The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation revealed that it inherited an “unprecedented backlog of grants” left by the Biden administration.
In late March, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration reported that Secretary Sean Duffy had finalized a $221 million federal grant to rebuild Rhode Island’s Washington Bridge — its westbound side has been closed since December 2023 following a “critical failure.” The funding for the project was initially announced in the fall of 2024, but the Biden administration “failed to sign the agreement.”
‘Under the Trump administration, we’ve ripped out this red tape and are getting back to what matters.’
The DOT’s announcement noted that “the Trump administration inherited roughly 3,200 unobligated grants that had been promoted by the previous administration but never fulfilled.”
Duffy stated, “Since coming into office, my team has discovered an unprecedented backlog of grants leftover from the previous administration.”
He slammed “ridiculous DEI and Green New Deal requirements” for preventing “real infrastructure from being built and funded.”
“Under the Trump administration, we’ve ripped out this red tape and are getting back to what matters. As part of our work to deliver real results, we are pleased to announce $221 million in grants for Rhode Island’s Washington Bridge — a critical link that carries thousands of vehicles a day,” Duffy declared.
A DOT spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the backlogs totaled $43 billion. After Trump won the election but before he took office, the Biden administration reportedly announced $9 billion worth of grants to 1,000 recipients that were not made official before Biden departed.
“Nothing was done to actually get these grant agreements signed and sent to projects,” the DOT spokesperson stated.
During the April 10 Cabinet meeting, Duffy told President Donald Trump about the previous administration’s massive grant backlog.
“The last administration announced 3,200 projects, big, beautiful roads and bridges — most of them are good. But they announced them — they didn’t sign a grant agreement,” he explained. “So the money doesn’t go out the door to build the infrastructure in the country. And it’s fun to do an announcement. It’s actually the harder work to put together these grant agreements.”
Duffy noted how the Biden administration included “green and social justice requirements.”
“We’re pulling all that out and putting the money toward the infrastructure, not the social movement from the last administration,” he said.
Trump responded, “Good steel, right? As opposed to green papier-mache.”
On Monday, Duffy announced that the DOT had saved taxpayers $63.9 million by terminating a grant between the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak to build a high-speed rail project in Texas.
Duffy called the project “a waste of taxpayer funds and a distraction from Amtrak’s core mission of improving its existing subpar services.”
“If the private sector believes this project is feasible, they should carry the pre-construction work forward, rather than relying on Amtrak and the American taxpayer to bail them out. My department will continue to look for every opportunity to save federal dollars and prioritize efficiencies,” Duffy said.
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