Politics

FAA Nominee Washington Receives Senate Hearing

MAR 1 2023·Updated MAR 2 2023

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The Facts

Phil Washington — the current CEO of Denver International Airport — has testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation almost eight months after Pres. Joe Biden nominated him to head up the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The delay in the hearing has left the FAA without a permanent administrator for a whole year.
CNN
Washington, who vowed to “work diligently” if confirmed, previously served in leadership roles for municipal transit systems – mostly involving bus and rail lines – in Denver and Los Angeles. He also served 24 years in the military and led the Biden-Harris transition at the Department of Transportation.
CNN
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was among the Republicans to question Washington — he particularly scrutinized the nominee's lack of experience in aviation safety.
FOX News
Cruz unsuccessfully attempted to further postpone Washington’s hearing, with the aim of giving Republicans more time to investigate him. The GOP are concerned about Washington’s involvement in a corruption investigation during his time working in Los Angeles, as well as a wrongful termination lawsuit that has been lodged against Washington and other Denver officials.
The Associated Press
Washington’s nomination comes before the Senate at a chaotic time for US aviation. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently investigating several close calls between aircrafts as well as a computer outage in January, which caused a nationwide grounding of flights — the first of its kind in over two decades.
Reuters

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The Spin

Democratic narrative

Washington will apply his management skills, as well as his military leadership, to modernize and better organize the FAA and improve the management of airspace. He has proven he could turn around transportation organizations in the past, and he’ll do the same at FAA.

The Washington Post

Republican narrative

The Biden administration is willing to overlook Washington’s lack of aviation experience because he’s going to promote their woke agenda at the FAA. His past experiences show he was merely interested in pushing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies, and despite this, was himself guilty of discrimination. His overly politicized approach is not what FAA needs at this crucial and delicate time.