The federal response to the airline crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has highlighted the fact that the Federal Aviation Administration did not have an administrator in office until after the disaster. At a press conference on Thursday, President Donald Trump finally announced that he would appoint an acting administrator to the vacant position: Chris Rocheleau, an Air Force veteran with a history at the agency.
The administrator position had been vacant since Jan. 20, Trump’s first day in office. The previous administrator, Michael Whitaker, was not scheduled to leave his position until 2028, when his five-year term would end, but he was the target of a pressure campaign led by Trump donor and multibillionaire Elon Musk.
Everyone aboard the American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter above the Potomac River is feared dead. At least 28 bodies have been recovered so far from a total of 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the plane and three crew members aboard the helicopter.
Recently confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy turned away from reporters early on Thursday and did not answer after he was asked about the vacancy at the FAA, which oversees airline issues across the United States.
Duffy is a former contestant on MTV’s “The Real World” and worked as a host at Fox Business. The other top-ranking Trump Cabinet member tasked with dealing with fallout from the crash is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is also a former Fox News host.
Whitaker was confirmed by the Senate for a five-year term as FAA administrator in 2023. In his position, he focused on key transportation safety issues, including the response to safety and quality issues at Boeing and addressing critical shortages of air traffic controllers.
The administrator came under fire from Musk after the FAA fined Musk’s company SpaceX. In September, Whitaker testified in front of a House hearing and said the company was fined to push them into compliance with safety standards.
“I think safety is in the public interest and that’s our primary focus,” Whitaker noted.
Musk demanded “resignations from the FAA leadership” and alleged, without evidence, “The FAA space division is harassing SpaceX about nonsense that doesn’t affect safety while giving a free pass to Boeing.”
Musk got his wish when Whitaker cut short his tenure.
Musk contributed millions to get Trump elected president. Since achieving that goal he has been appointed by Trump to lead the Department on Government Efficiency, a largely powerless advisory commission. Musk has been enormously influential over Trump’s decision-making in the presidency, and has been described by some close to Trump as something of a co-president.
While the FAA was dealing with the fallout from Whitaker’s resignation, Trump issued orders eliminating a key aviation safety committee and ended the agency’s efforts to hire a more diverse workforce of air traffic controllers—despite the shortage.
The crash and Musk’s role in pressuring the former FAA chief provides an example of conservatives advancing “limited government” ideals while in power. The federal response to the tragedy is starting out a step behind where it would have under former President Joe Biden, but Musk was able to get his way after giving Trump a boost into office.
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