How qualified is Sean Duffy to run the Department of Transportation?

[u/Many_Combination_855]

Sean Duffy went from Fox Business co-host to running the transportation system for the entire country. What experience does he actually have in transportation? How competent do you think he is for this job?

[u/bgthigfist]

If he was qualified, Trump wouldn't have installed him

[u/Absurdum_Est → u/bgthigfist]

It's a feature, not a bug

[u/Frito_Bandit0 → u/Absurdum_Est]

Trump is a bug

[u/dampheat → u/Frito_Bandit0]

Don't insult bugs like that

[u/Electronic-Minute007 → u/bgthigfist]

No one qualified wants to associate themselves with Trump.

[u/jjcrayfish → u/Electronic-Minute007]

Trump himself is not qualified. He's a reality TV show actor, felon, rapist, conman, and Russian asset with no political achievements before 2016.

[u/fat-load-of-cum-then → u/jjcrayfish]

Or since 2016.

[u/Skinnieguy → u/bgthigfist]

Yup. Qualified people will push back against Trump. Trump doesn’t want resistance. Just a cabinet full of idiots who praise him.

The cabinet then hires more of their people to continue the grift. At the end, some unqualified subcontractor gets to deal with the execution.

Then when congress investigates, the subcontractor doesn’t exist like the Doge guy.

[u/dragon34]

Zero people who Trump likes are competent.  And no  one who supports Trump is trustworthy or competent 

[u/Stacie123a → u/dragon34]

Ruth Ben-Ghiat (scholar who is an expert in dictators) said that there is always a drain of morality and competence in autocratic governance, because having morality and expertise around a dipshit, invites comparison and injury to the autocratic ego.

[u/vthings → u/Stacie123a]

Well tell Ruth Ben-Ghiat that they hit the nail on the head with that one.

[u/Stacie123a → u/vthings]

Her book Strongmen is absolutely worth the read, and if you're not a book person, she has a substack called Lucid that is very good.

[u/throwawayurwaste → u/Stacie123a]

Look at what happened to Dr. Fauci, he was burned at the stake for the crime of knowing more about infection disease than a bleach drinker

[u/Kham117 → u/Stacie123a]

100%

[u/AffectionatePiece560 → u/dragon34]

yup. the entire movement is drunks, con men and podcasters standing on a pile of even dumber people

[u/Tiny-Lock9652 → u/AffectionatePiece560]

Because they all fall in line. He had actual quasi-capable cabinet members in his first term that resisted his darkest impulses. Most were fired. Term 2 he figured it out and placed the dumbest sycophants who would give him everything he asked for with 0 push back.

Keep in mind, Congress approved the appointments so that’s where the blame needs to be placed.

[u/AffectionatePiece560 → u/Tiny-Lock9652]

yup, and the amount of Democrats voting yes wasnt zero, so its bipartisan blame

[u/sowhyarewe → u/AffectionatePiece560]

Which includes Mark Kelly who voted yes on 9 of them. People think he is the next president, I think he's more of the same shit.

[u/AffectionatePiece560 → u/sowhyarewe]

exactly. it should have been wall to wall NO the entire Trump term. instead we had democratic LEADERSHIP voting with him. cooked party

[u/Conscious-Garlic4193 → u/AffectionatePiece560]

It’s not like he would have put forth better candidates if Dems said no…there’s a seemingly bottomless barrel of toadies he can choose from

[u/AffectionatePiece560 → u/Conscious-Garlic4193]

so what exactly was the reasoning for voting yes?

[u/steveg → u/AffectionatePiece560]

Thank you. This cope “aw shucks it wouldn’t have mattered because the Republicans would have found another way to do it” shit is infuriating.

Does conviction and principle mean nothing to these people? I don’t care if 99% of the panel are voting for something bad. Be the fucking 1% that stands for something and does the right thing.

[u/AffectionatePiece560 → u/steveg]

same as the people insisting it doesnt matter that Dems missed the Kegseth impeachment vote. i dont care if the vote would have failed anyway. i want my employees at their fucking desks.

[u/2lrup2tink → u/AffectionatePiece560]

Don't forget pedophiles and rapists.

ETA - Thank you for the awards kind strangers!!

[u/AffectionatePiece560 → u/2lrup2tink]

how could i forget the stars of the MAGA sky

[u/the_last_carfighter → u/AffectionatePiece560]

MAGA really wanted to expose the deep state/child trafficking/wasteful spending and well...

2-3% of former MAGA right now

[u/AggressiveAd5592 → u/AffectionatePiece560]

There are competent con men. Lutnick and the Kushners and the Trumps have made a lot of money, among many others. They're interested in making money for themselves, not helping the country.

[u/CauseTheRebel → u/AggressiveAd5592]

A lot of really stupid people confuse having money with competence.

