In a revelation that has stirred alarm amongst nationwide safety circles and outrage amongst tens of millions of Individuals, it has been confirmed that the direct hotline between the Pentagon and the management tower at Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport (DCA) has been out of service since March 2022 — for greater than three consecutive years. The affirmation got here from Franklin McIntosh, a senior official on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), throughout an oversight listening to led by Senator Ted Cruz, present chairman of the Senate committee on aviation and transportation.
The change was transient however damning. When Cruz requested:
“Is it true that the direct line between the Pentagon, air visitors management, and the DCA tower has been inoperative since March 2022?”
McIntosh’s response was clear:
“Sure, sir, that’s right.”
This revelation — hidden from public data all through your complete Biden administration — isn’t just a technical glitch. It’s a systemic failure and a gross act of negligence within the chain of command and nationwide airspace safety administration. The direct line between the Pentagon and DCA is a important a part of the protection communication protocol in Washington, D.C., one of the vital restricted and strategically delicate airspaces on this planet.
A Crucial Lifeline Reduce Off
This hotline is just not an non-compulsory characteristic — it exists to coordinate speedy responses to aerial threats, unauthorized airspace breaches, or potential hijackings close to the nation’s capital. In a metropolis the place the manager, legislative, and judicial leaders of the free world reside, each second issues.
A 3-year outage of this direct communication with the Pentagon is just not merely a technical failure — it’s a strategic catastrophe willfully ignored.
Biden and Buttigieg to Blame
FAA official Franklin McIntosh additionally confirmed that this subject was by no means correctly addressed by the Biden administration, together with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Each Biden and Buttigieg — whose lack of expertise in issues of nationwide safety has lengthy been questioned — utterly uncared for a important protection device.
For over three years, neither the Biden White Home nor Buttigieg’s Division of Transportation notified Congress or the American public of the outage. No press convention, no Pentagon alert, no critical restore efforts. Complete silence.
This raises a chilling query: What different safety breakdowns had been hidden throughout these years? And worse: had been there threats that went unaddressed as a consequence of this severed hyperlink?
A Stark Distinction with Trump’s Administration
Since President Donald J. Trump returned to workplace in 2025, he has repeatedly declared that “America’s safety is non-negotiable.” This incident confirms what many Individuals already suspected: The Biden administration prioritized political ideology over the security of the American individuals.
Throughout his first time period, Trump emphasised border management, navy modernization, and investing in cyber and air protection infrastructure. None of that momentum was maintained below Biden. As an alternative, Biden left behind a path of bureaucratic decay, neglect, and reckless indifference.
Trump’s management ensured that protection communications had been strengthened and protocols had been adopted. The distinction couldn’t be clearer.
Political Fallout and Demand for Accountability
Senator Ted Cruz has introduced a proper investigation into who allowed this important hotline to stay offline with out correction or disclosure. “It’s unthinkable that within the coronary heart of our nation’s capital, a key line of protection communication with the Pentagon was left damaged. That is administrative treason by omission,” Cruz mentioned.
He additionally referred to as for public hearings involving McIntosh, senior FAA officers, and former Secretary Buttigieg to elucidate why nothing was accomplished.
“This isn’t simply technical failure — it’s a nationwide betrayal,” added Senator Josh Hawley, who helps the investigation.
What If There Had Been an Emergency?
Army analysts are already warning that if an occasion just like 9/11 had occurred throughout these years, the results may have been catastrophic. “This line exists exactly to stop catastrophe. With out it, we’re flying blind,” mentioned former Air Pressure intelligence officer Michael DeWitt.
In a rustic that has spent billions on counterterrorism and protection methods, permitting such a primary communication channel to go darkish for years is, at greatest, a nationwide shame.
The American Individuals Demand Solutions
The information has ignited social media. A whole bunch of hundreds are expressing their outrage with the hashtag #PentagonHotlineFail, demanding that these accountable be held accountable. Many are calling for a full audit of all protection communications methods inherited from the Biden administration to make sure there are not any extra hidden failures.
President Trump has already ordered a nationwide audit of important inter-agency communications, reaffirming his promise to “make EE.UU. really secure once more.”
