Trump's officials claim dismissed workers ignored safety, but these DOT employees disagree.
Layoffs at the Transportation Department affected various sectors related to safety, encompassing efforts to analyze roadway fatalities and initiatives aimed at preventing pipeline leaks.
TroibNews 
A Transportation Department employee who researched measures to prevent highway fatalities lost their job. Likewise, an employee focused on preventing pipeline leaks and explosions was also let go, alongside individuals from an agency dedicated to keeping impaired drivers off the roads.
The initial round of mass firings at DOT under the Trump administration has impacted numerous employees whose work is crucial for public safety, according to over a dozen current and former department staff members who spoke to PMG — as agencies throughout the government prepare for further significant cuts.
The concerns raised by these employees clash with public reassurances from appointees of President Donald Trump that the extensive effort to cut costs, led by billionaire Elon Musk, seeks to eliminate excess while preserving public safety and essential services. These accounts also highlight the extensive nature and implications of the administration's purge of thousands of probationary employees in mid-February, which unfolded with little transparency regarding the specific offices and bureaus experiencing cuts.
Many of the terminations across other federal sectors are now uncertain after a judge ordered the rehiring of tens of thousands of probationary workers at six departments; however, this ruling did not apply to DOT.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for DOT disclosed that since the onset of the Trump administration, 788 probationary employees have been dismissed across the agency — a number that the department emphasized represents only 1.4 percent of its workforce.
Among those terminated were researchers studying how to lower highway fatalities, according to the current and former employees, who requested anonymity to discuss the dismissals candidly. Others had roles in the division responsible for investigating and potentially ordering recalls of defective vehicles, including those manufactured by Musk’s Tesla.
The purge also affected individuals tasked with monitoring pipeline safety across 2.6 million miles of gas and other pipelines, as detailed by one of the dismissed workers.
“The people saying losing these jobs are not going to affect safety are just idiots,” the former employee stated.
A total of 13 current and former DOT personnel conversed with PMG, including six who were among those let go in the February 14 purge of probationary workers. These firings were seen as a precursor to further layoffs anticipated at the more than 55,000-employee department as Trump advances his plans to streamline the federal bureaucracy.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has maintained that none of the terminated employees were essential for safety, specifically pointing out that the air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration have remained unaffected, although one FAA employees’ union countered that over 130 personnel supporting controllers were dismissed.
The DOT spokesperson reiterated on Wednesday that layoffs affecting less than 2 percent of DOT’s workforce “do not run counter to the mission of safety” and added that its “teams are layered with redundancies that ensure restructuring does not compromise safety operations.”
In addition, the spokesperson emphasized that safety is Duffy’s top priority and mentioned that if DOT employees find this new, fast-paced, solutions-oriented environment challenging, they may want to consider alternative employment outside the department.
However, safety advocates outside the government expressed their concerns about the potential repercussions of the firings, including those at lesser-known branches of DOT such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which employs around 800 individuals.
Approximately 4 percent of NHTSA’s workforce was impacted in the February 14 probationary employee purge, as reported by a DOT spokesperson. Among the dismissed were multiple employees from the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation, which routinely examines automakers and can initiate recalls for flawed vehicle designs and parts, according to a current NHTSA employee granted anonymity for sensitive discussions.
The defects office is deemed “critical to public safety because these are the people who actually understand the systems that make your brakes work and whether there might be a defect that makes them fail,” a former NHTSA official shared with PMG.
Motor vehicle fatalities have surged since 2013, reaching 43,230 in 2021 according to NHTSA data, while the total number of deaths in 2023 was reported at 40,990, illustrating a 25 percent increase over the past decade, though a downward trend has since been noted.
“We’re already in a really poor place when it comes to road safety,” remarked Leah Shahum, executive director of the Vision Zero Network, advocating for safer roadways. She characterized the cuts as alarming, stressing that employees within the agency “focus on keeping everyday Americans safe as they go to school and go to work."
“Going out on the roads is one of the more dangerous things Americans do in their lives, and it doesn’t have to be,” Shahum added.
One of the terminated DOT employees had been assessing which traffic safety measures are effective. Similar to many other dismissed probationary workers, this individual received a notice indicating that the termination was due to poor performance — as opposed to directives from Trump and Musk aimed at managing the federal workforce.
“It felt insulting to see it framed as having to do with performance. It was kind of a gut punch to see it framed that way,” the employee shared, adding, “I started worrying about my projects.”
