oklahomawatch.org – Em Luetkemeyer and Torrence Banks – 2025-02-24 17:55:00
Senators Want to Know if DOGE’s FAA Layoffs Will Make the Skies Less Safe
by Em Luetkemeyer and Torrence Banks, Oklahoma Watch February 24, 2025
Everyone wants answers on whether it’s safe to fly — including senators.
The public is on edge over recent high-profile accidents, including the crash between a helicopter and a passenger flight near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The cause of the deadly crash is still unknown, but lawmakers say it’s made clear that this is an area where safety needs to tighten up.
Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, which has one of the largest Federal Aviation Administration field facilities in the country, said the FAA still needs more air traffic controllers because “as was highlighted three weeks ago in the crash, it’s incredibly important that people are there.”
But there’s plenty of concern about how the Trump administration’s broader goal of scaling back the federal workforce could translate to the FAA.
The FAA laid off several hundred of the workforce’s 45,000 employees at the Trump administration’s direction, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy arguing that the staff released were all probationary and not “critical safety personnel,” like air traffic controllers.
But on Friday, Politico reported that those cuts did include workers critical to ensuring safe air travel, often by directly supporting air traffic controllers’ work.
Lankford said he was still waiting for the FAA to articulate where the layoffs happened and said it’s too early to see if these layoffs will deter new applicants to the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City.
Other senators showed concern about the layoffs.
“The FAA is going to have to become way more accountable,” Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a Republican, said. “I fly in Florida all the time, and unfortunately, the FAA often is understaffed and not able to handle all the traffic.”
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia said he was closely monitoring the cuts.
“We’re all concerned about safety,” Warnock said. “And I’ve talked to people, and people are nervous.”
A spokesperson for the FAA said in a written statement it is not concerned about the layoffs causing safety issues or dissuading people from joining the profession, adding that it will remain “proactive, consistent and deliberative” in advancing “the safety of the nation’s aviation system.”
“The FAA continues to hire and onboard air traffic controllers and safety professionals, including mechanics and others who support them,” the FAA said in a written statement. “The agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions.”
There’s plenty of pressure on the FAA to ensure safe flight travel, and there’s even some rare bipartisan consensus on what needs to be addressed. Both parties, for example, agree that air traffic controllers are crucial, and that something must be done to stop the years-long exodus from the profession. Duffy has even expressed support for letting them work past the mandatory retirement age.
The Professional Aviation Safety Specialist union, which represents more than 11,000 (mostly FAA) employees from both the FAA workforce and the Department of Defense, said last week it is still trying to get a list of all the employees who were laid off from the administration.
“Air traffic controllers are overworked and stressed, and cutting their budget and reducing their workforce is going to make that much worse.”
Sen. Adam Schiff
But the union did have its own list of members who had been laid off, which included 59 people who worked in technical operations, 39 in flight standard service, 19 from mission support services and 15 in air traffic services.
Philip Mann, who used to train probationary employees as an FAA Training Program Manager in Oklahoma City, said the layoffs could mean longer tenured mechanics will have to make up the work of the laid off probationary employees, adding to the burnout and stress that already exists in the industry.
“What we’re going to see is, as those people kind of start retiring out or as those people kind of start just aging out of the system, basically, we’ll start seeing the maintenance capacity of the maintenance and supervision capacity of the agency start to be stretched,” Mann said.
Some lawmakers shared Mann’s concerns about what the layoffs could mean for future recruiting into the industry, which the Wall Street Journal reported is considered the largest civilian operating agency in the federal government.
“It’s certainly going to discourage people from joining that important workforce, or really any other,” Sen. Adam Schiff said. “Air traffic controllers are overworked and stressed, and cutting their budget and reducing their workforce is going to make that much worse.”
Some Republican senators were confident that no problems would come of the layoffs.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said his state — which heavily relies on its aerospace industry to drive its economy — has had no problems.
“Everything’s good,” Tuberville said. “A good evaluation never hurt anybody.”
Sen. Ted Cruz agreed that the cuts aren’t substantial enough to have an effect on his state.
“I don’t anticipate any impacts,” he said regarding travel to and from his home state of Texas. “The secretary of transportation has made clear that the cuts were less than 1% of the entire workforce, and they did not include any air traffic controllers or any safety critical position.”
This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Thérèse Boudreaux | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-31 16:20:00
(The Center Square) – Many older individuals and primary caretakers receiving food stamps could face work requirements if recently introduced Republican legislation becomes law.
Currently, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) does not impose work requirements on able-bodied adults with no dependents over the age of 54. It also exempts able-bodied adults who are primary caretakers of a dependent child from work requirements.
But theSNAP Reform and Upward Mobility Act, reintroduced by U.S. Rep. John Brecheen, R-Okla., with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, would change that. Brecheen said the SNAP status quo “has created a culture of dependency instead of opportunity,” necessitating reform.
“For decades, the federal government has grossly mismanaged SNAP, loosening eligibility requirements, allowing more recipients to be totally exempt from work requirements, and overseeing massive fraud and abuse,” the lawmaker said. “It’s time to return to commonsense policies that promote our American values of hard work and individual responsibility.”
The bill would change the work requirement age from 54 to 64 and require able-bodied primary caretakers to work once one or more of the dependent children turns seven years old. For married couples with a dependent over the age of six, the work requirement hours can be fulfilled jointly.
It would also amend how U.S. poverty levels are determined, require participating states to increasingly match federal SNAP funds, and crack down on fraud, including by permanently disqualifying food stamp recipients from future benefits if they commit fraud.
In 2024, the federal government spent $93.6 million in taxpayer dollars on SNAP benefits. More than 42 million individuals received these benefits in September 2024, averaging $189.55 a month,according to datafrom the United States Department of Agriculture, which runs the program.
SUMMARY: A ceremony held in Oklahoma City honored the life of David Boren, the former governor, U.S. senator, and president of the University of Oklahoma, who passed away at 83. Around 600 attendees gathered at Saint Luke’s Methodist Church to celebrate Boren’s legacy and impact on the state, reflecting on his dedication to public service. Friends and colleagues, including Chancellor Sean Burrage and former U.S. Senator Don Nickles, shared personal anecdotes highlighting Boren’s influence on their careers and the bipartisan cooperation he embodied. The service was a heartfelt tribute to a respected figure in Oklahoma’s political and educational landscape.
Life of David Boren memorialized in ceremony attended by hundreds
SUMMARY: A tornado watch has been issued for central and northeastern Oklahoma until 1 a.m., with severe thunderstorms moving across the region. Storms near Elk City have been upgraded to severe, with quarter-sized hail and 60 mph winds. Additional storms along the Red River are also producing severe conditions. While the storms are primarily bringing heavy rain and lightning, the tornado risk remains low due to a cold front pushing through. Areas affected include Enid, Hunter, and Salt Fork, with storms expected to continue northeast toward I-35 in the next couple of hours.
Tornado watch, severe thunderstorm warnings issued for Oklahoma
