A LETTER TO CONGRESS
How to contact
Call: (202) 224-3121
or
Find your congressman: https://www.congress.gov/contact-us then enter your zip code.
From there you can email, call or physically mail a letter to your Representative and Senator.
Here’s how you address that letter (if mailing)
For U.S. Representatives
- The Honorable [Full Name]
- U.S. House of Representatives[Building Name and Room Number]
- Washington, DC 20515
For U.S. Senators
- The Honorable [Full Name]
- United States Senate[Building Name and Room Number]
- Washington, DC 20510
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Member of Congress,
I am writing to express my deep frustration with the Trump administration’s repeated cuts to transportation funding, reductions in the federal safety workforce, and efforts to privatize essential public services such as air traffic control and TSA operations.
America’s transportation system is already under enormous strain. Recent years have brought fatal plane crashes, runway incidents, near-collisions, equipment outages, staffing shortages, and other alarming safety events. While no single policy explains every incident, cutting FAA, NHTSA, NIOSH, TSA, infrastructure, and aviation-service funding during such a period is reckless.
The history of firing and understaffing transportation workers—from the dismissal of more than 11,000 air traffic controllers in 1981 to recent workforce reductions—should remind us that safety depends on experienced, well-trained, properly supported public employees. Privatization and political loyalty tests are not substitutes for investment, oversight, and professional expertise.
I urge Congress to reject further transportation cuts and privatization proposals, restore canceled safety and infrastructure funding, protect transportation workers, and conduct rigorous oversight of the Department of Transportation and FAA. Americans should not have to wonder whether political agendas and budget cuts are compromising their safety.
Please put public safety ahead of privatization, retaliation, and political theater.
Chronology.
1981-08-05 President Ronald Regan fired 11,345 air traffic controllers because they were on strike demanding better pay and conditions.
1997-01-01 Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules.
2017-01-20 During his first term, Trump repeatedly proposed budget cuts to the CDC, OSHA and the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health).
2017-06-05 Trump proposed firing 30,000 FAA workers from the federal payroll and privatizing the entire air traffic control system.
2019-03-12 Trump cut $1B in budget grants to USDOT transit during his first term.
2019-11-01 Sean Duffy was a lobbyist for Partnership for Fair and Open Skies.
2025-01-20 Trump froze billions of dollars in federal funding for various infrastructure projects in Rhode Island.
2025-01-29 There was a midair collision of an American Airlines jet and an Army Blackhawk.
2025-01-30 Trump blamed DEI, Biden, disabilities and Pete Buttigieg for the Potomac place crash, and accused the FAA of not properly vetting its employee pool.
2025-02-01 A medical transport Learjet 55 crashed in Northeast Philadelphia.
2025-02-02 A United Airlines plane caught fire before takeoff in Houston.
2025-02-04 In response to the Potomac crash Senator Roger Marshall said, “Well, I think diversity issues did contribute to this accident, and what we know for sure is that under Joe Biden that they lowered the standards for people getting into air traffic control. And with that, the number of near misses increased 70% a year”. The Senator went on to say, “What I think you’re gonna find out is there were a lot of qualified white men that they were not hiring because they were holding spots for DEI hires”.
2025-02-06 Bering Air 445 crashed outside of Nome Alaska.
2025-02-10 A plane veered off the runway and crashed into another parked plane at Scottsdale airport.
2025-02-15 The Trump administration laid off several FAA employees as part of their workforce reductions.
2025-02-17 A Delta Airlines plane flipped over during landing in Toronto.
2025-02-18 There was a plane crash at Flagler County Airport.
2025-02-19 Two private planes collided at Marana Regional Airport.
2025-02-20 A Utah CEO was killed in a helicopter crash in Idaho.
2025-02-25 There was a near-collision at Midway Airport in Chicago.
2025-02-27 A helicopter crashed in Uvalde Texas.
2025-03-01 A FedEx plane engine fire started after a bird strike in Newark.
2025-03-10 Medical transport helicopter AirCare-3 crashed in Mississippi.
2025-03-13 American Airlines flight 1006 caught fire on the tarmac after an emergency landing in Denver.
2025-03-13 A small plane crashed at Mesquite Texas airport.
2025-03-29 A small plane crashed into a house in Minnesota
2025-04-01 The Trump administration announced cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to reduce the workforce from 1400 staff to less than 150. They also dismantled the NIOSH Education and Research Center at Harvard.
2025-04-10 A Bell 206 helicopter crashed into the Hudson.
2025-04-18 A plane went off the runway in Scottsdale Arizona and crashed into a retention basin.
2025-04-21 There was a Delta Air Lines engine fire in Orlando.
