NEWFOUND NO-FLY LIST OPPOSITION ALIGNS STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: Amid all the talk about terrorism, the White House keeps calling on Congress to prevent folks on the no-fly list from buying guns. And while the list designed to keep suspected terrorists off airplanes has always had critics in the civil liberties crowd, the mention of gun control policy has attracted a contingent of unlikely partners to the crusade against the aviation security tool.

As we’ve laid out for Pros, “longtime liberal critics of the federal no-fly list have some outspoken allies these days — Republicans alarmed by President Barack Obama’s proposal to ban people on the list from buying guns. … Now that Obama wants to use the list to keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists, conservatives are airing their own complaints about the program’s broad sweep and Kafka-esque outcomes.”

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Congressional action: Nearly every day these days, Democratic lawmakers in both chambers try to force floor votes on proposals to allow the Justice Department to bar gun sales to suspected terrorists. On Tuesday, they attempted to call up a bill (S. 551) in the Senate and held up House floor action for hours by calling a succession of procedural votes in protest of GOP leaders' refusal to consider another measure (H.R. 1076).

What’s in a name?: Complicating matters is the fact that those congressional proposals, unlike the White House’s calls, don’t even specify that the Justice Department would have to use the no-fly list to prohibit firearm sales. Still, since the no-fly list has a catchy name and is a well-known concept, the list is often referenced in the legislative debate and is colloquially used as shorthand to explain totally different rosters, like the much broader Terrorist Screening Database the FBI uses to feed the no-fly list and several other name record systems. “The no-fly list has such an ominous tenor to it … so it just plays into this,” said Rick “Ozzie” Nelson, who was director of the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration.

IT’S WEDNESDAY: Good morning and thanks for tuning into POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports.

Reach out: jscholtes@politico.com or @jascholtes.

“Ship to shore, answer my call. Send me a signal, a beacon to bring me home.”

A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, À LA SENATE COMMERCE: Up for consideration during today’s Senate Commerce markup (and for the second time): Sen. Jim Inhofe’s Pilot’s Bill of Rights part deux. If you’ll remember, the committee had to punt on the bill (S. 571) in November. But it seems that everything has been smoothed out and that lawmakers are ready to take another go at it. More from Sen. John Thune: “I hope so, yeah,” he told Heather when asked if they’ll approve the measure today. “The parties have negotiated something. When you have Inhofe and [Joe] Manchin and Bill Nelson and everybody else kind of in the same place, it’s a Christmas moment. So we’re going to take full advantage of it.”

Transportation security: The panel is also set to mark up a bill today aimed at ramping up airport security and a measure (H.R. 2843) that would force the TSA to take additional steps to try to increase enrollment in the PreCheck program. That proposal, which the House passed by voice vote in July, would require the agency to lean on the private sector to help market the program and expand application options by setting up online enrollment and kiosks. The idea is that the TSA would work with private companies to create new ways for passengers to submit biographic and biometric information through those kiosks, as well as through mobile devices and mobile enrollment platforms, “to reduce the number of instances in which passengers need to travel to enrollment centers.” The legislation also directs the agency to make sure PreCheck lines are open during peak travel times.

CRASH TEST DUMMIES MEET SMARTY-PANTS TECHNOLOGY: NHTSA begins working now to finalize major changes over the next year to its popular 5-Star Safety Ratings, after proposing for the first time to include crash-avoidance technologies as part of the system rather than merely highlighting those features on a checklist, Lauren reports. The changes also include more crash tests, new test dummies that better demonstrate the impact crashes can have on the human body and half-star increments to give consumers a more-granular assessment of which cars are up to snuff safety-wise.

Across the board: That also includes pushing automakers to more broadly integrate high-tech safety solutions throughout their fleets, rather than just on pricy models that might be out-of-reach for the average car buyer, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.

Kudos abound: NHTSA’s move won praise on Capitol Hill and beyond. Lawmakers in particular were thrilled that the agency moved ahead on requiring crash-avoidance information to be included in the ratings, since they mandated it in the highway bill (H.R. 22) President Barack Obama signed last week. “This update is a win both for consumers and innovators — highlighting a vehicle’s advanced safety systems will allow consumers to make informed purchasing decisions, and in turn, spur greater use of these potentially-lifesaving technologies,” Thune said in a statement.

