(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Head of Denver airport doesn’t need waiver to lead the FAA, Biden administration says [1] ['Jacob Fischler', 'More From Author', '- March'] Date: 2023-03-10 President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration — the CEO of Denver International Airport — does not need a congressional waiver to allow him to serve in the role, the U.S. Transportation Department’s top lawyer said in a Thursday letter to Congress. Federal law requires the FAA administrator to be a civilian and some Republicans, including U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas, had said Phil Washington, who served in the Army from 1976 to 2000, would require a waiver from Congress to serve in the role. But Transportation Department general counsel John Putnam said in a Thursday letter to Cruz, obtained Friday by States Newsroom, that because Washington’s service ended more than two decades ago, he is not a member of the military. “Mr. Washington retired from the U.S. Army after 24 years of stellar service in July 2000 as a Command Sergeant Major,” Putnam wrote in the letter. “Since his retirement from the military nearly 23 years ago, Mr. Washington has engaged in solely civilian pursuits and clearly fits the plain and widely understood meaning of the word ‘civilian.’ “No further analysis is required to confirm Mr. Washington’s eligibility. If Congress had wanted to impose additional restrictions on individuals with prior service in the military, it could have done so.” A spokesperson for the Transportation Department confirmed the letter’s authenticity but declined to comment further on the issue Friday. Putnam, who was an energy, environment and transportation lawyer in Denver before joining the Biden administration, said he was responding to a March 2 letter from Cruz inquiring about Washington’s qualifications to lead the FAA. In a Friday statement, Melissa Braid, a spokeswoman for Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee, disagreed with Putnam’s interpretation. “Congress and the President have strictly, repeatedly, and on a bipartisan basis interpreted the law, since it was written, as excluding retired military members like Phil Washington,” she wrote. “Now a politically-appointed Department of Transportation lawyer from Denver simply denies this inconvenient truth and declares, based on a dictionary and an unrelated NASA statute, that Congress was wrong on the numerous occasions it required legislative waivers.” Washington enlisted in the Army in 1976. He retired in 2000 as a command sergeant major. He then spent more than 20 years in public transit, leading agencies in Denver and Los Angeles before getting the job at Denver’s airport. Federal statute requires the FAA administrator to be a “civilian,” though it does not define the term or say for how long a former service member must be retired. A similar requirement that the Defense secretary not be an active-duty military member requires a secretary to have ended their military career at least seven years before they are confirmed. Congress can — and routinely does — grant waivers to allow former military members to serve in civilian roles. But Washington’s case is somewhat complicated because Republicans, who have largely opposed Washington’s confirmation, control the U.S. House and both chambers of Congress would have to approve a waiver. The absence of a waiver could cause problems for the FAA under Washington, Cruz warned at a March 1 confirmation hearing. “If Senate Democrats forced this nomination through without a waiver, a legal cloud will hang over every single FAA action,” the Texas Republican said. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/03/10/head-of-denver-airport-doesnt-need-waiver-to-lead-the-faa-biden-administration-says/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/