Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the department is canceling $54 million in taxpayer-funded university grants, promoting ‘woke’ far-left diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and environmental agendas in the U.S.
The seven grants, originally approved during the Biden administration, were aimed at projects involving decarbonization, “gender safety,” and so-called infrastructure inequity.
Duffy, appointed under President Trump, said the grants were “a waste of public resources” and had nothing to do with improving American transportation.
“The American people have zero interest in millions of their tax dollars funding research on the intersection of gender non-conforming people and infrastructure inequality, or whether road improvement projects are racist,” Duffy told The Daily Wire.
“It’s time to inject a dose of reality back into our higher education system, and that starts with ending these wasteful and divisive grants.”
One example cited by the Department involved San Jose State University’s Mineta Consortium for Emerging, Efficient, and Safe Transportation.
The program had received $6 million to study whether road improvements primarily benefit wealthier white drivers while leaving lower-income and minority populations behind. The same grant also included funding for research into public transit “safety concerns” of women and gender non-conforming individuals.
Duffy was blunt in his criticism of the prior administration’s priorities: “The previous administration turned the Department of Transportation into the Department of Woke,” he said. “I’ve focused the Department on what matters: safety, making travel great again, and building big, beautiful infrastructure projects.”
The move signals a dramatic shift away from progressive ideology in federal transportation policy, and a return to core goals like infrastructure development, efficiency, and safety.
Duffy posted a link to The Daily Wire’s exclusive on X, stating, “@USDOT is injecting a dose of reality back into the higher education system.”
.@USDOT is injecting a dose of reality back into the higher education system.⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/pWqf5QBHKX pic.twitter.com/xQeb7tF5Ve
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) May 2, 2025
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