Under the Biden administration, NHTSA has taken a rigorous approach in examining Tesla, including investigations to determine if Tesla’s inaccurately described “Autopilot” and “full self-driving” systems mislead drivers into believing they can afford to pay less attention to their driving.
The regulator also initiated an inquiry into Musk’s company following several accidents involving a phone app used for remotely maneuvering vehicles in difficult parking scenarios.
Duffy has asserted that he, too, regards minimizing highway dangers as a core focus, noting during his Senate nomination hearing that his wife survived a serious car accident. He committed to “prioritizing road safety, ensuring lives and families aren’t forever changed by preventable accidents.”
Part of ensuring safety encompasses research that forms the foundation of policy and regulations. A significant portion of the layoffs affected DOT’s research arm, the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where 11 percent of its employees hold doctoral degrees.
Sources familiar with the terminations indicated that more than 60 individuals at Volpe were let go. The center was also featured on an administration list proposing the sale of over 400 federal buildings for cost-cutting measures, although Volpe’s headquarters was subsequently removed from the list after it was taken down from a federal website.
Volpe’s research spans all transportation modes, including current projects investigating pilot interactions with airplane technologies, systems aimed at reducing substance-impaired driving, and advancing a new satellite-based air traffic control system.
Volpe does not receive direct congressional appropriations and operates on funds from sponsored projects.
One of the employees laid off on Valentine’s Day specialized in analyzing pipeline leaks and explosions to mitigate their frequency and impact.
“My research helps to develop a clear understanding of when and where pipeline accidents and incidents happen — what are the most likely contributors to these things, who is most likely to be affected,” the former employee explained. “Understanding those things is really essential to creating regulations and rules to make sure future incidents do not occur or at least are not as dangerous.”
Another dismissed employee was engaged in studying how to enhance the safety of electric vehicle batteries and ensure accessibility to automated public transit for individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities.
“I’m really worried about who is going to take on the work we’ve left behind,” the fired employee expressed.
Another agency significantly affected was the Federal Transit Administration, which manages transit grant programs and oversees the safety of federally-funded transit systems. Approximately 80 probationary employees were terminated, according to an insider familiar with the layoffs. The FTA’s headquarters in Washington comprises around 700 staff members, with additional personnel in field offices.
The Federal Highway Administration, overseeing funding for highways, bridges, and other transportation projects as well as initiatives aimed at reducing road fatalities nationwide, dismissed over 130 probationary employees, including two from its Office of Safety, as per a source acquainted with the situation.
A concentrated series of firings occurred at FHWA’s Office of Federal Lands Highway, with 25 employees dismissed, which provides funding and engineering assistance for public roads servicing federal and Native American lands.
Additional layoffs included three individuals from FHWA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer and two from its Office of Policy and Governmental Affairs. Regional FHWA offices were also affected, with layoffs occurring among personnel in Alaska, Texas, and Washington.
The terminations and the looming threat of further cuts have hindered operations at DOT. Employees remaining at the agency report struggling to manage the increased workload. Some noted being unable to access necessary data files due to restrictions, impeding their work.
“It’s been a struggle to continue our work without them,” a current DOT employee commented, citing instances where critical work depended on access to files left behind by dismissed coworkers.
Morale has reportedly declined, impacting work effectiveness.
“It’s batshit crazy. We came in to work and 10 percent of our staff was cut,” a DOT worker lamented. The employee also criticized emails mandating workers to justify the week’s accomplishments. “I feel like these projects are going to take significantly longer because of the people he laid off,” said another former DOT employee.
Moreover, those who remain are experiencing stress and turmoil that have affected their mental and physical health. At least two current employees mentioned seeking medical help for issues attributed to the chaos — one for heart palpitations and another for chest pain.
The uncertainty of impending layoffs further complicates planning for project timelines and scheduling meetings, given the unpredictability of personnel availability in the coming months.
“There’s already limited staffing, and we’re figuring out how the projects are going to make it with limited staffing,” a DOT employee remarked. “Sort of a bleak outlook.”
This reality has altered many employees’ perceptions of Duffy, as shared by those working both currently and previously in the department. Many who were terminated believe Duffy is not the decision-maker and lacks concern for safety, while others suggest he does not truly grasp how projects are executed from conception to completion or feel betrayed by his withdrawal from commitments made toward safety.
“I think Duffy is a right-wing-coded pretty face that they put in charge,” a former FHWA employee commented. “I think he will take his marching orders and do them. I just don’t think the marching orders are worth much.”
