| | | | |  | | By Chris Marquette and Oriana Pawlyk | With help from Sam Ogozalek
| | | | — Does the FAA have the strength to stand up to Trump ally Elon Musk? — With the House Transportation Committee chair up for grabs, so are subcommittee roles. We walk you through the state of play. — Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen, the ranking member on T&I, said he’s open to having conversations with GOP members about a fee on electric vehicles. IT’S MONDAY: You’re reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. We’re glad you’re here. Send tips, feedback and song lyrics to Sam at sogozalek@politico.com, Chris at cmarquette@politico.com, Oriana at opawlyk@politico.com and Cassandra at cdumay@politico.com and follow us at @SamOgozalek, @ChrisMarquette_, @Oriana0214 and @cassandra_dumay. “I wanna go/ To Maine/ I wanna go/ To Maine.” Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
| | | | The lame duck session could reshape major policies before year's end. Get Inside Congress delivered daily to follow the final sprint of dealmaking on defense funding, AI regulation and disaster aid. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | | | MUSK VS. THE FAA: The FAA could be on a collision course with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whose power and proximity to President-elect Donald Trump make him even more formidable — especially as he looks to trim billions, maybe trillions, from the federal coffers. But could he make a dent in the FAA, which has significant backers on Capitol Hill and a mandate to keep airplanes safe — and the statutory teeth to back it up? WE MEET AGAIN: The FAA and SpaceX (and sometimes Musk personally) have locked horns for years, with the FAA slowing up SpaceX’s launches over lack of approvals, and SpaceX chafing at what it feels is the agency’s snail-like pace. Musk’s new perch as “first buddy” to Trump puts him in a uniquely strong position to air his grievances with just about anyone — but especially with the FAA, which he’s already browbeaten on social media, including with threats of lawsuits and calls for the resignation of FAA chief Mike Whitaker. BUT THE FAA ISN’T NHTSA: Unlike other agencies, though, the FAA has a clear mandate to keep the skies safe, and plenty of backup among members of Congress, as well as the deep-pocketed airline industry itself. Oriana takes a look at the complicated dynamics at play with how Musk — now tapped to co-lead the erstwhile “Department of Government Efficiency,” and who doesn’t like to ask permission — may collide with an agency that requires it at every step. TRANSPORTATION PANEL UPDATES: Whether T&I Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) gets a waiver to continue atop the panel remains unclear — but if he doesn’t, it will potentially trigger changes in several subcommittees. If Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) gets the nod, he’ll abandon his perch as chair of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit and could also trigger shuffles in the rail subcommittee. Chris has more here.
| | | A MAYBE ON EVS: Republicans in both chambers have signaled interest in a potential fee on EVs that would help capture their use of roads — including Crawford. Chris caught up with Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) on Friday, the top Democrat on the Transportation Committee, who didn’t dismiss it outright. “I look forward to talking to them about it,” Larsen told POLITICO. The panel has held hearings about the impending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund and, although it wouldn’t completely solve the problem, revenues generated from EVs would help mitigate it. SURFACE BILL INCOMING: Whether the chair of the committee is Crawford, Graves or Rep. David Rouser (R-N.C.), expect the next surface transportation bill to be less expansive than the 2021 infrastructure law and focus more on what Republicans consider hard infrastructure, like roads and bridges. With that said, Larsen is hopeful the bill will get done in a bipartisan manner. — “We have a routine surface transportation bill that we need to get done. It was part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. It didn't need to be, but it was, and now we need to reauthorize that part of what was the BIL and is now probably just the surface transportation bill,” Larsen said. “And I’d like to think that we could do it again — like we’ve done consistently over the last 25 years — and do it without much controversy. And do it in a bipartisan way.” MUSK OVERSIGHT: By all accounts, Musk will play a large role in the next administration, but Larsen says the billionaire is just another CEO who they will monitor in the EV space. “He’s just one more EV company along with all of the rest of them,” he said. THANKS FOR THE ENGAGEMENT: Outgoing Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) held his last transportation stakeholders meeting — quarterly meetings he has held regularly over the years — in Rayburn on Friday. Dan Langenkamp, the husband of Sarah Debbink Langenkamp, a U.S. diplomat who was killed in a bicycle accident, thanked Blumenauer for introducing a bill, H.R. 1668, that would support state and local government efforts to build safer, more complete spaces for pedestrians and bicyclists to operate safely. — “For two decades, we have regularly convened a broad coalition dedicated to rebuilding and renewing America,” Blumenauer said in a statement reflecting on the sessions. “We demonstrated support for adequate infrastructure funding and laid the groundwork for spending the money in ways that create real community value. People are hungry for cooperation, and I am hopeful that these sessions will continue to be a model for how Congress can make progress under an unusual Administration.”
