Editorial Board
March 12, 2025
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is reasserting common sense when deciding how to pay for the systems that are supposed to keep the public safe. On Monday, he tore up a pair of Biden administration directives that diverted transportation dollars into social justice programs.
Mr. Duffy’s predecessor, Pete Buttigieg, was determined to stamp out what he called “racism physically built into some of our highways.” The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, used his Cabinet post to distribute funds to anything that advanced the left-wing agenda, which helped build his name recognition to the point that he is thinking of taking another run at the White House or a Senate seat.
He also left a mess that Mr. Duffy must now clean up. “Prioritizing projects that meet Green New Scam and DEI standards is why our infrastructure is crumbling,” Mr. Duffy wrote Tuesday on X.
This is an inherent flaw in our constitutional republic. Politicians love spending on flashy proposals, especially if they can share the credit. They aren’t fond of devoting resources to the humble and invisible work needed to shore up a crumbling bridge or replace obsolete network infrastructure, even though doing so would have a massive impact on public safety.
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The liberal political obsession diverted attention and resources away from things that matter. Mr. Duffy realized this on his first day on the job as he tackled the disaster at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. He quickly realized the safety net for planes was part of the problem.
“It’s antiquated, it’s old. … Looking forward, we don’t want to lose lives because we have a break in the system. So, it has to be upgraded, and it’s going to take money,” Mr. Duffy said at a press conference Tuesday.
The FAA has been working on a modernization initiative called NextGen since 2007. Like a California high-speed rail project, $14 billion has been spent but little progress has been made. Mr. Duffy realizes he can’t allow updates to continue at a governmental pace, or the initiative will never be completed.
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By asking Congress for the money to finish the entire project up front, Mr. Duffy can require contractors to finish on a more businesslike timeline. With the president clawing back billions of dollars in wasteful spending, the budget has plenty of room for this and other priorities that matter.