DOT’s Duffy ‘Frustrated’ by Grant Process; Outlines Proposed $27B Budget

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated the Dept. of Transportation “can do extra with much less” as he laid out his priorities for a proposed $1.5-billion price range enhance throughout a pair of congressional hearings Could 14 and 15. He additionally supplied extra perception into DOT’s assessment of backlogged unobligated grant awards. However lawmakers questioned whether or not the choice to assessment already-awarded grants was slowing the method with added crimson tape relatively than expediting venture funding by eradicating Biden-era priorities akin to environmental affect or social justice.

President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget request features a 5.8% division price range enhance to $26.7 billion, boosting initiatives that embody together with hiring extra air visitors controllers, upgrading aviation security tools, creating ports and shipyards and constructing freeway and rail tasks.

“Our price range fastidiously focuses taxpayer sources on objects essential to our most elementary mission of security and investing in transportation infrastructure,” Duffy stated in ready remarks.

Nonetheless, lawmakers identified that price range paperwork they acquired suggest $3 billion in will increase to particular DOT applications. The proposal would enhance DOT’s price range by $1.5 billion, leaving cuts to be made that haven’t been spelled out but. 

“There may be nonetheless a lot about this request that is still unknown as we await the complete fiscal 2026 price range.” stated Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), chair of the Home Committee on Appropriations’ transportation, housing and concrete improvement subcommittee. 

Grant Evaluations

A number of lawmakers questioned Duffy about DOT assessment of a backlog of 3,200 grants he has stated had been awarded way back to 2022, however had not been finalized. The division introduced this week it has to this point signed off on 405 of the grants, collectively price practically $5 billion. 

“Nobody is extra pissed off by the inefficiencies of this course of than I’m,” Duffy stated throughout one of many price range hearings.

A part of the problem is that DOT makes use of as many as 14 methods to trace grants throughout the division, in response to Duffy. He acknowledged that the method “will not be quick sufficient” and will take a number of years to finish on the present tempo. The company is working to consolidate these methods into one dashboard for ease and transparency, and in addition taking a look at AI and different instruments that might assist hasten evaluations, he added, however Duffy couldn’t say how quickly evaluations could also be full.

Underneath the Biden administration, the variety of authorized DOT grants rose from 330 in 2021 to greater than 1,500 final 12 months, in response to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). 

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), rating member of the Senate subcommittee on transportation, housing and concrete improvement, stated she was apprehensive DOT “has buried itself in crimson tape” by re-reviewing 1000’s of beforehand awarded grants. 

“There’s little question that the months-long effort to re-review grants is slowing down transportation tasks in each single state,” she stated. “The division can be struggling as a result of it has misplaced 1000’s of workers by the deferred resignation program. It merely is not sensible to create extra pointless duplicative work on grants when you’ve fewer folks to re-review them.”

The evaluations embody eradicating necessities round variety, fairness and inclusion, social justice and the setting that had been added throughout the Biden administration however not mandated by Congress once they appropriated funding for the grant applications, Duffy stated, telling lawmakers that the necessities make tasks dearer and that eradicating them would open funding for extra tasks. 

DOT will not be merely canceling tasks as a result of they met necessities round DEI or different Biden insurance policies that the Trump administration has not continued, he acknowledged. As a substitute, when crafting grant agreements, the necessities are omitted. 

Gillibrand requested Duffy if he’s dedicated to paying out grants that had been awarded to main transit tasks— together with LA Metro’s Westside Metro Purple (D) Line Extension part three, Chicago Transit Authority’s Purple Line extension, the Southwest mild rail venture in Minneapolis, Second Avenue Subway Part 2 extension in New York, Hudson Tunnel Undertaking between New York and New Jersey and the Lynnwood Hyperlink extension in Washington state. 

Duffy stated he wouldn’t cancel the grant agreements, however whereas answering questions from one other lawmaker, he did observe there have been some grant agreements he’s “not going to honor.” He pointed to some canceled college analysis grants for instance. 

“I’m not about slashing tasks,” Duffy stated. “We wish to construct.”