The Obama administration’s hiring rules for the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) air traffic controllers placed diversity ahead of safety, says an attorney suing the federal agency for putting American passengers at risk.

Former President Barack Obama changed the FAA’s rules for hiring air traffic controllers so that applicants must pass a diversity test before being considered – an added step in the initial process that is argued to put millions of passengers and crew members as risk.

“For decades, the selection process for the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic controllers was rigorous,” TheBlaze reported. “After all, one minor mistake could cost hundreds of people their lives.”

Suing FAA to put safety first … again

After those promoting affirmative action under the Obama administration had their way during the former president’s reign at the White House, an attorney representing a man challenging the FAA’s diversity test filed suit against the federal agency.

“Activists inside the federal government decided that air traffic controllers weren't diverse enough, and in recent years – and in the first step of the hiring process – used a 'biographical questionnaire' to screen potential employees,” Tucker Carlson Tonight Host Tucker Carson announced Friday, according to Fox News. “One man is suing the FAA for its updated hiring practice.”

Attorney Michael Pearson argues that for the mere sake of diversity in the hiring process for air traffic controllers, airline passengers’ safety across the United States is being jeopardized, noting that the FAA under the Obama administration scrapped the old hiring standards by replacing them with new rules – requirements devised to increase and prioritize the ethnic diversity of air traffic controllers … above skills needed for the job.

“A group within the FAA, including the human resources function within the FAA – the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees – determined that the workforce was too white,” Pearson explained to Carlson. “They had a concerted effort through the Department of Transportation in the Obama administration to change that.”

Exactly what am I being tested on here?

It was revealed that the major impetus behind being an ideal air traffic controller candidate is one’s ethic identity – not one’s experience and skills to get the job done well.

“If they don’t pass, they aren’t considered for a position – no matter how much experience they have or how qualified they are,” TheBlaze’s Chris Enloe explained.

After examining a copy of the questionnaire that was obtained by Fox News, Carlson went over how it scored FAA candidates.

“According to Carlson, candidates whose worst subject in high school was science and candidates who are unemployed receive the most points possible on the test,” Enloe pointed out. “In contrast, licensed pilots and those with extensive air traffic control knowledge aren’t highly scored.”

When asked about the reasoning behind such screening and how it helps the FAA perform its duties better, no rationale was given for the move.

“Fox News spoke to an FAA spokesperson, who told Carlson’s show he was unsure of why the FAA screens candidates for diversity over competency,” Enloe noted. “Unsurprisingly, the FAA never offered Carlson an explanation.”

Other than meeting a set racial quota, it is contended that there is no practical explanation for basing the FAA’s hiring process on one’s ethnic background, and this Obama-era addition to the FAA’s hiring protocol is the focus of the lawsuit.

“Pearson said there’s no data to support that increasing diversity in the ranks of air traffic controllers would make the flying public safer,” Fox News’ Amy Lieu recounted from the Carlson interview. “Thus, Pearson said, he is suing the FAA for its revised hiring practices.”

He stressed that the lives of Americans should be put ahead of meeting any ethnic quota.

“It’s the safety of the national airspace that’s at risk here,” Pearson impressed.

Playing politics in the air …

It was also noted that leftist politics infiltrating the federal government’s infrastructure agencies is responsible for compromising the safety of America’s airline passengers.

“Pearson – who said he was an air traffic controller in four of the nation's busiest facilities for nearly 27 years – asserted that much of the problem lies with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union that controls a large political action committee,” Lieu recounted.

The aviation and legal expert went on to detail the union’s manipulation of the system to implement its leftist agenda.

"They fund a lot of politicians,” Pearson informed Carlson.

He went on to explain why legislation proposed in U.S. Congress will continue to be stymied by NATCA’s leftist activists.

“Nothing will get passed in aviation unless they get [the] blessing of the controller’s union,” Pearson continued. “Their position radically changed when the Obama administration came in. This is social engineering at its finest.”

Another Obama fail in the skies …

One more failure of Obama’s regarding the FAA was pointed out one year ago by President Donald Trump.

Last June, the president criticized the Obama administration for spending $7 billion of taxpayers’ money to upgrade and modernize America’s air traffic control system and separate it from the FAA – an enterprise that he said “totally failed.”

“The previous administration spent over $7 billion trying to upgrade the system, and totally failed,” Trump asserted on June 5, 2017, according to the Washington Post. “Honestly, they didn’t know what the h--- they were doing – a total waste of money … $7 billion-plus, plus.”

Trump then announced his new plans for air traffic control.

“It’s time to join the future,” the president added. “That is why I’m proposing new principles to Congress for air traffic control reform – making flights quicker, safer and more reliable.”

Depending on the outcome of Carlson’s lawsuit, one of the future safety measures for air traffic control reform could be scrapping the Obama-era diversity screening for air traffic controllers.