Fired FAA Safety Worker From Fairfax Was Kaine's Guest At Trump Speech

WASHINGTON, DC — A disabled U.S. Army veteran and former employee of the Federal Aviation Administration was U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Virginia) guest at President Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday night.

Jason King was fired from his position in the FAA’s safety division as part of the Trump Administration’s layoffs of federal employees.

“The tragic midair collision that occurred near DCA serves as a strong reminder that safety can’t be taken for granted,” King said, in a release from Kaine’s office. “Yet in the wake of this event, our Administration decided to move forward with the firing of hundreds of FAA employees, myself included. Safety doesn’t come by chance. It requires investment, oversight, and expertise of those who work tirelessly to uphold these values. I’m glad to be joining Senator Kaine at the joint address to help send an important message: cutting costs should never come at the expense of safety, especially when it comes to the American people.”

After serving as a transportation coordinator in the U.S. Army, King was hired as FAA’s executive assistant to the director of safety. Then, in mid-February, he became one of several hundred probational employees at the FAA to be laid-off by the Trump administration.

“Jason has served our country for years—first in the military and then at the Federal Aviation Administration where he worked to ensure air safety for millions of passengers,” Kaine said. “Despite Jason’s service, he is one of many federal employees who were recently fired by the Trump Administration. Jason’s story is a powerful example of how indiscriminately firing federal employees disproportionately hurts our veterans and also threatens the safety of the American people who rely on agencies like the FAA. I remain committed to protecting Virginia’s federal workers, our economy, and the safety of our communities from the Trump Administration’s actions.”

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On Tuesday afternoon, King spoke at a news conference hosted by senate democrats on Capitol Hill.

“I would like to strongly encourage our administration to stop the cuts at the FAA to help rebuild the confidence back in to the American people and to preserve an already struggling workforce,” he said. “Cutting costs should never come at the expense of safety, especially when it comes to the system we all rely on.”

Kaine wasn’t the only Virginia lawmaker to use Tuesday night’s speech as a means of drawing attention to the negative effect Trump’s policies are having on the federal workforce and the state’s economy.

A former National Park Service ranger from Fredericksburg was U.S. Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-Virginia) guest at Tuesday night’s speech.

Like King, Ashley Ranalli was fired last month from her job at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, despite exemplary performance reviews. She was one of the more than 1,000 NPS workers estimated to have been indiscriminately laid-off by the Trump administration. As probational employees, they had not yet gained civil service protection.

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Virginia), who represents Arlington and Alexandria, chose not to atten Trump’s speech. Instead, he said he was going to focus on helping his constituents who were directly affected by the administration's attack on the federal workforce.

Kaine, Warner and Beyer also joined U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia-3), Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia), Jennifer McClellan (D-Virginia), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Virginia), and Eugene Vindman (D-Virginia) by issuing the following statement criticizing Trump’s mass firings:

“We’ve already seen President Trump try to shrink the federal workforce by executing illegal mass firings, politicize the federal workforce by nominating political hacks who will side with Trump over our Constitution, and now, we’re seeing him try to relocate the federal workforce by ripping federal workers and their families from our communities. Not only do Virginia’s 140,000 federal workers dedicate their careers to serving their fellow Americans — they make countless other contributions to the Commonwealth. They worship in Virginia churches, send their kids to Virginia schools, and support Virginia businesses. They have made Virginia their home, and Virginia is better for it. We won’t stand idly by while they are kicked around and forced to uproot their lives and their families—we will do everything we can to stop that from happening, just like every leader in Virginia should.”

The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.