Senate confirms Trump’s pick to lead FAA
Senators voted 52-40, breaking down along party lines, on former Delta Air Lines executive Steve Dickson.
{mosads}Dickson’s confirmation came after the last Senate-approved administrator, Michael Huerta, departed at the conclusion of his five-year term. The agency has been lead in an acting capacity since then by Daniel Elwell. Trump reportedly considered his former personal pilot to lead the FAA but later abandoned the idea.
The agency has been under scrutiny because of its previous approval of Boeing 737 Max planes. In the past year, two such planes have crashed in other countries, resulting in 346 deaths.
FAA regulators said late last month that they had discovered new risks in the plane during a simulator test.
No Democrats voted for Dickson on Wednesday. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said last month that Dickson was involved in alleged retaliation against a Delta pilot who brought up safety concerns.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also cited the alleged incident in explaining his “no” vote on Wednesday, saying “whistleblowers play a vital role, and so they need protection. They should never be retaliated against they should never be objects of retribution.”
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