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Tag: permanent

FAA weighs permanent helicopter restrictions around Washington-area airport

FOX Business’ Grady Trimble speaks with National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman about the ongoing investigation to determine the cause of the D.C. plane crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is weighing plans to restrict helicopters from using the airspace around the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to ensure a deadly U.S. aviation accident like last month’s doesn’t happen again.

Senior FAA officials are considering a permanent restriction to keep helicopters away from commercial aircraft landing or taking off from the airport, sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

It’s part of a long-term safety plan around the airport after a U.S. Army Black Hawk collided with an American Airlines regional jet Jan. 29 in what was the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years. Both aircraft fell into the Potomac River after the collision. Sixty-seven people were killed.

RECOVERY EFFORTS UNDERWAY AFTER AMERICAN AIRLINES JET, MILITARY HELICOPTER COLLIDE MIDAIR NEAR DC

FOX Business reached out to the FAA for comment.

Days after the incident, the FAA, directed by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, restricted helicopter traffic in the area over the Potomac River around Washington National Airport and stretching to the Wilson Bridge.

The FAA said these restrictions will remain in place until the National Transportation Safety Board completes its preliminary investigation of the incident, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks.

If police, medical or presidential transportation helicopters need to use the airspace, civilian planes are not allowed to be in the same area, according to an FAA advisory.

The NTSB will be closely evaluating evidence like cockpit communications, unique sound recordings, aileron positions, landing gear, altitude pitch, submerged electronics and debris and interviewing staff working with both aircraft.

EXPERT PUTS ONUS ON FAA FOR AMERICAN AIRLINES, HELICOPTER CRASH: ‘BAD MANAGEMENT’ IS ‘PUTTING US AT RISK’

Emergency personnel and divers work at the site of the crash after American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed into the Potomac River outside Washington, D.C., Jan. (Reuters/Carlos Barria / Reuters)

Duffy said in a statement earlier this month he is specifically going to look into the operations at the air traffic control tower.

“Before this crash took place, you had a consolidation of two air traffic controller positions. One was for helicopters. One was for aircraft, for airplanes. Those positions were consolidated into one before this crash took place,” Duffy said.

“So, we’re going to look, I’m going to look at the policies and procedures inside the tower, why that happened. How did they get the authority? And we’re going to pull back that authority to make sure that we have the right policies in place inside our towers to make sure that when you fly, you’re safe.”

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A U.S. flag flies as search and rescue teams work in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River in Arlington, Va., Jan. 30, 2025. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters / Reuters)

Duffy has also criticized the operation of helicopters near the airport, saying, “We have to take a real look at the safety around this airspace and the airspace around the country. And, again, we can fly training missions at a different time of night.

“If we have generals who are flying in helicopters for convenience through this airspace, that’s unacceptable. Get in a damn Suburban and drive. You don’t need to take a helicopter.”

February 13, 2025
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calls for Trump tax cuts to be made permanent

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addresses President Donald Trumps economic and fiscal goals during his first interview on Kudlow since joining the administration.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday signaled that the White House wants Trump’s tax cut package from 2017 to be extended permanently before their expiration this year, rather than a temporary extension.

Bessent appeared on FOX Business Network’s “Kudlow” for an exclusive interview with host Larry Kudlow and addressed reports that Republicans in Congress are considering opting for a five or 10-year extension of the tax cuts to help comply with reconciliation rules, rather than making them permanent.

“President Trump has a mandate. He came in to do big things. And one of the big things that this administration wants to do is make the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent – and that permanency will continue to make the U.S. the number one economy in the world,” Bessent said.

“We’re going to bring down inflation, we’re going to cut regulations, and we’re going to get the tax cut. The goal is still for them to be made permanent,” he added.

TRUMP OUTLINES TAX CUT PLANS, TELLS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ‘MAKE YOUR PRODUCT IN AMERICA’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, left, is calling for Congress to make President Donald Trump’s tax cuts permanent. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Secretary Bessent went on to say that the Trump administration plans to use “current policy scoring” for the bill to help it move through Congress.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is responsible for scoring tax and spending legislation for its budget impact over time. CBO is currently required to use a current law baseline, which assumes that laws set to expire at a certain point in time do so at that time, when analyzing legislation or making budget projections. A current policy baseline would assume that certain laws are extended even if the law says they are due to expire.

