The First One Hundred Days

I came across this post on LinkedIn while I was getting ready to make my regular blog post. In case you don’t want to go to LinkedIn, I’ve included a screenshot below and a link to the page on the US DOT website that is included in the original post. Needless to say, this post reflects my personal opinions and does not reflect the views or opinions of my employer.

The original post can be viewed on LinkedIn. There is also a "First 100 Days Post" on the official USDOT website.

I really try not to let individual posts on social media get my hackles up, but this one got me so angry that I woke up in the middle of the night and started formulating this blog post. This isn’t typical of me. I usually sleep through the night. When I don’t, it usually means that I need to use the bathroom and can then quickly return to sleep. But that night was different. I woke up so upset that my department, my agency, was spreading such blatant lies to the public. All while completely ignoring the actions with the biggest actual impacts.

Let’s start by fact checking and undoing some of the spin from the original post.

The So-Called "Anti-Spin Zone"

• Began clearing an unprecedented 3,200 grant backlog, unlocking funding for critical projects to repair bridges, improve roadway safety, and upgrade outdated infrastructure.
• No source provided for this claim. I assume that these are grants related to BIL and/or the IIJA that Trump/Duffy impounded earlier.
• This is like a beaver claiming to have removed a log jam.
• Secured grants agreements to enhance border security, reduce congestion, and rebuild critical routes.
• This seems to refer to grant to build a new port of entry at Otay Mesa, San Diego. I’m not digging into this too deeply, but the facility was originally built in 1983, so I’ll give the benefit of the doubt that it needs an update.
• FY25 FHWA budget was $100B, while this grant was for $150M. I don’t typically boast about 0.1% of my actions.
• Repealed a burdensome Greenhouse Gas Rule that unfairly would raise project costs and divert critical resources away from highway construction to irrelevant emissions targets.
• This refers to a proposal to rescind the Biden era policy requiring state DOT projects to show a net reduction in carbon emissions to receive Federal funding. In practice, this typically led to States cooking the books around how much GHG emissions were related to congestion. So, they typically got the funding anyways. Such is our car-brained culture.
• However, if you recognize that GHG are a problem, you’d probably accept even a flawed effort to reduce emission over given car-brained State DOT’s carte blanche to keep building more lanes.
• Expedited I-40 repairs after Hurricane Helene, cutting costs by up to two-thirds.
• This refers to an arrangement for North Carolina DOT to be granted a special use permit to take rock and other construction materials from Forest Service Lands
• First, this negotiation has likely been in progress since immediately after Hurricane Helene. Meaning Duffy is just stealing glory from the staff level workers in both FHWA and USFS that actually set up this agreement.
• Second, these types of agreements are routine. They are common. They are negotiated at levels far below a Department secretary or Agency administrator.
• Third, this is only a change to the estimated cost and duration, not actuals. When estimating, being overly optimistic can hurt folks a lot. It can often be better to assume that resources are not available, rather than assume that they will be.

So, of these four bullets, one is some sort of actual achievement. The rest are complete spin. This doesn’t even meet my standard for my weekly accomplishments posts.

The Real Acomplishments

Let’s talk a bit about what else FHWA has been up to in the first 100 days:

• Return to Office (RTO)
• Cause administrative burden to locate office space for previously remote workers.
• Inconvenience employees who had previously arranged their lives around particular telework or remote work arrangements. This includes family responsibilities.
• Increased surveilance of employees
• Illegally fired new employees
• People who were hired through due process and merit based. Lots of effort was spent advertising, reviewing, interviewing, and selecting the right candidates.
• Wasted administrative and legal costs related to these illegal actions
• Cancelation of "non-essential" travel and cancellation of corporate society memberships
• Essentially no professional development available now.
• No investment in employees to maintain workforce skills as technology progresses.
• No reinvestments to attact employees.
• $0 limit on travel cards
• Additional adminstrative burden for all mission critical travel required to increase card limit.
• Charges have been declined and personnel stranded or forced to use personal card to complete assigned duties.
• High level approvals for contract actions
• Additional administrative burden to headquarters offices that was formerly resolved in the field office.
• Delays to construction leading to additional contract costs.
• Dissolution of the Resource Center
• Formerly a world class office in FHWA, provided technical support and training to State DOT's and other local agencies
• Offered a technical promotion track for various specialist engineers.
• One-third of workforce has left FHWA
• Well beyond "cutting the fat", we're removed limbs and organs at this point.
• Struggling to deliver our Congressionally mandated program.
• Reduction in Force (RIF) still on the horizon. No lessons learned by DOT leadership.

I write all this to make sure folks are aware of what is happening at an agency that typically fares well regardless of the political party in power. Other agencies have not been as fortunate as we have been. Some have been completely dismantled and effectively sold for parts.

This administration has decided to wage total war on the administrative state. I can see a not to distant future where the only role of the federal government is to wage war, imprison dissidents, and enrich the oligarchy. I don't want this future, but unless a lot of folks get out and call their representatives, protest, and fight legal battles, that is the future we are likely to see.

This post has become much longer than what I typically do, and I'm not sure that anyone will be willing to read all of it. If you did stick around, thanks! I hope you'll consider reading my other posts.