The Department of Transportation under Secretary Sean Duffy is canceling \$54 million in taxpayer-funded university grants that promoted left-wing social agendas. Duffy says the money was being spent on ideological projects unrelated to transportation, and the department is now refocusing on safety and infrastructure.
Key Facts:
- The DOT terminated $54 million in university grants tied to DEI and environmental activism.
- UC Davis was awarded $12 million to research “equitable decarbonization.”
- City College of New York received $9 million for projects on “transportation equity for the disadvantaged.”
- Other recipients included USC, NYU, Johns Hopkins, San Jose State, and the University of New Orleans.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the grants “wasteful and divisive” and counter to DOT’s core mission.
The Rest of The Story:
The Department of Transportation, led by Secretary Sean Duffy, is pulling the plug on $54 million in grants to seven universities.
The canceled projects, originally approved under the previous administration, were focused on topics such as gender and transportation equity, climate justice, and environmental decarbonization.
Duffy told The Daily Wire the DOT had strayed far from its mission.
“The previous administration turned the Department of Transportation into the Department of Woke,” he said, emphasizing that the focus is now on public safety, infrastructure, and practical travel improvements.
The decision is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to slash wasteful spending and redirect government resources to core public services.
Programs scrapped include a $12 million grant to UC Davis for “accelerating equitable decarbonization,” a $9 million grant to City College of New York for “transportation equity,” and similar grants to USC, NYU, and San Jose State targeting social “inequities” in travel systems.
Our message is simple: follow federal laws or risk losing funding. pic.twitter.com/vHRZ6Wj5UE
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) April 30, 2025
Commentary:
American taxpayers have long funded research and government programs under the guise of equity, inclusion, and climate justice.
These DOT grants reveal just how far off course federal spending had gone—transforming transportation research into a playground for ideological activism.
Transportation should be about roads, safety, and efficiency—not e-bike equity or analyzing pollution through the lens of racial identity.
While the country’s bridges crumble and highways clog, millions were funneled into studies about “hyperlocal pollution exposure” for low-income gig workers and how “auto improvements benefit white drivers.”
This is not only absurd—it’s insulting to hard-working Americans who expect their tax dollars to go toward meaningful results.
DEI and climate ideology have crept into nearly every federal agency, and the Department of Transportation was no exception.
But as Secretary Duffy makes clear, those days are over.
His move to cancel these grants isn’t just symbolic—it’s a tangible shift toward realigning government priorities with public needs.
The Trump administration’s broader mandate to eliminate wasteful spending through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has already saved billions.
Cutting grants like these sends a strong message that taxpayer money will no longer bankroll academic exercises in social justice theory.
It’s time to return to basics.
Americans don’t need lectures on “gender non-conforming transit challenges.”
They need roads without potholes, efficient transit systems, and infrastructure that works for everyone—without political agendas attached.
The Bottom Line:
The Department of Transportation is ending $54 million in grants tied to social justice and climate activism, refocusing instead on safety and infrastructure.
Cutting these grants is a necessary course correction that puts the needs of the American public first.
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