Trump’s officials claim dismissed workers neglected safety, but these DOT employees disagree.
Layoffs at the Transportation Department affected multiple divisions concentrated on safety, such as analyzing roadway fatalities and assisting in the prevention of pipeline leaks.
TroibNews 
A Transportation Department employee who researched ways to prevent highway fatalities was among those who lost their job, along with colleagues focused on stopping pipeline leaks and explosions and those dedicated to reducing impaired driving on the roads.
The Trump administration's recent mass firings at the Department of Transportation (DOT) have significantly affected employees whose work is pivotal for public safety, according to over a dozen current and former department staff members who spoke to PMG. This is happening as various agencies brace for even deeper budget cuts.
These employees voiced concerns that contradict assurances from President Donald Trump's appointees, who claim that the aggressive cost-cutting efforts, led by billionaire Elon Musk, are aimed at eliminating inefficiencies while preserving essential services and public safety. The situation has revealed the extensive nature and repercussions of the administration’s mid-February campaign, which saw thousands of probationary employees let go without much transparency regarding which specific offices were impacted.
A recent court ruling raised doubts about similar terminations in other federal agencies after a judge ordered that tens of thousands of probationary workers in six departments be reinstated, but it did not extend to the DOT.
On Wednesday, a DOT spokesperson reported that 788 probationary employees have been terminated across the agency since the start of the Trump administration, stressing that this represents only 1.4 percent of the overall workforce.
Among those dismissed was a researcher who specialized in reducing highway death rates, as well as personnel working in the DOT divisions responsible for investigating and issuing recalls of faulty vehicles, some of which are made by Musk's Tesla. The cuts also included an employee tasked with monitoring and mitigating hazards associated with 2.6 million miles of gas and other pipelines.
“The people saying losing these jobs are not going to affect safety are just idiots,” remarked a former employee.
Thirteen current and former employees shared their concerns with PMG, including six who were affected by the February 14 purge. These firings are seen as a precursor to further terminations anticipated in the DOT's workforce of over 55,000 as Trump continues his campaign to downsize the federal bureaucracy.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has maintained that none of the terminated employees were essential to safety operations. He highlighted that the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic controllers remained unaffected, although a union representing FAA employees reported that over 130 support staff, vital to the controllers' operations, were let go.
A DOT spokesperson reiterated in a statement that less than two percent of the workforce cuts “do not run counter to the mission of safety,” noting that the department's “teams are layered with redundancies that ensure restructuring does not compromise safety operations.” The spokesperson asserted that ensuring safety is Duffy's top priority and suggested that if DOT employees find the new, fast-paced work environment challenging, they might consider seeking employment elsewhere.
However, safety advocates outside government have echoed the concerns of the affected employees. They point out that cuts at less prominent branches of the DOT, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which employs about 800 individuals, could pose significant risks to public safety. According to a DOT spokesperson, roughly four percent of NHTSA's workforce was let go in the February 14 layoffs, including several personnel in the agency's Office of Defects Investigation, responsible for scrutinizing automakers and initiating recalls for defective vehicle parts.
The defects office is regarded as "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 told PMG.
Data from NHTSA illustrates a troubling rise in roadway fatalities since 2013, peaking at 43,230 in 2021 and hitting 40,990 in 2023, a 25 percent increase over the past decade while the numbers have been on a downward trend since 2021.
“We're already in a really poor place when it comes to road safety,” stated Leah Shahum, executive director of the Vision Zero Network, advocating for safer roads. She expressed concern over the cuts, emphasizing that agency employees "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.
Among those dismissed was a DOT researcher who was assessing effective traffic safety measures. Similar to many of those let go, this individual received notice citing poor performance as the reason for termination, rather than aligning with directives from Trump or Musk to shrink 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 expressed, also adding, “I started worrying about my projects.”
Under the Biden administration, NHTSA intensified its scrutiny of Tesla, including investigations into whether Tesla's “Autopilot” and “full self driving” systems mislead drivers into believing they can safely reduce their attention while driving. The regulator also probed Musk’s company following crashes linked to a phone app designed to help users maneuver their vehicles out of tight spots.
Duffy has stated his intention to prioritize road safety, mentioning in his written Senate nomination testimony that his wife survived a head-on collision and expressing a commitment to ensure that “lives and families aren’t forever changed by preventable accidents.”
