House Republicans are mulling President Donald Trump’s request for more funding for the struggling air traffic control system as the administration makes major cuts to federal spending, including at the Federal Aviation Administration.
A hearing set for Tuesday at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the air traffic controller shortage and outdated systems follows a fatal midair collision in Washington, D.C., in January and subsequent aviation accidents and near misses that have sparked concerns across the country.
The White House is requesting Congress provide an extra $858 million in a funding stopgap bill for the FAA “to maintain air traffic services, hire and train air traffic controllers, and continue aviation safety oversight while avoiding critical service degradations,” according to the latest list of requests.
That’s after Trump in February told Congress to send him legislation to overhaul the air traffic control system, saying it would require “not too much money.”
On top of that, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last week the FAA will increase controllers’ starting salaries by 30% and will aim to streamline the hiring process. Duffy added that Congress will also need to spend billions to upgrade outdated air traffic controller technology.
All of that appears to run counter to broader efforts from the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency and billionaire Elon Musk, whose initiatives have led to federal governmentwide layoffs and spending cuts. DOGE dismissed several hundred probationary employees at the agency in February.
Duffy said in a post on the social platform X that the layoffs impacted fewer than 400 employees and included “zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel.”
A Democratic congressional staffer, however, said it included positions such as maintenance mechanics, aeronautical information specialists and aviation safety assistants, who perform duties related to FAA radar, flight paths and navigational aid maintenance.
“Despite promising to spare aviation safety positions from their government-wide purge of public servants, the Trump administration has now fired hundreds of safety-critical workers that the aviation system depends upon to function,” the committee’s ranking member, Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said in a statement after the firings. “It must be reversed immediately.”
Musk later on X asked retired air traffic controllers to consider returning to work to temporarily relieve the shortage.
The contradiction between firing hundreds of workers while asking retirees to rally round the cause won’t be lost on Democrats, who are likely to target Musk’s role in FAA and air traffic control decision-making during the hearing Tuesday.
Many have already called for Musk, the CEO of space exploration company SpaceX and high-speed satellite internet service Starlink, to be removed from those activities over conflicts of interest.
Those concerns came to a head last week after Musk slammed a $2.4 billion FAA contract with Verizon Communications Inc. to provide an air traffic control communication system. He said his company Starlink could be an interim fix, adding that the company was sending Starlink terminals “at NO COST to the taxpayer on an emergency basis” to restore air traffic control connectivity.
“Government employees cannot profit from their own backroom deals,” Larsen said in a statement. “If the FAA cancels a long-term contract with Verizon in favor of Starlink while ignoring long-established protocol, that would stink of corruption.
“Our Committee must get to the bottom of what the hell is going on between the FAA and Starlink,” he added. “The story just keeps getting worse.”
It’s not yet clear whether committee Republicans will draft legislation to provide more funding or fixes for the aviation system, especially as the FAA is still implementing provisions from a sweeping FAA reauthorization last year. The panel will hear from airline advocacy group Airlines for America, labor unions National Air Traffic Controllers Association and Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, as well as the Government Accountability Office.
Committee Democrats in February urged Duffy to “swiftly implement” last year’s FAA bill as written and “not to get bogged down by unnecessary and speculative distractions at such a crucial moment,” such as DOGE initiatives.
That law requires the FAA to hire the maximum number of air traffic controllers that can be trained at the FAA Academy, modernize aging systems and increase the utilization of runway safety technologies.
“We remain confident in the aviation professionals throughout our system and their ability to ensure that air travel in America remains safe, but we need to take steps to strengthen our air traffic control system and staffing levels,” Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Larsen said in a joint statement last week. “We included important provisions to ensure the FAA maximizes air traffic control hiring. Those and other needed safety provisions in the law must be implemented.”