[u/AffectionatePiece560 → u/CauseTheRebel]

also, these cons arent that sophisticated. they're just knocking down buildings, paying themselves for the "restoration", and stealing the copper from the walls

[u/j4y53n → u/AffectionatePiece560]

Avoiding paying contractors or taxes. Running outright scams to take millions from their followers. Taking government hand outs and billions in taxpayer money.

[u/BertieWilberforce → u/CauseTheRebel]

Worked in HR at a global investment bank for years. Can confirm.

[u/specqq → u/BertieWilberforce]

You get a lot of the "think they're smarter than everyone else because they're greedier than everyone else" types?

They're "clear-eyed" about money being the only thing that matters? And that makes them smart?

[u/BertieWilberforce → u/specqq]

Bankers I worked with who were Trump-level in terms of lack of self-awareness believed themselves to be smart about *everything* not just money. Epic delusion.

[u/AggressiveAd5592 → u/CauseTheRebel]

Their aim is acquiring money. I'm not sure what your argument is.

Edit to add something I said elsewhere:

He was trying to grift. My point was he is a competent grifter. He was never trying to be a good diplomat.

[u/dragon34 → u/AggressiveAd5592]

It's easy to get more money when you start out with lots of money. Like Trump 

[u/phat_ → u/dragon34]

The sad thing is understanding that these fuckers could choose to help people with that wealth and their choice is evil.

And they revel in it.

[u/Few-Bass4238 → u/AggressiveAd5592]

Folks like Kushner are competent at grifting. That's a lot different than being competent at the job they're assigned. For example, he completely flubbed the Iran negotiations. Iran was requesting JD Vance of all people due to Kushner trying to personally profit off the situation instead of actually trying to reach an agreement.

[u/AggressiveAd5592 → u/Few-Bass4238]

He was trying to grift. My point was he is a competent grifter. He was never trying to be a good diplomat.

[u/Gio25us → u/AffectionatePiece560]

Which makes you think how competent are the agencies that despite that it stills somewhat functional.

[u/PaintedDesertSkies → u/AffectionatePiece560]

You forgot predators and pedo's which is their cream of the crop.

[u/Shu3PO → u/AffectionatePiece560]

That's not accurate. 

Some of them are cokeheads, too.

[u/cursedfan → u/AffectionatePiece560]

Nah they are standing on good well meaning people who took their jobs because they believe in them and just wanna work every day without it being a clown show or some disaster waiting to happen

[u/Awkward_Operation516 → u/dragon34]

His current administration has recruited 23 (or more) Fox News personalities. It's like using a porta potty as a grocery store.

[u/KaetzenOrkester → u/dragon34]

Any of the so-called adults in the room from his first administration refused to serve in his second. That speaks volumes. What do they know???

[u/No-Mathematician3004 → u/dragon34]

What are you talking about? Duffy attended a law school that no longer exists and starred as the house whore on the Real World Boston. He is the poster child for meritocracy. 

[u/onlyreason4u → u/dragon34]

Authoritarians don't like competence because competence is a threat to their rule. Ultimately that's always what leads to their downfall.

[u/NordnarbDrums → u/dragon34]

This was very out loud and explicit the strategy Steve Bannon talked about endlessly. He sees every government agency as corrupt because the people running them are all so stuck in their own world they can't see the larger picture of the American government. The answer is to install a loyal patriot overtop of each agency who had the blinders off and could call them out on their "corruption" and stop being a deep state insider. Deep state insiders aren't born according to Bannon, they are created through the government bureaucracy they exist inside of and don't have enough awareness to stop.

So yeah, basically it's install an idiot who thinks it's all a conspiracy like trump and Bannon.

[u/Lurker123456543210 → u/NordnarbDrums]

Everything is a conspiracy when you don't understand how anything works

[u/JankyTundra → u/dragon34]

Blaming someone in the Biden administration, Pete I'd guess, is probably the only qualification needed.

[u/Training_Chemist_259 → u/dragon34]

Hey now, he's wearing that flight suit looking outfit, and he's confident enough to turn up the collar -totally qualified.

[u/fireonavan → u/dragon34]

Zero competent people likes Trump.

[u/drewcandraw → u/dragon34]

To him, most important qualifications are unwavering loyalty and deference.

Quality people who are actually good at what they do have learned through experience that their ideas and viewpoints are worth fighting for and will push back on leadership. That doesn’t fly in a kakistocracy.

[u/Beatthestrings]

He’s a former MTV gameshow contestant. The Department of Education is run by a wrestler’s wife. The head of the Navy was a sex art collector with no Naval experience. The Defense Secretary is a daytime talk show host.

[u/Delicious_CoughSyrup → u/Beatthestrings]

oh no you don't. Please be accurate.

The Defense Secretary was the weekend host for that daytime talk show.

