Obviously stopped for some reason. This was what my friend told me he had heard, which served as his motivation for applying for U.S. citizenship. So I don't know details.

I certainly would not want to be applying for a job with something like that in my background. But as I said, I do have a friend who got hired at USAirways after she had a DUI.

“She” that’s an exception statement alone.

It's confusing because your initial post was disjointed, left information out, and was not clear. That's why it was confusing.

Presumably you're referring to a pilot holding a Venezuelan passport.

If the company isn't using the pilot for international operations, then possession of a valid passport is really a non-issue.

You stipulated that one cannot say "ask the chief pilot," but that is the only correct answer, as nobody can speak for your company or it's policy but the chief pilot (or director of operations). You did not state if you fly for a charter, airline, fractional, corporate, or other operation, so it's still quite unclear.

If the company doesn't require use of your passport now, then what difference does it make if you don't have one or it's expired?

If the company requires you to hold a valid passport, then it could be an issue. You must talk to your superiors regarding that: nobody here can answer for them.

I have worked for several international operators in which a pilot became unable to fly internationally for various reasons. The pilot was terminated because the policy was that a passport must be maintained, and the company didn't have the luxury of catering to individual pilots with such restrictions.

I have also worked for US-based international companies that used pilots from other countries; some of those pilots did not have a right to work in the US, so did strictly overseas flying. It was a bit of a problem because operations sometimes terminated in the US, and while those pilots could fly through, they were limited on their ability to do repeat domestic US operations.

If you cannot hold a passport, then you're likely restricted to companies that operate strictly on a domestic basis (assuming right to work in the US), that either don't require a passport, or are able to allow you to only do domestic flights if the company has international operations.