A series of internal emails reveal that an FAA supervisor suggested to employees that if Republicans won the election, employees could expect drastic budget cuts which would threaten their jobs.
According to an email from an unnamed employee, Deputy Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety John Hickey explained in a May 23rd meeting with employees that Republicans would threaten their job security.
“What I took out of it was, if the conservative Republicans gain control of Congress then the FAA could be looking as much as a 15% cut in budget and we may be looking at furloughs,” an employee reported in an email to a supervisor. “If the liberal Democrats take control of Congress then we would be looking at a flat budget.”
The politicized rhetoric is questionable, since the Hatch Act bans federal employees from using to advance a political cause.
The redacted emails were obtained through a FOIA request by Cause for Action, a non profit organization dedicated to investigating federal government corruption, waste, cronyism, and fraud.
Cause for Action is requesting an investigation into the matter from the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
