The Senate voted 98-0 to approve President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday, ending a span of nearly 19 months in which the agency was without a Senate-confirmed chief.
Michael Whitaker is a former deputy FAA administrator and most recently served as chief operating officer of a Hyundai affiliate that is developing an air taxi.
Whitaker will take over an agency that faces many challenges, including a surge in close calls between planes at major airports, a shortage of air traffic controllers, and aging technology that resulted in a brief nationwide halt in flights in January.
The only reason that this was unanimous is because it actually effects senators. They all fly more than the average person so they are self-interested in making sure that the FAA operates smoothly.
You could also say that this is evidence that Republicans understand that regulations help keep people safe. They just vote against most regulations because they don’t care about people other than themselves.
This is the clearest evidence to date that Mitch McConnell has suffered a massive stroke
Did something happen to Tommy Tube or is he just taking a break from being an insufferable impediment to public officials doing their jobs?
I think Tube’s beef is with military appointments/promotions and not public ones. I might be wrong, but I’m not sure what other types of appointments he has blocked.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted 98-0 to approve President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday, ending a span of nearly 19 months in which the agency was without a Senate-confirmed chief.
Michael Whitaker is a former deputy FAA administrator and most recently served as chief operating officer of a Hyundai affiliate that is developing an air taxi.
Whitaker will take over an agency that faces many challenges, including a surge in close calls between planes at major airports, a shortage of air traffic controllers, and aging technology that resulted in a brief nationwide halt in flights in January.
On the Senate floor Tuesday, committee chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Whitaker’s priorities will be to “build a strong safety culture, attract new talent and keep pace with technology transformation.”
The nomination of Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington languished for months, then failed to get out of the Commerce Committee because of opposition from Republicans and independent Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
The FAA has been without a Senate-confirmed administrator since March 2022, when Stephen Dickson stepped down midway through his five-year term.
The original article contains 211 words, the summary contains 187 words. Saved 11%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