New dimension: Deborah Hersman, head of the National Safety Council and former NTSB chairwoman, kept the accolades coming. “Technology can do amazing, life-saving things and today, auto manufacturers are offering many amazing new technologies as options for consumers,” she said in a statement. “Regulators have the opportunity and the obligation to adjust our safety standards to keep up with these safety innovations.”

STB REVAMP INCHES TOWARD ENACTMENT: Anxiously awaiting enactment of a Surface Transportation Board overhaul? Then keep an eye on the House floor this week. The lower chamber’s schedule got a little delayed on Tuesday due to some unrelated procedural protests, but the STB revamp (S. 808) is still slated to be sent off to the president. And Thune has got his hopes up, Heather reports.

SOVIET STYLE, NO MORE: Gone are the days of then-House Transportation Chairman John Mica hoisting a McDonald’s cheeseburger high into the air and yelling about Amtrak’s money-losing food and drink service to anyone who would listen. Sure, the auburn-haired lawmaker might still think Amtrak is a “Soviet-style train operation.” And he isn’t alone is his disdain for the passenger rail operator (other Republicans have decried Amtrak as a money loser that wastes government subsidies). But he, along with many of his GOP colleagues, voted in support of the five-year transportation bill last week, which among its 1,300 pages of policy reforms included a lengthy Amtrak title. House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster explained Tuesday why he thinks the bill, rail title and all, was able to garner so much support: reforms. “That’s why we got some of our Republican colleagues that in the past had voted against Amtrak, we were able to convince them this is a real reform,” Shuster said.

Middle ground: “My Democratic colleagues say there’s no passenger rail system in the world that doesn’t operate without government subsidies, which is true. But … there’s only one freight rail system that works without government subsidies and that’s us. So the other side of the coin is we have colleagues on my side that say ‘sell it,’” Shuster said. “Well I think it’s somewhere in between. And I think that’s what our bill did.”

LAWMAKERS CONSIDER RAISING ATC AGE LIMIT: Folks over the age of 31 may soon be able to enroll in the FAA’s training program to become air traffic controllers — a privilege that’s currently only granted to their younger peers. Heather reports that “the age limits and training process for new air traffic controllers could undergo major changes early next year when lawmakers roll out their FAA reauthorization. … Both Chairman Bill Shuster and ranking Democrat Peter DeFazio said it's befuddling that the FAA doesn’t allow people over 31 enroll in the training program at all, potentially ruling out a significant pool of applicants. … Shuster also said his committee would take a good look at whether the FAA needs to be directly involved in training air traffic controllers at all.”

GETTING TOUGH ON CHINESE AVIATION HANDOUTS: The Obama administration is lodging complaints with the World Trade Organization after uncovering evidence that China exempted domestic aircraft manufacturers from paying a 17 percent tax on small airplanes — a tax the administration says continues to cripple the bottom line of U.S. aircraft manufacturers that import to China. As Pro Trade’s Adam Behsudi reports, the president’s staunch stance is being applauded by major trade groups, even those that don’t usually see eye-to-eye with Obama’s trade policies. From the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers: “Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to making sure China plays by the same rules everyone else does.”

‘LIKE SCALDED RABBITS,’ TRANSPO WITNESSES RUN FROM MICA: When it comes to progress on MAP-21 devolution, consider Rep. John Mica unimpressed. In a Tuesday hearing, Mica grilled the Federal Highway Administration’s chief counsel on the number of programs that had been eliminated or consolidated because of the three-year-old legislation — and expressed, shall we say, puzzlement at why the end of 31 federal programs and the consolidation of 15 more had only resulted in a reduction of 20 jobs, Martine reports. He said he’s going to request a federal audit. And in characteristically salty fashion, Mica went on to say that state DOTs around the country told him of continued red tape and resistance from the feds to relinquish control over transportation programs. When he tried to get those agencies to offer testimony at the Tuesday hearing, Mica said, “they ran like scalded rabbits.”

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):

— House easily passes curbs to Visa Waiver Program. POLITICO.

— The dimming of diesel fuel’s future in cars. The New York Times.

— FAA approval near, Honda’s business jet about to hit market. The Associated Press.

— No budget deal in sight as deadline looms. POLITICO.

— D.C. considering letting bicyclists roll through stop signs. The Washington Post.

— VW kept earlier emissions issue from regulator. The Wall Street Journal.

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 3 days. FAA reauthorization expires in 115 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 337 days.