Spending Time In The Hot Seat...

Texas Republican Senator, Harvard-Law graduate, and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz set forth on Wednesday, 01 March 2023, that Phil Washington, Joe Biden’s nominee for the critical post of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator (read Head Honcho), is unqualified to hold the position.

During a Senate Commerce committee confirmation hearing, Senator Cruz cited the pressing need for the incoming FAA Administrator to possess "decades of experience in aviation." Cruz, the top Republican on the committee, stated Phil Washington abjectly lacks the requisite experience to competently oversee the world’s largest, most influential aerospace regulatory agency.

Senator Cruz asserted: "The nominee before us, Phil Washington, had a long and honorable career in the military. But he does not have any experience in aviation safety. This, quite simply, is a position he is not qualified for."

Currently, the CEO of Denver International Airport (DEN), Washington was initially nominated by Biden for the FAA top spot in 2022, but failed to advance amid Republican lawmakers’ concerns about his dearth of aviation knowledge and experience. Washington’s confirmation has been further stalled by serious and extensive allegations of corruption, pay-to-play, fraud, waste and abuse of public funds, and discriminatory and retaliatory practices in his current and past executive positions.

Notwithstanding the evidence against him, Washington has denied wrongdoing. Senator Cruz, however, called upon the Senate to proceed slowly with Washington’s nomination in light of extant allegations and additional whistleblower claims of misconduct.

During his opening remarks at the confirmation hearing, Senator Cruz slammed Biden for having nominated Washington to lead the FAA, accusing the former vice-president of treating the high station of FAA Administrator "as a patronage job" and "playing politics with the flying public's safety."

Cruz excoriated Washington's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at LA Metro and DEN, stating: "Safety, not political posturing, needs to be paramount at the FAA.”

To underscore Washington’s paucity of germane aviation knowledge, Senator Cruz posed numerous technical questions pertaining to aircraft and their operation. One such question endeavored to plumb Washington’s understanding of aircraft Angle Of Attack (AOA) sensors, cockpit displays, and the relevance of such to air-crews.

During the exchange, Cruz asked Washington to cite the proper aircrew actions in the event of contradictory right and left-side AOA indications.

"Human reaction needs to take over," Washington replied.

"Why did that not happen on the Lion Air and Ethiopian Air flights?" Cruz pressed.

"Senator, I'm not a pilot — I don't know if I can answer that particular question," Washington stated.

Cruz fired back, stating incisively and with conviction that Washington's answer was part of the "fundamental problem" with his nomination.

Following the hearing, Washington State Junior Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell expressed her opinion that the hearing had gone well, and reaffirmed her support of Washington's nomination.

FMI: www.senate.gov