[u/RepublicHistorical23 → u/Delicious_CoughSyrup]

Either way, the guy is a fucking clown and shouldn't be running anything anywhere in government.

[u/seriouslythisshit → u/RepublicHistorical23]

" Is a fucking clown and shouldn't be running anything anywhere in government."

I believe that is now used as a Trump admin job description.

[u/packfanmoore → u/RepublicHistorical23]

Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down

[u/minnesotawristwatch → u/packfanmoore]

And his axe!

[u/Enfenestrate → u/Delicious_CoughSyrup]

Sadly, because Hegseth was actually in the military, he's probably the most qualified out of all of Trump's appointees.

But he's qualified in the same sense that I'm qualified to be the Secretary of Education because I work in a school.

[u/seriouslythisshit → u/Delicious_CoughSyrup]

Weekend host who had serious and well known issues with alcoholism. Well known issues with infidelity, and had a child with another Fox employee while married to his second wife. His previous service in the military was widely considered to be a joke, and his leadership talents were not forgotten by his soldiers who still describe him as a totally incompetent, gigantic asshole.

[u/foolproofphilosophy → u/Delicious_CoughSyrup]

And don’t forget that his own mother basically called him a predator.

[u/AvantGuardb → u/Delicious_CoughSyrup]

that's like second string, isn't it? accuracy is important (well, not to this administration)

[u/doctor-rumack → u/Beatthestrings]

How to own the libz:

1. Hire tremendously unqualified people to do jobs they don't understand.

2. Watch them fuck things up.

3. Blame Joe Biden.

[u/joshlymansbagel → u/doctor-rumack]

1. profit!

[u/redditfant → u/doctor-rumack]

How to pay your dues to Putin:

1 Hire dangerously unqualified people to run essential US governmental departments (Defense, education, transportation) 

2 Watch them fuck things up while you take in billions in stock manipulation

3 Before the end of your term attempt to seize control of the US via your massive military police force (ICE) or, failing that, flea to Russia or another corrupt country who's leader you've also helped prop up via cash bribes 

[u/CurledUpUnderACat → u/redditfant]

You got it. How people are relaxing after the blue wave is puzzling. He’s not leaving without a fight, likely one that will make Jan 6 look tame by comparison.

Edit: It’s not just that he wants money. He wants to destroy this country.

[u/jcypikls → u/CurledUpUnderACat]

Rule, not destroy. They think everything is fine as is which is easy to say when your billionaire.

[u/MangoSoda28 → u/redditfant]

lol sounds like they sht on ppl, and blame ppl for getting sh\t* on

[u/DammatBeevis666 → u/doctor-rumack]

See: Kakistocracy

[u/SlammmnSammy → u/doctor-rumack]

I'll offer an addendum to your item 1: hire unqualified people, then wonder out loud to the entire world if black pilots are qualified to fly planes because of DEI. And remove top military brass if they are women and/or minorities, because DEI.

[u/Street-Albatross9193 → u/SlammmnSammy]

Jokes on them. How many plane crashes and near misses have there been in the last 2 years? Only white now. Can’t blame DEI anymore.

[u/Affectionate-Bee-691 → u/doctor-rumack]

CORRECTION:
Hegseth was a WEEKEND talk show CO-host.

[u/FrankFankledank → u/Beatthestrings]

And the Secretary of Commerce was Epstein's neighbor for over a decade.

[u/ToasterBathTester → u/FrankFankledank]

And the Presidents wife was Epstein’s girlfriend before she married him

[u/zoppaTheDim → u/ToasterBathTester]

You meant “girlfriend.”

[u/RepublicHistorical23 → u/zoppaTheDim]

You mean whore. "You gimme green card I make fuck".

[u/Canadian-Man-infj → u/Beatthestrings]

Wish a certain someone would go back to throwing axes on Fox News instead of launching missiles, bombs, and drone-strikes on people.

[u/jhow87 → u/Canadian-Man-infj]

Except that ax hit a guy, so maybe everything on Faux News except that segment

[u/BuffaloSufficient758 → u/Beatthestrings]

DHS is former plumber turned MMA fighter turned Fox News host

[u/sugarfrosted → u/BuffaloSufficient758]

Who threatened to fight someone on the committee floor.

[u/First-Fishing-880 → u/BuffaloSufficient758]

A Nepo plumber at that! He inherited his father’s successful plumbing supply company. He’s a former rasseler, and ass clown at fake news.

[u/Mr_Daniel_Lumis → u/BuffaloSufficient758]

Yea but he has an associate's degree in plumbing.

[u/seriouslythisshit → u/Mr_Daniel_Lumis]

They must of been handing that degree out with a purchase of five water heaters, because he is dumb as a fucking bag of hair. There is no way he successfully struggled through any degree, even if we are talking an Oklahoma community college degree.

