WASHINGTON — New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-7th) cast a critical vote to block an aviation safety bill that would require planes and helicopters to carry and use digital equipment to avoid collisions.
The legislation sailed through the Senate, passing without a vote after no member objected. It had broad support from safety advocates, the Pentagon and the families of the 67 people killed in mid-air crash between a military helicopter and a commercial jet in January 2025.
But after the Pentagon rescinded its support last week, the House sank the bill, which under chamber rules had to reach a two-thirds majority, after Speaker Mike Johnson whipped votes against it. The bill was one “yes” vote short of passage and President Donald Trump’s signature into law.
Kean’s chief of staff did not respond to a request for comment about why the congressman voted no. The rest of the New Jersey delegation voted for the bill except Rep. Herb Conaway (D-3rd), who did not vote.
In response to the 2025 crash, lawmakers of both parties and aviation safety experts coalesced around the now-stalled bill as a way to prevent future tragedies.
“The ROTOR Act would’ve saved lives,” Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal body that investigates transportation incidents, said after the House vote. “How many more people need to die before we act?”
New Jersey has some of the busiest and most complicated airspace in the nation, and the region has faced staffing shortages of air traffic controllers for decades.
Maintaining air safety in the greater region was a focus for New Jersey lawmakers in the last aviation authorization law, which former President Joe Biden signed in 2024. “We have a high-demand, complicated area,” Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8th) said at the time.
Menendez, who wants federal law to limit helicopter flights in his district, which abuts the Hudson River, said Congress should pass a sweeping package to reform air safety.
“The fact is that we need a comprehensive legislation package that includes reforms that go even beyond the ROTOR Act and addresses concerns in the New York-New Jersey region,” Menendez said in an emailed statement.
The legislation that stalled last week would require planes and helicopters to use a broadcasting system, known in technical terms as ADS-B in and ADS-B out, that transmits an aircraft’s location to other aircraft.
The bill mandates the technology for aircraft flying into “congested airspace,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and the legislation’s lead sponsor.
Before clearing the full Senate, the bill easily advanced from the Senate committee that regulates aviation after the chairman, Cruz, and the panel’s top Democrat, Maria Cantwell of Washington, propelled it forward.
“What would have happened if both aircraft had been equipped by ADS-B in?” Cruz asked Homendy at a hearing before the House vote.
“The accident wouldn’t have happened,” Homendy said. “At 48 seconds, the helicopter crew would have gotten an aural alert. They could have taken evasive action.”
The jet crew would have been alerted and been able to respond, too, Homendy said. Cruz asked if the crash would have happened if the bill had been law last year. Homendy replied: “I don’t believe it would have occurred.”
In a statement to NJ Spotlight News, Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said the department opposes the Senate legislation but did not specify why.
“While we continue to support the intent and objectives of the legislation, the version passed by the Senate does not reflect several of the mutually discussed updates,” Parnell said, referring to talks the department has had with senators.
“As currently drafted, enactment would create significant unresolved budgetary burdens and operational security risks affecting national defense activities,” Parnell said. He did not explain what those burdens or security risks are.
Republican chairmen of the powerful House armed services and transportation committees oppose the Senate bill. They support a different bill that does not have the support of the NTSB.
Kean is a co-sponsor of that bill, along with Reps. Donald Norcross (D-1st), Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12th).
That legislation is not as expansive as the bill in the House and does not mandate “many key provisions fall short of fully implementing all of the NTSB’s recommendations,” Homendy and board members of the independent agency wrote in a letter Thursday. Excluded from the replacement bill is a mandate for the warning alert technology.
