What can we anticipate should Trump get elected in November? There’s one thread that hasn’t be thoroughly unraveled yet. And it needs to be, because it ends in disaster.
What will happen to the federal agencies that protect our health and safety?
Let’s start with the Federal Aviation Administration since failure here will be so much more dramatic (but no less sure) than other agencies. We will come back to them soon.
Be warned, this is a deep dive. But it’s a necessary so that you understand the excuses given by right-wing apologists like the Heritage Foundation for ‘streamlining’ government.
Since the 1930s FAA had used private “designees” to handle tasks like inspecting aircraft. But in 2003 Congress ordered a major expansion, prompting the agency to create a program called “Organization Designation Authorization,” in which companies like Boeing form self-contained units that act as FAA representatives.
The intention was to accomplish at least two goals:
- Offloading costs from the government to the companies being regulated, and
- Integrating certifications within the company, allowing the certification personnel to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and get planes certified faster.
Of course there were other outcomes:
- Transferring costs from the federal agency to the companies being regulated allowed Republicans to claim they were keeping the government lean and mean. Naturally the flying public did not see any cost reduction because those personnel needed to be paid by somebody; who else but the passengers.
- With the paychecks of the certifiers coming from the companies being regulated, amazingly certifications happened more quickly.
Of course, there were downsides. Safety suffered. Incidents mounted, culminating in two 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018-19. 346 people died.
It’s possible the certifiers, who were now paid by Boeing, were better able to keep up with changing technology. But, now that knowledge was kept from FAA. FAA now lacked knowledge of the technology they were expected to review and certify. It gets worse.
When the people who certify companies get their paychecks from the same company, where lies the power?
When the people who certify companies get their promotions from the same company, where lies the power?
When the people who certify companies can get fired by the same company, where lies the power?
This is a structure that will predictably fail. And it did.
Compounding this situation, shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13771 “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs” requiring the elimination of two or more regulations for every new regulation added.
The revolving door between industry and regulatory agencies is legendary. But the trump administration perfected the practice:
- Before joining the Pentagon in 2019, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, worked for 31 years at Boeing, where he was general manager for the 787 Dreamliner passenger jet.
- Ali Bahrami, left FAA in 2013 to work for an aerospace lobbying group. Bahrami returned to the FAA in 2017 as the head of safety for the agency. He retired in 2021 citing the return of the Max to service after a 20-month grounding among his accomplishments.
- Boeing donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
During the Trump administration Boeing became truly embedded into the FAA. FAA had a business goal of becoming customer service oriented. And Boeing was the customer.
This is just a preview of what can be expected in a Trump 2nd term: airplanes will fall from the sky. The oligarchs aren’t worried, though. They’ll be safe in their private jets. If you’re just an average passenger trying to visit your mother, forget it. Your life is meaningless.
Now think about all the other agencies that protect your health and safety: FDA, USDA, FTC, OSHA, EPA…pick any agency in the government. This FAA model represents their future should Trump get elected. They will all be defunded. I predict that the excuse will be that these agencies will be ‘privatized to make them more efficient’. The reality is that they will be run by Trump’s lackey oligarchs.
Let’s be very clear:
- You will be afraid to fly because planes will not be safe.
- Your food will be unfit to eat.
- Drugs will neither be safe nor effective.
- Your drinking water will be polluted.
- Your air will be dirty.
- Etc.
Go back and read “The Jungle”. It will be coming soon to a supermarket near you. Lots of people will die.