(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy on Thursday calling on him to ensure that Elon Musk stays out of the Federal Aviation Administration, citing Musk’s clear conflicts of interest.
“FAA has the legal responsibility for safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses. Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket launches share the airspace with commercial airplanes, and the FAA has the responsibility for keeping the entire airspace safe. SpaceX has been fined by the FAA for failing to comply with specific requirements in its launch license. Mr. Musk, in turn, called for the firing of Mike Whitaker, the FAA Administrator who the Senate confirmed 98-0 because the FAA issued a fine against SpaceX for not following the rules. We have ethics and recusal laws for a reason—to prevent corporate interference in protecting the public interest,” Sen. Cantwell wrote.
“We are now without a permanent FAA Administrator to lead us through the biggest U.S. air crash we have had in years. Secretary Duffy, you must make sure that all conflicts of interest between the FAA and Elon Musk are removed.”
On Thursday, Duffy wrote on the social media platform X that he plans to use The Department of Government Efficiency, of which Musk is a leader, “to plug in to help upgrade our aviation system.”
Musk is the owner and founder of SpaceX, an aerospace company that launched 134 rockets last year. In September, the FAA fined the company $633,009 for failing to follow license requirements for two launches, according to Cantwell’s Office.
Cantwell told reporters on Thursday that Musk’s involvement in the FAA’s oversight of our air transportation system was “a clear conflict of interest.”
