June 11, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening remarks at today’s hearing on the nomination of Bryan Bedford to serve as the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA):
June 11, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, grilled Trump’s nominee to serve as Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Bryan Bedford, on his failure to commit not to weaken the 1,500-hour pilot training rule if confirmed. Bedford spearheaded the lobbying effort against the safety rule enacted after the tragic 2009 Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash that killed 49 people, and as CEO of Republic Airways, petitioned the FAA for an exemption from it. Sen. Cantwell also pressed Bedford to confirm his concerns that Republicans’ spectrum auction plan would threaten aviation safety.
June 9, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) were joined by U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-Mich.), all Democratic members of the Committee and several Republican members in sending a letter to Acting Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (DOT OIG) Mitch Behm and Inspector General of the Department of the Army (Army OIG) Lieutenant General Gregory J. Brady requesting concurrent safety audits in response to the January 29th mid-air collision
June 6, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, criticized Senate Republicans’ spectrum auction language released on Thursday, June 5, 2025 for failing to protect aviation safety and national security. The proposal would require the FCC to sell off at least 100 Mhz of spectrum in the upper C-Band, directly adjacent to the spectrum used for aircraft altimeters, within just two years. When the first Trump administration auctioned the lower C-Band—even further from aircraft altimeter spectrum—the FAA was so concerned about potential interference it nearly grounded every airplane in the country
June 6, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, released the following statement on Commerce Secretary Lutwick’s “new guidance” on the BEAD program:
June 5, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the Safe Operation of Shared Airspace Act of 2025 to strengthen aviation safety at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), airports across the nation, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This bill is the first comprehensive aviation safety legislation responding to the January 29, 2025 collision between an Army Black Hawk
June 4, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s rescission package that claws back $1.1 billion in appropriated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
June 4, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined renowned meteorologists from across the country for a virtual presser to sound the alarm on cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) as the United States heads into peak hurricane and wildfire season – and call on the Trump Administration to restore the agency to full capacity.
June 3, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Science, Manufacturing and Competitiveness, Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) continued to hammer the Trump Administration for its illegal dismantling of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). Today, the Senators asked the GAO to investigate whether actions by Trump Commerce Department officials or others in the Administration violated congressional directives, the extent to which they undermined MBDA’s congressional mandate and whether any officials have
June 2, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released this statement following the Trump administration’s announcement of a plan to partially undo the damage done by their indiscriminate firings, resignations, and attrition plaguing the National Weather Service (NWS) workforce.