Dot Official Brushes Off Concerns About Rifs Dissuading Air Traffic Controller Hiring

Prospective air traffic controllers won't be discouraged by the threat of another round of layoffs, Deputy Transportation Secretary Steven Bradbury said Tuesday at a POLITICO event at Washington's Union Station.

"I don't think so," Bradbury said when a POLITICO journalist asked about the issue. The Trump administration, like past administrations, has been focused on hiring new air traffic controllers to bolster the existing workforce, which is chronically short-staffed and overworked. The department is currently looking to hire a minimum of an additional 8,900 controllers through 2028.

Bradbury said that DOT under Secretary Sean Duffy has made "a big push" to recruit new controllers and that he's "been very out front, very clear on how much this is a high priority for the department, and we're going to continue to train our air traffic controllers and feed the system."

Air traffic controllers were not subject to prior layoffs of probationary employees at DOT and were exempt from participating in the "deferred resignation program."

During a shutdown, air traffic controllers aren't subject to furlough, but they do work without pay. After the shutdown ends, controllers receive back pay.

Bradbury mostly dodged questions about whether DOT plans to conduct layoffs during a shutdown, saying that the agency is working with the White House's budget office on "all of the lapse planning efforts."

In May, Duffy promised that more layoffs were coming following a push in the early days of the second Trump administration — but a new wave of reductions has not yet arrived. Bradbury didn't directly address the agency's layoff plans, but he said that "greater efficiencies" are needed at the department and that the agency has "management plans" to help work toward President Donald Trump's goal of "doing more with less."

"This is a long-term, a long-term plan," Bradbury said. "But it is the case that a lapse in funding, a shutdown, might trigger a need to look at those actions on a quicker basis."

The Context: DOT has been tight-lipped in recent days over how it is addressing an OMB memo sent to agencies last week, asking them to create layoff plans if there is a government shutdown. The memo specifically asked agencies to focus their layoffs on employees that would be furloughed during a government shutdown. The department hasn't responded to questions from POLITICO about whether it is working on a new reduction-in-force plan or whether further mass firings are consistent with the agency's goals.

Last week, Duffy mostly dodged when asked at a press conference which programs or jobs could be cut if there is a shutdown, instead deferring to OMB and then spoke at length about how a shutdown could impact hiring and training for air traffic controllers.

Barring a major eleventh hour development, a government shutdown is looking increasingly likely. A meeting between Democratic congressional leaders, top Hill Republicans and Trump on Monday failed to produce a major deal.