However, ensuring safety is heavily reliant on research that informs regulations and policies, and the DOT's research division — the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts — suffered significant layoffs, with over 60 of its staff members terminated. Eleven percent of Volpe's employees hold doctorates, and the center's research encompasses a wide range of transportation modes.
One of the dismissed employees focused on examining pipeline leaks and explosions to help reduce their frequency and consequences. “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 fired worker contributed to improving electric vehicle battery safety and ensuring accessibility for individuals with disabilities in automated public transportation systems. “I’m really worried about who is going to take on the work we’ve left behind,” the fired employee said.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), which oversees transit safety and grant programs, also faced cuts, losing around 80 probationary employees, while the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) terminated over 130 probationary staff members, including those in the Office of Safety.
The layoffs have left remaining employees grappling with increased workloads. Some have reported being unable to access the data files of departed colleagues, hindering their ability to continue ongoing projects.
“It’s been a struggle to continue our work without them,” a current DOT worker stated, illustrating the impact of the cuts on project continuity.
Morale among the remaining staff is reportedly low, which is affecting productivity. Employees voiced concerns that the pace of projects will significantly slow due to recent layoffs.
“It’s batshit crazy. We came in to work and 10 percent of our staff was cut,” one DOT employee lamented, criticizing the demand for employees to justify their weekly productivity. Another former DOT employee echoed these sentiments, commenting that “these projects are going to take significantly longer because of the people he laid off.”
The stress and uncertainty about potential future layoffs have also taken a toll on the mental and physical health of some employees, with reports of staff seeking medical assistance due to stress-related ailments.
Interviewees noted the challenges of planning projects and scheduling meetings amid the uncertainty of staffing levels over 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, referring to the disheartening outlook.
The situation has strained many employees' perceptions of Secretary Duffy, with some former workers suggesting that he lacks true authority over safety matters. Many believe he does not fully grasp how to implement projects effectively or accuse him of going back on his promise to prioritize safety.
“I think Duffy is a right-wing-coded pretty face that they put in charge,” stated a former FHWA employee, arguing that he simply follows orders without understanding their full implications.
When approached for comments on the criticisms, a DOT spokesperson reiterated that “Secretary Duffy will continue to make safety his number one priority, and any suggestion to the contrary is a lie.”
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
The Trump administration's recent mass firings at the Department of Transportation (DOT) have significantly affected employees whose work is pivotal for public safety, according to over a dozen current and former department staff members who spoke to PMG. This is happening as various agencies brace for even deeper budget cuts.
These employees voiced concerns that contradict assurances from President Donald Trump's appointees, who claim that the aggressive cost-cutting efforts, led by billionaire Elon Musk, are aimed at eliminating inefficiencies while preserving essential services and public safety. The situation has revealed the extensive nature and repercussions of the administration’s mid-February campaign, which saw thousands of probationary employees let go without much transparency regarding which specific offices were impacted.
A recent court ruling raised doubts about similar terminations in other federal agencies after a judge ordered that tens of thousands of probationary workers in six departments be reinstated, but it did not extend to the DOT.
On Wednesday, a DOT spokesperson reported that 788 probationary employees have been terminated across the agency since the start of the Trump administration, stressing that this represents only 1.4 percent of the overall workforce.
Among those dismissed was a researcher who specialized in reducing highway death rates, as well as personnel working in the DOT divisions responsible for investigating and issuing recalls of faulty vehicles, some of which are made by Musk's Tesla. The cuts also included an employee tasked with monitoring and mitigating hazards associated with 2.6 million miles of gas and other pipelines.
“The people saying losing these jobs are not going to affect safety are just idiots,” remarked a former employee.
Thirteen current and former employees shared their concerns with PMG, including six who were affected by the February 14 purge. These firings are seen as a precursor to further terminations anticipated in the DOT's workforce of over 55,000 as Trump continues his campaign to downsize the federal bureaucracy.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has maintained that none of the terminated employees were essential to safety operations. He highlighted that the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic controllers remained unaffected, although a union representing FAA employees reported that over 130 support staff, vital to the controllers' operations, were let go.
