{"id":21770,"date":"2026-04-23T14:02:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/key-democrat-seeks-inspector-general-probe-into-faa-chiefs-airline-stock-divestment\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:02:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:02:06","slug":"key-democrat-seeks-inspector-general-probe-into-faa-chiefs-airline-stock-divestment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/key-democrat-seeks-inspector-general-probe-into-faa-chiefs-airline-stock-divestment\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Democrat seeks inspector general probe into FAA chief\u2019s airline stock divestment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Senate Commerce Committee\u2019s top Democrat is calling on the Transportation Department\u2019s independent watchdog to launch an investigation into whether Federal Aviation Administration Chief Bryan Bedford \u201cprofited from deliberately violating his ethics agreement\u201d by not divesting from an airline company \u2014 which he once ran \u2014 during a stipulated time frame<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

Bedford had vowed in that agreement to dispose of his equity in the parent corporation<\/a> of Republic Airways, the regional carrier<\/a> he presided over before joining the Trump administration, within 90 days of being confirmed to head the FAA. But he failed to meet that early October deadline<\/a>, unloading millions of dollars in stock<\/a> afterward, ethics documents he filed show.<\/p>\n

In a Wednesday letter<\/a> to acting DOT inspector general Mitch Behm, first reported by Blue Light News, Sen. Maria Cantwell<\/a> (D-Wash.) and other Democratic lawmakers alleged that Bedford might have intentionally breached his agreement by waiting to divest his stock until after Republic Airways Holdings completed a merger with another regional airline company<\/a>, Mesa Air Group.<\/p>\n

Sens. Tammy Duckworth<\/a> (D-Ill.) and Ed Markey<\/a> (D-Mass.) signed the letter, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have serious concerns about the veracity of Mr. Bedford\u2019s shifting explanations for violating\u201d his pledge, the trio said. Bedford ultimately divested his shares fully by late February, disclosing that he sold between $5.5 million and $26.2 million this year.<\/p>\n

The lawmakers asked that Behm probe if the FAA chief \u201cmade material misrepresentations to Congress or the Office of Government Ethics\u201d and urged him to dig into whether \u201cany disciplinary or corrective actions are warranted,\u201d including having Bedford relinquish \u201cany excess capital gains he has realized.\u201d<\/p>\n

They argued that it appears he could have sold his stock on time, adding that the reason for his \u201cdivestiture obligation is obvious\u201d: He holds significant sway over the regional airline industry as FAA administrator.<\/p>\n

The agency told Blue Light News it will respond to the lawmakers directly and noted that Bedford has divested his stock. Republic Airways Holdings didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Bedford previously defended himself<\/a> during congressional testimony in December, saying, in part, that he followed career ethics officials\u2019 advice.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI played it right down the fairway, completely transparent, open, honest about where I was at, what I was trying to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inspector general\u2019s office confirmed to Blue Light News that it received and will review the senators\u2019 letter but otherwise has no comment for now.<\/p>\n

Bedford retired as chief executive officer and president at Republic Airways Holdings, a private firm, on July 1, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing<\/a>. The Senate OK\u2019d him a little over a week later<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of his ethics agreement<\/a>, Bedford committed to divesting from the company no later than Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

But in paperwork he signed that day<\/a>, first reported in November by POLITICO<\/a>, Bedford said he had yet to ditch his stock. He added that he would remain recused from any matters affecting the carrier\u2019s financial interests while he retained his equity and was seeking an extension of his deadline.<\/p>\n

He contacted<\/a> Judith Kaleta, DOT\u2019s deputy general counsel, to request another 60 days, citing his busy work schedule.<\/p>\n

Kaleta wrote to OGE<\/a>, the federal government\u2019s central ethics office, urging it to grant Bedford\u2019s ask.<\/p>\n

Then, there seemed to be a misunderstanding. In an October conversation with OGE, outlined in a later email exchange<\/a>, Kaleta recalled that \u201cit was not clear to me that [the office] had reached a formal decision on the request.\u201d<\/p>\n

But OGE on Dec. 1 informed Kaleta in writing<\/a> that it wouldn\u2019t grant Bedford an extension and inquired about whether he had divested, saying the office would alert the Senate to the issue. Subsequently, Kaleta argued that she had thought Bedford\u2019s ask was still unresolved<\/a>; OGE responded: \u201cWe were not aware you believed the request for an amendment was still pending. … We conveyed being busy with your position did not constitute an \u2018unusual hardship.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

By this point, Republic Airways Holdings and Mesa Air Group had merged; the finalized deal was announced in late November<\/a>. The combined carrier became publicly traded.<\/p>\n

Kaleta didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. Patrick Shepherd, an OGE spokesperson, in a statement said the office is \u201ccommitted to transparency and citizen oversight of government\u201d but doesn\u2019t respond to questions about specific individuals.<\/p>\n

Under the merger, Bedford was able to turn 16,733 private shares into \u201cat least\u201d 652,475 shares in the merged entity, according to the Democrats\u2019 Wednesday letter, which cites an SEC filing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

OGE notified Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz<\/a> (R-Texas) of Bedford\u2019s ethics agreement violation<\/a> on Dec. 8, and Cantwell expressed outrage over the matter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During a Senate aviation subcommittee hearing later that month<\/a>, Bedford faced sharp questions from some Democrats about the topic. He argued that he had simply followed the advice of career ethics officials; he was appropriately recusing himself in the meantime; and his hands were now tied due to the merger, with his stock \u201cterminated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m waiting for the shares to be reissued under the new organizational structure,\u201d he said, apparently referring to the combined company, which is still called Republic Airways Holdings.<\/p>\n

But he added: \u201cMy intention was always to complete the merger and to sell the shares in the market. That was my intention coming into government.\u201d<\/p>\n

His ethics agreement made no mention of this, and the Democrats\u2019 Wednesday letter homed in on his testimony before the subcommittee.<\/p>\n

Bedford disclosed in March<\/a> that he had completed his divestment as of Feb. 20.<\/p>\n

In a separate ethics document<\/a> released in April, he noted that he had sold between $5.5 million and $26.2 million in stock in the company since the beginning of this year. Federal officials like Bedford only report transaction amounts in wide ranges.<\/p>\n

Further complicating the situation, Bedford in that paperwork also revealed a sale of up to $5 million in stock on Oct. 21, the trio of Democrats said in their letter. This occurred after his ethics agreement deadline but before the merger was completed.<\/p>\n

Bedford \u201cnever mentioned this transaction in his official correspondence or congressional testimony in December,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

It appears, the lawmakers said, that Bedford was capable of fully divesting on time.<\/p>\n

At close on Nov. 26, the day after the announcement of the merger\u2019s completion, Republic Airways Holdings was trading at $21 per share<\/a>. It stood at $19.75 on Feb. 20.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Senate Commerce Committee\u2019s top Democrat is calling on the Transportation Department\u2019s independent watchdog to launch an investigation into whether Federal Aviation Administration Chief Bryan Bedford \u201cprofited from deliberately violating his ethics agreement\u201d by not divesting from an airline company \u2014 which he once ran \u2014 during a stipulated time frame last year. Bedford had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}