Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Aviation, told Newsmax Friday that he agrees with President Donald Trump “wholeheartedly” on ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in the aviation industry.

“If you look at then-President Obama and you look at [former President] Joe Biden, they were the champions of DEI, and so I agree with the president,” Nehls said on “Wake Up America.” “You know, I fly a lot out of Houston into Reagan DCA. I do it almost every week. I’m very familiar with that airport, and when you look at the pilots getting up front into the flight deck, flying that plane, or you look at air traffic controllers, you do want the best and the brightest. I mean, we’re dealing with lives each and every day, and so I think we do want the best and the brightest. And I don’t care if you’re pink, purple. I don’t care about any of that. We just want to put the best people up front. This is an issue I think that Congress can look at. I think that President Trump is leaning forward in the saddle and saying, ‘We got to get rid of this DEI.'”

Trump has focused on DEI in the wake of a midair collision Wednesday night between an American Airlines passenger jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.

Read more at Newsmax© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.