By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative has recently assigned a team to review operations at the National Transportation Safety Board, a spokesperson for the NTSB confirmed on Wednesday.
DOGE has been assigning teams to a number of independent agencies and recently sought to review agencies that are part of the legislative branch.
Earlier this month, the White House fired three Democrats on the five-member Consumer Product Safety Commission after a DOGE team visited seeking to join as detailees to the agency. The commissioners filed suit on Wednesday over the dismissals.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters in March the agency had not lost any personnel as a result of government job cuts and that it was exempt from DOGE’s buyout offer.
In an April 14 letter to Congress, Homendy said “the Trump administration has recognized the critical role that the NTSB and its workforce plays.”
Homendy said the NTSB — which has around 400 employees – had submitted a reorganization plan that included eliminating 14 positions through regular attrition.
DOGE teams have been reviewing leases, staffing and financial contracts signed by smaller agencies among other issues as part of a sweeping overhaul of government.
A series of aviation safety incidents including the Jan. 29 mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a Army helicopter that killed 67 people have raised alarm and the NTSB has opened numerous safety investigations into incidents in recent months.
The NTSB has also investigated high-profile train derailments and maritime accidents including the 2024 collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore that prompted the board to issue urgent safety recommendations in March.
The NTSB workload typically exceeds 2,000 investigations a year.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Deepa Babington)
