The point(s):
1. Federal employees, including federally employed ATC (some towers are staffed with private controllers) received a letter this week offering deferred resignation. ATC is already woefully understaffed and overworked nationwide. Some have questioned the wisdom of offering deferred resignation to a highly specialized workgroup with a critical safety mission that is already overworked and understaffed. The DCA tower was understaffed at the time of the accident. There is supposed to be one controller talking to helos and one talking to fixed wing aircraft. At the time of the collision, one controller was talking to both.
2. Trump disbanded all advisory committees within DHS, including the Aviation Safety Advisory Committee. In addition, he fired the head of TSA and the head of the FAA resigned prior to Trump’s inauguration so there are a lot of vacancies in the areas that have oversight of safety in aviation at the moment.