Senate Commerce Committee Hears Three Transportation Nominations as Louisville Crash Puts Safety Front and Center

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Nov. 6 held confirmation hearings for three transportation nominees, with safety and grant transparency dominating questions after a UPS cargo‑plane crash near Louisville that killed at least nine people.

Chairman Cruz opened the hearing by offering condolences to the victims’ families and noting the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were investigating the Louisville accident. He introduced the nominees—Ryan McCormick, Daniel Edwards and Trent Morse—and framed the hearing around restoring DOT’s focus on safety and accelerating project delivery.

Ryan McCormick, nominated to be undersecretary of transportation for policy, told the committee that “safety is at the forefront of all the work we do,” described efforts to reduce highway fatalities and pledged to streamline more than 100 DOT grant programs to make them less complex for applicants and transparent in status. McCormick said the department has obligated additional grants since a recent staff review and that DOT will follow statutory notification requirements when modifying grant awards.

Daniel Edwards, nominated as assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, detailed a 30‑year aviation career as a military and…