| | ON ITS WAY: A highly anticipated rule for drones is on the move. The FAA’s NPRM for beyond visual line of sight, or BVLOS, arrived at OIRA last week , according to the office. The rule is expected to establish a framework for drones to fly without visual observers — a regulation the drone industry has wanted for years to hasten how drones could be used across the U.S.
| | NORTHEAST CORRIDOR UPGRADES: FRA on Friday announced almost $1.5 billion in funding for 19 projects across the busy Northeast Corridor, including up to $24 million to Amtrak for the expansion of Washington’s Union Station. That project will realign tracks and improve platforms and concourses, along with building a new bus facility, parking garage and train hall. — Up to $397 million will go to the final design and construction activities for upgrading a power system on an 18-mile segment of the Amtrak-owned Keystone Line between the zoo substation in Philadelphia and the Paoli substation in Paoli, Pennsylvania.
| | MAKING SAFER ROADS: DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday announced $172 million in grants to 257 communities through the Safe Streets and Roads for All program. The funds include $4.8 million to the Romulus Fire Department in Michigan to pilot signal preemption systems to clear intersections for emergency vehicles and $4.5 million to the Sonoma County Transportation Authority in California to focus on lowering speeds and the installment of bike lanes and temporary curb extensions.
| | | FIRST IN MT: The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said Monday it is establishing a consortium to fund studies into drunk driving prevention technology, seeking to help answer questions like whether such systems should “completely disable a vehicle if alcohol is detected.” The trade group noted that the 2021 infrastructure law directed NHTSA to issue a final rule, if it met various criteria, no later than Friday mandating this type of technology in new passenger vehicles — but the agency did not do so. NHTSA must now submit a report to Congress explaining what happened. NHTSA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
| | | | Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy. | | | | | | | | | — “Slash First, Fix Later: How Elon Musk Cuts Costs.” New York Times. — “Bullet Hits Southwest Plane at Dallas Love Field Airport.” New York Times. — “ Boeing issues layoff notices to 400-plus workers as it begins drastic cuts.” Boeing. — “Amtrak gets hundreds of millions for D.C. and Md. as Biden leaves.” Washington Post. — “Rescinding US EV tax credit would cede ground to China, Granholm says.” Reuters. — “US industrial production sags in October amid continued drag from Boeing strike, hurricanes.” Reuters. — “Subways, Buses and Bike Lanes Scored Billions in Local Ballot Wins.” Bloomberg. — “ As War Spooks Foreign Airlines, Israelis Look to Local Start-Up.” Bloomberg. — “SpaceX Eyes Hundreds of Starship Launches During Trump Presidency.” Wall Street Journal. — “GM Cuts 1,000 Jobs in Latest Belt-Tightening Effort.” Wall Street Journal. — “Hyundai Motor Appoints First Foreign CEO as It Pushes Into North America.” Wall Street Journal. — “What Trump may mean for federal workers, remote work and Metro.” NBC4. — “ DC’s Metro Made a Comeback. Meet the Man Behind It.” Washingtonian. — “Johnson: House likely to punt funding to early 2025.” POLITICO. — “ Trump taps oil executive Chris Wright as Energy secretary.” POLITICO Pro. — “Texas Rep. Babin to chair House Science.” POLITICO Pro.
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