Duckworth: Trump Politicizing FAA Safety During Government Shutdown

(ILLINOIS) Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth has accused former President Donald Trump of “playing politics with aviation safety” during the ongoing government shutdown, warning that his approach to the Federal Aviation Administration is putting passengers and workers at risk. Speaking at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, the Illinois lawmaker said,

“President Trump is putting American lives at risk by using the FAA as a political pawn instead of ensuring our skies remain safe.”

Her comments sharpen a growing clash in Washington over aviation safety during the shutdown, as senators press the administration on how long overworked staff can keep the system running safely while paychecks are delayed and key functions are disrupted. Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who has often focused on transport and veterans’ issues, zeroed in on conditions facing the people coordinating U.S. airspace. She said,

“Our air traffic controllers are working overtime, under immense stress, and without pay. This is not just unfair—it’s dangerous.”

By singling out air traffic controllers, Duckworth linked the shutdown directly to front-line aviation safety, arguing that stress and fatigue inside control towers and radar rooms can translate into higher risk in the skies. Her warning underscored a central concern: that the safety net of checks, monitoring and professional judgment that keeps planes separated and passengers safe can fray when staff are exhausted and unsure when they will be paid again.

Duckworth also used the hearing to attack the administration’s decision to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the FAA, portraying that move as a political diversion from the funding and staffing problems made worse by the shutdown. She argued that the push against DEI has become a way to shift blame away from the lack of resources for critical personnel such as air traffic controllers, safety inspectors and technical staff. According to Duckworth,

“gutting these programs under the guise of ‘merit’ is a distraction from the real crisis: a lack of funding and support for the professionals who keep our skies safe.”

Her remarks framed DEI policy not as an abstract culture-war issue but as directly tied to who gets recruited, trained and retained in key aviation safety roles. By connecting the rollback of those programs to the current shutdown, she suggested that the administration is focusing on ideological battles while the system that depends on highly trained air traffic controllers and other specialists operates under severe strain.

Republican Senator Bernie Moreno also highlighted the pressure on air traffic controllers during the shutdown, making fatigue his central concern as he questioned National Transportation Safety Board nominee Mr. Dulu. Moreno, who did not dispute the importance of aviation safety, pressed the nominee on how safety can be maintained when controllers are overworked and anxious about their finances. He asked,

“How can we expect controllers to perform at their best when they’re exhausted and worried about their next paycheck?”

Moreno’s question captured a rare point of agreement across the aisle: that air traffic controller fatigue is a serious aviation safety issue, especially when the shutdown means staff are working longer hours with no pay coming in. The image he presented—controllers focused on keeping aircraft apart while silently worrying about rent, mortgages and bills—added another layer to concerns first raised by Duckworth. Even without specific incident reports being cited in the hearing, both senators described a system under pressure, where people responsible for safety operate in conditions that fall far short of normal.

The administration, however, has rejected the charge that its approach endangers aviation safety. In a January 22, 2025 fact sheet, the White House defended President Trump’s actions and said he is

“restoring excellence and safety within the Federal Aviation Administration”

by ending what it called “illegal and dangerous” DEI hiring practices and returning to “merit-based hiring.” The document argued that the previous administration’s policies had “prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over safety and efficiency,” portraying the rollback of those programs as an essential correction rather than a distraction.

That fact sheet pointed to a January 2023 FAA system outage as evidence of the need for stricter standards, linking a high-profile breakdown in the nation’s aviation infrastructure to what it described as misguided hiring and management policies. Although the fact sheet did not provide direct proof tying DEI initiatives to the outage, its mention of the incident was clearly intended to reinforce the argument that only a renewed focus on “merit-based hiring” can prevent technical failures and protect the flying public.

The White House’s emphasis on “restoring excellence and safety within the Federal Aviation Administration” sets up a stark contrast with Duckworth’s charge that the administration is “using the FAA as a political pawn.” While officials portray their moves as a technical fix to improve aviation safety, critics on the Senate panel say the timing, during a shutdown that leaves air traffic controllers unpaid and stretched thin, shows misplaced priorities. To Duckworth, the administration is attacking DEI while not addressing basic staffing and funding, even as overtime hours grow and fatigue mounts in control centers.

The administration’s characterization of past DEI efforts as “illegal and dangerous” also raises the stakes in the debate, suggesting not just disagreement over policy but a claim that earlier hiring practices themselves compromised safety. For civil rights advocates and unions representing aviation workers, that framing could carry long-term consequences, influencing which candidates are seen as suitable for jobs and how training pipelines are built. For now, however, the immediate concern among senators in the hearing room was the daily reality of air traffic controllers and other aviation safety personnel trying to work through the shutdown.

No specific numbers of affected FAA employees, missed paychecks or delayed safety tasks were given in the available material from the hearing. Instead, both Duckworth and Moreno relied on broad descriptions to convey how the shutdown has increased risk. They pointed to overtime, stress, exhaustion and the basic anxiety of going without pay as factors that can erode safety margins in a system that depends on constant vigilance and split-second judgment calls from air traffic controllers.

The clash also reflects deeper political divides over how to define and protect aviation safety in the United States. On one side, Duckworth and other Democrats are arguing that stable funding, adequate staffing and support for the professionals who manage the system are the foundation of safety, and that the shutdown undercuts those pillars. On the other, the Trump White House is presenting its campaign against DEI as a safety measure in itself, insisting that “merit-based hiring” is the key to avoiding system failures like the January 2023 outage and to strengthening the Federal Aviation Administration over time.

For passengers, the debate can feel remote, taking place in committee hearing rooms and White House fact sheets rather than at check-in counters and boarding gates. Yet the issues raised go directly to what happens behind the scenes: who is sitting at radar screens guiding planes into crowded hubs, who is maintaining the systems that feed them information, and whether those people can focus fully on their jobs during a prolonged shutdown. When air traffic controllers are, as Duckworth put it, “working overtime, under immense stress, and without pay,” and when Moreno is asking how they can perform “when they’re exhausted and worried about their next paycheck,” questions naturally arise about how long this can continue without an impact on aviation safety.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees everything from pilot licensing to air traffic control systems, sits at the center of this political storm. The agency is responsible for keeping the nation’s airspace safe and efficient, a mission that depends heavily on the performance of its air traffic controllers and other specialists. In normal times, debates over hiring practices, training standards and technology upgrades can stretch over months or years. In the heat of a shutdown, with workers unpaid and tempers rising in Congress, those debates are now being folded into a wider argument over who is to blame for the current strain on the system.

While Duckworth, Moreno and the White House all invoke safety, they are offering sharply different stories about what threatens it most: political interference, lack of funding, or the hiring rules that shape the FAA’s workforce. As the shutdown continues, those competing narratives are likely to harden, with each side using aviation safety and the condition of air traffic controllers as evidence for its case. The outcome will affect not only the politics of this crisis, but the direction of federal aviation policy long after the government fully reopens.

For travelers and aviation workers alike, the unresolved questions remain immediate. How long can air traffic controllers continue to absorb extra hours and financial stress without eroding the safety cushion that has long underpinned commercial flight in the United States? And what happens to public confidence if the debate over DEI, “merit-based hiring,” and the shutdown continues to overshadow the day-to-day work of keeping planes safely separated in the skies? As senators trade warnings and the White House stands by its fact sheet, those questions hang over every takeoff and landing.

More information on the Federal Aviation Administration’s role and responsibilities is available from the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency at the center of this intensifying political and safety debate.