Senators Resist Last-Minute Airspace Rule Mysteriously Dropped Into Defense Bill

Two senators are leading the charge to strike a widely criticized provision in the annual defense policy bill that they argue would roll back safety measures implemented after a fatal Washington, D.C. midair crash earlier in 2025. 

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell are working to lobby their colleagues on nixing a provision in the forthcoming National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would reverse certain air space rules implemented in response to the January aviation crash near Washington, D.C., which killed 67. Cruz and Cantwell argue the new rules would provide more leniency to military air traffic and provide loopholes to allow military aircraft to operate in D.C. airspace.

“We are here to bring attention to a provision in the [NDAA] that was air dropped in at the last moment, and that unwinds the actions taken by President [Donald] Trump and [Transportation] Secretary [Sean] Duffy to make the airspace around D.C. safer,” Cruz said at a Monday press conference. “Our colleagues on the Armed Services Committees are just plain wrong that their last-minute language will make things safer. It does the exact opposite.”

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – JANUARY 30: A helicopter flies near the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. The American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided with a military helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport. Dozens of people are feared to have died in the midair collision. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Cruz and Cantwell also point to the lack of a single member in either chamber of Congress claiming authorship of the new rules as evidence of its lack of merit. 

“Somebody should stand up and say, we put it in. That’s what somebody should do. And then they can explain why they think we should all support it,” Cantwell told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Tuesday. “When the NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] issues their report in January, we should hear what else they have to say. They’re still doing some refinement of their analysis, so we want to take that into consideration. But this is clearly why we need these rules, because the military isn’t following them.”

During the Monday press conference, Cruz described the new rules as “a provision that nobody had seen … we have not seen a single representative step forward and say ‘I offered that provision.’”

The Daily Caller News Foundation contacted the chairmen and ranking members of both chambers’ Armed Services committees and did not immediately receive information related to the authorship of the provision.

“This is a provision that didn’t go through the ordinary clearances … No clearance was requested,” Cruz said on Monday. “We discovered this provision, and the final version of the bill dropped out of the house, and it was passed. I think very few House members had any idea it was in there.” (RELATED: Secretary Duffy, FAA Announce Restoration Of ‘Normal Operations,’ Termination Of Emergency Flight Reduction Order)

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – JANUARY 30: Emergency response units search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after an accident last night while on approach to Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. The American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided midair with a military Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. According to reports, there were no survivors among the 67 people on both aircraft. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Monday regarding the proposed airspace rules change that it would be “really hard to undo the defense authorization bill now,” according to the Washington Examiner.

The NTSB provided a statement earlier in December expressing its “strong opposition” to the safety rule change, arguing the new rules “significantly reduces the safety of the airspace around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.”

“[T]his is a major step backwards from where we are today given the changes made – rightfully – by the Secretary of Transportation following issuance of NTSB’s urgent safety recommendations,” wrote NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy. “We believe this provision effectively gives military aircraft operating training missions unfettered access to DC airspace.” 

An American Airlines Airbus A319 airplane takes off past the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, January 11, 2023. The US Federal Aviation Authority said Wednesday that normal flight operations “are resuming gradually” across the country following an overnight systems outage that grounded departures. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also released a statement in opposition to the rule change following the NTSB report earlier in December. She argued that the new rules “reverses the progress we’ve made” following the January crash.

“It is now clear that this provision was included without consultation from the NTSB, the agency leading the investigation into the crash, and without regard for the safety of DC residents, visitors, and our military personnel,” Bowser wrote. “I urge Congress to strike Section 373 from the NDAA and to follow the recommendations of safety experts.”

The NDAA is currently being considered by the Senate, and is expected to come up for a vote before the end of the year. 

A spokesperson for Cruz did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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