The Trump administration's Departments of Transportation and Health and Human Services are teaming up to launch a new effort to "make travel family friendly again" by providing more family-friendly resources and healthier food options at America's airports.

On Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held a press conference at Reagan National Airport to announce a new family-friendly travel campaign that will allocate $1 billion in grant funding to airports to improve the travel experience.

'I can tell you that this is where healthy diets go to die.'

Duffy provided a few examples of how the funds could be used, such as play areas for children, nursing pods for breastfeeding mothers, workout spaces, and separate security lanes for families. He noted that the funds could be used for a range of investments and that the department was open to other improvement suggestions.

"It's pretty wide open on what airports want to ask for a grant," Duffy stated.

He stated that he has also reached out to the airlines to encourage them to consider how they could improve the travel experience.

As part of the new campaign, Duffy and Kennedy are advocating for healthy food options at the nation's airports.

Sean Duffy. Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images

"I ... typically over the past 30 years, probably average 250 days a year in airports. And I can tell you that this is where healthy diets go to die," Kennedy said. "It's deep-fried food; it's sugar bombs; it's ultra-processed foods. And all of them are gonna leave you sicker than before you ate them."

During Monday's press conference, Duffy and Kennedy highlighted Farmer's Fridge, a company that operates vending machines offering salads, sandwiches, bowls, and oats. Luke Saunders, the CEO of Farmer's Fridge, who also attended the press conference, explained that he founded the company 12 years ago and that it now operates vending machines in over 30 U.S. airports.

"If you want to reach out to your airport authority and encourage them to participate in this money, please do that," Duffy said.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images

Duffy noted that last week the department hired an integrator who will help convert the nation’s air travel technology from analog to digital.

In November, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that the Transportation Security Administration would roll out new security screening lanes at select airports for families with small children, as well as for veterans and active-duty military.

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Trump DOT threatens to pull millions from Tim Walz's state, boots 3,000 shady CDL trainers to clean up trucker licensing mess

The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation is taking significant steps to address issues within America’s trucking industry to improve road safety and national security.

On Monday, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the department has revoked nearly 3,000 of the estimated 16,000 commercial driver’s license training providers listed in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Training Provider Registry. The TPR lists all training providers authorized to offer entry-level driver training for CDL students.

'Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways.'

The impacted training providers were accused of “failing to equip trainees with the Trump administration’s standards of readiness,” a press release from the DOT revealed.

Reasons for removal included “falsifying or manipulating training data”; “neglecting to meet required curriculum standards, facility conditions, or instructor qualifications”; and “failing to maintain accurate, complete documentation or refusing to provide records during federal audits or investigations.”

The department issued warnings to another 4,500 training providers for potential non-compliance. Those entities have 30 days to respond and deliver evidence of compliance to avoid removal.

The DOT noted that this action aims to crack down on unqualified truck drivers and “corrupt operators.”

Photo by GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images

“If you are unwilling to follow the rules, you have no place training America’s commercial drivers. We will not tolerate negligence," said FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs.

“This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain,” Duffy stated. “Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways. Their negligence endangered every family on America’s roadways, and it ends today.”

“Under President Trump, we are reigning [sic] in illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses,” Duffy added.

Also on Monday, the DOT revealed that it found one-third of Minnesota’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally.

The department is giving the state 30 days to come into compliance and revoke illegally issued licenses. The DOT is prepared to withhold up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding if Minnesota fails to comply.

Sean Duffy. Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Barrs accused Minnesota of “openly and blatantly defying our rules.”

“Under the Trump administration, states have two choices: Meet our standards or face the consequences. Following the law is not optional,” he declared.

“Our audit exposes yet another example of foreigners taking advantage of Minnesota services under Governor Walz’s watch,” Duffy said. “Minnesota failed to follow the law and illegally doled out trucking licenses to unsafe, unqualified noncitizens — endangering American families on the road.”

This latest warning follows similar action the DOT has previously taken against Pennsylvania. The department has already vowed to withhold federal funds from California after the state failed to comply with its regulations concerning CDL issuance.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

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Exclusive interview: DOT Secretary Duffy explains how he's making flying great again in time for Thanksgiving

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy ruffled feathers among the professionally offended last week by noting that "traveling has become more uncivilized."

Duffy cited Federal Aviation Administration data indicating a 400% increase of in-flight outbursts, including physical violence since 2019; 13,800 reported unruly passenger incidents since 2021; and a doubling last year of unruly passenger events compared with 2019.

'Did people start kind of acting more like animals because they were treated more like animals?'

As part of the Department of Transportation's broader effort to usher in a "Golden Age of Travel for the American people" — which dovetails with an initiative to beautify and restore key transportation infrastructure — Duffy kicked off a campaign on Wednesday aimed at jump-starting "a nationwide conversation around how we can restore courtesy and class to air travel."

