U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, criticized Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford for not divesting his holdings in Republic Airways within 90 days of his confirmation. This action was required under his ethics agreement.
The issue came to light during an aviation subcommittee hearing. Senator Cantwell had previously written to Bedford about his failure to comply with the divestment requirement. The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) notified the committee that Bedford had violated his ethics agreement and attempted to amend it instead of taking immediate action.
During this period, Republic Airways merged with Mesa Air Group, which may have increased the value of Bedford’s shares—shares he was supposed to have sold according to his ethics obligations.
On the day he was required to complete the divestment, Bedford requested a 60-day extension from OGE. He cited "demands on my time" running the FAA as an "unusual hardship." OGE rejected this explanation, stating: “OGE does not consider being busy with work to be either an unusual hardship or the basis to permit someone to amend their ethics agreement.”
In a public exchange at the hearing, Cantwell pressed Bedford about missing the deadline:
“So, I want to get to this ethics question, because I'm really bothered by the fact that you've missed the ethics deadline to divest from the company that we were all so concerned about. Why were we concerned about it? Because Republic had been a key player in trying to get different rules before the FAA, and so you still have not divested from that. So, did you divest any of your shares in Republic before December 1?” Cantwell asked.
Bedford responded: “Well, I appreciate the opportunity to clarify the record. So under my ethics agreement, I had anticipated being able to complete the merger of Republic and Mesa Airlines and dispose of the shares on the open market.”
Cantwell replied: “This isn't about – you didn't take the job to make more money and decide when you had to divest. We set these rules up for everybody in the government. You're a very unique individual who hasn't complied. We didn't dig this up. The ethics people came to us and said ‘he didn't comply.’ So if you're saying you're not complying because you want to make more money, it's like –”
Bedford stated: “No, actually, I think I have complied. I followed the rules. I told the career ethics officers what was going on. They told me I could apply for an extension. I applied for an extension. I heard nothing back from the career ethics officers to the contrary. I acted upon that in good faith. So yes, my intention was to continue to comply based on advice I was getting from career ethics officers.”
Cantwell pointed out: “I think they said that OGE denied this exemption because being ‘busy’ at work was not a valid reason.”
Bedford replied: “Well, I think there was more to it than that, but reality is, I relied on career ethics advice that –”
Cantwell continued: “They’re saying they denied request.”
Bedford added: “I applied for an extension. I was told that agreement was tolled until we heard back from –”
Cantwell asked for clarification: “Tolled? What was word you just said?”
Bedford explained: “T-o-l-l-e-d; stayed; extended; that I was in compliance. My understanding I was in compliance throughout but where we're at today just make sure we followed it its conclusion merger has been completed shares have been terminated we're waiting new shares be reissued at which point they will be divested as soon as reasonably –”
Cantwell concluded: “I definitely don't think this is what OGE recommended. So I – this is actually kind of amazing.”
Relevant documents related to Senator Cantwell’s letter regarding this issue are available online:
- Letter from Senator Cantwell can be found here.
- Administrator Bedford’s original ethics agreement.
- His initial OGE certification.
- The December 8 OGE letter notifying Congress is also available here.
Video footage and a full transcript of Senator Cantwell's Q&A are also accessible online.
