Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee budget hearing, May 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP) Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee budget hearing, May 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee budget hearing, May 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

Loreben Tuquero
By Loreben Tuquero May 21, 2025

In Congress, did Sean Duffy vote against upgrading air traffic control systems? Here’s what we know

If Your Time is short

  • While serving in Congress, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy voted against a 2019 bill introduced during the nation’s longest government shutdown as an attempt to reopen transportation and housing agencies. The legislation included many other items unrelated to air traffic control.

  • Duffy voted for bills reauthorizing or continuing Federal Aviation Administration funding in 2012, 2014 and 2018. ​

Air traffic controller staffing shortages. Radar outages. Hourslong flight delays and ground stops.

As Newark Liberty International Airport grappled with these and other problems in recent weeks, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed an "antiquated" air traffic control system, and asked Congress for money to build a new air traffic control system. But Robert Reich, an economist who served as Clinton administration labor secretary, said Duffy had a chance to act when serving as a congressman from 2011 to 2019, and didn’t.

"Reminder: when Sean Duffy was a congressman, he and other Republicans voted against upgrading air traffic control systems," Reich wrote May 13 on X. "Now, he’s trying to blame those systems for Newark airport’s outages — while claiming DOGE’s cuts of critical support staff at the FAA had nothing to do with it." DOGE is a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency, which has undertaken efforts to slash government spending.

As evidence for Reich’s statement, Michael Lahanas-Calderón, chief strategist for Inequality Media Civic Action, a nonprofit cofounded by Reich, pointed PolitiFact to Duffy’s vote against HR 267, a 2019 transportation and housing appropriations bill.

That legislation provided money for the Federal Aviation Administration, but also included many other items unrelated to air traffic control.

Sign up for PolitiFact texts

And Duffy’s full congressional voting record shows he also voted in favor of bills to fund the Federal Aviation Administration, including in 2012, 2014 and 2018.

How Duffy and Republicans voted for a transportation bill during the 2019 shutdown

At the time of the 2019 vote on HR 267, Donald Trump was president, Democrats controlled the House and Republicans controlled the Senate.

The bill included funding for "Next Generation Air Transportation System," also known as NextGen, FAA’s multiyear air traffic control modernization program.

HR  267 was one in a string of bills Democrats introduced when the government was in the middle of what would become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, lasting 35 days in December 2018 to January 2019. 

The legislation appropriated money to the FAA for operations, facilities and equipment, research, and engineering and development. It also included funding for the Federal Highway Administration, Maritime Administration and the Federal Housing Administration, among many other things. 

House Republicans opposed it for varying reasons. Some said the legislation likely would not reopen the FAA because Trump opposed the bill and could veto it. Others, such as former Texas Rep. Kay Granger and Florida Rep. John Rutherford, said the bill didn’t do enough to fund air traffic control programs. 

PolitiFact did not find published remarks from Duffy on why he voted against HR 267. We contacted Duffy’s office, and spokesperson Nathaniel Sizemore told us the bill had represented only a small funding increase for the FAA.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a union representing 20,000 air traffic controllers, engineers and other aviation safety professionals, supported the bill. Union President Paul Rinaldi told The New York Times in 2019 that funding crises "wreak havoc on our system and perpetuate the current staffing crisis."

The House passed HR 267 with 232 Democrats and 12 Republicans in favor and 180 Republicans, including Duffy, opposed. The Senate did not take it up.

Duffy voted for other FAA funding bills 

Duffy’s 2011 to 2019 congressional voting record shows he voted in favor of FAA authorization acts, which set spending levels and policy.

Information from the House of Representatives clerk’s office and the nonprofit VoteSmart shows Duffy:

Featured Fact-check

In 2016, Congress passed HR 636, called the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act. The House, including Duffy, approved the bill when it was originally America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015, and the Senate later replaced the bill’s text with the FAA reauthorization. 

The House considered the Senate amendments under suspension of rules and agreed by voice vote, so there is no roll call vote available on that final version, and we don’t know if Duffy voted for it. 

