Federal Aviation Administration
Description
Event Involvements
Events with structured involvement data
FAA grilled by Toby on evidence requirements, timelines, and holiday hesitations for Air Force orders, exposing bureaucratic friction in Bartlet's diversionary anecdote, heightening stakes before MS truth.
Via debated security protocols
Challenged by presidential staff scrutiny
Reveals interagency tensions in crisis response
Evidentiary rigor vs. urgency clash
The FAA emerges as a bureaucratic foil when Toby grills Bartlet on their demands for heightened security and Air Force mobilization, highlighting evidentiary hurdles and holiday delays that Bartlet shrugs off, crystallizing interagency tensions in threat response.
Via presidential recounting of their security requests and protocols
Institutional gatekeeper constraining executive action with evidence mandates
Exposes friction between political urgency and aviation bureaucracy
Demand for credible threat theory within tight timelines
The FAA is grilled by Toby via the President on evidence requirements, timelines, and holiday hesitations for heightened security and Air Force orders post-Hassan arrest, their protocols clashing with executive urgency and fueling debate before MS pivot.
Via presidential summary of advisory protocols
Gatekeeping aviation security, constraining presidential action
Highlights interagency friction in threat response
The FAA intrudes via an urgent call from Mr. Garreth to the President, announced by Charlie during Toby's MS confrontation, forcing a pivot as Leo redirects it to his office—symbolizing external security demands colliding with the administration's internal deception crisis, heightening stakes on re-election and unity.
Through urgent phone call from representative Mr. Garreth
Exerting protocol-driven authority that compels White House response, overriding personal Oval deliberations
Underscores interagency pressures testing the administration's secrecy amid Hoynes' political challenge
The FAA intrudes via an urgent call from Mr. Garreth, which Charlie relays to Bartlet, providing an opportune external interruption that Leo redirects—symbolizing relentless institutional demands piercing the administration's private MS meltdown, forcing a tactical pause in personal recriminations.
Through incoming urgent call from representative Mr. Garreth
Exerts protocol-driven pressure on presidential attention, overriding internal crisis momentarily
Highlights aviation authority's independence, compelling White House action amid secrecy fractures
FAA invoked via Garreth's call to Bartlet detailing Reda Messam interrogation yielding rental car intel to Patterson safe house, framing terror credibility on forensics as Bartlet relays detached update, clashing Oval crisis with aviation security protocols.
Through Garreth's direct presidential phone relay
Providing actionable intel under White House scrutiny
Elevates aviation security over internal political fractures
Protocol-driven validation processes
FAA invoked via Leo's folder and briefing on heightened security—uniformed police, dogs, hand searches, parking curbs—demanding extension amid terror threats; interrupts MS showdown, pulling Bartlet to aviation protocols clashing with personal scandal.
Via Leo's relayed folder and procedural details
Exerting procedural leverage on presidential decisions
Highlights aviation authority's override on political crises
Evidentiary rigor delaying action