S. 160 · 119th Congress

Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025

Introduced on Jan 21, 2025 by Tim Sheehy (R-MT). 8 cosponsors, 5 of them from another party. Became Public Law 119-18.

Stage
Became law
Public Law 119-18
Introduced
Jan 21, 2025
Cosponsors
8
5 from the other party
Policy area
Armed Forces and National Security
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Sent to the President
  6. Became law

Official title

A bill to amend the Wildfire Suppression Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 to reauthorize the sale by the Department of Defense of aircraft and parts for wildfire suppression purposes, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Aviation and airports
  • Fires
  • Forests, forestry, trees
  • Military assistance, sales, and agreements

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Public Law, Jun 12, 2025). Public domain.

Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025

This act reauthorizes the Department of Defense to sell its excess aircraft and aircraft parts that are acceptable for commercial sale for wildfire suppression purposes. Such authority begins June 12, 2025, and ends October 1, 2035.

The act also provides that such aircraft may be used to deliver water by air in order to suppress wildfire (the previous authority only provided for the delivery of fire retardant).

The act removes the previous limitation on providing international wildfire suppression assistance with such purchased aircraft.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Tim SheehyR-MTSponsor

Democrats · 5

Republicans · 3

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jan 21, 2025Introduced in Senate
  2. Jan 21, 2025 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
  3. Apr 8, 2025Senate Committee on Armed Services discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  4. Apr 8, 2025 · SenateSenate Committee on Armed Services discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  5. Apr 8, 2025 · SenateMeasure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S2480)
  6. Apr 8, 2025Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  7. Apr 8, 2025 · SenatePassed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S2480)
  8. Apr 9, 2025 · SenateMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
  9. Apr 9, 2025 · HouseReceived in the House.
  10. Apr 9, 2025 · HouseHeld at the desk.
  11. Jun 3, 2025 · HouseMr. Comer moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  12. Jun 3, 2025 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H2390)
  13. Jun 3, 2025 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 160.
  14. Jun 3, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2390)
  15. Jun 3, 2025 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2390)
  16. Jun 3, 2025 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  17. Jun 10, 2025Presented to President.
  18. Jun 10, 2025 · HousePresented to President.
  19. Jun 12, 2025Signed by President.
  20. Jun 12, 2025Signed by President.
  21. Jun 12, 2025Became Public Law No: 119-18.
  22. Jun 12, 2025Became Public Law No: 119-18.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. PERIMETER SOLUTIONS INC.9 reports
    $770K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: PERIMETER SOLUTIONS LP$277.3M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 91%
  2. AMERICAN PROPERTY CASUALTY INSURANCE ASSOCIATION6 reports
    $9.4M reported (all issues)
  3. Prime Minute, Inc.6 reports
    $330K reported (all issues)
  4. QUANTA SERVICES, INC6 reports
    $180K reported (all issues)
  5. 10 Tanker Air Carrier, LLC2 reports
    $40K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: 10 TANKER AIR CARRIER, LLC$27.5M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  6. Billings Flying Service2 reports
    $40K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: BILLINGS FLYING SERVICE LLC$42.1M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  7. TREA Senior Citizens League2 reports
    $10K reported (all issues)
  8. United Aerial Firefighters Association2 reports

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 5, 2026 · loaded Oct 5, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.