A new report claims that former Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spent $80 billion on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) grants and failed to implement upgrades to the country’s air traffic control systems under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
According to The New York Post, airline industry sources and federal spending records indicate that Buttigieg prioritized the Biden administration’s DEI policies while failing to replace the Department of Transportation’s outdated air traffic control systems. Sources told the outlet that Buttigieg told airline industry executives during a meeting that upgrading air traffic control systems would allow airlines to fly additional airplanes, “and so why would that be in his interest?”
The New York Post reported that federal spending records show the Department of Transportation spent over $80 billion under the Biden administration on approximately 400 DEI grants.
“He was definitely pushing an agenda,” an industry official told The New York Post. The source claimed that Buttigieg had “little to no interest” and took “definitely zero action” toward the modernization of the country’s air traffic control systems. Instead, sources told the outlet that Buttigieg repeatedly blamed airlines for traffic delays and denied that the Department of Transportation’s DEI policies led to staffing shortages.
READ MORE: Video: Pentagon failure exposed by FAA after deadly DC plane crash
One source told The New York Post, “At first, [the Department of Transportation] and he were reluctant to say there was an air traffic controller shortage or that the shortage had anything to do with flight delays or flight cancellations.”
In response to The New York Post’s report regarding Buttigieg’s leadership of the Department of Transportation, Chris Meagher, a Buttigieg spokesperson, said, “Suggesting that Secretary Buttigieg chose not to pursue air traffic control modernization is absurd.”
“Secretary Buttigieg’s focus was always on safety — not just in aviation, but also on roads and bridges, where 40,000 Americans die on our country’s roads each year,” Meagher added. “Fixing issues with air traffic control was a priority.”
The Buttigieg spokesperson claimed that the Department of Transportation’s DEI grants that were approved under the Biden administration were a “separate siloed transportation mode” and did not result in delays to the “work” of the Federal Aviation Administration.
“You can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Meagher said. “FAA operates completely separately than other modal administrations. So what happens at FHWA doesn’t have a meaningful effect on FAA or NHTSA because they operate independently. It’s separate staff, separate budgets, separate programs.”
