{"id":24765,"date":"2026-02-20T23:04:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/?p=859022"},"modified":"2026-02-20T23:04:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:04:36","slug":"duffy-will-brief-congress-next-week-on-el-paso-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/duffy-will-brief-congress-next-week-on-el-paso-shutdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Duffy Will Brief Congress Next Week on El Paso Shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Sean_Duffy_Bloomberg-580x387.jpg\"><\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Sean_Duffy_Bloomberg-scaled.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<ul class=\"nav nav-tabs tabs tabs-entry\">\n<li class=\"active\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southcentral\/2026\/02\/20\/859022.htm\">Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southcentral\/2026\/02\/20\/859022.htm?comments\" rel=\"nofollow\">0 Comments<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"article-content clearfix\">\n<p class=\"bloomberg\">Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he will brief lawmakers on Capitol Hill next week about the temporary closure of airspace around El Paso, Texas, earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>Duffy told reporters Friday that he stood behind the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s decision, despite the controversy that followed the action.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"79\" data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>\u201cWas it a mistake to close the airspace?\u201d a reporter asked during a press conference on an unrelated topic in Washington, to which Duffy replied: \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southcentral\/2026\/02\/12\/857839.htm\">Drones, Drugs, Laser Beams Stir Confusion Over Texas Skies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The FAA imposed flight restrictions, which drew backlash from local officials and were initially intended to last 10 days, on Feb. 10 but lifted them the following day.<\/p>\n<p>Administration officials, including Duffy, said the closure happened because drones from Mexican drug cartels breached US airspace.<\/p>\n<p>Others familiar with the events said the FAA was concerned about the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s use of a military counter-drone laser system and the possible safety implications for nearby civilian aircraft. They said the system\u2019s operation wasn\u2019t coordinated with the FAA.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, Duffy denied there was a lack of communication between the agencies involved. When asked about the veracity of his initial statement about a Mexican drug cartel drone breach, he said: \u201cI use information that I get.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext-2\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"162\" data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>Duffy declined to provide further information about the event, saying he first wanted to discuss the matter with members of Congress who have asked for a classified briefing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we owe a conversation with the Hill before I have a conversation with you,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n<p><em>Top photo: Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. Bloomberg.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"copyright-notice quiet\">Copyright 2026 Bloomberg.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll\" data-post=\"859022\">\n<div class=\"article-poll-vote\">\n<p>Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-no\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-yes\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! <span class=\"percent\"><\/span>% of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-more-articles\">\n<p class=\"thank-you-text\">Here are more articles you may enjoy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribe-banner subscribe-banner-in-content-2\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h4>The most important insurance news,in your inbox every business day.<\/h4>\n<p>Get the insurance industry&#8217;s trusted newsletter<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article 0 Comments Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he will brief lawmakers on Capitol Hill next week about the temporary closure of airspace around El Paso, Texas, earlier this month. Duffy told reporters Friday&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[1914,1915,1,77,1916],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/duffy-will-brief-congress-next-week-on-el-paso-shutdown.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24765"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}