GOP Rep. Tim Burchett (Tenn.) delivered a blunt message to his party’s congressional leaders Saturday morning, calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.) to move legislation funding upgrades to air travel infrastructure.

His demand followed Friday’s nationwide ground stop, which disrupted air travel for around four hours. Burchett argued that aging equipment, rather than anything sinister, was behind the problem and warned that the Senate could prove to be the obstacle.

“We know that it wasn’t some nefarious thing. We know we got antiquated material. The problem you’re going to have, I think, is with the Senate,” Burchett said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Saturday in America.”

The Tennessee Republican then put the responsibility squarely on Johnson and Thune. “Both Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune need to step up to the daggum plate … and pass a clean bill,” he added.

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The Federal Aviation Administration issued the nationwide ground stop at around 4 p.m. EST Friday. The stoppage remained in effect for around four hours before air traffic resumed.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy renewed his call for congressional funding during a briefing after the stoppage. He said the money is needed to update the country’s “incredibly old” air traffic control system.

Johnson echoed that request during an interview Saturday, arguing that the focus should be on upgrading the system rather than conducting another inquiry. “We don’t really need any investigation … we need further investment,” Johnson said.

Burchett chairs the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE). During his Fox News remarks, he pointed to the ALERT Act while portraying the Senate as ineffective on aviation safety legislation already approved by the House.

The ALERT Act focuses on aviation safety and the use of collision prevention technologies. It was created in response to the fatal 2025 collision involving an Army helicopter and a commercial jet near Reagan Washington National Airport.

The House passed the ALERT Act in April, but the legislation has not received a vote in the Senate. Burchett cited that lack of action while pressing Republican leaders to move a clean funding bill through Congress.

Duffy provided additional information about the possible cause of Friday’s FAA ground stoppage during a Saturday morning press briefing. He said a telecommunications line switch may have initiated the disruption.

According to Duffy, contractor L3Harris had been replacing an older copper wire with a new fiber cable. His Saturday explanation followed an earlier assessment he offered Friday.

On Friday, Duffy attributed the incident to an overload of data on routers. The two statements addressed different technical circumstances surrounding the nationwide stoppage, with the telecommunications line switch identified Saturday as a possible starting point.

Burchett suggested Congress could approve additional FAA funding within a week if lawmakers treated the matter as a priority. His comments placed the burden on Johnson and Thune to push the legislation through their respective chambers.

The timing is especially pressing for Republicans, who are preparing to relinquish their congressional majorities to Democrats in January. Burchett urged GOP leaders to act before that transfer of power takes place.

He closed with a stark warning about the costs of continued inaction. “You know what’s gonna be more expensive than this bill … funerals and lawsuits,” Burchett said. “That’s what we’re gonna have if we don’t fix this daggum problem.”

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