The nominee set up by President Joe Biden to lead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reportedly chosen to flee from the race and any form of consideration due to extreme backlash coming from Republicans over the apparent total lack of experience he has in the field of aviation safety.
Known as the CEO of Denver International Airport and former CEO of the Los Angeles Metro Transit Authority, Phil Washington was issued the nomination by Old Uncle Joe back in July. This past Saturday evening, however, Reuters reported that his nomination had been fully withdrawn due to not securing anywhere near enough votes to get away from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. A statement was issued out of the White House which officially confirmed that Washington pulled out his name.
"Unfortunately, an onslaught of unfounded Republican attacks on Mr. Washington’s service and experience irresponsibly delayed this process, threatened unnecessary procedural hurdles on the Senate floor, and ultimately have led him to withdraw his nomination today," stated a spokesman for the White House Abdullah Hassan, to the New York Times this past weekend.
A vote sent out by the committee was slated to take place this past week but ended up being delayed. A number of sources stated to the Associated Press that independent Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema was the person responsible for the delay in the voting. Both Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester and Sinema declined to issue a public statement regarding how they cast their votes.
Since his announcement, Republicans have strongly objected to the nomination of Washington, citing an obvious lack of aviation background, specifically at the current time when the country has been forced to deal with a large number of air travel headaches and near misses in aviation. He was also set up as the CEO of Denver International Airport back in 2021, but that's his only aviation-related experience, as reported by Fox Business. Going past criticism, Republicans also made note of an ongoing investigation into corruption that has been connected to the man out in Los Angeles, in which Washington denied any and all culpability.
"The FAA needs a confirmed Administrator, and Phil Washington’s transportation & military experience made him an excellent nominee," explained Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg via social media. "The partisan attacks and procedural obstruction he has faced are undeserved, but I respect his decision to withdraw and am grateful for his service," he concluded.