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The deadly crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is triggering new aviation oversight efforts on Capitol Hill as potential contributing factors draw scrutiny, including whether congressional dysfunction has strained the safety of air travel. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest on how Congress is responding to the Wednesday night tragedy at an airport that hundreds of lawmakers use to commute:<\/p>\n

Committees dig in:<\/b> Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz, who has authority over the FAA and DOT, is pledging to monitor the federal investigation and continue speaking with relevant authorities. House Transportation is expected to schedule a hearing soon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The FAA and the NTSB briefed lawmakers throughout the day Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What they\u2019re focusing on:<\/b> The incident follows years of alarms about air safety, including a shortage of air traffic controllers, government shutdowns that made it harder to train workers and replace equipment and an FAA that spent stretches without a permanent leader while warnings about near-collisions increased.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we have a critical shortage of air traffic controllers, and many of them are forced to work overtime, they\u2019ll often work fatigued \u2014 that\u2019s mostly the fault of Congress,\u201d former House Transportation Chair Peter DeFazio said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, who lobbied American Airlines to run the Wichita to Washington route that the passenger plane that crashed into an Army helicopter was on, said he expects the Senate Commerce aviation panel to follow up on what the NTSB finds and \u201cpursue whatever legislative changes may be necessary to further protect the traveling public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another area of focus among some members will be to revisit contentious decisions by Congress to add more flights to Reagan National, though there\u2019s no evidence that the added traffic played a role in the collision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve flown in there over a hundred times, I\u2019m always amazed at the amount of traffic,\u201d said Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican on House Transportation.<\/p>\n

What Republicans aren\u2019t entertaining:<\/b> GOP lawmakers \u2014 including some of Donald Trump\u2019s biggest congressional allies \u2014 are keeping their distance from the president\u2019s unsupported claim that diversity, equity and inclusion efforts<\/u><\/a> were to blame for the crash.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what else we\u2019re watching:<\/p>\n