While that office may be ready to go to work, the FAA itself is not fully on the job. That’s because it’s without an administrator. Michael Whitaker, who had led the administration since Oct., 2023, stepped down earlier this month,

Mike Whitaker, the previous FAA administrator, stepped down on Inauguration Day after just over a year on the job. He’d repeatedly clashed with Elon Musk — now in charge of a group tasked with slashing the government’s headcount by President Donald Trump — over safety issues at his space company, SpaceX.

Musk has publicly clashed with the FAA and its former chief, Michael Whitaker. The Federal Aviation Administration is facing its first major aviation disaster in 16 years without a leader because Elon Musk helped push him out.

In a statement, President Trump said the drone flights that had gripped New Jersey were not enemy or foreign crafts.

New Jersey Assemblyman Brian Bergen told NewsNation that he’s dubious that drones have anything to do with Federal Aviation Administration research. “Why would the FAA put … temporary flight restrictions all over New Jersey in response to the drone issue when there was no drone issue and it was of their own making?