Republicans Skeptical About Cuts Made By The Agency

The House Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee heard testimony from FAA Administrator Michael Huerta Wednesday that did little to convince some members of the committee that cuts in staffing that are causing airport delays and other issues were the only available option.

Huerta (pictured) said again that he and the agency had been warning since February that the cuts would cause problems with air traffic control, and that it had done all it could to minimize the impact.

But the New York Times reports that some on the panel, mainly Republicans, were very skeptical of the Administrators explanations. Hal Rogers (R-KY) said the agency has shown a "shocking lack of management" and suggested that the cuts were politically motivated.

Huerta said it was a "mathematical exercise" that led to a determination as to where to make the 10 percent cut required by sequestration. He said that because payroll makes up 70 percent of the operation budget, and salaries for safety-related personnel in the field take up 84 percent of the operations department payroll, it was the only place to get the savings that were required.

The Airport Improvement Plan was exempted from the cuts.

New York Democrat Nita Lowey said that the FAA should not be blamed for Congress' failure.

Subcommittee chair Tom Latham (R-IA) said the agency should have requested that Congress change the law to give the agency more flexibility to find savings. But Huerta said after the hearing that the way to fix the sequester is through a broader budget deal, as has been suggested by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Huerta was also cautioned by members of both parties that the effects of the sequester would not magically disappear on September 30. They said that Huerta's cancellation of an entire class of Air Traffic Control recruits at the agency's training facility could mean shortages of controllers in later years.

FMI: http://appropriations.house.gov