Mike Whitaker, the previous FAA administrator, stepped down on Inauguration Day after just over a year on the job. He’d repeatedly clashed with Elon Musk — now in charge of a group tasked with slashing the government’s headcount by President Donald Trump — over safety issues at his space company,

Elon Musk pushed Federal Aviation Administration Chief Michael Whitaker from his post just 10 days before the deadly plane and Black Hawk helicopter crash over Washington, DC. Musk, a close Trump advisor who also heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had demanded Whitaker step down after the erstwhile FAA chief proposed more than $600,

The Federal Aviation Administration is facing its first major aviation disaster in 16 years without a leader because Elon Musk helped push him out. Michael Whitaker stepped down as FAA administrator on January 20th,