Rep. Yakym: “Pete Liked the Title, Duffy’s Doing the Job.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Congressman Rudy Yakym (IN-02) slammed former South Bend Mayor and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at Transportation and Infrastructure Member Day about the mess he left for Secretary Duffy to clean up.

“Pothole Pete’s obsession with bureaucracy and self-promotion got in the way of putting shovels in the ground,” Rep. Yakym said. “He left behind a backlog of 3,200 projects, buried half the RAISE grants in red tape, and delivered just 300 of the 30,000 promised EV chargers under the so-called Green New Scam. Now, Secretary Duffy is left to clean up the mess. Hoosiers know Pete liked the title, but thankfully, Duffy’s doing the work.”

Watch Congressman Yakym’s full remarks here.

Background:

At the start of 2025, the Department of Transportation (DOT) faced a backlog of 3,200 unexecuted announced projects. (USDOT).

As of November 2024, only 224 of 414 awarded grants from FY21–23 had signed agreements (54%). (USDOT and USDOT).

Of 23 “highlighted” projects in DOT press releases, only 9 (39%) were executed. (Yakym.house.gov).

In Q4 of 2024, the private sector added 12,000 charging ports but in three years, Buttigieg’s Department of Transportation only built 300. (Washington Free Beacon).