Democratic members of the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are demanding that USDOT be more transparent about the February discharge of probationary employees — an action later deemed illegal in federal court — and the recent departure of some key career civil servants. In a letter to Secretary Sean Duffy sent last week, the committee’s minority members stated that the “indiscriminate firing of probationary employees . . . created uncertainty and strain on DOT employees” and warned that the administration’s workforce reduction policies could “jeopardize the stability and safety of our transportation system or the federal-state-local partnership model of building infrastructure.”
The letter reiterated a previous unfulfilled request for details about the status and impact of reductions in force, information members say they need to fulfill their oversight responsibility and “answer our constituents and transportation stakeholders in our districts who reach out regularly with questions” about USDOT policy changes and plans.