When approached for comments regarding the critiques from both current and former employees, a DOT spokesperson referred back to a prepared statement reiterating that “Secretary Duffy will continue to make safety his number one priority, and any suggestion to the contrary is a lie."
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
The initial round of mass firings at DOT under the Trump administration has impacted numerous employees whose work is crucial for public safety, according to over a dozen current and former department staff members who spoke to PMG — as agencies throughout the government prepare for further significant cuts.
The concerns raised by these employees clash with public reassurances from appointees of President Donald Trump that the extensive effort to cut costs, led by billionaire Elon Musk, seeks to eliminate excess while preserving public safety and essential services. These accounts also highlight the extensive nature and implications of the administration's purge of thousands of probationary employees in mid-February, which unfolded with little transparency regarding the specific offices and bureaus experiencing cuts.
Many of the terminations across other federal sectors are now uncertain after a judge ordered the rehiring of tens of thousands of probationary workers at six departments; however, this ruling did not apply to DOT.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for DOT disclosed that since the onset of the Trump administration, 788 probationary employees have been dismissed across the agency — a number that the department emphasized represents only 1.4 percent of its workforce.
Among those terminated were researchers studying how to lower highway fatalities, according to the current and former employees, who requested anonymity to discuss the dismissals candidly. Others had roles in the division responsible for investigating and potentially ordering recalls of defective vehicles, including those manufactured by Musk’s Tesla.
The purge also affected individuals tasked with monitoring pipeline safety across 2.6 million miles of gas and other pipelines, as detailed by one of the dismissed workers.
“The people saying losing these jobs are not going to affect safety are just idiots,” the former employee stated.
A total of 13 current and former DOT personnel conversed with PMG, including six who were among those let go in the February 14 purge of probationary workers. These firings were seen as a precursor to further layoffs anticipated at the more than 55,000-employee department as Trump advances his plans to streamline the federal bureaucracy.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has maintained that none of the terminated employees were essential for safety, specifically pointing out that the air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration have remained unaffected, although one FAA employees’ union countered that over 130 personnel supporting controllers were dismissed.
The DOT spokesperson reiterated on Wednesday that layoffs affecting less than 2 percent of DOT’s workforce “do not run counter to the mission of safety” and added that its “teams are layered with redundancies that ensure restructuring does not compromise safety operations.”
In addition, the spokesperson emphasized that safety is Duffy’s top priority and mentioned that if DOT employees find this new, fast-paced, solutions-oriented environment challenging, they may want to consider alternative employment outside the department.
However, safety advocates outside the government expressed their concerns about the potential repercussions of the firings, including those at lesser-known branches of DOT such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which employs around 800 individuals.
Approximately 4 percent of NHTSA’s workforce was impacted in the February 14 probationary employee purge, as reported by a DOT spokesperson. Among the dismissed were multiple employees from the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation, which routinely examines automakers and can initiate recalls for flawed vehicle designs and parts, according to a current NHTSA employee granted anonymity for sensitive discussions.
The defects office is deemed “critical to public safety because these are the people who actually understand the systems that make your brakes work and whether there might be a defect that makes them fail,” a former NHTSA official shared with PMG.
Motor vehicle fatalities have surged since 2013, reaching 43,230 in 2021 according to NHTSA data, while the total number of deaths in 2023 was reported at 40,990, illustrating a 25 percent increase over the past decade, though a downward trend has since been noted.
“We’re already in a really poor place when it comes to road safety,” remarked Leah Shahum, executive director of the Vision Zero Network, advocating for safer roadways. She characterized the cuts as alarming, stressing that employees within the agency “focus on keeping everyday Americans safe as they go to school and go to work."
“Going out on the roads is one of the more dangerous things Americans do in their lives, and it doesn’t have to be,” Shahum added.
One of the terminated DOT employees had been assessing which traffic safety measures are effective. Similar to many other dismissed probationary workers, this individual received a notice indicating that the termination was due to poor performance — as opposed to directives from Trump and Musk aimed at managing the federal workforce.
“It felt insulting to see it framed as having to do with performance. It was kind of a gut punch to see it framed that way,” the employee shared, adding, “I started worrying about my projects.”
Under the Biden administration, NHTSA has taken a rigorous approach in examining Tesla, including investigations to determine if Tesla’s inaccurately described “Autopilot” and “full self-driving” systems mislead drivers into believing they can afford to pay less attention to their driving.
