Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) (L) supports Christina Stovall (R) who lost her son Michael "Mikey" Bret Stovall, during a press conference with other bereaved families from the January 29, 2025 DCA plane crash. Photo: Heather Diehl/Getty Images
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) voted "no" tonight on a procedural vote for the National Defense Authorization Act to protest House-passed language on air traffic safety, he told us.
Why it matters: Cruz is putting Senate Majority Leader John Thune on notice — both for the NDAA, but also for a government funding bill that Congress must pass next.
"We need to strike this section," Cruz said about a provision the House included in the NDAA. "It does not belong in the bill, and I'm gonna press very hard to strike okay."
He also hinted that he's going to use an appropriations bill next month to try and force Congress to adopt his approach to improving communication between military and civilian aircraft.
Driving the news: Last week, the House included language in the NDAA that would relax the current rules for military aircraft flying around Ronald Reagan National Airport, according to National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Cruz.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued new regulations in response to the Jan. 29, 2025 collision between a U.S. Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet above the capital that killed 67 people.
"This is shameful," Homendy said last week about the new language.
Zoom in: Cruz and Cantwell were holding out hope that the Rotor Act, which creates new rules on sending and receiving flight information around major metropolitan airports, would be included in the NDAA.
Not only was it not included, but the new DOT rules were modified.
Cruz is talking with Thune about including an amendment on the Senate floor to strike the House-passed NDAA language, but it's highly unlikely to be included in this week's vote.
The amendment, if it passed, would require the House to revote on the NDAA and accept the Senate's modifications.
The bottom line: Cruz isn't directly threatening to vote against the next government funding bill if he doesn't get his way on air safety.
But he's clearly contemplating it.
"Eleven months ago, 67 souls perished in a collision over DCA that was imminently preventable," he said.
"We have an obligation to the flying public, to all our families, to do everything we can to prevent another fatal accident from happening."
