[VIDEO]
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, blasted Bryan Bedford, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, for failing to take responsibility for divesting potentially millions of dollars in Republic Airways holdings within 90 days of his confirmation, a clear violation of his ethics agreement. The exchange came during an aviation subcommittee hearing.
Sen. Cantwell wrote to Administrator Bedford last week on his failure to divest his holdings in Republic Airways as required by his ethics agreement. The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) alerted the Committee in a letter that Bedford had violated his agreement, and also that he had gone so far as to try to amend his original agreement rather than immediately take action to comply. During this time, Republic Airways completed a merger with Mesa Air Group, potentially increasing the value of Bedford’s holdings – the same holdings he should have divested.
Earlier this week, the Ranking Member learned that on the day his divestment was required to be completed, Bedford asked OGE to grant him a 60-day extension, claiming that “demands on my time” running FAA created an “unusual hardship” warranting an amendment. OGE flatly rejected this, saying: “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.”
The full exchange on Mr. Bedford’s failure to divest his holdings is below:
Sen. Cantwell: 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?
Bedford: 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.
Sen. Cantwell: 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: 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 the advice I was getting from the career ethics officers.
Sen. Cantwell: I think they said that OGE denied this exemption because being “busy” at work was not a valid reason.
Bedford: Well, I think there was more to it than that, but the reality is, I relied on the career ethics advice that –
Sen. Cantwell: They’re saying they denied the request.
Bedford: I applied for an extension. I was told that the agreement was tolled until we heard back from the –
Sen. Cantwell: Tolled? What was the word you just said?
Bedford: 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 to make sure we followed it to its conclusion, the merger has been completed. The shares have been terminated. We’re waiting for the new shares to be reissued, at which point they will be divested as soon as reasonably –
Sen. Cantwell: I definitely don’t think this is what OGE recommended. So I – this is actually kind of amazing.
Sen. Cantwell’s letter to Mr. Bedford on this ethics issue is HERE; Administrator Bedford’s ethics agreement is HERE; his initial OGE ethics certification is HERE; and the December 8, 2025 OGE letter to the Committee is HERE.
Video of Sen. Cantwell’s full Q&A is HERE and a full Q&A transcript is HERE.
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