[u/farkus2554 → u/Beatthestrings]

And a former drug addict and anti-vaxxer is the Secretary of HHS. If you wrote a novel with this cast of characters in high government positions, editors would pan it as implausible.

[u/pfunkk007 → u/farkus2554]

All lead by a fail real estate developer, rapist, pedophile, who hosted his own reality TV show.

[u/smallmoth → u/farkus2554]

Editors: No one will find this plausible. It’s just too over the top.

[u/PillowFightrr → u/farkus2554]

Former?

[u/DrtRdrGrl2008 → u/farkus2554]

Hollywood beat us to it with “Idiocracy”

[u/octophobic → u/DrtRdrGrl2008]

President Camacho would never tolerate this flagrant abuse by members of his cabinet. He'd be hiring the smartest man on the planet right now to fix the issue or face rehabilitation

[u/NoelMagentaShag → u/DrtRdrGrl2008]

Honestly, I'd trust Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho more than anyone in this administration. At least he knows what plants crave.

[u/Professional_Pace163 → u/farkus2554]

He initially wanted a cabinet position with Harris… she said no and he turned around and endorsed Trump exchange for an appointment as HHS secretary.

[u/court817 → u/Beatthestrings]

Don’t forget about Oprah pal, the supplement shilling tv “doctor,” head of Medicare, Mehmet Oz.

[u/Capital-Constant3112 → u/court817]

I’ve never liked him. I did home health nursing and a huge percentage of my patients would cite Dr Oz as their reason for taking a bunch of supplements that could interfere with their prescription meds or they’d just replace them with Dr Oz’s magical pills. It was irresponsible of the network as well as highly dangerous.

[u/bettereverydamday → u/Beatthestrings]

Don’t forget our chief negotiator in war is his son in law who is a real estate developer turned private equity guy who is managing the money and had fiduciary duty to those investors while he is also negotiating for America. 

[u/LiveLeave → u/bettereverydamday]

And Kushner's father was an 18 count felon who tried to intimidate witnesses by hiring a prostitute to seduce his brother in law and secretly video taping it.

[u/harbison215 → u/Beatthestrings]

At least they weren’t DEI hires.

/S

[u/ShrimpZillaL03A → u/Beatthestrings]

The head of the Navy is no longer sex art guy, it’s a retired navy officer now.

He believes witches are real.

[u/3StickNakedDrummer → u/Beatthestrings]

You make it sound so bad. /s

[u/Riley3015 → u/3StickNakedDrummer]

Trumps requirements: look good on tv (a nice ass helps here, for men) lie your ass off with a straight face, publicly humiliate yourself by groveling, heaping praise on trump , double down

[u/AnybodyWannaPeanus → u/Riley3015]

This is just further proof Trump is deeply unserious about the position. I’ll also add that a lot of the elected Congress is complicit by confirming this guy. The same goes for Hegseth.

He actually seemed like he had a couple of drinks before going on. The rant about congressional funding is the most insane thing I have seen in something like this.

I guess I can’t wait for the inevitable SNL skit.

[u/Krass101 → u/Beatthestrings]

Don’t forget the nepo baby lawyer with a brain worm running our Health and Human Services!

[u/Advanced_Summer2112 → u/Beatthestrings]

Only “the best” people

[u/ChrisRiley_42 → u/Advanced_Summer2112]

They are all DEI appointments.

[u/tomdurk → u/Beatthestrings]

Weekend talk show host.

[u/rebel_alliance05 → u/Beatthestrings]

Idiocracy

[u/Rivendel93]

There isn't a single qualified person in this administration.

[u/beaushaw → u/Rivendel93]

I understand (kinda) of liking Trump because you like conservative policies. But seriously how can anyone look at the people he has hired, especially in his second term, and think he is doing a good job.

Pretty much every single hire he has made is wildly unqualified.

Come on, if you can't admit this you need to admit you are in a cult.

[u/TheLordVader1978 → u/beaushaw]

IMO the average maga/trump voter gives absolutely zero shits about anything that does not effect them personally. FAA run by a completely unqualified clown? I don't fly so don't really care. Trumps team quickly identified what issues inflamed people the most and leaned into it. Every time support starts to wane they just tighten the screws. What really matters, the shit that needs to get done to make the country run his voters could give two shits about, as long as the mythical brown person that is stealing all the 6 figure jobs in your one stoplight town gets deported.

[u/ComfortableBedroom76 → u/Rivendel93]

In fact, this cabinet is the exact antithesis of what a cabinet is supposed to look like in today's world

[u/ItsAGoodLifeTZ → u/Rivendel93]

Rubio is competent but morally bankrupt.

[u/sunny5075 → u/ItsAGoodLifeTZ]

Rubio was a senator. He is clearly unqualified to be Secretary of State - Jared Kushner is negotiating?

