Trump cabinet officials call on Congress for $50B

WASHINGTON — Congress must provide the Trump Administration $50 billion in emergency funding to begin addressing outdated communications and radar systems that led to Friday’s ground stop of U.S. flights, two cabinet officials said.

“This is a legacy problem that took place tonight,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday night.

“I want Congress to give us emergency funding. This is bipartisan. This is American. I want $50 billion,” Duffy said.

Duffy, appearing with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen at a press conference, said President Donald Trump is ready to build an updated network “and deliver for the American people.”

“But the president can’t deliver for America unless the Congress delivers the money to make it,” Duffy said. “I can’t build things if I don’t have the money.”

Duffy said there was $12.5 billion provided to rebuild the system in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, but says that was not enough.

He said a government funding bill that Congress needs to pass when the existing short-term bill expires on Dec. 11 is another opportunity for lawmakers to provide more money.

“I didn’t anticipate we would be having an outage like this,” Duffy said. “But you will have more of these unless the American people and the Congress tell us to build.”