Democratic senators on Thursday questioned Steven Bradbury, President Trump’s nominee for deputy secretary of the Transportation Department, about his handling of the congressional investigation into two Boeing Max plane crashes in 2018 and 2019, and his safety record during his previous tenure at the agency.
The Boeing investigation occurred during Mr. Trump’s first administration, when Mr. Bradbury, 66, served as general counsel of the Transportation Department from late 2017 through January 2021. In that role, he oversaw the agency’s legal work and coordinated its legislative efforts and regulatory programs.
The investigative report, written under the direction of Senator Roger Wicker, then the chairman of the Senate commerce committee, states that Mr. Bradbury’s office obstructed the investigation by preventing interviews with Federal Aviation Administration employees who had key information and withholding documents the committee had requested.
Because of interference from Mr. Bradbury’s office, the Senate committee’s investigators were “unable to effectively engage directly with the F.A.A. on document requests or related questions, despite repeated requests and assurances,” the report states.
During the hearing, Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, criticized what she called Mr. Bradbury’s record of “using the law selectively to predetermine” desired outcomes in his time at the department, and during his time at the Justice Department’s Office of the Legal Counsel under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2009.
“You were responsible for overseeing the department’s regulatory actions and implementing President Trump’s regulatory reform agenda,” Ms. Cantwell said of Mr. Bradbury’s time in the previous Trump administration. “In this role, you orchestrated the rollback of multiple safety requirements under the guise of advancing a reform agenda.”