Congress locks in uninterrupted FAA operations during shutdowns
S. 1045 — Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2025 · Filed by Jerry Moran (R-KS) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Mar 13, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill allows the Federal Aviation Administration to continue operating during government shutdowns by automatically drawing from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund at the previous year's spending level, without requiring a new appropriation. It ensures FAA operations, facilities, research, and airport grants continue uninterrupted when Congress fails to pass a budget.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to prevent FAA shutdown disruptions by establishing an automatic funding mechanism during appropriations lapses. It is a procedural continuity measure, not a substantive policy change to aviation regulation or funding levels.
What the text implies
- Normalizes shutdown-era operations as a permanent baseline: if the FAA operates at prior-year levels during shutdowns repeatedly, Congress may face reduced pressure to pass timely appropriations, potentially entrenching shutdown-era budgets as the de facto standard.
- Trust Fund depletion risk: sustained reliance on Airport and Airway Trust Fund reserves during shutdowns could accelerate fund exhaustion, forcing future policy choices about aviation funding sustainability.
- Removes a fiscal pressure point: shutdowns have historically forced rapid budget resolution because FAA shutdown causes visible public harm. This bill reduces that pressure, potentially lengthening future shutdown durations.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens benefit from uninterrupted air traffic control, airport safety inspections, and aviation security during shutdowns—services that directly affect public safety and economic activity. The bill prevents the disruption and safety risks that occur when the FAA shuts down.
Who stands to gain
- aviation industry operators (airlines, airports)
- air cargo and logistics companies
- defense contractors with FAA-regulated operations
Named in the bill
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Airport and Airway Trust Fund, Internal Revenue Code Section 9502, Senate Committee on Finance
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Mar 13, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Mar 13, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
27 lobbying clients named this bill on 34 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $17,682,488 in lobbying spend. A filing names 12 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 97% of bills with at least one filing.
Jerry Moran, the sponsor, reported $396,550 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $18,000 of that came from 4 PACs tied to these lobbying clients.
- Fedex Corporation — $2,930,000 on 1 filing
- Air Transport Association of America, Inc. (d/b/a Airlines for America) — $2,301,100 on 2 filings
- Delta Air Lines Inc — $1,460,000 on 1 filing
- American Airlines Inc — $1,320,000 on 1 filing
- Airbus Americas Inc — $1,240,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 24, 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 full bill text on Jun 8, 2026; 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 24, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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