Latest news with #AirTrafficControlSystem
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Duffy clashes with Democrats over DEI funding cuts, denies air traffic controllers let go
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sparred with Democrats at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, slamming Biden-era climate and social justice projects while also pushing back against claims 400 air traffic controllers have been let go. Duffy said such initiatives sucked money from other projects, and he pointed to the 2023 Harvard Supreme Court decision that effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions as justification for scrapping them. He said such Biden-era policies inflated project costs without contributing to safety or infrastructure quality. "Our department, over the course of the last hundred days, has saved taxpayers roughly $9.5 billion," Duffy said in his opening statement. "Those savings include monies pulled from projects tied to social justice to climate requirements, also boondoggle projects, as well as bringing efficiencies to the department." Transportation Secretary Says Air Traffic Control System Updates Will Take Time, But Not 'Jeopardize Safety' Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., took issue with the move and drew on personal experience to justify it. "My late wife... had to walk two and a half miles to school every morning right past the White school, where the White kids had buses. That was social injustice," Clyburn said. "Now all of a sudden we see this as wasteful government spending? I don't think so. I think this is a wise investment in a country that has challenges that we need all people involved in." Read On The Fox News App Duffy, while praising Clyburn's history and work as an elected official, clarified that he wasn't attacking the broader concept of social justice, but rather specific policy conditions under the Biden administration. "What I see with the climate and the social justice requirements in the projects that you so dearly want built, that it's adding costs on," Duffy said. "It's costing more money. If we take out 5 to 10% climate or social justice, that's money we don't have for additional projects. And that's my concern." Congress Moves To Address Air Traffic Controller Crisis As Newark Meltdown Sparks Alarm Duffy also clashed with Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., who claimed that 400 air traffic controllers have been let go, accusing the Trump administration of eroding national air travel safety and delaying infrastructure projects. "The administration undermined [safety efforts] by offering deferred resignation to controllers, and at least 400 of them… were fired, resulting in delays to much-needed upgrades," Torres said. Duffy sharply pushed back, calling her statement a "falsehood" and flatly denying the claim. "We have not fired – haven't let go – anyone," Duffy said. "Air traffic controllers? You said we let 400 go. No one in air traffic control has been allowed to take a deferred resignation offer. Not one. Not 400. Zero." The hearing focused on reviewing the Transportation Department's FY 2026 discretionary budget request of $26.7 billion, a 5.8% increase from FY 2025. He promised to reduce bureaucracy, eliminate inefficiencies and reallocate savings to infrastructure. "Our budget carefully focuses taxpayer resources on items critical to our most fundamental mission of safety and investing in transportation infrastructure," Duffy said. In terms of the recent outages at Newark Airport, he blamed them on missteps by the previous administration, citing an ill-planned transfer of airspace control from New York to Philadelphia. "They didn't test and make sure the lines were hardened… and they didn't move the STARS system, which helps interpret radar," Duffy said. "We're working at lightning speed and pace to get this resolved," he said. To ease pressure on the system, the FAA is also working with airlines to reduce flight volumes, he article source: Duffy clashes with Democrats over DEI funding cuts, denies air traffic controllers let go
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Ground stop in effect at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport due to weather
The Federal Aviation Administration reported a ground stop was in effect and delays were expected as severe weather enters the metro Atlanta area. The FAA announced the ground stop on their Air Traffic Control System Command Center system. According to the alert, the Diversion Recovery Tool has been activated for the airport. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: LIVE UPDATES: Severe Thunderstorm Warning for parts of metro, Tornado Watch still in effect Thousands turn out across Metro Atlanta to protest against presidential policies 'Respectful removal:' APD, fire department working to safely move dead horse from street [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk says millions in Social Security database are between ages of 100 and 159
Elon Musk indicated in a post on X that millions of people listed in a Social Security database are recorded as centenarians "with the death field set to FALSE!" "According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security," Musk posted, adding a couple of rolling on the floor laughing emojis. His post features a chart indicating there are more than 20 million listed with ages 100 and higher, including more than 3.9 million in the 130-139 age range, more than 3.5 million in the 140-149 range and more than 1.3 million in the 150-159 range. Duffy Brings Up Clinton While Noting Spacex Workers Will Visit Air Traffic Control System Command Center Fox News Digital reached out to the Social Security Administration for comment on Monday. While the U.S. population count in the 2020 census was more than 331 million, the count of people ages 100 and older was more than 80,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Read On The Fox News App Democrats Loved Idea Of Doge Before Trump, White House Quips "The logic flow diagram for the Social Security system looks INSANE. No one person actually knows how it works. The payment files that move between Social Security and Treasury have significant inconsistencies that are not reconciled. It's wild," Musk declared in a post on X. In another post, Musk said "there are FAR more 'eligible' social security numbers than there are citizens in the USA. This might be the biggest fraud in history." Treasury Department Recoups $31 Million In Improper Government Payments To Dead People President Donald Trump tapped Musk to spearhead the Department of Government Efficiency, an effort to uncover waste, fraud and abuse in the federal article source: Elon Musk says millions in Social Security database are between ages of 100 and 159
