The Senate has defeated a procedural (cloture) motion to limit debate on their version of the FAA Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2881) by a vote of 49 (Y) to 42 (N). The motion required 60 affirmative votes to pass. The bill will now be pulled off of the floor. It appears likely that Congress will now pass an extension of current FAA legislation and program authorization, possibly through September of 2009.
Congressional Quarterly summarizes why the bill was ultimately defeated:
Republicans were upset that Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., moved last week to “fill the amendment tree,” a procedural maneuver that makes it impossible for Republicans to offer amendments to the legislation.
Republicans argued that Reid would not allow them to offer the amendments they want, while Reid said Republicans had failed to come forward with their amendments when they had the chance.
Reid complained that Republicans wanted to kill the legislation because they object to provisions not related to aviation – including a temporary infusion of cash in the Highway Trust Fund, which is expected to run out of money in fiscal 2009.
Update (6/26): Senator DeMint (R-SC) objected on behalf of Senate Republicans today to moving forward with FAA legislation. The bill will likely not be revisisted until sometime next month.
