Virginia lawmakers express concern over DOGE involvement in FAA investigation into deadly plane crash in Washington DC

WASHINGTON (WRIC) -- Democratic lawmakers from Virginia sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), requesting answers and commitments in the wake of the deadly collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane on Jan. 29.

U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine were joined by U.S. Representatives Don Beyer, Gerald Connolly, Suhas Subramanyam and lawmakers from Maryland in sharing the open letter on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

The lawmakers' letter stressed the importance of carefully reviewing existing protocols in order to prevent other incidents like the one in Washington from happening again. They also expressed concerns about potential interference from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“While we applaud FAA for early actions taken to bolster safety, recent actions indicate that your agency is inviting inexperienced individuals with intense partisan leanings into a process that should be objective and expert driven,” wrote the lawmakers, citing an Elon Musk tweet. “We are extremely concerned that an ad hoc team of individuals lacking any expertise, exposure, certifications, or knowledge of aviation operations being invited, or inserting themselves, to make ‘rapid’ changes to our nation’s air traffic systems. This the wrong course of action to take.”

A copy of the letter including the 8 questions posed to the FAA can be found here.