Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy on Wednesday said that the spending packing that passed the House last week does not provide the Federal Aviation Administration with the funding needed to enact air traffic control improvements.
House Republicans "put $12.5 billion into the 'big, beautiful bill' that's going to go towards this infrastructure project. That won't be enough," Duffy told reporters during a press conference concerning efforts to improve Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
"I know the Senate is going to look, can they find money to put into this bill, but we are going to need them to fully fund this project," he added, which would include "new Telecom, new radar, new radios," and updates to the front and back ends of the air traffic control system, according to The Hill.
"We need it all up front, that's a big ask for the Congress to give us the money all up front that is necessary if we're going to be successful at this project," Duffy continued. "And again, you can't make us go through years of permits for laying new fiber. We need it now."
The secretary predicted that "Democrats and Republicans are going to agree that, yes, with certain guardrails around giving you relief on permitting and giving you the money up front with those guardrails, I think they're going to buy into that idea."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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