![\"Transportation](\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seanduffythree-1024x768.jpg\")
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy greets members of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee before the panel\u2019s hearing on the White House fiscal 2026 budget request for the Transportation Department on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Jacob Fischler\/States Newsroom)<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urged patience Wednesday from Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who asked about a backlog of approved grants the department has yet to pay out to state and local governments.<\/p>\n
Duffy, in his first appearance before the panel, said former President Joe Biden\u2019s Transportation Department approved an unprecedented 3,200 grants between Election Day 2024 and President Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration in January 2025. Duffy told the panel his department was working to send out the remaining 1,300 grants, but that the task would take time.<\/p>\n
He added that his hope was to complete the review by late summer or early fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been left 3,200 grants \u2014 that is a historic number \u2014 from the last administration,\u201d he said in response to a question from ranking Democrat Rick Larsen of Washington. \u201cI know you all want your grants, but I don\u2019t think everyone recognizes the workload that was left to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duffy also promoted the inclusion in Republicans\u2019 budget reconciliation law of $12.5 billion to overhaul the nation\u2019s air traffic control system, calling it a \u201cdown payment\u201d on a $31.5 billion need. He called on Congress to fund the remaining $19 billion.<\/p>\n
The air traffic control system has been targeted for reforms and technical upgrades for years. Renewed urgency on the issue came this year after a deadly crash near Washington Reagan National Airport in Northern Virginia during Duffy\u2019s first full day on the job.<\/p>\n
Larsen pressed Duffy on the delayed grants, and several members of both parties also asked about the status of grants to projects in their districts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge you to get on with the review of the remainder of these grants, because we\u2019re leaving construction jobs on the table without these grants going out the door,\u201d Larsen said. \u201cHolding up these grants stalls badly needed job training, construction investments, and we need to get them going on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duffy said the department processed more grants in the first three months of the year than previous administrations had during the same period, but acknowledged that members of Congress and state transportation departments still wanted faster movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that\u2019s not enough for everybody,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone wants their grants right now, and so we are working diligently to do that as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
But some Democrats also complained about seven grants that had been canceled outright. Six of the seven were in Democratic states, California Democrat John Garamendi said. The seventh was a grant to the University of New Orleans, he said.<\/p>\n
The projects appeared to be targeted because their titles included words related to diversity, equity and inclusion, Garamendi said.<\/p>\n
Duffy said those grants departed from what the department\u2019s priorities should be, such as decreasing the 40,000 traffic deaths per year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe racial stuff, as opposed to keeping people safe, that\u2019s my drive,\u201d Duffy said.<\/p>\n
Duffy noted many members of the panel did not vote for the reconciliation law that extended 2017 tax cuts while slashing spending on Medicaid and nutrition assistance programs. No Democrats voted for the law.<\/p>\n
But he said he thought everyone on the committee would have supported the $12.5 billion for air traffic control.<\/p>\n
Chairman Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, praised the provision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis funding will allow the administration to immediately get to work to replace critical telecommunications infrastructure and radar systems, invest in runway safety and airport surveillance projects and replace antiquated air traffic control facilities,\u201d Graves said.<\/p>\n
That initial payment would be insufficient to the total need of the system, Duffy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to need more money from the Congress than this $12.5 billion,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will need more to do it. No offense to anybody, but the way Congress spends money, we\u2019re talking $31.5 billion to do the full project. And my hope is that we\u2019ll have an additional conversation about how we can do that. And I think time is of the essence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democrats said they wanted to restore funding, provided in the bipartisan 2021 infrastructure law, for electric vehicle, or EV, chargers.<\/p>\n
Republicans said that money could be better spent on other priorities, such as dedicated parking spaces for truckers,<\/a> an issue raised by Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas. Crawford, a former chair of the panel\u2019s Highways and Transit Subcommittee, applauded the department\u2019s recent move to\u00a0redirect $275 million for truck parking.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOur nation was not and is still not at a point where rapid rollouts of charging infrastructure is a pressing issue,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cIn contrast, our trucking industry is certainly not in a position where transitioning to electrification is a priority, but we do need parking.\u201d<\/p>\n Duffy told the panel that the Biden administration\u2019s rules for building EV charging were part of the reason why relatively few electric vehicle chargers had been built. He told Wisconsin Republican Tony Wied and New Hampshire Democrat Chris Pappas that the previous administration\u2019s requirements regarding social justice and climate requirements in contracts delayed construction.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were so many rules about how the money could be spent, and it was polluted with ideas of the DEI and all the green work, which made it really challenging for states to build,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Duffy, a former House member from Wisconsin, said he would carry out laws passed by Congress, including funding for EV charging, even though he disagreed with it. But he also said he supported Trump\u2019s attempt to revoke funding.<\/p>\n Pappas told Duffy his state was ready for the new guidelines.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re ready to put shovels in the ground in New Hampshire,\u201d Pappas said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy greets members of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee before the panel\u2019s hearing on the White House fiscal 2026 budget request for the Transportation Department on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Jacob Fischler\/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urged patience Wednesday from Democratic and Republican members of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n