Phillip Washington, who was President Joe Biden's choice to lead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), withdrew his name from consideration over the weekend amid questions from lawmakers about his level of aviation experience going into the job.
Republican Pilot-Congresspersons Urged Biden To Withdraw Nomination
Washington is the current CEO of Denver International Airport, but is not a trained pilot. During the Senate confirmation process, Republican lawmakers made note of Washington's lack of direct flight experience.“Well some of the restrictions I think would be high blood pressure,” Washington said in response.
“It’s more like how many passengers per airplane, how many pounds in different categories and what altitude you can fly under, so—and then the amount of knots, it’s under 250 knots, so it does not have anything to do with blood pressure,” said Budd, who has a pilot's license.
As Budd continued his line of questioning about various flight regulations, Washington said, “Senator, I’m not a pilot, but I would lean on our career employees and our safety folks within the FAA.”
"As pilots who have collectively logged tens of thousands of flight hours, including for some of us in the military, we write to urge you to withdraw the nomination of Phillip Washington to serve as Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),” the Republican lawmakers wrote. “While Mr. Washington honorably served our nation in the Army, he did not serve in an aviation unit. He is not a pilot, has zero aviation safety experience, and is entirely unqualified to lead the federal agency responsible for keeping the flying public safe.”
Sen. Duckworth and Past FAA Administrators Defended Nomination
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who flew Black Hawk helicopters for the U.S. Army and who lost both of her legs after her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004, published a statement of support for Washington the day after Budd's letter to Biden.“As Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation, and as a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who flew combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom, I’m proud to support the nomination of Phil Washington to be the next Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration,” Duckworth wrote.
“Mr. Washington has promised to defend critical aviation safety standards—and withstand pressure from industry special interests to cut corners and water down pilot requirements, such as cutting the 1,500-hour rule,” Duckworth's statement read. "Simply put, Mr. Washington possesses the experience and leadership expertise to strengthen the FAA to meet the complex challenges facing our civil aviation system."
Former FAA Administrators Michael Huerta and Jane Garvey—and former Acting Administrator Linda Daschle—also defended Washington's nomination.The former administrators said Washington's experience running an airport would provide a useful basis for the position of FAA administrator.
“Running an airport involves overseeing large-scale infrastructure projects and managing business operations. But, to be clear, the safety mission is at the top of the daily agenda for every airport," the former administrators wrote.
Key Vote Was Delayed
Washington withdrew from consideration for the FAA role just days after the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation delayed a vote to move his nomination out of the committee and toward a full Senate floor vote.While Republican lawmakers openly opposed Washington's nomination, Democrats could have pushed Washington's nomination through the committee vote if they had the full support of all 13 Democrat members and the committee's sole independent member, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
NTD News reached out to Sinema's office for comment, but did not receive a response before this article was published.