FAA keeps flying during shutdown—no more lapsed air traffic control
H.R. 5455 — Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2025 · Filed by Aaron Bean (R-FL) · 26 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 18, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill allows the FAA to continue operating during a government shutdown by automatically drawing funds from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (a dedicated aviation tax revenue account) instead of requiring a new appropriation. The FAA can spend at the prior year's rate for up to 30 days or until Congress passes a budget, whichever comes first. This ensures air traffic control, safety inspections, and airport grants continue uninterrupted during appropriations lapses.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a procedural mechanism to prevent service interruption during appropriations lapses. It does not create new programs, spending, or policy—it merely designates an existing revenue source (the Airport and Airway Trust Fund) as a fallback to maintain ongoing FAA operations.
What the text implies
- The 30-day limit may create pressure for rapid budget resolution; if Congress does not act within 30 days, FAA operations would still lapse unless a new appropriation or continuing resolution passes.
- The bill ties FAA funding to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which is financed by aviation excise taxes and ticket taxes. During extended shutdowns, this fund could be depleted if not replenished by appropriations.
- Section (e) allows funding to continue into the next fiscal year if the lapse extends to fiscal year-end, potentially creating a multi-year funding gap if Congress remains deadlocked.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens retain critical aviation safety and air traffic control services during government shutdowns, eliminating the risk of airport closures, delayed flights, or lapsed safety inspections. The bill protects essential public services without creating new costs or restrictions on ordinary people.
Named in the bill
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Airport and Airway Trust Fund, Internal Revenue Code Section 9502, House Committee on Ways and Means
Where it stands
26 cosponsors: 26 Republicans.
- Sep 18, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 18, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
7 lobbying clients named this bill on 8 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $7,034,552 in lobbying spend. A filing names 16 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 86% of bills with at least one filing.
Aaron Bean, the sponsor, reported $1,227,650 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $5,000 of that came from 3 PACs tied to these lobbying clients.
- Fedex Corporation — $2,930,000 on 1 filing
- Delta Air Lines Inc — $1,460,000 on 1 filing
- American Association of Airport Executives — $1,172,100 on 1 filing
- United Airlines Inc — $1,110,000 on 1 filing
- Regional Airline Association — $200,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,259 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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