© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines plane takes off from Miami International Airport after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had reduced the volume of plane traffic over Florida due to an air traffic computer problem, in Miami, Florida, USA
By David Sheparson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) withdraws his nomination following Republican criticism that he was unqualified to serve as the top aviation regulator, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.
Last year, Biden nominated Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington to serve as FAA administrator.
The agency has faced questions in recent months after a series of nearby security incidents and the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this week delayed a vote on his nomination citing outstanding questions from some lawmakers. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat on the committee, had not announced whether she would support him and Sen. Jon Tester was also considering how to vote, a spokeswoman said this week.
One of the sources, a White House official, told Reuters that “a spate of baseless Republican attacks on Mr. Washington’s service and experience irresponsibly delayed this process, threatened unnecessary procedural hurdles on the Senate floor and, in ultimately led him to withdraw his nomination today.” .”
A spokesman for Denver International Airport, where Washington is chief executive, had no immediate comment.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, and other Republicans had said that Washington, who retired from the US Army in July 2000, should have an exemption from rules requiring civilian leadership. to head the FAA. The Department of Transportation’s general counsel said in a letter this month that Washington was fully qualified and did not need a waiver.
Cruz’s office did not immediately comment, but Cruz noted that Washington has only two years of experience as an airline CEO. Cruz criticized Washington’s inability to answer some aviation questions at his confirmation hearing, arguing that he was “objectively, indisputably not qualified to lead the FAA.”
The White House insisted that Washington was fully qualified. Cantwell had said that he would shake up the agency by saying that “we feel the industry and the FAA got too comfortable.”
The White House official added that “politics should not delay the confirmation of an administrator to lead the FAA, and we will move quickly to nominate a new candidate for FAA administrator.”
Washington was originally nominated in July but didn’t get a Commerce Committee hearing until March 1.
The FAA has had a number of recent safety issues.
In January, the FAA halted all outbound passenger airline flights for nearly two hours due to a pilot message database outage, the first such nationwide ground stoppage since the September 11 attacks. September 2001.
On Wednesday, the FAA issued a safety alert to airlines, pilots and others about the “need for continued vigilance and attention to mitigate safety risks” after a series of high-profile near collisions.
Six serious runway incursions have occurred since January that prompted the agency to convene a safety summit last week.
Some industry officials believe the White House could name interim FAA administrator Billy Nolen as a new candidate. Nolen, who was named chief of the FAA’s office of aviation safety, has been the FAA’s acting administrator since April 2022 and has been endorsed by many Republicans in Congress.
Washington had won the support of a wide range of groups, including several aviation unions and a group of relatives of some killed in a fatal Boeing (NYSE:) 737 MAX crash in 2019.
The FAA has been without a permanent administrator for almost a year.
This would be the second major Bide candidate to withdraw in recent weeks. Gigi Sohn, his pick for a key fifth job at the FCC, withdrew, dealing a blow to Democrats who have been unable to seize control of the telecoms regulator for more than two years.
