U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made an appearance before a budget hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee on Thursday.
During questioning, Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran pressed Secretary Hegseth on the Pentagon change of opinion on ROTOR Act air safety bill. Moran asked why the department initially backed the ROTOR aviation safety package, only to come out against it in February.
"It isn't that something changed, it was that what you asked for didn't get enacted?" Hegseth: "We think some changes that need to be made were not made to the bill."
The Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act (ROTOR Act), introduced as S.2503, is 2025-2026 U.S. legislation aiming to improve aviation safety by enhancing surveillance technology requirements following fatal accidents. The bill requires aircraft to use ADS-B "In" technology and limits FAA exceptions for military aircraft to use tracking systems.
The legislation was introduced by Senators Jerry Moran and Ted Cruz following a 2025 midair collision involving a United Airlines Jet from Kansas and a military helicopter near Washington's Reagan National Airport on January 29, 2925.
The bill requires all aircraft to be equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) In technology by Dec 31, 2031, allowing pilots to see other aircraft positions and receive traffic advisories.