One man Oklahoma U.S. Sens. James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin won’t have to worry about voting on is President Biden’s nominee for Federal Aviation Administration head, Phillip Washington.
He withdrew his nomination over the weekend after it became clear he didn’t have the support from Republicans in the Senate. The withdrawal of the Denver International Airport CEO’s nomination was confirmed by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg who defended Washington.
“The partisan attacks and procedural obstruction he has faced are underserved, but I respect his decision to withdraw and am grateful for his service,” said Buttigieg, who has faced his own kind of criticism from Republicans in recent weeks for his slow response to the disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Criticism of Washington’s nominee came in the Senate Commerce Committee. While Sens. Lankford and Mullin are not members of the committee, their GOP colleagues made it clearly abundant they felt Washington did not have the necessary experience to run the FAA.
Much of the opposition was led by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas who argued “this wasn’t the time for an administrator who needed on-the-job training.” He also contended that by law, the FAA administrator must be a civilian and therefore Washington would need a waiver from Congress.
He and other critics of Washington’s nomination pointed to his lack of qualifications and and the number of lawsuits filed against him accusing him of professional retaliation and discrimination.
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