FAA ramps up billions in spending as ‘down payment’ for air traffic overhaul

The Federal Aviation Administration has been working to update its aging air traffic control system, literally, for decades now. But 2026 is looking to be a big year on the FAA modernization front. The One Big Beautiful Bill Congress passed earlier this year puts more than $ 12 billion toward air traffic control modernization, and the FAA’s new administrator expects to obligate about half of that by the end of this fiscal year. The agency is on an aggressive schedule to completely replace the air traffic control system within the…

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The Question-Mark Mayoralty

In the months before the election of the young democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor, panic seized members of New York’s elite business community. Real-estate moguls, hedge-fund princes, and a well-known supermarket-chain magnate forecast disaster. Several of them vowed to move to Texas or Florida, or at least Hoboken, if Mamdani was elected. So far, however, the city hasn’t seen an exodus of its richest residents, and their alarm has lapsed into glum acceptance. I recently asked Kathryn Wylde, the soon-to-be-retired president of the Partnership for New York City—a sort…

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Census Battle: How This Lawsuit Could Change Political Power in Congress

A federal lawsuit could be decided in early 2026 to require the Census Bureau to only count people rather than use statistical sampling—a move that could determine who controls Congress.  The 2020 Census overcounted the population of several Democrat-leaning states and undercounted the population of several Republican-leaning states. While the agency admitted this was an error, plaintiffs in the case of University of South Florida College Republicans et al. v. Lutnick allege that its method of sampling led to the inaccuracies in the Census—and, ultimately, to the wrong apportionment of seats in Congress. Commerce…

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MoveOn Slams Netflix-Warner Brothers Deal

WASHINGTON – In response to the Netflix and Warner Brothers deal that would result in a consolidation of streaming services and higher prices for consumers, MoveOn Civic Action spokesperson Britt Jacovich released the following statement:  “Higher subscription prices, more movie theater closures, and fewer options for what to watch—that’s what the future for movies and television looks like under this Netflix-Warner Bros. deal. We shouldn’t have to worry about our local movie theater closing or our streaming prices going up just so corporate execs can make even more money. There’s…

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Reducing the government’s real property portfolio: Meeting the moment

The hybrid and remote work paradigms spawned by COVID, coupled with the severe downsizing of the federal workforce, are resulting in a surfeit of federal office space, both owned and leased. Add the aging of the federal inventory and the growing cost and impact of decades of deferred maintenance, and literally hundreds of government properties nationwide have the potential to be vacated and disposed of. And yet, in the world of federal real estate, there persists the sense that despite all the alignment on the requirement for action, the government…

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