Report: According to Insiders Pete Buttigieg’s DOT Delayed Air Traffic Control Upgrades While Spending $80 Billion on DEI Grants

An exclusive report from The New York Post reveals that during former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s tenure, his financial priorities were more focused on advancing a radical DEI agenda rather than addressing outdated air traffic control systems to the tune of tens of billions of dollars, according to federal spending records and airline industry insiders.

Last year, the GAO warned more than a third of FAA systems are outdated, unsustainable, and lack spare parts.

Here are more of the receipts:
Last year, the watchdog warned more than a third of FAA systems are outdated, unsustainable, and lack spare parts. https://t.co/0UnJ1T3TT2 pic.twitter.com/48CcSRKqBG

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) May 6, 2025

Instead of addressing these grave concerns, documents from insiders reveal Buttigieg’s DOT spent $80 billion on grants with “equity criteria.”

Per The New York Post exclusive:

What his department was really interested in was handing out hundreds of diversity, equity and inclusion grants totaling more than $80 billion over four years — at least half of the DOT’s entire budget for a typical fiscal year, records show.

“He was definitely pushing an agenda,” an air industry official said, noting the transportation secretary had “little to no interest” and took “definitely zero action” toward air traffic control modernization.

Buttigieg spent his time in President Joe Biden’s cabinet blaming the airlines for their delays and “vilifying” the industry as a whole while denying his department’s DEI agenda led to any air traffic control staffing shortages or was maintaining an ailing safety system that hasn’t been updated since the Carter administration, sources told The Post.

Pete Buttigieg’s Transportation Dept. did spend $80B+ on social justice and “equity infrastructure projects,” vs a fraction of that upgrading the teetering U.S. air traffic control system. The sums spent on “equity” and social justice in FY 2023 alone were nearly half of the… pic.twitter.com/aIkYJWNAaS

— Elizabeth MacDonald (@LizMacDonaldFOX) July 21, 2025

In May, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ripped Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg after an alarming radar outage at Newark Airport.

Buttigieg did nothing to fix the antiquated air traffic control system even though he was given billions of dollars to handle the problem.

Buttigieg couldn’t even fix the potholes when he was a small town mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Secretary Duffy blasted Buttigieg and Biden for doing nothing to fix the air traffic control equipment.

“What did they do? Nothing! Instead, they spent their time focused on changing the name of ‘cockpit’ to ‘flight deck,’” Duffy said.

Buttigieg & Biden knew the air traffic control system was antiquated. They saw the government watchdog reports warning the system was aging.

What did they do? Nothing! Instead they spent their time focused on changing the name of “cockpit” to “flight deck.” pic.twitter.com/QaNtYvaCCl

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) May 6, 2025

President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, which passed earlier this month, Republicans have now approved $12.5 billion in additional spending for Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to revamp the old Federal Aviation Administration systems.

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