Dive Brief:
- President Donald Trump on Thursday called for a staffing review among federal employees involved in aviation safety after publicly claiming DEI efforts were to blame for the deadly plane crash outside Washington, D.C., Jan. 29 that claimed the lives of 67 people.
- Trump ordered the secretary of transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration administrator to “review all hiring decisions and changes to safety protocols made during the prior 4 years, and to take such corrective action as necessary to achieve uncompromised aviation safety, including the replacement of any individuals who do not meet qualification standards,” according to a presidential action issued Thursday.
- Trump blamed both former President Barack Obama and former President Joe Biden’s administrations, claiming the latter “egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring all executive departments and agencies to implement dangerous ‘diversity equity and inclusion’ tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities in the FAA.”
Dive Insight:
Trump’s attacks on DEI initiatives and support of merit-based hiring are nothing new. Since he took office Jan. 20, the President passed a slew of actions, including one “restoring merit-based opportunity” and reversing what he called “illegal discrimination” as created through DEI initiatives.
“These illegal DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society,” the order states.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet determined the cause of the collision of the American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday. NTSB expects to have a preliminary report published in 30 days.
“We will not be determining the probable cause of the accident while we are here on scene, nor will we speculate about what may have caused this accident,” J. Todd Inman, NTSB member said during a media briefing Thursday, which occurred prior to Trump’s aviation safety memo.
The president hasn’t cited any evidence that DEI hires contributed to the crash. During a press briefing Thursday, he stated only that “common sense” told him DEI efforts could be to blame.
The FAA had been without a leader until Thursday, when Trump named Chris Rocheleau as acting administrator after the crash. The previous administrator, Mike Whitaker, resigned when Trump took office.
Trump on Jan. 21 fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration and dismantled the Aviation Security Advisory Committee.
