Cantwell on Deputy DOT Nominee: Aviation Sector Can’t Afford “Someone Who Thinks That We Can Bend The Law To An Outcome”

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, pressed Steven Bradbury – President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation – on his role under the first Trump administration.
From 2017 to 2021, Bradbury served as the General Counsel of DOT. Nine days after the fatal Lion Air flight 610 crash in 2018 on a Boeing 737 MAX, his policies halted the introduction of a critical aviation safety rule subsequently advocated for by crash victim family members. He sidelined a proposed requirement that plane manufactures must adopt a mandatory Safety Management System (SMS), whichan expert paneldetermined would decrease the likelihood of another fatal accident.
“Mr. Bradbury, I do have concerns about your record,”Sen. Cantwell said in her opening remarks.“We cannot afford in the aviation sector, someone who thinks that we can bend the law to an outcome.”
“In this role, you orchestrated the rollback of multiple safety requirements under the guise of advancing a reform agenda. For example, just nine days,ninedays after the first of the two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018, your office sidelined a proposed Safety Management System rule making for aviation manufacturers like Boeing,”she continued.
“These findings give me serious concerns about your commitment to the transparency that Congress and the American people deserve […] We need a leader on safety. We need someone who is going to make it the number one priority, not modify the rule to suit the industry.”
During the Q&A portion, Sen. Cantwell pressed Bradbury further on the decision to halt the rule requiring plane manufactures to adhere to a mandatory SMS.
Sen. Cantwell:“We know that the rule was halted nine days after the MAX crash. Why did you stop the rulemaking from happening?”
Bradbury:“Well, I don't know that I stopped it.”
Sen. Cantwell:“That's what'sreported in the paper, and I mentioned the FAA person, who was in charge of the process, who said the industry and everybody wanted to move forward, and it was submitted, and then next thing you know, it's pulled, so…”
Bradbury:“Well, certainly we go through a review of every regulation, and as I recall, in that regulation, there were questions on the merits about which entities it should apply to and how it might apply to small businesses or small entities. Those are the kinds of questions that need to be addressed whenever you're –“
Sen. Cantwell:“So you’re saying you might have killed the SMS rule because you didn't want it to apply to all manufacturers.”
Bradbury:“I wouldn't say I killed the SMS rule. And let me say –"
Sen Cantwell:“We still don't have one. Our committee has worked hard to get one, and now it's going to be in law. But I have more questions about this. But yes, you did stop it from happening. There was a recommendation to move forward on it, and your office stopped it.”
Last month, during the committee’shearingbefore DOT Secretary Sean Duffy’s confirmation, Sen. Cantwell also pressed Duffy on whether he agreed with the previous administration’s decision to kill the requirement.
“Safety Management Systems are a redundant circle of continued safety improvements that the expert panel has suggested that we do. The expert aviation panel has suggested that's really what is missing. And I think in the prior administrations, people didn't really push for a strong safety management culture,”Sen. Cantwell told Duffy.
In August, Sen. Cantwellintroducedthe FAA SMS Compliance Review Act.The bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to:
Following the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 incident in January 2024, Sen. Cantwell has held a series of aviation safety hearings, along with leading legislation and letters calling for stronger safety oversight at the FAA.
In January 2023 and January 2024, Sen. Cantwellrequested that FAA perform a special technical auditof Boeing’s production line. TheFAA later said the audit found multiple instanceswhere Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.
Sen. Cantwell held anApril hearingto review the independent Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) Expert Review Panel’s final report, aMarch 2024 hearingwith National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy on its investigation of the January incident and aJune hearingwith FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker on the agency’s oversight.
In May, Sen. Cantwell and Sen. Duckworth led the passage of theFAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which includesnew measures to improve aviation safety, such as putting more safety inspectors on factory floors, addressing the nation’s shortage of air traffic controllers, deploying new runway technology to prevent close calls, mandating new 25-hour cockpit recording systems to assist in investigations, and enhancing aircraft certification reforms.
The FAA Reauthorization Act builds uponthe Aircraft Certification, Safety and Accountability Act of 2020,spearheaded by Sen. Cantwell in the aftermath of the Boeing 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Video of Sen. Cantwell’s opening statement today isHERE; video of her first round of questioning isHERE; video of her second round of questioning isHERE; and a transcript isHERE.
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