This post first appeared on Government Executive. Read the original article.
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Amid a rash of actions to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government, President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a memo that scrutinizes workers with disabilities at the Federal Aviation Administration.
The directive “Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation” said, based on the FAA website, that former President Joe Biden’s administration sought to recruit and hire “individuals with serious infirmities that could impact the execution of their essential life-saving duties.”
The memo directs the FAA “to immediately return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring” and rescind DEI initiatives in hiring. Trump also is requiring the agency to review the performance and performance standards of all employees in “critical safety positions” and replace any who fail to show the necessary proficiency with a “high-capability individual.”
“The Biden FAA specifically recruited and hired individuals with ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities, psychiatric issues and complete paralysis over other individuals who sought to work for the FAA,” an accompanying White House fact sheet said.
During Trump’s first administration, however, FAA conducted similar initiatives to recruit and hire people with disabilities.
Shortly after a door blew out on a plane in January 2024, Fox News published an article headlined “FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with ‘severe intellectual’ and ‘psychiatric’ disabilities.” The original article seems to have been taken down (although a similar article is still up on its website), but it was republished by the New York Post and shared on social media at the time by Elon Musk, the leader of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency.
The fact-checking website Snopes, however, pointed out that the language from the FAA’s website that Fox News highlighted, which discusses hiring of people with targeted disabilities, was present for all of Trump’s first term and had been published as early as 2013.
Targeted disabilities are generally manifest, such as deafness, blindness, significant mobility impairments and intellectual disabilities.
“The implication that the policy is new, or that it stems from efforts that began under U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and President Biden, was demonstrably false,” Snopes investigative journalist Alex Kasprak wrote.
FAA said in a statement to Fox News for the 2024 article that: “The FAA employs tens of thousands of people for a wide range of positions, from administrative roles to oversight and execution of critical safety functions. Like many large employers, the agency proactively seeks qualified candidates from as many sources as possible, all of whom must meet rigorous qualifications that of course will vary by position.”
Additionally, during Trump’s first term, FAA launched a pilot program in 2019 to enroll up to 20 people with disabilities in training for careers in air traffic operations.
“The candidates in this program will receive the same rigorous consideration in terms of aptitude, medical and security qualifications as those individuals considered for a standard public opening for air traffic controller jobs,” according to a press release.
An FAA web page with information about careers and internships for people with disabilities and its diversity and inclusion site currently appear to have been taken down.
FAA directed questions about Trump’s memo to the White House. Administration press officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Michael Whitaker, who was FAA administrator under the Biden administration, did not respond to a request for comment. The National Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees with Disabilities did not respond to a request for comment.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently reported that in fiscal 2021, for the first time, the federal government reached its goal of having people with targeted disabilities make up 2% of its workforce.
EEOC also reported that the percentage of individuals with disabilities at agencies increased from 8.7% in fiscal 2016 to 10.5%, which is still shy of the government’s 12% goal.
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires federal agencies to implement affirmative action plans and policies for individuals with disabilities.
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