In an interview with Blaze News editor Christopher Bedford on Monday, Duffy said he's not necessarily calling for a return to three-piece suits and top hats — just a return to basic decency.

"I think it's a confluence of things that have come together that have caused people, as they get on airplanes, to be less civil to each other," Duffy said.

Duffy identified long lines at airports and airlines' efforts to cram passengers into increasingly smaller spaces as two contributing factors.

According to the advocacy group FlyersRights.org, airline seats have shrunk in recent decades while passengers have largely grown in size, such that as of 2022, "less than 50% of the public can reasonably fit in current seats."

"The airline is trying to put, you know, a lot of people on an airplane, sell as many tickets as possible, and by doing that, they're able to reduce the cost of travel and make it affordable for more people," Duffy said. "But then you feel like you're cargo."

Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images

"Did people start kind of acting more like animals because they were treated more like animals? Or did airline crews have to crack down and treat people like that because of the actions they were seeing?" Bedford asked. "There was an obvious breakdown during COVID."

Duffy suggested that the transformation of flight attendants into mask-enforcers during the pandemic helped cultivate a more confrontational environment, which — when coupled with disrespect from the airlines and from passengers alike, signaled by the latter with an apparent increase in slovenly dress — helped grease the slide into relative barbarism.

Among the alleged incidents referred by the FAA to the FBI last year were sexual assaults, attacks on fellow passengers and/or flight staff, instances of inappropriate touching of minor fliers, and incidents where passengers attempted to breach the cockpit.

'I think we can be better.'

While physical violence and inappropriate touching are obvious examples of the behavior the Trump administration seeks to curb in air travel, Duffy noted that incivility finds various forms — such as passengers taking their shoes off and placing them on the seats in front of them, playing movies on high volume without headphones, and touching other fliers' TV screens with their bare toes.

"I want to have a conversation with America that says, 'Listen, let's call our better angels. Let's all be better when we travel together,'" Duffy told Blaze News.

The DOT secretary emphasized that it's necessary not only to curb nasty behavior but to embrace good behavior: "Let's dress more respectfully. Let's be nicer to one another. Let's say please and thank you."

Duffy suggested, for instance, that if capable men see a woman struggling to put her bag into the overhead bin, they should man up and step in to help.

"I think we can be better — better humans, better Americans, better travelers," the secretary said.

A change in general behavior could make traveling a whole lot less vexatious, not only daily where the TSA's current volume is roughly 2.48 million souls, but this week — a week where the Transportation Security Administration expects to screen more than 17.8 million people from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2, with over 3 million souls on Sunday alone.

"We are projecting that the Sunday after Thanksgiving will be one of the busiest travel days in TSA history," Adam Stahl, a senior official at the TSA, said in statement.

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Trump DOT hammers Gov. Shapiro, threatens to pull millions after state hands CDL to 'suspected terrorist' illegal alien trucker

The Department of Transportation issued a warning on Thursday to Pennsylvania that it is at risk of losing tens of millions of dollars in federal funding, according to a department press release obtained by Blaze News.

The DOT sent a letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and state DOT Secretary Michael Carroll stating that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration uncovered "evidence of procedural and programming errors" in the state's issuance of non-domiciled commercial learner's permits and driver's licenses.

'Joe Biden allowed tens of millions of illegals to pour into our country through open borders, including a suspected terrorist who Pennsylvania then allowed to get behind the wheel of a semitruck.'

Pennsylvania issued CDLs with expiration dates beyond the foreign nationals' lawful presence in the country, according to the DOT. Further, the state was accused of issuing licenses without requiring drivers to provide proof of lawful presence in the U.S. The department also stated that other non-domiciled CDLs were issued to lawful permanent residents who were eligible for regular CDLs.

Of 150 records reviewed by the FMCSA, two instances were found in which PennDOT issued non-domiciled CDLs with expiration dates that extended beyond the drivers' lawful presence. The FMCSA uncovered four cases in which the department failed to provide evidence that it required drivers to present lawful residence documents. Lastly, the FMCSA identified two instances in which the department issued a non-domiciled CDL to individuals who were eligible for a regular CDL.

The DOT noted that 12,400 drivers hold an unexpired non-domiciled CLP or CDL issued by Pennsylvania.

The federal department demanded that Pennsylvania take "immediate corrective action" or risk the decertification of its CDL program and losing certain federal-aid highway funds. The corrective action includes an immediate pause on the issuance of all non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs, as well as an internal audit to identify procedural errors. Pennsylvania is also required to identify and void all unexpired non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs that were improperly issued.

