Pete Buttigieg intentionally delayed improvements to the air traffic control system do reduce the number of flights, but he sure spent a lof of money on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion.
$80 billion, according to the New York Post.
Every day there’s another story highlighting why Pete Buttigieg will never be President.
Delaying air traffic updates because you were focused on DEI, transit equity day, multi-racial block parties to qualify for EV charging stations… pic.twitter.com/E0tJIiqbNy
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 21, 2025
Now I knew that upgrades to ATC were stalled under Buttigieg, but I just assumed it was because he was taking maternity leave and spending time with his purchased child when he could. But it turns out that he told airline executives that upgrading the system would induce more demand for flights, and that would be bad for the environment..
WASHINGTON — Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg failed to replace outdated air traffic control systems while in office — with his agency instead shelling out tens of billions of dollars on a DEI agenda, according to federal spending records and airline industry insiders.
In one meeting, Buttigieg — who is said to be eyeing a 2028 presidential run — told industry executives that air traffic control upgrades would just allow them to fly more planes, “and so why would that be in his interest?” sources said.
What his department was really interested in was handing out hundreds of diversity, equity and inclusion grants totaling more than $80 billion over four years — at least half of the DOT’s entire budget for a typical fiscal year, records show.
“He was definitely pushing an agenda,” an air industry official said, noting the transportation secretary had “little to no interest” and took “definitely zero action” toward air traffic control modernization.
I should have guessed. The Biden administration was obsessed with implementing a Green New Deal, and also obsessed with distributing money along racial lines, so it was a natural thing for Mayor Pete to take money that should have gone to transportation improvements and divert it to improve “equity.”
And while the term “induced demand” is not mentioned in the article, in the decades I have followed transportation policy, it is a concept that frequently arises in transportation circles, typically applied to road construction. The idea is simple: the more roads you build and the more capacity you add to freeways, the more people will drive. Therefore, it’s best not to increase people’s ability to be mobile, as it just encourages them.
The concept is insane. While it is true that reducing the time and frustration costs of driving increases usage, that is simply because the demand is there already. It’s just that the lack of road capacity means that people forego the benefit of mobility to avoid the cost and frustration of doing what they want. This type of policy is all about imposing high costs on people to prevent behavior the policymakers dislike–like driving and flying.
So Buttigieg–who thinks roads are racist–took money that should have gone to building things people want–took it and sent it to constituencies he hopes to get support from in his next run for president.
Politicians often do things to make life worse for people and then create boogiemen to blame, and a correllary excuse to get more money to fix problems they created.
Programs such as “Justice40” ended up shelling out 55% of around $150 billion in infrastructure investments to “disadvantaged communities,” pursuant to an executive order Biden signed to “advance equitable outcomes.”
Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law in 2021 provided much of the funding, but some Democrats were critical of the outcomes — including a $5 billion equity effort to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations that resulted in just seven being built by June 2024.
“Internal White House polling showed that airline issues and airline consumer issues were” key polling successes, an industry official said. “At this point that White House didn’t have a lot to sink their teeth into from a PR standpoint.”
In January 2023, the agency ordered the first nationwide grounding of flights since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that left thousands of passengers stranded.
Meagher said the department’s DEI grants didn’t delay “the work of the FAA” and were “a separate, siloed transportation mode.”
“You can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he responded. “FAA operates completely separately than other modal administrations. So what happens at FHWA doesn’t have a meaningful effect on FAA or NHTSA because they operate independently. It’s separate staff, separate budgets, separate programs.”
Buttigieg often lashed out at the airlines, blaming the industry — not the FAA, which controls airspace nationwide — for canceling flights and bilking passengers through “junk fees.”
Buttigieg’s term as Secretary of Transportation was an unmitigated disaster. During the supply chain crisis, Buttigieg was AWOL–he took months off as Secretary, taking leave to spend time with his newly purchased infant.
Far be it from me to insist that a man neglect his family, but he took the job and immediately left on leave during a major crisis that paralyzed the nation and, ironically, created shortages of infant formula.
Formula for me, but not for thee.
Buttigieg has one of the most impressive unearned reputations in public life. Millions of Democrats see him as a rational, moderate, and intelligent technocrat. As far as I can tell, the reputation is based on his looking like a nerd. It’s the crisp pants crease phenomenon that elevated Barack Obama to the White House. All you have to do is look and talk in a way that appeals to the elite and you become a brilliant public servant.
As of last month, an Emerson College poll of registered voters found the former transportation secretary leading the 2028 Democratic presidential primary field with 16% support, followed by ex-Vice President Kamala Harris at 13%.
Buttigieg often lashed out at the airlines, blaming the industry — not the FAA, which controls airspace nationwide — for canceling flights.
An Echelon Insights in July showed him in second place for the potential primary, trailing Harris by 15 percentage points, 26% to 11%, in support from Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters.
It’s insane, but there it is. Buttigieg elevated himself to the top of the Democratic pyramid based on looking and sounding like a nerd–just the kind of guy you asked for notes from in college because you spent your time drinking beer and smoking pot.
But the truth is that he is a midwit without an achievement to his name. He made life worse for everyday Americans, threw money around to satisfy liberal constituencies, and blamed others for his own failures.
And he has a decent chance to become the Democratic Party nominee in the next decade or two. After all, Joe Biden made it all the way to the Oval Office.
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