August 05, 2026
Brothers and sisters,
August was a quiet month in Washington, D.C. The House was in recess since the end of July, beginning their legislative work again in the first week of September. The Senate left the second week of August, returning the week after Labor Day. Since then, I have planned numerous meetings with labor allies to discuss the current legislative situation and how to best position ourselves for success. I met with the Transportation Trades Department, the International Union of Elevator Constructors, and the Congressional Labor Caucus. We discussed what to expect at the end of this legislative session, and how to keep transportation labor at the forefront of Congressional action. These planning sessions were crucial to ensuring we are all on the same page and working towards the same goals. Standing in solidarity with one another is a necessity at the federal level to make progress. I have done that on behalf of ATDA and will continue to.
On August 8th, before leaving for recess, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 6500, which was a continuing resolution (CR) that provided short-term funding for the U.S. government, including transportation. At the time of this writing on September 1st, the U.S. House has also approved the bill, meaning the CR will move to the president's desk for signature. This bill extends government funding through December 11th, setting Congress up for a “lame duck” legislative session after the November elections. Whether Congress comes back and passes full funding bills or another continuing resolution remains to be seen. Fortunately, this bill includes no partisan riders or hidden language and is a straight continuation of funding. Unfortunately, this bill does not extend Biden-era Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act advanced appropriations, which our transportation infrastructure in the United States has grown to rely on and has led to serious rail investments and improvements. Regardless, ATDA is tracking these legislative happenings closely and communicating with stakeholders and actors inside and outside of Congress to ensure we’re prepared to advocate for you all, regardless of what steps Congress takes.
In addition, ATDA leadership sent 4 letters to the FRA this month that focused on recent incidents with train dispatching software that are completely unacceptable. I subsequently sent these letters to relevant members of Congress and scheduled meetings with offices in both the House and Senate who asked for more details. Congress is taking note of these software issues that you all deal with every day. We now have numerous advocates in Congress that are talking about and attempting to address these problems. Furthermore, the FRA informed us that they are actively investigating these incidents. They have sent teams to the location where occurrences took place and have assured us that they are taking steps to correct these errors. Likewise, I have continued my general meetings with staff and offices to give our software error issue more visibility across Congress. These actions illustrate the importance of being a part of the conversation at the national level. If we weren’t talking to and engaging Congress and agencies, no one would know the extent of these issues, and we wouldn’t have allies and advocates on our side. I will continue to make issues our members are facing a top priority on Capitol Hill in order to enact change.
On the political side, I have also taken August to focus on electoral planning. I have worked with the ATDA PAC committee to plan political giving throughout the rest of this campaign cycle and ensure that we have stable PAC funding in the future.
As always, do not hesitate to reach out.
In solidarity,
Jeffrey Robb
Director of Government Affairs, ATDA
