WASHINGTON — If you thought Federal Railroad Administration grant programs for things like passenger service, shortline track maintenance, and grade crossing elimination projects would be the least likely place to become a front in the culture wars, think again.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Jan. 29 issued a memo ordering Department of Transportation agencies to “identify and eliminate all orders, directives, rules, regulations, notices, guidance documents, funding agreements, programs, and policy statements” that the Biden Administration issued and relate “in any way to climate change, ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions, racial equity, gender identity, ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ goals, environmental justice, or the Justice 40 Initiative.”
Duffy subsequently issued an order “ensuring reliance upon sound economic analysis in Department of Transportation policies, programs, and activities.” Despite the dry title, the order has caught the attention of major media outlets.
Why? A portion of the memo says preference should be given to funding projects that are located in “communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.”
Wrote the Daily News in a typical New York City tabloid headline: “Trump to New York: Want money for trains, tunnels, and bridges? Get married and make babies.”
The order also prohibits recipients of DOT funding “from imposing vaccine and mask mandates” and requires “local compliance or cooperation with Federal immigration enforcement.”
But the order also contains provisions that would seem to threaten FRA funding for Amtrak, CRISI grants, and grade-crossing elimination projects. Specifically, the order says funding shouldn’t go to projects that:
- Would depend on continuous or future DOT support or assistance for improvements and ongoing maintenance.
- Are “purely local in nature and unrelated to a proper Federal interest.”
Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor receives ongoing federal funding for maintenance and replacement projects, such as the Baltimore & Potomac (B&P) Tunnel in Baltimore and the Gateway Program in New York and New Jersey.
CRISI grants support local short line railroad infrastructure programs, including bridge projects and track work. Chuck Baker, president of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, is not worried about the new funding criteria. “It’s an interconnected freight rail system and there is an inherent federal interest in the whole thing working well, most certainly including short lines,” Baker says. “I think short line projects will be very competitive under these criteria.”
The benefits from eliminating grade crossings, meanwhile, flow primarily to local communities.
What will the impact of the orders be on various FRA programs? That’s not clear.
Former Pan Am Railways President David Fink, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the FRA, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. The FRA referred questions to the Department of Transportation, which did not respond.
An Amtrak representative said the railroad was working on a response to questions from Trains News Wire. Trains also sought comment from the Association of American Railroads.
Note: Updated at 7:20 p.m. Central with comment from ASLRRA President Chuck Baker.
And another thing…federal workers who do not leave home to work (as well as other commuters) leave city transit systems with empty seats that federal taxpayers have paid for in the past. The part that will be effective, is :”sound economic analysis” . I never heard this before from government. So yes, I hope this initiative is successful at least in this area.
Something about “straining at gnats” seems to apply here…
Keep in mind under the previous criteria federal money was being used to build bump outs on local streets in places like Minneapolis.
Could this affect some federal grants for short lines? Sure. But as the short line association president points out those have an interstate component and are likely safe.
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/hennepin-county-investing-millions-in-lake-street-redevelopment/89-f46ecdc2-9ce0-46ca-aad9-051d9416c8e0
Galen, Charles, William – I think you guys are hilarious. You just don’t get it, do you. POTUS and his people know exactly what they are doing, and they know what the legal limits are. They are laughing at your hysteria, which is exactly what they intended. In the end, the Republic may yet survive the financial disaster that is ongoing. Me,I think I’ll be planning a vacation home in Gaza. Looks promising. You believe that, don’t you?
This is what happens when you nominate someone to lead a Dept. that has ZERO clue what is of national interest and what is local…ALL interstate commerce, both passenger and freight is of NATIONAL interest. Duffy is a fish out of water.
Well sorry Gerald but he knows just as much, if not more than Mayor Pete did and will probably do more as well during his time as Secretary of DOT. Someone in Wikipedia said he promised to visit hurricane ravaged North Carolina and Tennessee to understand their transportation problems caused by said weather incidents on his first day and that he failed to keep that promise. Well, the day he was sworn in was the same day as the American Eagle Jetliner/Army Blackhawk helicopter incident on the Potomac River at Reagan/DCA and the next couple of days was the explosive crash of the Mexican Air Ambulance in Philadelphia. I believe he can be given a mulligan if he didn’t go to the mid-Atlantic states so that he could ensure that the FAA and the NTSB as well as military personnel and Sec Hegseth were coordinating with parties to find out what happened and be with the families of the lost souls… I believe he showed outstanding leadership with very little time on the clock, more than Mayor Pete showed in 4 years on the job… So let’s keep things in perspecive and see what he does after a year at the helm of Transportation. He deserves that much.
“But where is the statutory authority to direct grants to areas of high birth and marriage rates?”
I think this is a shot at certain areas of the country that are investing large sums of money into rail, but are shrinking in population in general (ie: Illinois). Personally I wish they would just say on merit and dispense with the hyperbole, but it will eventually sort itself out.
So you own it Charles! “Purely local in nature” well that would eliminate ANY Fed funds for shortline improvements; any mass transit projects; grade crossing funds since that only has local impact. Will these same criteria apply to Hwys & aviation…Never! Those are the Govt sanctioned forms of travel! It pretty much will be the end of passenger rail as was expected with this deranged Administration. SICK!! tying marriage & birth rates to receive funding they don’t want to fund the need of those either! Dementia Donald & President Musk will spell the end of this country!
Typical of Trump (who I voted for) — take a few good ideas, mix in 100 tons of executive overreach, thumb your nose at friends and enemies alike, cook over a barbeque grill powered by a thermonuclear weapon, spice with a hundred pounds of bull droppings.
Yes get rid of DEI and similar garbage. But where is the statutory authority to direct grants to areas of high birth and marriage rates? Of course there is no such statutory authority nor is there any other justification. The banana republic we live in is right back to where we were on January 19th with the other party ….. a dictatorship of narcissistic blowhards, this time from the political right.
Most reasonable piece I have read from you, Charles. Very good; perhaps you may yet perceive reality. However, it is hard to comprehend anyone voting to elect a convicted felon as our president.
Trump and his sidekick Musk are barely a month in so the fun has only just begun. He’s in his zone now surrounded by yes men and women in all levels of government. Over the next four years our Democracy will be put to the ultimate test. I seriously doubt he intends to leave office then. Anyone who voted for him and didn’t see this coming had their head somewhere it wasn’t meant to be.
For once Charles, I think you are laying on mostly BS in this matter. I agree with George on this one. Rome was not built in a day and these nominees deserve the same grace period that Biden’s folks got. If after a period of time they deserve criticism, then by all means criticize. But as I said above, Duffy knows as much about, if not more than Mayor Fleet Pete did when he got put in, in fact by his performance so far, I would say he does know more. Actions speak louder than words…