Rep. Nehls to Newsmax: 'Wholeheartedly' Agree on Ending DEI in Aviation

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Aviation, told Newsmax on Friday that he agrees with President Donald Trump "wholeheartedly" on ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in the aviation industry.

"If you look at then-President [Barack] Obama, and you look at [former President] Joe Biden, they were the champions of DEI, and so I agree with the president," Nehls said on "Wake Up America." "You know, I fly a lot out of Houston into Reagan DCA. I do it almost every week. I'm very familiar with that airport, and when you look at the pilots getting up front into the flight deck, flying that plane, or you look at air traffic controllers, you do want the best and the brightest. I mean, we're dealing with lives each and every day, and so I think we do want the best and the brightest. And I don't care if you're pink, purple. I don't care about any of that. We just want to put the best people up front. This is an issue I think that Congress can look at. I think that President Trump is leaning forward in the saddle and saying, 'We got to get rid of this DEI.'"

Trump has focused on DEI in the wake of a midair collision Wednesday night between an American Airlines passenger jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.

Trump signed a memorandum Thursday that directs newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and acting Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Christopher Rocheleau, who was appointed by Trump on Thursday, to eliminate DEI hiring practices, which hinge on race or gender.

Nehls also addressed understaffing concerns at Ronald Reagan National Airport, saying from personal experience that it is "very busy" with "around 400 flights daily in and out."

"They currently have 19 air traffic controllers in that tower at the DCA airport, and they need 30," he said. "So, obviously, they're understaffed. We do know, everyone knows, that that is a very stressful job. Air traffic control is a very stressful job, and we want to make sure that we can encourage and get young people involved because there have been issues as it related to shortages and air traffic control in the airline industry, as well with pilots. So, we want to recruit the best and the brightest to place in those very critical positions to make sure that we continue to be the gold standard in aviation because, before this incident Wednesday, we haven't had a major crash since the Colgan Air crash in 2009 that killed 49 people."

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