Josh Shapiro. Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images

Failure to comply may lead to the DOT withholding $75,500,000 in funding for fiscal year 2027.

Thursday's warning is part of the DOT's greater effort to crack down on road safety and national security concerns related to the flood of illegal aliens that joined the trucking industry amid the Biden administration's open-border crisis. The DOT has already withheld funds from California over similar violations.

Akhror Bozorov. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

"Under President Trump, this department is taking every measure to ensure dangerous foreign drivers aren't illegally operating 40-ton vehicles on American roads," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated. "Joe Biden allowed tens of millions of illegals to pour into our country through open borders, including a suspected terrorist who Pennsylvania then allowed to get behind the wheel of a semitruck. I will continue to fight to get these dangerous drivers off our roads to protect American families and support our national security."

Duffy's statement presumably referred to Akhror Bozorov, a 31-year-old truck driver from Uzbekistan who was recently arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency stated that Bozorov was accused of belonging to a terrorist organization. He was issued a non-domiciled CDL with REAL ID by Pennsylvania.

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Newsom's state 'caught red-handed' illegally issuing thousands of commercial driver’s licenses to foreign truckers: DOT

California illegally issued thousands of commercial driver's licenses, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

A Wednesday morning press release from the department claimed that the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles “has admitted to illegally issuing 17,000 non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) to dangerous foreign drivers.”

'This is just the tip of the iceberg.'

Those who were issued the allegedly illegal licenses have been notified that those licenses no longer meet federal requirements and will expire in 60 days.

The DOT credited the findings to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ongoing nationwide audit of non-domiciled CDLs. The review revealed “systemic policy, procedural, and programming errors in California’s non-domiciled CDL program,” the department reported.

“The audit also found that more than one in four of the non-domiciled CDL records sampled in California failed to comply with federal regulations. This includes issuing licenses that extended well beyond a foreigner’s work permit,” the DOT wrote.

Sean Duffy. Photographer: Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The department threatened in August to withhold funding from California if it refused to comply with English language proficiency requirements for truck drivers.

The California Highway Patrol indicated in July that it had no plans to place commercial drivers out of service for failing to meet ELP standards.

In October, the DOT announced that it was withholding $40 million from the blue state.

Photographer: Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The DOT stated that it will continue to pressure California to revoke illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs, noting that it is prepared to withhold $160 million in funding for noncompliance.

“After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses.”

Newsom’s office and the California DMV did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

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FAA cancels hundreds of flights, sparking holiday travel concerns amid ongoing Democrat shutdown

With Americans preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas travel this year, the government shutdown is beginning to affect travel plans. With operation cuts going into effect over the next week, pressure is mounting for Democrats to come to the table and reopen the government.

According to multiple reports, between 700 and 800 flights at major travel hubs have been canceled as a Federal Aviation Administration emergency order went into effect on Friday.

'This level of cancellation is going to grow over time, and that's something that is going to be problematic.'

Forty major airports are affected by the order, though increased stress has been noted at other airports as well.

Many people in the transportation sector have expressed their frustration with the shutdown, particularly as the holiday travel season looms on the horizon.

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

On CNBC's "Squawk Box," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom called the government shutdown's impact on flights "frustrating": "What we've done today is we tried to minimize the impact on all of our customers. There's only 220 flights out of 6,200 flights, and we've done it in a way that really impacts our smaller aircraft."

"This level of cancellation is going to grow over time, and that's something that is going to be problematic," Isom added.

According to the FAA's emergency order, cuts in operations began November 7 to ensure the safe and efficient use of airspace and aircraft. The reductions will gradually increase over the next week with a planned 10% reduction at "high impact airports" from Anchorage to Orlando by November 10.

Air traffic controllers have been working without pay since October 3, according to the order.

As of Wednesday, this government shutdown surpassed the previous record of 35 days, which took place in 2018.

On Friday, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy responded to the increased stress on air travel: "I have done all I can to minimize disruption in the airspace. I’m trying to get people where they want to go and to get there safely."

Noting that the situation is not ideal, Duffy called for the government to reopen: "We are taking unprecedented action at @USDOT because we are in an unprecedented shutdown," he added.

Democrats have signaled that they are unwilling to cooperate with Republicans to fund the government on Friday without more health care concessions, likely extending the 38-day shutdown.

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Democrats' shutdown is about to make catching a flight a lot harder

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday that if Democrats keep the government shut down, there could be serious repercussions for air travel as air traffic controllers — those directing over 44,000 flights and more than 3 million airline passengers daily — are being spread thin and overworked without pay.

"You will see mass chaos. You will see mass flight delays," said Duffy. "You'll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it."

'Asking them to go without a full month's pay or more is simply not sustainable.'

