Some background reading for the FAA before the hearing:
ICAO Doc 9859 Safety Management Manual Chap 3
…. State civil aviation administrations are guided by:
a) A clear statement of their vision and mission (regarding safety);
b) A well understood and accepted set of:
1) Operating principles, such as delivering safe and efficient service consistent with public expectations and at reasonable cost; treating clients and employees with respect, etc.; and
2) Corporate values such as competence, openness, fairness, integrity, respect, responsiveness to client needs, etc.;
c) A statement of the Administration’s safety objectives; for example, reduce the probability and consequences of unsafe aviation occurrences, improve understanding throughout the aviation industry and general public of the State’s actual safety performance; and
d) Strategies for fulfilling their objectives; for example, reduction of safety risks to aviation through the identification of those operations that fall below accepted levels, encouraging their return to an acceptable level of safety or, if necessary, rescinding their certification.
but of course, this assumes that the FAA follow ICAO guidelines.
Thus, they could read the introduction to
Aviation Safety: Dominant and minority culture obligations.
Unless specifically authorized everything else is forbidden.