Trump’s FAA Pick Advances Over Opposition From Democrats — and ‘Sully’ Sullenberger

Most FAA confirmation votes are nonpartisan. In this case, Democrats are taking a stand and citing a rule around pilot training.

The Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance President Donald Trump’s pick for Federal Aviation Administration chief on Wednesday, after some key Democrats on the committee said they opposed the nomination.

Bryan Bedford, Trump’s pick to lead the agency and CEO of Republic Airways, passed the committee 15-13, mostly along party lines. Now, his nomination will move up to the Senate, but he faces a more contentious path.

Confirmations for FAA administrator have historically been more nonpartisan compared to other executive branch positions. However, with Bedford, Democrats have signaled some concern over his previous stances on pilot training and other regulations.

Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat who is the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said Tuesday that she would oppose Bedford’s nomination partly on the grounds that he did not commit to whether he would uphold the 1,500-hour rule for pilot training.

The 1,500-hour rule was implemented following the fatal 2009 Colgan Air crash, which was partly attributed to a lack of pilot experience. Before the incident, pilots only needed to log 250 hours to operate a com