1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I am writing to express my alarm at the sharp uptick in major commercial airplane accidents in the past month, coinciding with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s slashing the number of already-understaffed Federal Aviation Authority flight controllers. There have been four major aviation disasters—killing 85 people—since January 20, as opposed to zero in the preceding 16 years. In eliminating these critical flight control jobs, Musk and his team are making America less and less safe. To make matters worse, neither DOGE, nor Musk, have the authority to make those staffing cuts. DOGE is not a legitimate, Congress-approved, Congressionally-funded department. Even if it was, Congress never approved Musk as its director. DOGE is an illegitimate ‘department’ headed by an illegitimate ‘director,’ making life more dangerous for millions of Americans. Are you so willing to abrogate your power and your authority as member of Congress that you will continue to allow Americans on commercial airplanes to be at higher risk due Musk’s and DOGE’s actions? My wife and I implore you to reclaim your Constitutional authority and make our skies safer by dismantling DOGE and sending its unelected oligarch leader back to the private sector.