Document KJqw5Yqarg29VkXQ6w28yxX46

no OEM.IECAS, WNW' JOIN THUNE, SOUTH DAKOTA ROGER F. NICKER, MISSISSIPPI OM RS01E-R. NEBRASKA JERRY MORAN, (ANSAS DAN SLAIN...4, ALASKA MARSHA BLACKBURN, I EMHESSE TOGO YOUNG NOMA TED BUOD NORTH CAROLINA ERIC SCHMITT, MISSOURI JOHN ,aIRTIS. UTAH BERNIE MORENO. CHO TIM SHEEHY. MONTANA &WILEY MOM C.MRTO, 'NE ST YNGINIA CYNTHIA M LNMIS, WYOMING MARIA CANTWELL, WASHPICTON Ally KLOBUCHAR MIIRIESOTA BRIAN SCHATZ. HAWAF EDWARD J. MARKEY MASSACHUSETTS GARY C PETERS. ISCHIGAN TAMMY BALDNM, WISCONSIN TAMMY DUCXWORTH, ILLINOIS TACKY PORN, NEVADA BEN RAY WAN, NEW IME[ICC, JOHN W. IIICXEPILOOPER COLORADO JOHN FETIETIAAN, PENNSYWANTA ANDY RNA NEW JERSEY LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER. DELAWARE WAD GRANTZ MAJORITY STAFF DIFECT OR I LA HAFPER HELMS. DEMOCRATIC STAFF DIRECTOR United states ,-)C11JtC COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, DC 20510-6125 WEesrrE: https://commerce.senate.gov August 4, 2025 The Honorable Sean Duffy Secretary of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE Washington, D.C. 20590 Dear Mr. Secretary: As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Committee), I write regarding former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's attempt to haphazardly and hastily shovel billions of dollars out the door in the waning days of the BidenHarris administration. Secretary Buttigieg's actions match a pattern seen across the Biden-Harris administration in its final months: spend as much taxpayer money as possible on wasteful projects2 and give that money to well-connected companies or liberal city and state governments3 before President Trump takes office. As one article put it, the Biden-Harris administration was "working against the clock doling out billions in grants . . . to preserve at least some of [Biden's] legacy."' This last-minute shopping spree on Biden-Harris administration priorities and projects carried risks of waste, fraud, and abuse. ' See The Big Deal: As Biden-Harris Administration Nears a Close, History-Making Progress Continues with Nearly $5 Billion Announcedfor 560+ Community-Led Projects in all 50 States, U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSP. (Jan. 10, 2025), https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/big-deal-biden-harris-administration-nears-close-historymaking-progress-continues; Deborah Collier, Biden Hits Gas Pedal on Wasteful Spending, CITIZENS AGAINST GOv'T WASTE (Dec. 11, 2024), https://www.cagw.org/biden-hits-gas-pedal-wasteful-spending/. 2 See e.g., Associated Press, The Last Actions the Biden Administration Will Take Before Trump Takes Over the White House, U.S. NEWS (Nov. 15, 2024), https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2024-11-15/the-last-actionsthe-biden-administration-will-take-before-trump-takes-over-the-white-house; Nick Pope, Lame Duck Biden Bureaucrats Throw Cash At Green School Buses As Trump's Return Looms, DAILY CALLER (Dec. 11, 2024) https://dailycaller.com/2024/12/11/1ame-duck-biden-epa-millions-green-school-buses/. 3 Gabe Kaminsky, In Final Days, Biden Awarded $50 Million to Self-Dealing Charity Leader, WASH. EXAMINER (Feb. 14, 2025), https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/3311236/in-fmal-days-biden-awarded50-million-to-self-dealing-charity-leade; Nick Pope, Biden's Green Loan Office Offers Up a Staggering $22 Billion In Admin's Final Hours, DAILY CALLER (Jan. 16, 2025) https://dailycaller.com/2025/01/16/biden-greenloan-office-energy-staggering-22-billion-final-days/. 4 Associated Press, What the Biden Administration Plans to Accomplish Before Trump Takes Over the White House, PBS (Nov. 15, 2024), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-the-biden-administration-plans-to-accomplishbefore-trump-takes-over-the-white-house. OST-2025-1200 Page 02019 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0027900 The Honorable Sean Duffy August 4, 2025 Page 2 of 4 This spending binge also ignored the clear message sent by the American people on election day: we oppose President Biden's inflationary, wasteful, and top-down transportation policies. In the haste to authorize grants and finalize new regulations, it is likely that Secretary Buttigieg and political staff at the Department of Transportation (DOT) did not adequately review the 3,000plus grants they approved. Between election day, November 4, 2024, and President Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025, DOT authorized the award of numerous questionable grants. For example: Ten days after the election, DOT, through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), awarded a total of $1.2 billion to "establish new processes to implement and use lowcarbon materials on Federal-aid construction projects."5 It's unclear whether these grants funded actual construction materials to improve transportation infrastructure or were just to establish a new "process." On January 10, 2025, FHWA announced $635 million in grants to build electric vehicle charging stations and "alternative fuel infrastructure,"6 continuing the already enormous amount of government subsidies behind electric cars that many Americans do not want to buy.7 One of these grants gave the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency $100 million to install just 345 vehicle charging stations (more than $289,000 per charging station).8 On January 10, 