[u/oldbastardbob → u/sunny5075]

I think I have the Kushner thing with Trump figured out.

Kushner is really good at talking people into fraudulent things. And Trump believes that the goal of any negotiation is to screw over whoever is being negotiated with, defraud them if you will, through deception and browbeating. Then it follows that Trump would want the person he knows who is best at defrauding others as his main "negotiator."

I.e. "Don the Con" believes "negotiation" is fundamentally con artistry, and if not himself, then who better than Jared Kushner for that.

[u/Vyntarus → u/sunny5075]

Being a senator is a qualification, but I disagree with the person above that makes him competent.

[u/AldousKing → u/Vyntarus]

On top of being a Senator, he served as a long-standing member of the Senate Foreign Relations Comittee, and chaired the Subcommittees on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues.

Also agree that doesn't make him competent.

[u/Vyntarus → u/AldousKing]

I think we are on the same page. On paper Rubio is the most (and only) qualified appointee in the regime.

He still sucks at his job, and should stand trial for complicity in war crimes.

[u/aphilsphan → u/AldousKing]

Compared to most of the administration he’s Teddy Roosevelt. But the fact that he stays and hangs his head while Trump ruins our alliances makes him a fellow traveler at best.

[u/mattyoclock]

There is literally not a single thing in his background that would lead you to assume he will have baseline competence in an incredibly important job that will impact millions of people.  

[u/BrownBuffaloaf → u/mattyoclock]

What’s the worst that could happen? Nationwide air shutdown?

[u/Gio25us → u/BrownBuffaloaf]

We are lucky that airplanes are a redundancy over redundancy machines otherwise the amount of accidents will make the 70-80 look like nothing.

[u/gobbler_69 → u/BrownBuffaloaf]

5 deadly air crashes in this administration speaks volumes for their levels of competency

[u/kjlsdjfskjldelfjls → u/mattyoclock]

His background in reality TV definitely gave him a leg up in terms of filming a reality TV show with his family though, instead of doing his job running USDOT

edit: a show sponsored by companies his agency is meant to regulate, no less. In case you were concerned it couldn't get any worse.

[u/dontwannagetdoxxed93 → u/mattyoclock]

He was on Road Rules on MTV. I am not even kidding I think that is why he got the job. Trump is an idiot. Same with why we had a brain surgeon in charge of HUD in his first term. Housing and URBAN Development and it is the cabinet position he has given to a black person both times because not only is Trump stupid but he is racist too.

[u/East_Extent_2948 → u/mattyoclock]

The press conference was a grade school level report. Nothing more than stuff is old and broken.

[u/2ndSmrtestPersunEvar → u/mattyoclock]

He was on Road Rules, bruh! ROAD Rules…he knows roads…probably better than any other reality star contestant with an IQ as low as his!

[u/McGillicuddys → u/mattyoclock]

He was on Road Rules, how much more transportation related can you get than that?

[u/Spiritual_Weight_416]

Well, you see, he was on The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, so he totally understands running a massive transportation organization.

[u/Broad_Departure_9559]

No one is actually qualified for their jobs in this administration.

The DHS lead is a MMA fighter with roid rage.
Hegseth is a TV personality. With roid rage.
His son-in-law who buys apartment buildings is negotiating with Iran, Russia.
Nikki Menaj is being considered for a role.
The Health Secretary has no health exp, “sounds sick “, and claims to have had worms in his brain.
The Secretary of State ( Rubio ) is worried about Cuba?
They hired the drunk judge from Fox to be a real judge

[u/hungrygiraffe76 → u/Broad_Departure_9559]

Let’s not forget the secretary of education and her professional wrestling career

[u/SuckMyBandAids → u/Broad_Departure_9559]

Also isnt his "former" personal lawyer the Attorney General as well.

[u/MoFa__SoDa → u/Broad_Departure_9559]

Dana White. Trump has been trying to talk Dana White into being press secretary

[u/Throfahri → u/MoFa__SoDa]

That was mostly cause he saw the name Dana White (another Dana White) on a shortlist, misunderstood it (like he always does) then tried to write it off as a joke.

[u/Justified_Gent → u/Broad_Departure_9559]

Rubio is qualified, he’s just mistaken.

Everyone else is grossly unqualified.

[u/YngviIsALouse → u/Justified_Gent]

Rubio is qualified, he’s just mistaken.

You misspelled spineless.

[u/Justified_Gent → u/YngviIsALouse]

Fair - but I think Cuba and Venezuela are 100% Rubio pet projects. I don’t think Trump can find either country on an unlabeled map.

[u/orcinyadders]

Hold on. He’s going to stand up there in front of the country, and casually say he needs 50 billion for the system they just turned on that grounded air traffic becuase of a systemwide failure?

