Trump's Transit Sec Sean Duffy investigates alleged cheating on air traffic control exam

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has launched an investigation into allegations that an employee and "DEI activist" at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told answers to the air traffic control exam to minority candidates. The allegations stem from an audio reported on by the Daily Mail.

Duffy posted to X, "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," and cited the report from the Mail.

The outlet reported that on a leaked voicemail audio, Shelton Snow—who the outlet said was a "powerful figure in the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees" (NBCFAE)—was heard saying that he will give the minority candidates access to the test answers.

"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 was heard on the audio. He is also an air traffic control supervisor from New York. "I am about 99.99 percent sure that it is exactly how you need to answer each question."

The information was reportedly made available to black, female, and other minority candidates in 2014. White men, however, were not given the answers to "minimize competition," the outlet reported.

A former NBCFAE member told reporters, "I know several people who cheated and I know several people who are controlling planes as we speak."

The revelations come as the Trump administration is seeking to root out DEI and related programs from the FAA as well as other federal government agencies. The voicemail recording from Snow was made just weeks after the FAA announced that it would be shaking up its hiring following former President Barack Obama's call to "widen the aperture" for women and minorities at the FAA.