Duffy's warning evidently fell on deaf ears. Democrats have, after all, made explicit their intention to use Americans' pain and inconvenience as political "leverage." A senior Democrat aide even indicated last month that the party will not concede short of "planes falling out of the sky."

Citing air traffic control personnel issues and the need to keep American skies safe, Duffy announced on Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration will be reducing air traffic by 10% across 40 "high-volume" markets starting on Friday.

Despite his recent initiatives to recruit, train, and retain air traffic controllers, Duffy indicated that the fruits of such efforts take years to fully manifest and that at present, the FAA is still 2,000 controllers short. The government shutdown greatly compounds the impact of this underlying staffing problem as the existing workforce is spread thin, overworked, and paid nothing.

While air traffic controllers received a partial payment in early October, Duffy indicated that they haven't been paid since, prompting some controllers to take second jobs.

Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"Our air traffic controllers, and a lot of those who work at DOT but throughout government, they haven't received paychecks," said Duffy. "Many of these employees, they're the head of household. They have their spouse at home. They have a child or two or three, and when they lose income, they are confronted with real-world difficulties in how they pay their bills."

Nick Daniels, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in a statement on Friday, "For this nation's air traffic controllers, missing just one paycheck can be a significant hardship, as it is for all working Americans. Asking them to go without a full month's pay or more is simply not sustainable."

'We are not going to do anything that will compromise the safety of air transport in the United States.'

"During the shutdown, these professionals are required to oversee the movement of the nation’s passengers and cargo while many are working ten-hour days and six-day workweeks due to the ongoing staffing shortage, all without pay," continued Daniels. "This situation creates substantial distractions for individuals who are already engaged in extremely stressful work. The financial and mental strain increases risks within the National Airspace System, making it less safe with each passing day of the shutdown."

Bryan Bedford, the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, noted that a recent deep dive into National Airspace System data revealed both "issues of fatigue" among controllers and pressures building in a way that if left unchecked could impact air safety.

"The data is telling us we need to do more, and we are going to do more," said Bedford.

"We're going to look for a ratable reduction across these 40 markets over the next 48 hours," said the FAA administrator.

"We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating."

While the FAA has not released the final list of airports that will have their capacity cut, a source provided a proposed list to CBS News naming the following airports:

Anchorage International (ANC)
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)
Boston Logan International (BOS)
Baltimore/Washington International (BWI)
Charlotte Douglas International (CLT)
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (CVG)
Dallas Love (DAL)
Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA)
Denver International (DEN)
Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW)
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW)
Newark Liberty International (EWR)
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International (FLL)
Honolulu International (HNL)
Houston Hobby (HOU)
Washington Dulles International (IAD)
George Bush Houston Intercontinental (IAH)
Indianapolis International (IND)
New York John F. Kennedy International (JFK)
Las Vegas Harry Reid International (LAS)
Los Angeles International (LAX)
New York LaGuardia (LGA)
Orlando International (MCO)
Chicago Midway (MDW)
Memphis International (MEM)
Miami International (MIA)
Minneapolis/St. Paul International (MSP)
Oakland International (OAK)
Ontario International (ONT)
Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)
Portland International (PDX)
Philadelphia International (PHL)
Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX)
San Diego International (SAN)
Louisville International (SDF)
Seattle/Tacoma International (SEA)
San Francisco International (SFO)
Salt Lake City International (SLC)
Teterboro (TEB)
Tampa International (TPA)

"If the pressures continue to build even after we take these measures, we'll come back and take additional measures," continued the FAA administrator. "We're trying to be prescriptive, surgical, put the relief where the relief will do the most good, but again, we are not going to do anything that will compromise the safety of air transport in the United States."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday, "We want to reopen the government so we can resume travel in the safest and most efficient way possible, especially as we head into the busiest travel season."

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'Make travel family friendly again': Trump admin launches $1B effort to improve airport experience

Trump DOT threatens to pull millions from Tim Walz's state, boots 3,000 shady CDL trainers to clean up trucker licensing mess

Exclusive interview: DOT Secretary Duffy explains how he's making flying great again in time for Thanksgiving

Duffy Threatens To Pull $75 Million In Road Funds After PA Gave An Alleged Terrorist A CDL

Trump DOT hammers Gov. Shapiro, threatens to pull millions after state hands CDL to 'suspected terrorist' illegal alien trucker

Trump’s Transportation Department Necessarily Brings Back Shaming, Thank God

Newsom's state 'caught red-handed' illegally issuing thousands of commercial driver’s licenses to foreign truckers: DOT

FAA cancels hundreds of flights, sparking holiday travel concerns amid ongoing Democrat shutdown

Democrats' shutdown is about to make catching a flight a lot harder

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