Trump suggested the Biden administration’s diversity-based hiring practices were a factor in the deadly crash.
President Donald Trump on Jan. 30 alleged that the midair crash that killed 67 people near Ronald Reagan National Airport was influenced by the Biden administration’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The accident—the deadliest U.S. plane crash since November 2001—occurred at around 9 p.m. on Jan. 29.
Trump accused former President Joe Biden of weakening hiring standards for air traffic controllers, alleging that the Transportation Department led by former Secretary Pete Buttigieg prioritized hiring “[controllers] with severe disabilities.”
“They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA program,” Trump alleged.
“The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.”
Buttigieg responded to Trump’s allegations in a post on X.
“Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” he said. “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.”
The former transportation secretary pointed out that the Trump administration now leads both the military and the FAA.
“One of [Trump’s] 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,” Buttigieg said.
During the previous administration, the FAA had a “Diversity and Inclusion” webpage that said: “Diversity is integral to achieving the FAA’s mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel across our nation and beyond.”
The agency’s “Aviation Safety Workforce Plan” described its policy of “attracting and hiring talented applicants from diverse backgrounds,” with a commitment to diversity and inclusion to create a “workforce with the leadership, technical, and functional skills necessary to ensure the United States has the world’s safest and most productive aviation sector.”
In February 2024, a group of 11 Republican attorneys general wrote a letter to the FAA accusing the Obama administration of seeking out applicants with “severe intellectual” and “psychiatric” disabilities.
However, the FAA’s “Diversity and Inclusion” webpage was established in February 2013 and stayed active throughout the entire first Trump administration. It was not spearheaded or developed by Biden or Buttigieg.
By Jacob Burg
