Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is under attack by the Left for highlighting the contrast between the Trump administration and its predecessor when it comes to DEI.
Recently, the Department of Transportation announced $1.73 billion in awards through the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development grant program, or BUILD grant program, and directed nearly 77% of that funding toward projects on roads and bridges. Duffy was quick to compare President Donald Trump’s approach to infrastructure and transportation to former President Joe Biden’s, whose DOT was led by Pete Buttigieg. “Remember when Biden and Boot-edge-edge used YOUR MONEY for DEI bike lanes and climate change?” Duffy posted on X. “THAT’S OVER”
“I just redirected $1.73 billion in USDOT grants away from Biden-era DEI pet projects,” the post continued. “Now this funding is officially locked in to fix America’s actual backbone: ROADS, BRIDGES, AND SHIPPING PORTS.”
“America is fortunate to have a Builder in the White House who knows America is only as great as our infrastructure,” the announcement on the department’s website read. “That’s why this Department is investing in repairing critical roads and bridges that connect Americans to job opportunities, port infrastructure that bolsters our national security, and aviation and transit projects that move American families. The impact of these dollars will be felt in communities nationwide for years to come.”
The announcement sparked pushback from leftist media outlets accusing Duffy of politicizing the funding. MSNBC’s Maddow Blog questioned why the transportation secretary was “complaining about ‘DEI bike lanes,” while The New Republic ran a piece titled “Trump Secretary Says Bike Lanes Are DEI.”
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But it was Biden and Buttigieg, not Trump and Duffy, that made bike lanes and DEI one and the same.
Through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant program, or “RAISE” grant program, the Biden administration invested $562 million in bike and pedestrian projects in FY 2023 alone, according to the Climate Program Portal. The funding supported 41 projects in 27 states.
According to a 2025 poll by Statista Consumer Insights, 73 percent of American commuters use their own car to commute to work, while only 9 percent ride their bike.
Buttigieg was not shy about connecting these projects to DEI, racial justice, and climate change.
In 2021, Buttigieg said a $1 billion investment in RAISE was to “advance equity, and combat climate change.” That investment included $20 million for Seattle to “reconstruct a 1.1-mile segment of the East Marginal Way roadway” with a “separated bike lane.”
In 2023, Buttigieg boasted the department was investing $1.5 billion to “address climate change, ensure racial equity, and remove barriers to opportunity.”
A recent investigation by the New York Post found that the Biden-Buttigieg DOT spent at least $80 billion on DEI projects.
In 2025, Trump and Duffy reverted the name and the mission of the grant program to BUILD. The $1.73 billion—77% of the BUILD grants—will be spent on improving ports, railroads, bridges, and more. Port infrastructure will receive a $136.8 million investment; $169.9 million is going toward transit projects, $11 million to aviation infrastructure, and $87.7 million to America’s railroads.
Duffy’s investment secured funding for 127 projects across all 50 states and is even being celebrated by some Democrats. Virginia Democrat Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine celebrated the over $76 million investment from BUILD for transportation and infrastructure projects in Virginia.
Perhaps more Democrats will come out in favor of Trump and Duffy shifting the focus away from DEI and to delivering a better transportation system for Americans, but I’m not holding my breath.
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