Sean Duffy Opens Up on Musk Clash Over Controller Cuts, ‘I’m the Secretary’ [WATCH]

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed his dispute with Elon Musk over proposed staffing cuts in the Department of Transportation during the latest episode of Pod Force One, telling host Miranda Devine that he refused to eliminate safety-critical positions such as air traffic controllers, as reported by The New York Post.

“I get along well enough with Elon,” Duffy said, noting that Musk’s companies SpaceX and Tesla have multiple dealings with the Department of Transportation. “Elon — or no one else — is the Secretary. I am. The Senate confirmed me.”

Duffy explained that the disagreement arose when Musk, during his leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting initiative, pushed for significant staff reductions.

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While open to efficiency measures, Duffy said the idea of removing air traffic controllers was unacceptable.

“Safety critical positions are not going to be fired within the Department of Transportation. We can do things more efficiently … but we are not going to fire air controllers,” Duffy said.

He added that the back-and-forth with Musk occurred before the January 29 midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in which a Black Hawk helicopter and a regional jet collided, killing 67 people.

“Had I done that, had I actually fired controllers… think what the liberal media would do to me. I would be slaughtered. We didn’t, thank God,” Duffy said, emphasizing that department policy decisions must be driven by the secretaries in charge, not outside figures.

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Up until the end of May, Musk oversaw DOGE’s efforts to cut federal spending, a role that reportedly led to confrontations with multiple Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon has claimed Musk once shoulder-checked Bessent “like a rugby player.”

In early June, Musk and President Donald Trump had a public split over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Musk criticized the legislation as “utterly insane and destructive,” arguing that it would significantly increase the national deficit and undermine DOGE’s cost-cutting work.

Duffy said he did not know the exact cause of Musk’s break with the president, speculating that it could have involved concerns about tariffs on China affecting access to critical minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries, or issues with EV subsidies.

“I don’t know what happened internally, but I would tell you this, the president couldn’t be more generous and couldn’t have been nicer to him,” Duffy said.

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