Transportation launches administrative consolidation effort

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told employees in an email Tuesday that the department is launching a consolidation initiative, dubbed 1DoT, to “streamline our processes, consolidate administrative functions and modernize our infrastructure to better serve the American public.”

The initiative makes Transportation the latest federal department to push to centralize shared administrative functions. It’s not yet clear if this reorganization will include layoffs.

In the email, obtained by Nextgov/FCW, Duffy pointed to redundancies within the department’s HR and IT systems as an example of the need for consolidation across the department, which houses several government agencies within it. 

“DoT currently runs more than 425 information systems, many with overlapping roles. There are 45 systems at the end of their lifespan across seven data centers running on more than 4,200 servers. DoT operates 10-14 grants systems, 4-5 registration systems, and 3-14 inspections systems,” the email said.

“1DoT will bring the Department into the 21st century with the consolidation of upgraded technology,” it continued, previewing the sunsetting of legacy systems and onboarding of advanced technologies in the name of efficiency and cost savings.

The effort follows similar initiatives at other federal agencies. 

As of June, the Treasury Department was planning a reorganization, consolidating administrative, shared functions and leaving mission-specific ones in Treasury bureaus.

The Interior Department began to consolidate its administrative functions — including communications, finance and contracting, in addition to IT and HR — out of department components like the Fish and Wildlife Service and into its headquarters in the spring.

That effort had included plans for layoffs, although they’ve since stalled, even after the Supreme Court lifted an injunction on federal agencies implementing layoffs. 

At Transportation, Duffy said at a department town hall in early May that layoffs were coming at the end of that month, though those planned staff reductions were also affected by the court injunction, which SCOTUS has since lifted and have not yet occurred.

Some agencies have since cancelled their plans to dismiss employees or rescinded layoffs to fill staffing gaps, although Transportation’s plans aren’t yet clear.

“No news on the status of a RIF happening or not. Even if they just plan to move individuals around and reorganize without layoffs, I think employees would benefit from knowing that,” one current Transportation employee, not authorized to speak on the record, told Nextgov/FCW. 

DOT didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the new consolidation push includes layoffs. 

Duffy also announced that, as part of the new reorganization, the Federal Aviation Administration will gradually be relocating its headquarters staff from the “patchwork of federal buildings” that they work in to the Transportation building in Washington, D.C.

“More details about 1DoT, including timelines and next steps, will be shared in the coming weeks,” he wrote. 

Government Executive reporters Sean Newhouse and Eric Katz contributed to this report.