On Sunday, the aftermath of a prolonged air travel ground stop was still percolating through the minds of American travelers looking at the Thanksgiving travel season. Also on Sunday, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy appeared on Fox News Sunday with host Shannon Bream to talk about the issue — and what Congress has and hasn't done the help get America's aging air-traffic system up to snuff.

The Secretary points out:

Congress did give me $12.5 billion. But, they are very specific on how we spend it. So, I've got money for radar. I've got money for radios. I can't order, and take the stuff off the shelf. This is a massive order, from our providers. They have to build radios. They have to build radar. They have to build electronic flight strips. So, this money is all accounted for. It will all be deployed by the end of 2028. But I have no money for a new network. I don't have any new money to build new software to separate planes in the airspace. So, it's interesting when they say, I have all this money, yes, but they (Congress) said specifically how I had to use that money. I need additional money to do the additional work to keep the airspace safe. 

Unlike a lot of things that Congress allocates money for, this is actually the legitimate prerogative of the federal government: Managing the safe and efficient travel of aircraft through the American airspace, which is pretty much the definition of interstate commerce. Our air-traffic systems, as last week shows, are far from perfect, but Secretary Duffy makes a good point, one that too many Americans don't seem to understand: Money is allocated by Congress for specific purposes, and the head of a federal agency, like the FAA, cannot legally repurpose it. If Congress has not allocated money for new software, then there is no money for software.

The president isn't happy about this, and took to his Truth Social account to say so.

If Congress approves the desperately needed money for Air Traffic Control, we can get it built quickly and efficiently. It will be the BEST SYSTEM anywhere in the World. Much of our current air control system is 50 years old - RIDICULOUS! We have already started the work, but it should be done all at once, not in drips and drabs. Congress must approve. The Biden Administration set it back years! President DJT

The current Congress, of course, only has a matter of days left to do anything, and they have an awful lot on their plate; much of which should already have been done, like the SAVE America Act, but here we are. And the previous administration? President Trump has some words for them as well.

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The Biden Administration was an FAA disaster. Everything they touched turned bad. Big money spent unwisely, making an old and broken system worse than when they began. We have the knowledge and plan for the Flight Control Systems, we need Congress to give the money, FAST! Our FAA is doing a great job, and is ready to go. President DJT

Here's the thing and I'm going to tell you; any funds for any upgrades to the nation's air traffic control system will have to be done during what's left of the term of the 119th Congress, or they won't get done at all. The 120th Congress, being run by Democrats and which will last until the end of President Trump's tenure, will not approve anything that could be perceived as a win for the Trump administration. They are consumed, almost to a one, with Trump Derangement Syndrome, and not even the vital repairs to our aging air-traffic control can break through that barrier. They would rather put Americans at inconvenience or outright hazard than to give the Trump administration a win, and that is a natural-born fact.