245-171 Vote Fails To Attain 2/3rd's Majority Needed For Extension

In a Monday vote to authorize a six-month extension of funding for the FAA, something strange happened...

With a September 30th deadline for the required extension just days away, Senior Democrats expressed disapproval for a distantly related part of the bill that concerned flood insurance and tax credits for hurricane victims and voted against the whole effort... failing in the latest attempt to keep the FAA fully operational by a vote of 245-171... less than the required 2/3rd’s majority needed to see passage in the current ‘Fast Track’ effort to see the bill through to completion.

The next step is likely to be a bit simpler effort that will require but a basic majority... though that effort may see serious opposition, as well.

Most of the Democratic heartburn is not with the FAA extension, but extraneous political issues, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s attempt to cajole support for ‘DACA’. Worse; in order to see this whole process through to a workable conclusion, it also has to pass muster among Senate Democrats, who don’t seem to be any more happy with this effort than their House counterparts.

Speaker Paul Ryan expressed serious displeasure with the vote... “It is a sad day when House Democrats will—in the name of politics—vote against disaster relief and air traffic safety measures. House Republicans have repeatedly stated our commitment to legislate a fix on DACA. However, these are two unrelated and bipartisan initiatives with broad support from both sides of the aisle. It’s shameful that politics will trump meaningful relief for families suffering from these devastating hurricanes. House Democrats are willing to shut down air traffic control to make a political point.”

Failure to reauthorize the FAA would be messy... forcing the FAA to curtail many non-critical services, furloughing thousands of staffers and creating lasting havoc for the agency. We’ll keep you updated...

FMI: www.faa.gov