Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called on Congress Friday night to provide $50 billion to overhaul the nation’s decades-old air traffic control system after a nationwide outage grounded flights for nearly five hours.
The two Trump administration officials used an emergency press conference to argue that the disruption demonstrated the need for additional federal funding, warning that similar failures could occur without a complete replacement of decades-old technology.
“Give us the money to fix it,” Duffy said. “Let’s not do a patchwork, a fix to a system that’s critical for every single family.”
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop after experiencing instability in radar and communication systems around 3:30 p.m. More than 3,500 aircraft were in the air when the disruption began, forcing controllers to coordinate their safe landings.
Airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m., though Duffy warned that delays and cancellations could continue as airlines worked to reposition aircraft and crews.
Duffy attributed the outage to overloaded switches and routers operating on outdated analog telecommunications infrastructure. He said recently installed digital equipment remained operational, strengthening his argument for replacing older systems.
President Donald Trump previously requested $30 billion in funding for the modernization effort, though Duffy upped his ask Friday to $50 billion to complete the overhaul.
Congress already approved $12.5 billion for air traffic control modernization though Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but Duffy argued the initial investment was insufficient.
“This is an emergency,” Duffy said. “I want Congress to give us emergency funding. This is bipartisan. This is American. I want $50 billion. President Trump is a builder. He’s going to build this network and deliver for the American people, but the president can’t deliver for America unless the Congress delivers the money to make it happen.”
The transportation secretary said the administration could seek additional funding through an emergency spending package before the end of the year.
The funding push comes after previous disruptions exposed vulnerabilities in the nation’s aviation infrastructure, including multiple outages affecting Newark Liberty International Airport.
Duffy argued that Congress had spent roughly $15 billion on modernization efforts over the past 25 years without delivering meaningful improvements.
Mullin reinforced the funding request, describing the outdated system as a national security vulnerability and accusing lawmakers of repeatedly delaying necessary investments.
“This is a national security risk,” he said. “We just saw what took place when we have vulnerabilities and we have old systems. The president has declared this a national emergency, and now we have to have Congress act and fund it. This is vitally important that we get this system built.”
The officials also faced questions about why the Republican-controlled Congress had not already provided the requested funding, to which Duffy responded that major funding often requires bipartisan support that earlier spending packages did not receive.
FAA LIFTS NATIONWIDE GROUND STOP FOLLOWING HISTORIC HALT ON ALL AIR TRAVEL
Duffy warned that additional outages remained possible until the modernization effort was completed.
“You will have more of them,” he said, “unless the American people and Congress tell us to build.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
