Budget Hearing – U.S. Department of Transportation
2025-05-14
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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
Good morning. The subcommittee will come to order. Today we welcome testimony from the Honorable Sean Duffy, Secretary of the Department of Transportation on the Fiscal 26 Budget. Thank you, Secretary Duffy, for appearing before us today. It's always good to see you. For those who don't know, Sean and I were classmates together back in 2010, and I'd like to think that we'd surprise ourselves in knowing we'd be in these seats some 15 years later. But here we are. The Department of Transportation is requesting $26.7 billion in discretionary budget authority for fiscal 26. This request includes a $1.2 billion increase for air traffic modernization and operations, $596 million to ramp up our port and shipyard infrastructure, a $400 million boost for freight rail safety, and $770 million for multimodal freight expansion. While the skinny budget request demonstrates your commitment to making some critical investments to modernize our transportation systems, there's still much about this request that remains unknown as we await the full fiscal 26 budget. We do not know your total of $1.4 billion in cuts at DOT to afford these programmatic increases at the $26.7 billion top-line level. We're also lacking detail in what the proposed $4.1 billion reduction to the IIJA FY26 advance appropriations.
We'd like to get more from you on that today. I'd be remiss not to mention that the skinny budget reveals a top line for the Department of Housing and Urban Development that will be challenging for this subcommittee to say the least. Given the jurisdiction of the subcommittee, we cannot look at the DOT budget request in a vacuum. We'll have to make some tough choices when reviewing the proposed investments of the Department of Transportation while maintaining necessary support for housing our nation's most vulnerable. I'd also like to make sure we address a bit of an elephant in the room. The administration has undertaken efforts to seriously overhaul the federal bureaucracy while also taking a hard look at where our taxpayer dollars are being spent. It's a valued effort that our House majority supports. I want to make something clear. Efforts to restructure the Department of Transportation without congressional approval, to not execute programs appropriated by this committee, or to not give proper congressional notification when awarding or amending grants concerns me. Article 1 of the Constitution is clear. It gives Congress, through this committee, the power of the purse. I know that you, as a former member of this body, understand this. We want to have a partnership with you to ensure we're providing DOT with necessary resources. It's a reciprocal relationship. We provide what you need. You get us what we need. Maintaining open lines of communication between this committee and your staff is essential for us to execute on our shared mission of maintaining our world-class transportation system. Safety will remain a top priority for this subcommittee as we prepare the 26th bill. I know you share this goal as your second night on the job was the horrific DCA collision. You've taken swift action to ensure the safety of our airspace, and I know the NTSB appreciates your partnership as they continue their investigation into that accident and many others.
Additionally, our nation's air traffic control system is showing signs of age. The telecommunications issues that have been plaguing Newark and routinely interrupting operations over the past month are unacceptable, and the fact that they were allowed to get to this point over the past several years is beyond frustrating. Mr. Secretary, I look forward to working with you to prioritize our nation's vital infrastructure and transportation needs in Arkansas' 3rd District and across the country while safeguarding hard-earned taxpayer dollars. I know our work on this subcommittee affects the safety, economic opportunity, and quality of life of every American, a duty I take seriously. The jurisdiction of this committee is one of the most unique of the Appropriations Committee as its impacts are seen in every single congressional district around the country. As such, we have a spirit of bipartisanship here that I look forward to continuing as we begin the FY26 process. And it's in that spirit of bipartisanship that I'd now like to recognize my dear friend and the ranking member from South Carolina, Mr. Clyburn, for any opening remarks he'd like to make.
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Unknown (SPEAKER_07)
Today, we will examine the Department of Transportation's budget, which I expect will cover current year operations and the proposed use of funds included in the so-called skinny budget for 2026. DOT's primary mission is to invest in solutions that improve transportation safety. This includes safer transportation in our skies, on our rails, in our ports, and over and under our bridges. among other modes of transportation. It is hard to ignore the disturbing incursions and devastating crashes that have disrupted the lives and livelihoods of too many at our airports just this year, following the tragic Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore last year. The bipartisan infrastructure law makes a significant five-year investment in our nation's transportation systems, whether it's helping to build new runways, repair deficient bridges, or improve our ports.
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