119-HR-5851 Journalist Public Summary

Headline Summary

A short-term funding backstop that keeps air traffic control and TSA screening pay and operations going during any government shutdown in fiscal year 2026, so flights and airport security don’t grind to a halt.

What It Does

The Keep America Flying Act of 2026 authorizes the government to keep paying air traffic controllers, essential FAA operational staff, TSA screeners, and certain support contractors if FY2026 funding lapses. It makes those payments retroactive to September 30, 2025, and keeps them going until normal appropriations are enacted or until September 30, 2026—whichever comes first.

• Covers standard pay, benefits, and differentials for FAA air traffic controllers and other essential FAA operations staff.
• Covers standard pay and benefits for TSA employees engaged in screening and aviation security, plus related mission-support roles.
• Allows payments to FAA and TSA contractors that directly support those workers.
• Stops automatically once Congress passes regular or continuing funding for these purposes, or by September 30, 2026.

Who’s For It

Because the bill was just introduced, formal whip counts and coalition letters aren’t publicly available yet. Based on the bill’s scope, here are the likely backers and their reasons:

• Aviation front-line workers (air traffic controllers, TSA screeners) and their employee organizations — to avoid missed paychecks and staffing disruptions during a shutdown.
• Airlines, airports, and travel industry groups — to reduce delays, cancellations, and security bottlenecks that ripple through the economy.
• Members of Congress who favor targeted, "keep-critical-services-running" measures during shutdowns — to protect safety and minimize travel chaos for the public.

Who’s Against It

Potential critics and their concerns could include:

• Lawmakers who oppose piecemeal shutdown bills — arguing that carve-outs reduce pressure to pass full-year funding and mask the costs of a shutdown.
• Fiscal hawks — concerned about open-ended “such sums as necessary” language and the precedent of automatic spending during lapses.
• Good‑government watchdogs — warning that narrower funding may leave other aviation functions (e.g., training, modernization, certification work) short-staffed, creating safety or efficiency trade‑offs even if pay continues for essential operations.

What’s Next

Status as of October 29, 2025: The bill was introduced on October 28, 2025 and referred to the House Appropriations Committee. Next steps would be a committee markup, a House floor vote, then consideration in the Senate. If both chambers pass the same text, it would go to the President for signature or veto.

Introduced

October 28, 2025 (House)

Committee

House Appropriations

Retroactive effective date

September 30, 2025

Automatic end date (if no earlier funding)

September 30, 2026