President-elect Donald Trump selected Sean Duffy, a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin and Fox Business show host, to serve as the next secretary of transportation. Duffy, a former district attorney for Ashland County, Wisconsin, brings little transportation background to his new role but is known in Washington, having served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 2011 until his resignation in September 2019.
More recently, he has co-hosted the Fox Business show, “The Bottom Line with Dagen and Duffy,” as well as a “From the Kitchen Table” podcast with his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy.
“Sean has been a tremendous and well-liked public servant,” Trump said in announcing his intent to nominate Duffy to the post. “During his time in Congress, Sean was a respected voice and communicator in the Republican Conference, advocating for fiscal responsibility, economic growth, and rural development. Admired across the aisle, Sean worked with Democrats to clear extensive legislative hurdles to build the largest road and bridge project in Minnesota history.”
Trump added: “Sean will use his experience and the relationships he has built over many years in Congress to maintain and rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and fulfill our mission of ushering in the Golden Age of Travel, focusing on safety, efficiency, and innovation.”
On the aviation front, Trump stated, “He will make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers.”
On X (formerly Twitter), Duffy responded: “Thank you, Mr. President. I’m eager to help you usher in a new golden age of transportation.”
While in Congress, Duffy served on the House Financial Services Committee but, according to NBAA, supported the FAA reauthorization bill in 2018. Washington insider publication Roll Call noted that he did offer an amendment to a surface transportation bill surrounding logging truck weight limits. American Trucking Association president and CEO Chris Spear released a statement: “During his time in the House, Sean Duffy was focused on issues facing our industry and supported pro-trucking policies to strengthen the supply chain and our ability to keep the nation’s goods moving safely and efficiently.”
NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said Duffy’s experience in Congress demonstrated his ability to navigate complex legislative processes, including on infrastructure and transportation policies. “Equally important, his representation of a predominantly rural congressional district gives him firsthand insight into the critical role of general aviation in towns with little or no airline service,” Bolen added.
Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Washington), the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, reacted to the nomination, noting, “Transportation policy has a long bipartisan history, and I look forward to continuing to maintain the tradition under former Representative Sean Duffy’s leadership and working together to pass the next surface transportation authorization, creating more jobs, if he is confirmed as secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.”
Duffy’s appointment follows the passage of the massive five-year FAA reauthorization package earlier this year and as Congress next turns its attention to a major surface transportation bill. Larsen noted that he plans on continuing the committee’s tradition of bipartisanship as it turns its attention to this work.
Earlier this month, T&I Committee chairman Sam Graves (R-Missouri) was among the names floated as a possibility for the DOT secretary role. Graves is facing a term limit as chairman of the committee but has filed a petition for exemption to remain in that role.
Duffy, who has competed in outdoor sports and was an ESPN Great Outdoor Games color commentator, began in television on the MTV reality show The Real World: Boston. Duffy opted to leave Congress in 2019 to care for his wife and ninth child, who was born with a heart defect.