Our ruling

Reich said while Duffy served in Congress, he "voted against upgrading air traffic control systems."

This is cherry-picked. Duffy voted against a multi-faceted bill that would have reopened the FAA during the 2019 government shutdown, but in other years, he voted in favor of FAA reauthorization bills that provided funding to the agency and included funding for implementing NextGen, an air traffic control modernization program. 

The statement contains an element of truth but ignores important details. We rate Reich’s claim Mostly False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this article.

Our Sources

X post by Robert Reich (archived), May 13, 2025

Email exchange with Michael Lahanas-Calderón, chief strategist for Inequality Media Civic Action, May 15, 2025

Email exchange with Nathaniel Sizemore, spokesperson for Sean Duffy, May 19, 2025

LiveNOW from FOX, Newark Airport crisis: Sec. Sean Duffy speaks on third outage in two weeks, May 12, 2025

The New York Times, Shutdown Sets Off Airport Delays as F.A.A. Announces Staffing Shortages, Jan. 25, 2019

NBC News, Newark Airport woes persist with ground delay and more than 80 cancellations, May 12, 2025

The New York Times, What to Know About the Newark Airport Problems, May 14, 2025

Politico, Duffy asks Congress to fund a huge fix for America’s aviation system — minus a price tag, May 8, 2025

Transportation Department, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Unveils Plan to Build Brand New State-of-the-Art Air Traffic Control System, May 8, 2025

Congress.gov, Representative Sean P. Duffy, accessed May 15, 2025

MeidasTouch Network, Trump's New Transportation Secretary Voted Against FAA Funding in 2019, Jan. 30, 2025

Congress.gov, H.R.267 - Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019

Congress.gov, H.R.648 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 23 | Bill Number: H. R. 267, Jan. 10, 2019 

FAA, Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), accessed May 16, 2025

Congressional Research Service, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Issues and Debate in the 115th Congress, May 29, 2018

Congress.gov, Key Issues in FAA Reauthorization in the 115th Congress, May 3, 2018

Vox, House Democrats have a new strategy to reopen the government: pass smaller spending bills, Jan. 7, 2019

Axios, How long past government shutdowns have lasted, Dec. 21, 2024

Executive Office of the President, Statement of Administration Policy, Jan. 9, 2019

National Air Traffic Controllers Association homepage, accessed May 15, 2025

NATCA, Key Legislative Votes, 2020

The New York Times, Shutdown Sets Off Airport Delays as F.A.A. Announces Staffing Shortages, Jan. 25, 2019

Congress.gov, H.J.Res.90 - Federal Aviation Administration Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014

Congress.gov, H.R.4 - FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018

Congress.gov, All Actions: H.R.4 — 115th Congress (2017-2018)

Congress.gov, H.R.658 - FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012

Congress.gov, H.J.Res.31 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019

Congress.gov, H.R.636 - FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016

NATCA in Washington Today, May 21-23, 2018

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 165 | Bill Number: H. R. 4, April 27, 2018

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 82 | Bill Number: H. R. 636, Feb. 13, 2015

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 49 | Bill Number: H. R. 648, Jan. 23, 2019

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 220 | Bill Number: H. R. 658, April 1, 2011

VoteSmart, HR 658 - Federal Aviation Administration Act of 2012 - National Key Vote, accessed May 19, 2025

Congressional Research Service, Issues in the Reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the 114th Congress, Jan. 29, 2015

Congressional Research Service, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations for FY2019: In Brief, March 4, 2019

House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, House Passes Bipartisan FAA Extension, July 11, 2016

Congress.gov, H.Res.818 - Providing for the concurrence by the House in the Senate amendments to H.R. 636, with amendments.

Congress.gov, July 11, 2016 - Issue: Vol. 162, No. 111 — Daily Edition

Vote Smart, Sean Duffy's Voting Records, accessed May 19, 2025

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Loreben Tuquero

slide 4 to 6 of 15

In Congress, did Sean Duffy vote against upgrading air traffic control systems? Here’s what we know

Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

Sign me up