FAA lets pilots with mental health issues keep flying if treated.
S. 3257 — John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act · Filed by John Hoeven (R-ND) · 33 cosponsors · Introduced Nov 20, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
The bill tells the FAA to change its rules. Pilots and air traffic controllers can get mental health help now. They will not lose their jobs. It pays for training of doctors who check pilot health. It funds a public campaign to reduce shame about mental health. The bill requires the FAA to review its special issuance process regularly. Special issuance lets people with mental health issues still get FAA approval to fly.
Who it affects
Pilots and air traffic controllers can seek mental health care. They will not fear losing work. Air workers will be healthier and more open about mental health.
One thing to notice
The bill does not explain what happens if someone tells the FAA about a mental health issue. The FAA might say no to their request. The bill refers to a report from April 1, 2024. That report is not included in the bill text.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
33 cosponsors: 19 Democrats, 14 Republicans.
- Nov 20, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Nov 20, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
- Apr 14, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of…”
- Sep 24, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
13 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 17 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $3,365,143 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 12 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 94% of bills with any report.
John Hoeven, who sponsored the bill, received $276,675 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- United Airlines Inc — $1,110,000 in 1 report
- International Brotherhood of Teamsters — $489,143 in 1 report
- National Air Traffic Controllers Association — $360,000 in 1 report
- Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association — $320,000 in 1 report
- Air Line Pilots Association — $266,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- special issuance — A pathway that lets people with health issues still get FAA approval to fly.
- air traffic controllers — People who direct planes in the sky and on the ground.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (9,262 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 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 2026-11-02.
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