“Up until a year ago, I was a civilian, I’ve been looking at CBO numbers for 35 years in my day job in the investment business, but I never understood the way this scoring worked. And it is tilted toward spending, and that’s why the spending has gotten out of control here in Washington,” he said.

PRESIDENT TRUMP FACES KEY FISCAL DEADLINES AS SECOND TERM BEGINS

Bessent said that Republicans need to come together on the tax bill to avoid the largest tax cut in U.S. history. (DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Congressional rules for budget reconciliation allow bills to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to overcome the legislative filibuster – but the bill can’t contain non-budget related provisions and can’t increase budget deficits beyond a set amount in a 10-year budget window.

To comply with those rules, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act contained some provisions that were permanent, such as the lower corporate tax rate, while other provisions were made temporary with several key policies set to elapse at the end of this year.

SCOTT BESSENT CONFIRMED BY SENATE TO SERVE AS TRUMP’S TREASURY SECRETARY

President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law in 2017. Some of its key provisions are set to expire at the end of 2025. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Notable provisions that are due to expire at the end of 2025 include those that lowered personal income tax rates, nearly doubled the standard deduction that most taxpayers claim when filing and expanded the child tax credit, among other items.

Bessent said that failing to extend the tax cuts would result in the largest tax hike in history, which would have a negative impact on the U.S. economy and Americans while also hurting the budget deficit through reduced growth.

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“What’s going to blow not only a hole in the budget deficit, in the economy and in the lifestyles of working class Americans [is] if we do not get this tax bill done,” Bessent explained. “As I said in my Senate hearings, this is pass-fail for our side of the aisle, and we will have the largest tax hike in history – the largest tax hike in history – and that will be on the people on our side who do not try to move this forward.”

February 6, 2025
Working ‘in tandem’: Republicans prep to make Trump executive orders permanent

House Republicans have no plans to allow President Donald Trump’s key executive orders to expire at the end of his four-year term.

Trump marked his first day in office Monday with dozens of new executive orders, and signaled that he is aiming to use the commander in chief’s unilateral power to enact policy when possible.

Executive orders, however, can be easily rescinded when a new administration enters the White House. They can also be subject to legal challenges that argue they run afoul of existing U.S. law, as is the current case with Trump’s order limiting birthright citizenship.

But several House GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital are signaling they intend to stop that from happening for at least several of Trump’s key policies.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST DAY IN OFFICE

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson shakes hands with President Donald Trump. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“I see him doing things by executive action as a necessity to signal… but they’re not the best way to do things,” former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital. “The best way to do things is the legislative process with a signature on a bill.”

Perry suggested starting with Trump’s orders on the border and energy.

Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., confirmed at his weekly press conference that Trump’s orders will be a roadmap for the House.

“This is an America First agenda that takes both of those branches of government to work in tandem,” Johnson said. “And so what he’s doing is kickstarting what will ultimately be our legislative agenda.”

Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., a close ally of Trump, told Fox News Digital, “I think the executive orders are easy because it requires one person.”

Rep. Scott Perry wants Congress to codify Trump’s border and energy orders. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

“Equally important in our discussions with him is the legislative piece, that we permanently enshrine some of these things or that we correct mistakes in the law that maybe have been abused in the past,” Fry said.

Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., suggested enshrining Trump’s rollback of Biden administration energy policies into law.

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s border subcommittee, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., said he wanted Congress to back up Trump’s immigration executive orders.

“We need to codify what President Trump has put in place by executive orders – Remain in Mexico, doing away with the CBP One app,” Guest said. “When President Trump leaves office in four years, those executive orders can be undone.”

FIRST ON FOX: TRUMP VOWS OVER 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY 1

Freshman GOP Rep. Brandon Gill introduced a bill to codify President Trump’s Remain In Mexico policy. (Getty Images)

Some have already taken steps to do just that. House Science Committee Chair Brian Babin, R-Texas, introduced a bill this week to limit birthright citizenship the day after Trump’s order.

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Freshman Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, released a bill earlier this month to reinstate Trump’s Remain In Mexico policy.

“I think the border crisis is so egregious and so harmful to American citizens that everybody can see it, whether you’re a Republican or Democrat,” Gill told Fox News Digital.

Former President Joe Biden rolled back several of Trump’s key executive orders on his first day in office and ended enforcement of Remain In Mexico – though that was challenged in court.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

January 23, 2025