Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is launching an investigation into hiring issues at the FAA after a DEI activist was captured on voicemail promising to send screenshots of answers to candidates taking the air traffic controller exam.

Duffy made the announcement in a post on the X social media platform.

"I am launching a full investigation into the DEI hiring allegations at the FAA immediately," he wrote. "If true, swift accountability will come for those responsible. We need the best and brightest, not buzzword, DEI hires."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has faced controversy over its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Critics argue that policies prioritizing diversity over merit led to unqualified hires and safety risks.

I am launching a full investigation into the DEI hiring allegations at the FAA immediately.

If true, swift accountability will come for those responsible. We need the best and brightest, not buzzword, DEI hires. https://t.co/CTW75umVb5

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) March 13, 2025

Duffy was responding to shocking audio obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail. The audio revealed Shelton Snow, an air traffic operations supervisor based in New York, offering answers to a test via screengrabs for certain candidates.

"There are some valuable pieces of information that I have taken a screenshot of, and I am going to send that to you via email," Snow says in the audio clip.

"I am about 99.99 percent sure that it is exactly how you need to answer each question."

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The Daily Mail further reported that Snow was only interested in providing a preview of the answers to a specific group of test takers.

"The inside info was made available in 2014 to African Americans, females, and other minority candidates – but whites were left out of the loop to 'minimize competition,'" the outlet writes.

NEW: A DEI activist is caught on a voicemail offering minority Air Traffic Control candidates the chance to cheat, according to The Daily Mail.

“There are some valuable pieces of information that I have taken a screenshot of, and I am going to send that to you via email.”

“I… pic.twitter.com/FlqwUNNqNw

— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) March 12, 2025

“I am about 99.99 percent sure that it is exactly how you need to answer each question,” Shelton Snow said in a voicemail allegedly from 2014. 

RedState reporter Streiff covered Snow as part of a story about a class action lawsuit filed against the FAA for hiring practices based on diversity rather than competence.

Readers of Streiff's reporting were already privy to the voicemail's contents. The testing in question was a Biographical Assessment test, an Obama-era replacement for a peer-reviewed cognitive exam.

Having access to the answers ahead of time would have allowed candidates to easily coast through the first phase of the hiring process.

While being questioned, Snow admitted to overt racial discrimination in a competitive bid. "Our organization wasn't for Caucasians, it wasn't for, you know, the white male, it wasn't for an alien on Mars, you know." pic.twitter.com/F7NsoVFOCr

— TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) February 2, 2024

President Trump has blasted the DEI policies of his predecessors, particularly in response to the tragic Washington, D.C., plane crash over the Potomac River in January. An American Airlines regional jet carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport, killing all 67 people on both aircraft.

"I put safety first. Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put policy first," Trump said. "The FAA's website states (their qualified applicants) include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability, and dwarfism."

The president also hammered former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for his incompetence, suggesting his hiring was based on having a "good line of bulls**t."

"He's run it right into the ground with his diversity," Trump said.

Duffy aims to reverse the process of overlooking competence in favor of checking off demographic boxes, especially in a position that affects the safety of so many people.

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