The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee voted along party lines on Thursday to forward the nomination of Steven Bradbury as deputy secretary of transportation for full consideration on the Senate floor.
The White House nominated Bradbury for the role in January. He previously served as DOT general counsel under the first Trump administration and then briefly as acting deputy secretary and acting secretary of transportation. He was also assistant principal deputy and acting assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice in the Bush (43) administration.
Every Democrat on the committee voted against the nomination, with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the ranking member on the committee, highlighting his past track record in areas such as stalling safety management system rulemaking while he was at the DOT. Cantwell also cited rollbacks in other areas of transportation.
“When it comes to Mr. Bradbury, I hope we all understand that we cannot afford a system that fails us on either the roads or in the skies. It simply does not matter if you’re saving dollars, if you're not saving lives. The last thing we need is someone who won’t stand up to the industry or [for] aviation safety needs,” she said.
Commerce Committee chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), however, endorsed the candidate, saying: “Bradbury will bring a deep understanding of how the department and our transportation systems operate. He is intimately familiar with the department’s past attempts to address transportation challenges, such as aviation safety, and has learned from his experiences.”
Citing the recent high-profile aviation accidents, Cruz also said, “Now more than ever, it’s essential for the Department of Transportation to have officials who understand the systems they are tasked with managing and who can assess whether such incidents have a systemic cause.”