News and reports from the Department of Transportation.

U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and John Thune (R-S.D.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, today released the following joint statement ahead of the March 9th expiration of the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction authority:

In his opening statement at today’s full committee hearing titled “Bringing Transparency and Accountability to Pharmacy Benefit Managers,” Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) raised concerns about new powers being given to the Federal Trade Commission in light of the abrupt resignation announcement by Commissioner Christine Wilson. Ranking Member Cruz stressed that legislation regulating Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMS, should be viewed with “extreme caution” given both the possibility the bill would raise drug prices and that the Commission will soon lack a single minority commissioner.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation finalized Ranking Members for Subcommittees today and announced the following Republican Ranking Members for the 118th Congress.

In his opening statement at today’s full committee hearing on “the Federal Aviation Administration’s NOTAM System Failure and its Impacts on a Resilient National Airspace,” Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) criticized U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s failure to deliver any meaningful reforms to the FAA and discussed the need for upgrades to the FAA and its air traffic organization in light of the unprecedented NOTAM failure that stranded thousands of travelers.

In his opening statement at today’s full committee hearing to consider the nomination of Gigi Sohn to be a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) detailed Ms. Sohn’s lengthy record of extremism, poor ethics, bad judgment, and disdain for Congress.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today sent a letter to the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) seeking information about its lengthy delays in reaching decisions on applications for deepwater ports for exporting oil and natural gas.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today sent a letter to social media companies Meta, Google, Twitter, and TikTok launching an oversight investigation into these companies’ use of recommendation algorithms and their reported use of “blacklists,” “de-emphasizing,” and other means of “reduced distribution” of content from users, including many conservatives.

In his opening statement at today’s full committee hearing titled, “Strengthening Airline Operations and Consumer Protection,” Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Biden administration efforts to micromanage airline fares and routes would result in higher overall fares, fewer routes, and leave consumers worse off.

On February 15, 2023, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing to examine low carbon transportation fuels and consider the development of a national clean fuels policy.

U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the EPW Committee, today announced the EPW subcommittee assignments for the 118th Congress.

Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee held a hearing titled, “The Future of Low-Carbon Transportation Fuels and Considerations for a National Clean Fuels Program.”

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, questioned witnesses at a full committee hearing about increased costs caused by Low-Carbon Fuel Standard programs currently in place in certain states, the emissions impacts of electric vehicles (EVs), and the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub.

The Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will hold a public witness hearing on Thursday, March 23, 2023.

The Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies will hold American Indian and Alaska Native public witness hearings on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, and Thursday, March 9, 2023.

A crane toppled off a Virginia barge last year because no spotter was present to notice the crane being driven too far aft, and the cable system securing the crane to the barge failed, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.