After their overwhelming success in the 2014 mid-term elections, Republicans are preparing to assume their new majority in the Senate, while their House colleagues have secured an expanded majority that exceeds their World War II-era peak. President Obama, who began his presidency with a Democratic majority in the Congress, will now round out his last two years in office with Republican majorities in both the House and Senate. Although on many issues this could make for a difficult two years for the Obama Administration, on transportation policy there is renewed hope for bipartisanship in the new congress.

In the meantime, during the Lame Duck session of the current congress, we anticipate final action on two minor aviation-related bills, creating an Aviation Security Advisory Committee at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and setting requirements related to TSA procurement. A third aviation bill that might be acted upon in the Lame Duck revises aviation security service fee requirements.