National Transportation Safety Board

The Senate voted 50–45 along party lines to confirm American Airlines executive and longtime aviator John DeLeeuw to the National Transportation Safety Board, filling the seat that President Trump opened by firing NTSB vice chair Alvin Brown last May. Democrats opposed the move not on DeLeeuw’s qualifications but on the legal question of whether Trump had the authority to oust a Senate‑confirmed board member without cause while that power is under active Supreme Court review in a related case brought by ousted FTC commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. Brown, unanimously confirmed in 2024, is suing Trump, the NTSB and Chair Jennifer Homendy in federal district court to get his job back, meaning DeLeeuw and Brown could have competing claims to the same seat if courts ultimately rule such firings unlawful. Homendy has praised DeLeeuw as an 'excellent addition' to the board, and most court‑watchers expect the justices to side with Trump based on their apparent hostility to statutory limits on presidential removal power, but a contrary ruling would hand Brown leverage and throw the NTSB’s composition into chaos. The confirmation deepens a broader constitutional fight over how independent agencies are in practice, with ramifications for inspectors general and commissioners Trump has already sacked across the federal government.