2025-04-28 Newark Air Traffic Control experienced equipment malfunctions that cause delays.
2025-04-29 The Trump administration terminated a $63.9M Amtrak grant for the Dallas-Houston corridor.
2025-05-01 The Trump administration cut the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration workforce by 25%, cut $10M in funding, and rescinded $78M in supplemental funds for infrastructure.
2025-05-01 In May through September, the Trump administration released its FY 2026 “skinny” budget proposal to cut $308M from the Essential Air Service program, cancel $54M in grants to universities tied to DEI and “green initiatives”, cancel $32M in transportation construction for Massachusetts, and the USDOT terminated $679M in offshore wind projects.
2025-05-09 Newark Air Traffic Control experienced another outage.
2025-05-22 The Trump administration paused federal EV-charging funds, which the Government Accountability Office concluded violated the Impoundment Control Act.
2025-06-20 Florida Air Traffic Control lost their radar after a fiber optic line was cut.
2025-06-25 An American Airlines plane engine caught fire and had an emergency landing in Las Vegas.
2025-07-01 The Trump administration terminated $4BN in unspent federal grants for the California high speed rail.
2025-07-27 A Boeing plane experienced a brake fire in Denver.
2025-08-24 After a dispute with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Trump suggested reconsidering federal funding for the Francis Scott Key Bridge and later accused Moore of manipulating crime statistics.
2025-08-27 Robert Primus was fired from the Surface Transportation Board during a Union Pacific merger with no cause except that he “didn’t align” with the “America First” agenda.
2025-08-28 Newark Air Traffic Control experienced yet another outage.
2025-09-26 The Trump administration withdrew grants for bike lanes, pedestrian-safety improvements and recreation trails.
2025-09-30 The Trump administration froze thousands of transportation grants solely for containing climate or equity provisions.
2025-10-01 Two Delta jets were involved in a low-speed collision at the La Guardia taxiway in New York.
2025-10-01 The Trump administration paused $18BN in federal grants for the Gateway Hudson River tunnel and Second Avenue Subway.
2025-10-03 The Trump administration froze $2.1BN for the Chicago transit.
2025-10-09 The FAA canceled $6.7 million in infrastructure grants for Indianapolis International Airport, citing it did not align with Trump’s priorities.
2025-10-09 Trump suggested some federal employees affected by the shutdown might not get their back pay, “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about. We’re gonna take care of our people, there are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way”.
2025-11-04 There was a deadly plane crash in Louisville KY that killed at least 7 people and injured at least 11 more.
2025-11-07 Trump cut 10% of air traffic on 40 major airports.
2025-11-14 The Trump administration repealed a Biden-era law which was designed to compensate airline travelers who’s flights were delayed or disrupted.
2025-11-19 Department of Transportation Sean Duffy announced a campaign to urge travelers to dress up when flying and be in a better mood.
2025-12-18 The U.S. government announced some responsibility for the fatal midair collision between an Army helicopter and American Airlines over the Potomac in January.
2026-02-11 The Pentagon abruptly shut down El Paso Airport over a mistaken “cartel drone” scare involving a party balloon. First they said the shutdown was due to a “Mexican cartel drone”, then Sean Duffy posted “the threat has been neutralized”.
2026-02-20 Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced CDL drivers would have to take their commercial drivers tests in English, citing it would increase safety.
2026-03-17 Trump requested an addition $200B for his elective war in Iran, claiming it, “would be over soon”. Meanwhile hundreds of TSA workers quit their jobs due to no pay while Trump ensured DHS received their paychecks. For contrast, the war in Iraq cost $815B over the course of 13 years. Fast-forward, the US entered a deal with Iran in June to give them $300B for reconstruction.
2026-03-26 After slamming down Democrat attempts to pass a bill asking to fund TSA, Trump said he would issue an emergency order to ensure TSA employees were paid during the government shutdown
2026-03-27 The proposed funding bill by Democrats to fund TSA workers passed the House, but the GOP Senate warned the bill would be “dead on arrival” once it met the Senate.
2026-04-03 Trump’s new budget seeks TSA privatization.
2026-04-17 Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced he will advocate for a hiring campaign to attract video gamers to become Air Traffic Controllers.
2026-05-03 Spirit Airlines liquidated all its assets.
2026-05-05 Delta Airlines announced it would drop food and beverage services from flights under 350 miles.
2026-05-12 Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy filmed a reality show, funded by firms he regulates. He was a reality TV star in the late 90’s for MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules.
2026-05-14 A jury in Chicago ordered Boeing to pay nearly $50M in a lawsuit stemming from a fatal crash.
2026-06-30 Airline fares climbed 26.5%
2026-07-24 A seaplane carrying 11 people crashed off the coast of Washington State.