2025, DOT announced $1.32 billion in grants from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program.9 Many of those grants seem to spend large amounts of taxpayer dollars for little real benefit like a $9,227,000 grant for planning the reconstruction (not actually reconstructing) a bus yard in San Francisco and a more than $17 million dollar grant to plan (not build) a 9.3-mile bike path in rural Massachusetts.1) 5 USDOTAwards $1.2 Billion in Grants to Help State Departments of Transportation Utilize Cleaner Construction Materials, U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSP. (Nov. 14, 2024), https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/investingamerica-usdot-awards-12-billion-grants-help-state-departments. Biden-Harris Administration Announces $635 Million in Awards to Continue Expanding Zero-Emission EV Charging and Refueling Infrastructure, U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSP. (Jan. 10, 2025), https://www.transportation.gov/ briefing-room/investing-america-biden-harris-administration-announces-635-million-awards-continue. 7 Brittany Moye, Americans Slow to Adopt Electric Vehicles, AAA (June 3, 2025), https://newsroom.aaa.com/2025/06/aaa-ev-survey/. 8 Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program Round 2 Grant Award Recipients, U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSP. (Jan. 10, 2025), hftps://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/cfi/grant_recipients/round_2/cfi-awardees-round2.pdf. Biden-Harris Administration Announces $1.32 Billion for Infrastructure Projects of Local and Regional Significance Nationwide, U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSP. (Jan. 10, 2025), https://www.transportation.gov/briefingroom/investing-america-biden-harris-administration-announces-132-billion-infrastructure. 1 RAISE 2025 Round 1 Fact Sheets, U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSP., 30, 53 (Jan. 2025), https://www.transportation.gov /sites/dot.gov/files/2025-01/RAISE%202025%20Round%201%20Award%20Fact%20Sheets_0.pdf. OST-2025-1200 Page 02020 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0027901 The Honorable Sean Duffy August 4, 2025 Page 3 of 4 The Standing Rules of the Senate provide the Committee with jurisdiction over DOT, its subagencies, and its issuance of grants and awards." To assist the Committee with its oversight of DOT, please provide written responses and the documents requested below in accordance with the attached instructions by September 3, 2025: 1. Please list all grants, awards, loans, or similar disbursements of funds DOT or its subagencies authorized between November 4, 2024, and January 20, 2025, including the name, amount, date, recipient, reference number, purpose, requirements, authorizing legislation, and conditions to rescind or withdraw, if any, for each grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement of funds. 2. For each grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement of funds identified in response to Request 1, provide a list of DOT or subagency staff, including names and titles, that reviewed, evaluated, or authorized the grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement. 3. For each grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement of funds identified in response to Request 1, produce all documents related to the grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement of funds including, but not limited to: a. Documents describing the Notice of Funding Opportunity, grant opportunity or otherwise providing notice to the public of the availability of the grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement of funds; b. Documents memorializing the grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement of funds itself; c. Applications or supporting documents for the grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement of funds; d. Evaluations, reviews, analyses, or similar documentation of any applications for a grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement of funds; and e. Correspondence or communications within DOT or between DOT and other entities relating to the grant, award, loan, or similar disbursement of funds. 4. Please produce all documents, communications, or correspondence relating to the BidenHarris administration or DOT's approval of grants, awards, loans, or similar disbursements of funds between November 4, 2024, and January 20, 2025, including but not limited to: a. Directives, guides, decisions, goals, requests, orders, or similar documents relating to grants, awards, loans, or similar disbursements of funds; and 11 S. Rules XXV(f)(1), XXVI(8)(a)(2). OST-2025-1200 Page 02021 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0027902 The Honorable Sean Duffy August 4, 2025 Page 4 of 4 b. Analyses, discussions, questions or evaluations relating to the approval of grants, awards, loans, or similar disbursements of funds. 5. Please produce all documents not otherwise responsive to the above requests that you reasonably believe relate to the above Requests or would assist the Committee in its oversight of DOT and its awarding of funds. Please contact my staff if you would like to discuss these requests. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Te Cruz Chairman OST-2025-1200 Page 02022 Sierra Club v. Dept. of Transp. - 3:25-cv-06221 SC_EVERSPLIT0027903