Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and current Secretary Sean Duffy traded sharp words Monday over the air traffic controller shortage that has disrupted U.S. travel during the government shutdown.
Buttigieg, who led the Department of Transportation under President Joe Biden, blasted President Donald Trump on X after he told controllers who walked off the job to “get back to work” and offered a $10,000 bonus for those who stayed on duty.
“The President wouldn’t last five minutes as an air traffic controller, and after everything they’ve been through — and the way this administration has treated them from Day One — he has no business sh***ing on them now,” Buttigieg wrote on X.
Duffy, who succeeded Buttigieg at the DOT under Trump, quickly fired back, accusing his predecessor of neglecting the department and leaving behind a broken aviation system.
“Give me a break,” Duffy wrote on X. “You were basically AWOL at the DOT. I spend my whole day dealing with your neglect and cleaning up your messes. Sit this one out.”
Give me a break. You were basically AWOL at the DOT.⁰⁰I spend my whole day dealing with your neglect and cleaning up your messes. Sit this one out. https://t.co/DPptdJ3wOm
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 10, 2025
The social media spat erupted on the same day that Trump, speaking in the Oval Office, defended his administration’s efforts to restore normal air travel once the government reopens.
“It’ll be better than normal,” Trump told reporters. “We’re buying the most sophisticated avionics and technology for our control towers. We didn’t have that — we had a guy named Buttigieg.”
Trump continued to slam the Biden secretary by mocking his name and implying that his work in the administration was taking the country “off the edge of a cliff.”
Trump cited last January’s fatal mid-air collision near Reagan National Airport, blaming outdated systems and “billions wasted” under Buttigieg’s leadership.
Buttigieg later responded with a social media video post defending his record, claiming Trump’s remarks were “false and confusing.”
Why is Trump going after America’s air traffic controllers, today of all days?
It’s one more way to distract from his decision to increase your health insurance premiums. pic.twitter.com/zXq6d9j7mW
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) November 11, 2025
“Other than mostly pronouncing my name right, everything he said was wrong,” Buttigieg said. “He just made a bunch of s*** up about air traffic control. This is a system that was in pretty rough shape by the time he lost in 2020, and we took it over. We improved it — including launching a long-term communications fix that is still underway.”
Buttigieg went on to accuse Trump of attacking federal workers “after everything they’ve been through.”
Buttigieg’s critics, however, say the department’s problems stem from his misplaced priorities while in office. A July New York Post report revealed that the DOT spent more than $80 billion on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, money, industry insiders say, that should have gone toward modernizing air traffic control technology.
The FAA has since faced a series of embarrassing safety lapses, including the fatal crash at Reagan National earlier this year involving a Blackhawk helicopter and a commercial jet. Investigators blamed communication failures, including an outdated Pentagon hotline that had been offline for more than a year.
BUTTIGIEG SAYS TRUMP ‘WOULDN’T LAST FIVE MINUTES AS AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER’
Duffy has made modernizing aviation safety a top priority, pledging to overhaul the FAA’s aging systems and hire new controllers once funding resumes.
As Congress works to reopen the government, both men appear eager to shape the narrative of Buttigieg defending his legacy and Duffy drawing a sharp contrast.
