The United States Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have taken measures to implement Trump administration policy directives through grantmaking activities. A recent Executive Order suggests that additional measures may follow.

First, the Secretary of Transportation issued a letter to all recipients of DOT funding on April 24, 2025 “to clarify and reaffirm pertinent legal requirements, to outline [DOT’s] expectations, and to provide a reminder of [recipients’] responsibilities and the consequences of noncompliance with Federal law and the terms of your financial assistance agreements.” The letter highlighted two particular purported responsibilities. The first is nondiscrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or religion, which the letter asserts prohibits any practices designed to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion. The second is cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the enforcement of federal immigration law. The letter asserts that grant recipients may expose themselves to civil and criminal liability if they decline to cooperate with DHS and ICE. It further states that grant recipients can face similar liability if they do not “ensure that the Federal financial assistance . . . is provided only to subrecipients, business, or service providers that” are allowed to do business in the United States and do not have employees who are unlawfully present in the United States.

Second, FRA has updated the General Terms and Conditions it uses in funding agreements. Pursuant to updates to the Standard Terms and Conditions published on March 28, 2025 and April 25, 2025, an FRA funding recipient must certify that “it does not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws” and agree that it its compliance with federal anti-discrimination law is material to the government’s payment decisions, thereby potentially exposing the recipient to civil liability under the False Claims Act if it violates those laws. The recipient must also agree to cooperate with and not impede ICE and DHS in the enforcement of immigration law.

Future DOT actions may target the implementation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. An Executive Order issued on April 23, 2025, directs the Attorney General to repeal or amend regulations implementing Title VI to eliminate the regulations’ use of disparate-impact liability. The Attorney General must also coordinate with the heads of other agencies, including DOT, to report all existing regulations, guidance, and orders that impose disparate-impact liability and detail steps for their amendment or repeal.

If you have questions or wish to discuss communications you have received from DOT, please contact Allison Ishihara Fultz, Ayelet Hirschkorn, John Putnam, Chuck Spitulnik, Christian Alexander, or Grant Glovin.