The regulator also initiated an inquiry into Musk’s company following several accidents involving a phone app used for remotely maneuvering vehicles in difficult parking scenarios.
Duffy has asserted that he, too, regards minimizing highway dangers as a core focus, noting during his Senate nomination hearing that his wife survived a serious car accident. He committed to “prioritizing road safety, ensuring lives and families aren’t forever changed by preventable accidents.”
Part of ensuring safety encompasses research that forms the foundation of policy and regulations. A significant portion of the layoffs affected DOT’s research arm, the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where 11 percent of its employees hold doctoral degrees.
Sources familiar with the terminations indicated that more than 60 individuals at Volpe were let go. The center was also featured on an administration list proposing the sale of over 400 federal buildings for cost-cutting measures, although Volpe’s headquarters was subsequently removed from the list after it was taken down from a federal website.
Volpe’s research spans all transportation modes, including current projects investigating pilot interactions with airplane technologies, systems aimed at reducing substance-impaired driving, and advancing a new satellite-based air traffic control system.
Volpe does not receive direct congressional appropriations and operates on funds from sponsored projects.
One of the employees laid off on Valentine’s Day specialized in analyzing pipeline leaks and explosions to mitigate their frequency and impact.
“My research helps to develop a clear understanding of when and where pipeline accidents and incidents happen — what are the most likely contributors to these things, who is most likely to be affected,” the former employee explained. “Understanding those things is really essential to creating regulations and rules to make sure future incidents do not occur or at least are not as dangerous.”
Another dismissed employee was engaged in studying how to enhance the safety of electric vehicle batteries and ensure accessibility to automated public transit for individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities.
“I’m really worried about who is going to take on the work we’ve left behind,” the fired employee expressed.
Another agency significantly affected was the Federal Transit Administration, which manages transit grant programs and oversees the safety of federally-funded transit systems. Approximately 80 probationary employees were terminated, according to an insider familiar with the layoffs. The FTA’s headquarters in Washington comprises around 700 staff members, with additional personnel in field offices.
The Federal Highway Administration, overseeing funding for highways, bridges, and other transportation projects as well as initiatives aimed at reducing road fatalities nationwide, dismissed over 130 probationary employees, including two from its Office of Safety, as per a source acquainted with the situation.
A concentrated series of firings occurred at FHWA’s Office of Federal Lands Highway, with 25 employees dismissed, which provides funding and engineering assistance for public roads servicing federal and Native American lands.
Additional layoffs included three individuals from FHWA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer and two from its Office of Policy and Governmental Affairs. Regional FHWA offices were also affected, with layoffs occurring among personnel in Alaska, Texas, and Washington.
The terminations and the looming threat of further cuts have hindered operations at DOT. Employees remaining at the agency report struggling to manage the increased workload. Some noted being unable to access necessary data files due to restrictions, impeding their work.
“It’s been a struggle to continue our work without them,” a current DOT employee commented, citing instances where critical work depended on access to files left behind by dismissed coworkers.
Morale has reportedly declined, impacting work effectiveness.
“It’s batshit crazy. We came in to work and 10 percent of our staff was cut,” a DOT worker lamented. The employee also criticized emails mandating workers to justify the week’s accomplishments. “I feel like these projects are going to take significantly longer because of the people he laid off,” said another former DOT employee.
Moreover, those who remain are experiencing stress and turmoil that have affected their mental and physical health. At least two current employees mentioned seeking medical help for issues attributed to the chaos — one for heart palpitations and another for chest pain.
The uncertainty of impending layoffs further complicates planning for project timelines and scheduling meetings, given the unpredictability of personnel availability in the coming months.
“There’s already limited staffing, and we’re figuring out how the projects are going to make it with limited staffing,” a DOT employee remarked. “Sort of a bleak outlook.”
This reality has altered many employees’ perceptions of Duffy, as shared by those working both currently and previously in the department. Many who were terminated believe Duffy is not the decision-maker and lacks concern for safety, while others suggest he does not truly grasp how projects are executed from conception to completion or feel betrayed by his withdrawal from commitments made toward safety.
“I think Duffy is a right-wing-coded pretty face that they put in charge,” a former FHWA employee commented. “I think he will take his marching orders and do them. I just don’t think the marching orders are worth much.”
When approached for comments regarding the critiques from both current and former employees, a DOT spokesperson referred back to a prepared statement reiterating that “Secretary Duffy will continue to make safety his number one priority, and any suggestion to the contrary is a lie."
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
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