of what we’ve been watching this month:
— The American Public Transportation Association is gearing up for appropriations season and the surface transportation reauthorization, hiring two lobbying firms (Arent Fox and Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid).
— Cline Strategic Consulting, a new firm started up by long-time transpo lobbyist and former DOT official John Cline, signed up new clients including the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Texas) and Porsche Cars North America, which has a laundry list of issues it cares about including emissions standards, automated driving and the FAST Act.
— “Paris clamps down on electric scooters as law of the jungle rules.” Reuters.
— “Glare falls on Nissan’s C.E.O. as Ghosn fallout spreads.” New York Times.
— “FedEx slashes prices to fill its planes.” Wall Street Journal.
— “Mass. man charged with seven counts of negligent homicide in N.H. crash.” Boston Globe.
— “Hawaii skydiving plane accident investigation shifts focus to ‘quality’ of repairs made following 2016 crash.” Fox News.
DOT appropriations run out in 97 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,558 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 466 days.
