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Appropriations subcommittee presses DOT on $26.7 billion FY26 request, staffing cuts and grant-condition rollbacks
Summary
At a House appropriations subcommittee hearing, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy defended the department's fiscal 2026 discretionary request and said the department is pursuing staffing reductions and rescinding certain climate and social-justice conditions on grants while members raised concerns about safety and congressional oversight.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies heard testimony on the Department of Transportation’s fiscal 2026 discretionary request of $26,700,000,000 and raised questions about proposed staffing reductions and changes to grant conditions.
The request the department submitted includes increases the administration highlighted — $1,200,000,000 for air traffic modernization and operations, $596,000,000 for ports and shipyards, $400,000,000 for freight rail safety and $770,000,000 for multimodal freight expansion — alongside, the subcommittee was told, about $1,400,000,000 in cuts at DOT that have not been fully explained in the skinny budget. “Article 1 of the Constitution is clear,” a committee chair said, urging the department to preserve congressional prerogatives on appropriations when restructuring programs.
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