Why doesn’t this dumbass explain in great detail what happened and how it got there first? And why he’s experimenting with air safety in real time with unproven systems?

[u/thecastellan1115 → u/orcinyadders]

So, I've been in all-hands meetings with this guy as early as a few months ago where he was casually asserting that under his glorious leadership the FAA was going to modernize everything that the past admins had "failed" to do within a couple of years. The FAA administrator got up and left halfway through the session.

Duffy is absolutely, devastatingly unqualified for his position, and the only saving grace is that DOT has been apolitical long enough that there's still a solid cadre of career feds to keep things running.

[u/BurritoDespot → u/thecastellan1115]

How do Trump and MAGA always forget THEY WERE ALSO a previous administration? So they admit that they slept on all these “issues” too?

[u/Kham117 → u/BurritoDespot]

They’ve controlled ALL branches for 2 years and done fuck all with this, did actually get 12.5 billion a year ago and apparently tanked the roll out of what they did do, while Dumbass and family made a reality TV show on the people’s dime…

[u/Snoo-25687 → u/orcinyadders]

Look at the mother fucker who did the reflecting pool. Who knows what shit favor company did this work

[u/ConiferousTurtle → u/orcinyadders]

He has flown on airplanes several times. Does he need more experience? /s

[u/CarpeData00]

My conspiracy view: After getting pummeled in the recent elections and knowing that the next Congress (starting Jan. 3, 2027) would never fund $30B with Duffy at the wheel, they created a "false flag" event ahead of Thanksgiving flight surges to try to get the current Congress to fund Duffy's plan, "Give Duffy the money!" This would only impact Americans, which is why international flights weren't affected.

Also, despite turning on SMART AI on Thursday, a company where Duffy's own son-in-law works and has greatly benefitted from, it might also be that.

In an act of make or break stupidity, Duffy and Mullin decided to go big with "$50B." Congress will be back in session on Nov. 17 through Nov. 20 (see, timing is everything).

I suspect that Duffy's folly won't get funding and the next Congress will start an investigation into the ground stop. Duffy will resign or be forced out. Mullin might leave or simply blame Duffy.

[u/TheLordVader1978 → u/CarpeData00]

At this point I don't think anything is off the table. Shit that would be considered a "conspiracy theory" 10-15 years ago are legitimate arguments against this administrations actions. We have officially reached the moment in this timeline when conspiracy theories are reality, and reality is a conspiracy theory.

[u/DoGoodThings9495 → u/CarpeData00]

They painted Ai over an aging data infrastructure and released it in 5 months instead of the original 12-24 months they stated in their original plans. The contract went to a company that bankrolled Duffy’s son-in-law’s congressional campaign, which was arguably qualified to scale their existing solution to and enterprise-wide FAA solution.

They started getting “data inconsistencies” from the old systems, and shut everything down (this is what was stated by Duffy in his press conference).

They were stupid enough to think they could plug and play automated data decision-making software without ensuring the data infrastructure could provide consistent and “clean” data.

Meanwhile, Musk made huge cuts to the FAA through DOGE, forcing automation, knowing damn well the infrastructure needed upgrading, and with this failure, positions Starlink to come in and be the hero that collects $50B for upgrading the outdated infrastructure.

[u/Icy_Fish_2154 → u/DoGoodThings9495]

They started getting “data inconsistencies” from the old systems, and shut everything down

This proves how incompetent they are. They never tested on real data. They never turned on the new system as "listen only", and took out the live system by looking at it.

If anyone involved had ever done a single tech project in their lives, this could never have happened.

[u/TheFutureMrGittes → u/DoGoodThings9495]

Huh. I can see this being a way for Musk, and other members of this administration to line their pockets.

[u/AlanaIsBananas → u/DoGoodThings9495]

And reverting a change like this… not easy either. The data inconsistencies already happened and now would need to be scrubbed so the old system could pick back up.

But you have new data now, it was running, data the old system can’t sort through, data that not enough experts are employed to review/clean.

I didn’t expect Americas first infrastructure failure to be flights, but damn.

[u/PowerfulInitiative71 → u/DoGoodThings9495]

Plausible and hits all the data sets , that also shows these people are literally playing with the American Public's lives on a daily basis !!
I don't know how the largest, most consequential technology upgrade, in years , was rammed thru in typical Drumpf style, not widely announced, semi- private, Well Connected, BackRoom Deals, without any independent testing , without a debug period! , without explanation, without following any of the well thought out and necessary safety and efficiency measures and protocols! They keep ignoring even the slightest safety measures!
Remember Sean Duffy's first 8 - 9 months?!
We had more Airline Related disasters in a 5 week than I can remember!
Also,... is the AI Flight Guidance Software from Israel?! Asking for a friend, who is not convinced that they are actually our friends!

