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S. 2503119th CongressTransportation and Public Works
ROTOR Act
Sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) · 21 active : 10 Republicans, 11 Democrats
Latest action: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 264 - 133 (Roll no. 72).
Where it standsBefore the Senate7 senators score as swing votes
Passed Senate
- Senate: passedDec 17, 2025
- House: next
- President: not yet
Summary
, via Congress.govRotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act or the ROTOR Act
This bill addresses aviation safety by increasing requirements for aircraft tracking and communication using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology and expanding oversight.
As background, ADS-B for broadcasting (Out) and receiving (In) transmits information (e.g., location and weather information) between aircraft and air traffic control.
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Under the bill, aircraft must generally operate with ADS-B In equipment to provide the aircraft with location information of other aircraft and traffic advisories. Current law does not require this equipment.
Current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations allow aircraft performing a sensitive government mission to be excepted from requirements for using ADS-B Out equipment. This bill limits which flights may be considered sensitive government missions (e.g., not training flights) and requires additional reporting and notifications for the exception.
The Government Accountability Office must review the use of the ADS-B Out exception and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Transportation must annually audit FAA oversight of operations that use the exception.
Further, the bill repeals a 2025 law that exempts certain military helicopters from the ADS-B Out requirements for the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.
The bill also requires
the OIG of the Army to audit the Army’s coordination with the FAA,
the FAA to establish an office to coordinate airspace usage of military aircraft and review the safety of flight operations and routes around airports, and
Committees and subjects
Committees
- Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · SenateReported by · Markup by · Referred to
Subjects
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Advisory bodies
- Aviation and airports
- Computers and information technology
- Congressional oversight
- Department of Transportation
- Employment and training programs
- Federal officials
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Labor-management relations
- Public-private cooperation
Show all 13 subjects
- Transportation safety and security
Model
Directional: count only breaks toward the other partyWhy do scores change?v3default (selected)v2 model swing-v2
How the Senate breaks down
- 7Swing 70–100
- 58Middle 30–70
- 35Entrenched 0–30
Members fall into . All 100 senators have enough data to score.
Key players in the Senate
Ranked by swing score, 0–100 · swing-v3Bars show each input from 0 to 100: ideology gap, scorecard gap, , and the . is the seat’s partisan lean, and shows how much of the input data a score has.
Similar past votes, Senate
Earlier behind swing-v3’s inputLoading similar votes
Cosponsors
21 activeShow all 21 cosponsors
- Eric Schmitt (R-MO)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
- Roger Marshall (R-KS)
- Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
- Ted Budd (R-NC)
- Tim Sheehy (R-MT)
- Todd Young (R-IN)
- Edward J. Markey (D-MA)
- Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
- Mark R. Warner (D-VA)
- Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
- Tim Kaine (D-VA)
- Raphael G. Warnock (D-GA)
- Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
- John R. Curtis (R-UT)
- Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
- Peter Welch (D-VT)
- Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY)
How the swing score works
Ideology gapHow far a member’s DW-NOMINATE voting score sits from their party’s median in the same chamber.
Scorecard gapHow far their Heritage Action and LCV ratings stray from their party’s average, using the groups’ votes on similar bills where available.
Cross-pressureHow strongly their district or state leans toward the other party, from our own computed partisan lean.
Similar votesHow often they voted against their own party on earlier roll calls about this bill or similar ones.
Committee bonusMembers of the committees handling the bill decide whether it moves, so they get a boost.
Cosponsor checkThe sponsor and active cosponsors have already committed, so they drop toward entrenched.
