DC airline tragedy foreshadows looming chaos from Trump’s assault on the federal workforce and services
The deadly mid-air collision over Reagan National Airport on January 29 occurred during a staffing shortage of air traffic controllers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). However, President Trump, without waiting for the facts or emergency personnel to recover the bodies from the Potomac River, blamed the accident on the “diversity” policies of the Biden and Obama administrations.
Sixty-seven individuals lost their lives when an American Airlines passenger plane collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter while approaching the busiest runway in the country. Twenty-four hours earlier, another American Airlines plane was rerouted to avoid a similar mid-air collision.
The controller on duty had responsibilities typically handled by two people, highlighting the potential dangers of radically reducing the federal workforce as Trump intends.
For years, lawmakers have expressed concerns about issues at Reagan National Airport. Congress, which oversees the federally owned airport, passed legislation in 2023 to increase flights in an already strained system at the behest of the airline industry, disregarding the warnings of safety experts. One lawmaker highlighted that staffing shortages, coupled with increased flight schedules, have led to an “aviation safety crisis” at Reagan and across the nation.
Meanwhile, Trump, who imposed a hiring freeze on air traffic controllers when he took office, made baseless accusations against the FAA regarding the tragedy’s cause. Trump, true to form, used the tragedy to attack previous Democratic presidents and invoke grotesque racism and sexism to divert attention from the crisis and justify his plan to slash the federal workforce and government services.
Trump claimed the accident was a result of the FAA’s “DEI” (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies, supported by the Biden and Obama administrations, which he argued led to the hiring of “incompetent” people. Trump later signed a memorandum reflecting this stance.
In particular, Trump blasted the “diversity” initiatives that former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had spearheaded. Trump claimed, without any evidence, that the FAA was actively recruiting employees with “significant intellectual disabilities” and “psychiatric issues.”
“Despicable,” tweeted Buttigieg. “As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch. President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.”
Trump and his MAGA allies are invoking the specter of DEI and stoking fear over every issue confronting the U.S. economy, society, and military to consolidate the MAGA base, create divisions within the multi-racial working class, and push their anti-people agenda. Many of Trump’s executive orders target eliminating all DEI initiatives, affirmative action, and efforts to foster a more racially diverse federal workforce and equitable society.
After taking office, Trump forced out the FAA director, Michael Whitaker, fired 100 other top FAA security officers and the Aviation Security Advisory Committee and instituted a hiring freeze on air traffic controllers without offering plans to solve the crisis.
Musk forced out Michael Whitaker as head of the FAA. Under Whitaker, the agency instituted stricter enforcement action against Boeing to fix its airline door malfunction and against SpaceX for safety violations. Before the Senate confirmed Whitaker in 2023, the agency had been without a Senate-confirmed head for over twenty months due to GOP opposition to a previous Biden nominee.
On Jan. 30, Trump named Chris Rocheleau, an FAA administrator, as acting head of the FAA.
The air traffic control system has been under significant stress for years, and aviation experts expect the crisis to worsen over the next decade. According to a report by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) Inspector General, 77% of air traffic control towers face labor shortages due to the retirements of exhausted controllers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Last May, the FAA reported a shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers.
DOT Inspector General Eric Soskin was dismissed by Trump on Jan. 25, along with more than a dozen others.
Since May 2024, the FAA has recorded 1,115 runway incursions. Furthermore, over 180 operational incidents were recorded that could be traced back to air traffic controllers’ decisions.
How much the chaos at the FAA sparked by Trump contributed to the accident remains to be seen. However, the tragedy points out the danger of Musk and MAGA’s drive to downsize the federal workforce engaged in essential services and eliminate regulations and inspector generals.
Despite dire warnings, in 2023, lawmakers, under pressure from the airline industry, added flights to Reagan Airport when a bipartisan bill was passed and signed by President Biden. Delta Airlines also pushed the legislation.
Sen. Tim Kain, D-Va., warned of the dangers and potential collisions if Congress approved more flights for the already overstretched airport.
“God forbid waking up and looking in a mirror one day and say, ‘Wow, I was warned. I was warned, and I shouldn’t have done this,’” Kaine said at the time.
For decades, controller shortages and underfunding have stressed the nation’s air traffic control system. In 1981, the Air Traffic Controllers Union struck over staffing and pay and was fired en masse by President Ronald Reagan in the opening of a war on labor. Over the years, controller shortages have led to burnout, early retirements, severe health issues, and even suicides among controllers.
The shortage crisis remains unresolved. “Our nation is facing an aviation safety crisis,” stated Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a military veteran and helicopter pilot. “Near-misses occur far too frequently, and I refuse to be complacent in waiting to act until the next runway incursion results in a fatal collision.”
The crisis and danger in the skies may get far worse if Trump continues to reduce the federal workforce, regulatory agencies, and the government’s ability to be accountable for its actions.