[u/CamaroZ28cd → u/PowerfulInitiative71]

Having lived through Duffy's sloppy, untested, overly fast and problem-filled forced transition from Microsoft to Google for the USDOT, I can totally believe he'd be inept enough to do something like this. 

[u/datagamma → u/CarpeData00]

This does sound like a pretty dumb plan. Which kind of makes it a little plausible in my view. I listened to his speech saying we need to fix it blah blah blah.

If you don’t think, it all sounds pretty convincing. That they need funds to fix it all. But if you do think, you realize that they give false constraints that there are only two choices. They admit incompetence and undermine their own argument multiple times.

A fool would trust this man with any amount of money, particularly an amount that has a billion after it.

[u/Zinfan1 → u/datagamma]

You also have to take into account who is ready with a $50 billion fix on short notice? How are you going to fix this "problem" in the next two months by throwing money at it? Who has hardware available to replace the routers you claim caused the issue? I'm thinking that I don't want my taxpayer dollars to go to a "Trust me bro" grifter with no oversight.

[u/AggravatingTart7167 → u/CarpeData00]

I said the exact same thing last night. From the very beginning, he kept saying “congress needs to give us $50B”. We didn’t hear anything from Trump, but if you will recall, he posted pretty quickly after the helicopter hit the plane in DC that it was because the pilot was a female dei hire.

[u/Kham117 → u/AggravatingTart7167]

They asked for and got $12.5 billion a year ago…. Through the republican controlled congress, did he not budget enough, or did the REPUBLICAN congress not give enough, either way, they own the problem (I don’t recall any major fights to get more money and didn’t dipshit go on his months long family road trip/reality show during this period, so how worried was he?)

[u/ageeogee → u/CarpeData00]

You conspiracy guys always vastly overestimate the planning these morons are capable of.

These are doofuses who have no experience running large organizations, can't think past their first impulse, and are flying by the seat of their pants with little support from their staff.

You have put way more thought into the long game than they ever will. You don't need a conspiracy to explain the obvious incompetence sitting right in front of us.

[u/HabuDoi → u/CarpeData00]

I will never understand why people see conspiracy when there’s just clear incompetence.

Do you think it’s a coincidence that their AI air traffic control tool was implemented the day before the ground stop?

Their new system was improperly tested and broke down. There’s no grand plan in this.

[u/CraptasticallyFun]

This picture says to me that he is a gillion percent qualified.

[u/Tycho66 → u/CraptasticallyFun]

"we don't know anything, but we know it's not our fault and thank you to trump and thank you to this english language mangling buffoon next to me..."

[u/absentgl]

He’s from MTV’s road rules, he doesn’t have any qualifications.

The BBB bill gave him a bunch of money to overhaul the ATC system. He spent some of that money, as we now know, breaking the ATC system with his AI bullshit. Now that he broke it, he’s threatening to ground planes unless we give him more money. It’s a shakedown.

I wouldn’t want this stupid fuck managing my local mcdonalds. He should be investigated.

[u/peffer32]

You've got a plumber with a high school education running Homeland Security.

[u/sirlost33]

Nobody in this administration should be running a frozen banana stand.

[u/Otherwise_Surround99]

Also. Why is he wearing an astronaut suit?

[u/Mor_Padraig → u/Otherwise_Surround99]

Because the collar flips up and it has a cool guy zipper, duh.

Was wondering the same thing.

[u/necromancerdc → u/Otherwise_Surround99]

Believe it or not, under this administration he was the acting Director of NASA for 162 days.

[u/Pomskyguy]

No intelligent company would install updates without multiple tests of integration and load testing and they would never do it during prime business hours. Imagine if Wall St did an update on a non holiday Monday at 10:00 AM. But here we have human life at risk.
There were hundreds of thousands of people 30,000 ft in the air Friday afternoon.
Significant cuts to the FAA and other essential departments by trump and his DOGE maniac for the wealthy to get tax breaks.

[u/APlaceInTheMountains]

Trump doesn’t like competence because competent people would be pointing out reasons to not do things Trump wants to do.

[u/No_Comparison558]

According to Wikipedia he worked for Scheer's Lumberjack Shows and by June 1997, The New York Times Magazine considered Duffy one of the top American lumberjacks at that time. Seems to me he's a perfect fit to ensure safe air travel.

[u/Supergreg68 → u/No_Comparison558]

I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.

I sleep all night. I work all day.
   
Mounties : He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.
   
I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shoppin'
And have buttered scones for tea.

[u/johnnybsomething]

It's amazing anyone votes for republicans. At some point, even the dumbest of dumb, has got to realize that these are the most unqualified people on the planet. They're not there to run a government, they're there to destroy our government.

[u/ImpeachThatFucker]

How qualified is anyone in the Trump administration?

