House · On Motion to Suspend the Rules and PassFailed
Yea 264 Nay 133 Present / not voting 35
S. 2503 · 119th CongressFailed
ROTOR Act
Latest action. On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Failed by the yeas and naysThe constitutional right of one-fifth of those present to force every member's vote onto the public record. The mechanism behind every roll call you can look up.Read the full definition (opens a new tab): (2/3 required): 264 - 133 (Roll no. 72).
Live record from Congress.gov, updated as the official record changes.
What this bill would do
Official summary · Congressional Research ServiceRotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act or the ROTOR Act
This bill addresses aviation safety by increasing requirements for aircraft tracking and communication using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology and expanding oversight.
As background, ADS-B for broadcasting (Out) and receiving (In) transmits information (e.g., location and weather information) between aircraft and air traffic control.
Under the bill, aircraft must generally operate with ADS-B In equipment to provide the aircraft with location information of other aircraft and traffic advisories. Current law does not require this equipment.
Current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations allow aircraft performing a sensitive government mission to be excepted from requirements for using ADS-B Out equipment. This bill limits which flights may be considered sensitive government missions (e.g., not training flights) and requires additional reporting and notifications for the exception.
The Government Accountability Office must review the use of the ADS-B Out exception and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Transportation must annually audit FAA oversight of operations that use the exception.
Further, the bill repeals a 2025 law that exempts certain military helicopters from the ADS-B Out requirements for the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.
The bill also requires
the OIG of the Army to audit the Army’s coordination with the FAA,
the FAA to establish an office to coordinate airspace usage of military aircraft and review the safety of flight operations and routes around airports, and
the FAA to enter into memoranda of understanding with military agencies for safety information sharing.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed Senate" stage on December 17, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Status
Introduced
In committee
Failed of passage
February 24, 2026
Common questions
Composed from the official recordWhere is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill failed the vote the record describes below. A measure that fails is not revived; the same text has to be introduced again as a new measure.
The record's latest action, on February 24, 2026: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 264 - 133 (Roll no. 72).
Has anyone actually voted on it?
Yes. 1 recorded roll-call vote cites this measure, listed further down this page with every member's position.
Who is behind it?
Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced it on July 29, 2025, and 21 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 11 Democrats, 10 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateDid not advance · February 24, 2026
- HouseNot reached
- PresidentNot reached