Pete Buttigieg’s DOT spent $80 billion on DEI grants, delayed air traffic control upgrades: records, industry insiders
By Josh Christenson
Published July 21, 2025, 6:00 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON — Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg failed to replace outdated air traffic control systems while in office — with his agency instead shelling out tens of billions of dollars on a DEI agenda, according to federal spending records and airline industry insiders.
In one meeting, Buttigieg — who is said to be eyeing a 2028 presidential run — told industry executives that air traffic control upgrades would just allow them to fly more planes, “and so why would that be in his interest?,” sources said.
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.
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https://nypost.com/2025/07/21/us-news/pete-buttigiegs-dot-spent-80-billion-on-dei-grants-delayed-air-traffic-control-upgrades-records-industry-insiders/
