Donald Trump has pushed—and so far failed to win—an unpopular plan to privatize the Federal Aviation Administration, but his desire to put his personal pilot in charge of the agency is a little extra. Call it “personalizing” the FAA, if you can’t privatize it. But that personalized plan isn't getting a great reception, either. Sen. John Thune politely but unmistakably dumped cold water on the idea in an interview with Politico:
The Senate Commerce Committee chairman did not explicitly say that John Dunkin, Trump's pilot, will not be confirmed if nominated for the post. But the South Dakota Republican said he has told the White House there are far easier battles for the president to fight in a Senate controlled by a threadbare 51-seat GOP majority.
"I'd prefer that they send somebody up that we can confirm easily. I've conveyed that to them," Thune said. "I'm sure that the Democrats would probably want to make it challenging" for Dunkin.
There would be plenty of material for Democrats to use to make it challenging:
Note that Trump may have personal reasons to want his own guy in as head of the FAA. He’s had a rocky relationship with the agency since before becoming president. He didn’t like it when the FAA stripped Trump-themed names from three aerial navigation points near Palm Beach International Airport — "DONLD," "TRMMP" and "UFIRD" — after Trump launched his presidential run with insults to Mexicans. He’s also complained about airplane noise, even accusing the airport director of "using his influence” with the FAA to “aim planes at Mar-a-Lago."
Putting your longtime pilot in charge of the FAA would be one way to ensure that no local airport director has the influence with the FAA to “aim planes at Mar-a-Lago.”