A DOT spokesperson reiterated in a statement that less than two percent of the workforce cuts “do not run counter to the mission of safety,” noting that the department's “teams are layered with redundancies that ensure restructuring does not compromise safety operations.” The spokesperson asserted that ensuring safety is Duffy's top priority and suggested that if DOT employees find the new, fast-paced work environment challenging, they might consider seeking employment elsewhere.
However, safety advocates outside government have echoed the concerns of the affected employees. They point out that cuts at less prominent branches of the DOT, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which employs about 800 individuals, could pose significant risks to public safety. According to a DOT spokesperson, roughly four percent of NHTSA's workforce was let go in the February 14 layoffs, including several personnel in the agency's Office of Defects Investigation, responsible for scrutinizing automakers and initiating recalls for defective vehicle parts.
The defects office is regarded as "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 told PMG.
Data from NHTSA illustrates a troubling rise in roadway fatalities since 2013, peaking at 43,230 in 2021 and hitting 40,990 in 2023, a 25 percent increase over the past decade while the numbers have been on a downward trend since 2021.
“We're already in a really poor place when it comes to road safety,” stated Leah Shahum, executive director of the Vision Zero Network, advocating for safer roads. She expressed concern over the cuts, emphasizing that agency employees "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.
Among those dismissed was a DOT researcher who was assessing effective traffic safety measures. Similar to many of those let go, this individual received notice citing poor performance as the reason for termination, rather than aligning with directives from Trump or Musk to shrink 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 expressed, also adding, “I started worrying about my projects.”
Under the Biden administration, NHTSA intensified its scrutiny of Tesla, including investigations into whether Tesla's “Autopilot” and “full self driving” systems mislead drivers into believing they can safely reduce their attention while driving. The regulator also probed Musk’s company following crashes linked to a phone app designed to help users maneuver their vehicles out of tight spots.
Duffy has stated his intention to prioritize road safety, mentioning in his written Senate nomination testimony that his wife survived a head-on collision and expressing a commitment to ensure that “lives and families aren’t forever changed by preventable accidents.”
However, ensuring safety is heavily reliant on research that informs regulations and policies, and the DOT's research division — the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts — suffered significant layoffs, with over 60 of its staff members terminated. Eleven percent of Volpe's employees hold doctorates, and the center's research encompasses a wide range of transportation modes.
One of the dismissed employees focused on examining pipeline leaks and explosions to help reduce their frequency and consequences. “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 fired worker contributed to improving electric vehicle battery safety and ensuring accessibility for individuals with disabilities in automated public transportation systems. “I’m really worried about who is going to take on the work we’ve left behind,” the fired employee said.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), which oversees transit safety and grant programs, also faced cuts, losing around 80 probationary employees, while the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) terminated over 130 probationary staff members, including those in the Office of Safety.
The layoffs have left remaining employees grappling with increased workloads. Some have reported being unable to access the data files of departed colleagues, hindering their ability to continue ongoing projects.
“It’s been a struggle to continue our work without them,” a current DOT worker stated, illustrating the impact of the cuts on project continuity.
Morale among the remaining staff is reportedly low, which is affecting productivity. Employees voiced concerns that the pace of projects will significantly slow due to recent layoffs.
“It’s batshit crazy. We came in to work and 10 percent of our staff was cut,” one DOT employee lamented, criticizing the demand for employees to justify their weekly productivity. Another former DOT employee echoed these sentiments, commenting that “these projects are going to take significantly longer because of the people he laid off.”
The stress and uncertainty about potential future layoffs have also taken a toll on the mental and physical health of some employees, with reports of staff seeking medical assistance due to stress-related ailments.
Interviewees noted the challenges of planning projects and scheduling meetings amid the uncertainty of staffing levels over 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, referring to the disheartening outlook.
The situation has strained many employees' perceptions of Secretary Duffy, with some former workers suggesting that he lacks true authority over safety matters. Many believe he does not fully grasp how to implement projects effectively or accuse him of going back on his promise to prioritize safety.
“I think Duffy is a right-wing-coded pretty face that they put in charge,” stated a former FHWA employee, arguing that he simply follows orders without understanding their full implications.
When approached for comments on the criticisms, a DOT spokesperson reiterated that “Secretary Duffy will continue to make safety his number one priority, and any suggestion to the contrary is a lie.”
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