[u/Stunning-Stressin]

Dude is a clown

[u/ByRWBadger]

Remember that press secretary that lasted a day?

[u/Pure-Science-7774 → u/ByRWBadger]

She was funny, bring her back. She is the representation of this whole administration. A press secretary who can not give a coherent press speech. 

[u/Akkerlun]

Everyone was a Fox News host. An epic failure in leadership the likes of which have never been seen before.

[u/Chickennbuttt]

Did you hear him explaining what happened yesterday? He has no idea what he is talking about. Clearly.

[u/Pretty_Mix_1355]

I have an MPA, military experience, and 20 years in transit and transportation operations and safety leadership. I am a nobody. And I, with humility, believe I am far more qualified than Sean Duffy. I should not be far more qualified than the Secretary of Transportation. 

[u/Stock_Bit6292]

They were appointed to tear the government down and line their pockets.

[u/haikusbot → u/Stock_Bit6292]

They were appointed

To tear the government down

And line their pockets.

- Stock_Bit6292

---

^{I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.}

^{Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"}

[u/Pol__Treidum → u/haikusbot]

Good bot

[u/Efficient_Ad6015]

Unfit. No urban planning degree? Or master’s in engineering? Any experience wit public transportation? Has he even got a bus pass? 

[u/No-Literature-9562]

About as qualified as someone from the WWE running the Department of Education.

[u/sabautil]

Dude looks like "im chill" gym teacher that will ultimately get caught with a student.

[u/AllWhiteRubiksCube]

Based on his attire he thinks he runs NASA.

[u/Stimpinstein22]

Is he qualified? Dude was on multiple seasons of multiple reality shows because he looks like a Ken doll (intelligence and all). Then he was nominated to the House in 2010 due to the “dey take my taxes” movement (or whatever the fuck the Tea Party was), and he replaced a very pragmatic liberal during this (Dave Obey). From there, he did little for his constituents and double-downed on his pretty face and was guest on Fox News hundreds of times.

I guess, due to his looks, he’s qualified for Trump. In the real world (no pun intended), he’s qualified to serve beers and Old Fashioneds in Bumfuck, WI on a Friday night.

Source: me, a constituent, who has ran into him and his wife (separately) a few times. He’s personable enough; she’s batshit crazy. And now we have his carpet-bagging, nepo-baby, freakshow eyebrow-having son-in-law as a Rep who took campaign donations from aerospace companies and then those same companies received million dollar grants to control the ATC systems. Fuck them and their grift…

[u/lodemeup]

Wasn’t this idiot doing a family vacation for an entire summer? Instead of doing his fucking job?

All I keep thinking when I read about FAA or ATC or DOT is ‘god damn this is stupid. Mayor Pete would never.’

[u/GeriatricusMaximus]

They want to destroy the government while pocketing as much money as possible, then claim government is the problem and only oligarchschave a solution to make it run efficiently. It is a shit show. Dems won then midterm and fuck all will happen because 2028 is around the corner.

[u/Spirited_Put1480 → u/GeriatricusMaximus]

Yup. Anyone who thinks government services suck are in for a real treat when their appendectomy is at an Amazon service center.

[u/Royal_Effective7396 → u/GeriatricusMaximus]

The more inefficiently the government runs, the more legitimate the argument for privatization becomes.

[u/Available_Rub9939]

Used car salesman energy.

[u/kae0603]

His meeting last night was horrible

[u/woohoo_76 → u/kae0603]

I love that he was complaining about Congress 100 times and saying how supportive Trump was of the FAA…then a reporter mentioned the government is all controlled by republicans.

I was just waiting for one of them to ask if money for the ballroom and arch should be shifted to FAA

[u/ktr_herr]

How qualified is Donald Trump to run the United States of America?

[u/WalkAroundTheMoon]

"Kakistocracy is a system of government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens"

[u/Riddick316]

As much experience as this joker; Dr. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Apparently anyone can become the head of any department. Like Kennedy health secretary responsible for bringing measles back again. Kids died but I saw more news on vaccines causing autism than measles causing deaths. He is also trying to set medical standards to practices that have been backed with science and research with his own made up standards.

[u/snapme-nine_niiine99]

-100/10

[u/Big-Tuna-for-Commish]

As qualified as his son-in-law to get a government contract concerning FAA

[u/BikerMike03RK]

He's a DEI hire.

[u/jtfjtf]

He’s having a difficult time because he was on Road Rules and not Air Rules.

[u/_floralprint]

No one qualified or serious about their job would ever work for this administration.

[u/1853624]

He is as qualified for this job as I am to perform brain surgery

[u/KimothyMack]

Well he’s “pretty” in a white Christian nationalist kinda way, and with the exception of Stephen the demon Miller, that’s all you need to be qualified in this administration.