Sean Duffy, President-elect Trump’s decide for transportation secretary, testified earlier than the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.
Samuel Corum/Getty Photographs
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Samuel Corum/Getty Photographs
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Who: Sean Duffy
Nominated for: secretary of transportation
You may know him from: Fox Information, the place Duffy has been a contributor since 2020. He additionally spent greater than 8 years in Congress as a GOP Consultant from his native Wisconsin.
Extra about Duffy:
- Lengthy report of public service, however his transportation resume is brief
- One among many Trump cupboard picks with ties to Fox Information
- Starred on MTV’s “The Actual World” earlier than going into politics
Place: The Secretary of Transportation leads a division with a funds of greater than $100 billion that is tasked with sustaining the nation’s aviation system, highways, railroads and ports.
WASHINGTON — When Republican Sean Duffy was in Congress, he labored with lawmakers from either side of the aisle to interchange an 80-year-old bridge throughout the St. Croix River between his residence state of Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Greater than a decade later, the St. Croix Crossing — and the relationships that the brand new bridge helped forge — got here up a number of occasions Wednesday throughout Duffy’s affirmation listening to to lead the Department of Transportation.
“After I fly into Minneapolis and drive as much as Hayward, the place I used to be born and raised, I’m going throughout that bridge,” Duffy stated in the course of the listening to. “I am proud each single time for the bipartisan work that we did collectively, and I want to proceed that type of work ought to I be confirmed.”
That venture required motion by Congress to grant an exemption from the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Duffy’s work to make that occur helped endear him to a number of Democrats within the Senate, together with Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.
“Our efforts present that after we work collectively, we get essential issues accomplished. And we have not at all times agreed,” Baldwin stated in remarks introducing Duffy to the committee. “However on the finish of the day, I’m assured that Sean is the proper particular person for this job on this upcoming administration.”
Whereas a few of President-elect Trump’s cupboard nominees confronted sharp questioning from Democrats on Capitol Hill this week, Duffy obtained an overwhelmingly pleasant welcome from Baldwin and different members of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Duffy has an extended report in public service, representing a district in northern Wisconsin within the Home of Representatives for greater than eight years. However past the St. Croix Crossing, he has comparatively little direct expertise in transportation — or main a big group just like the DOT, which has a funds of greater than $100 billion.
On the affirmation listening to, Duffy dedicated to prioritizing security on the roadways and within the air, and stated he would “work to cut back the crimson tape that slows crucial infrastructure initiatives, making certain funds are spent effectively.” He pledged to carry “powerful love” to Boeing as regulators work to revive confidence within the struggling airplane maker. And Duffy stated he would handle the shortage of air traffic controllers, whereas hiring solely “the very best and the brightest” for these jobs.
After leaving Congress in 2019, Duffy labored as a lobbyist and as a contributor at Fox Information. In asserting his decide, President-elect Trump praised Duffy as a “revered voice and communicator” in a post on Truth Social in November.
Trump has regarded to the ranks of Fox Information for a lot of of his cupboard nominees. However few have as a lot expertise on digicam as Duffy, who starred on MTV’s “The Actual World: Boston” in 1997. He met his future spouse Rachel Campos-Duffy, a fellow Fox Information contributor, after they each starred on one other MTV actuality present. Campos-Duffy was available at Wednesday’s listening to, together with eight of the couple’s 9 youngsters.
Duffy famous that roadway security “hits near residence for me, as a result of my spouse survived a lethal head-on automotive crash, which has profoundly reshaped her life.”
The outgoing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg additionally had little direct expertise in transportation earlier than taking the reins. Below Buttigieg, the division has handed out billions of {dollars} from the bipartisan infrastructure law to construct roads and bridges, dig tunnels, modernize airports and extra.
Duffy was requested a number of occasions on Wednesday whether or not funding for these initiatives would proceed to stream.
Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) requested particularly about funding for the Gateway Program, a multi-billion greenback venture to interchange a collection of crumbling rail tunnels and bridges connecting northern New Jersey to Manhattan.
“I need to take a look at what funding has gone out,” Duffy stated. “However I think about these good initiatives which are underway, we might proceed.”
The Division of Transportation contains the Federal Aviation Administration, which is accountable for the nation’s airspace, in addition to companies that regulate the nation’s railroads, and set security requirements for passenger automobiles, vehicles and business automobiles.
There are a number of areas the place the division’s broad mandate intersects with the enterprise pursuits of Elon Musk, the world’s richest particular person, who poured greater than 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} into President-elect Trump’s 2024 election marketing campaign.
Now security advocates fear that Musk could attempt to affect the federal companies that regulate his companies. His rocket firm SpaceX has typically clashed with regulators on the FAA over its launch practices.
Federal regulators on the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration, a part of the DOT, are investigating crashes involving Tesla’s superior driver-assistance methods. And safety advocates fear the Trump administration could move to end those investigations, together with a crash reporting requirement that Tesla opposes.
Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) pressed Duffy on whether or not he would permit site visitors security investigators to “observe the proof and function objectively as a part of their investigations?”
“Sure, I decide to this committee and to you that I’ll let NHTSA do their investigation,” Duffy responded.
The nominee was requested a number of occasions about his stage of dedication to Amtrak — not solely by Democratic senators from New Jersey and Delaware, but in addition by Republicans from Kansas and Mississippi.
Duffy acknowledged voting in opposition to Amtrak funding when he was a member of Congress from rural Wisconsin. However he stated “this committee has spoken loudly about Amtrak and rail of their residence communities.”
If he is confirmed, as seems probably, Duffy stated his first journey as transportation secretary can be to the Appalachian mountain areas of Tennessee and North Carolina, the place flooding from Hurricane Helene broken main interstate highways together with numerous smaller roads and bridges.
“That is an emergency,” Duffy stated. “I am going to do every little thing within the energy of the Division for Transportation to maneuver the method ahead as shortly as potential so these communities get entry and roads which are practical once more.”
