A key Senate panel on Jan. 22 advanced President Donald Trump’s nomination of former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) to lead the Department of Transportation.
Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) praised Duffy for committing to prioritizing safety while “fixing our broken permitting process.”
“The ayes have it,” Cruz said. “I think this also augurs well for this committee to start with such a strong bipartisan and unanimous vote.”
“Mr. Duffy has clarified for me and many others on this committee that he’s going to continue to work to expedite transportation infrastructure investments that have been made by this Congress, and hope to get these projects completed,” Cantwell said.
“Supply chains are critical to our investment to moving systems throughout the United States, our roads, our bridges, our public transit, our ports, our railroad because they are part of a holistic system, building a resilient transportation system that mitigates disruptions and drives down costs for businesses, and consumers should be our highest priority.”
The FAA has, for years, increased its oversight of Boeing, one of the two largest airplane manufacturers, following two fatal 737 MAX crashes and an incident last year in which a jet lost a door panel moments after takeoff.
During Duffy’s hearing this past week, he expressed support for the FAA’s regulatory oversight of Boeing, calling the company’s safety scrutiny a “national security issue.”
“Boeing is the largest exporter of American product. ... They need tough love,” he said.
Duffy said he would work with the FAA to ensure that the company implements a safety plan that it was required to draft last year.
He also addressed the mystery drone sightings that began over New Jersey and other northeastern states several months ago and vowed to pursue transparency so the public can know “what’s happening, who’s flying, and so [on].”
Duffy also endorsed a diverse vehicle marketplace after the Biden administration offered tax credits to incentivize electric vehicle production and sales over internal combustion engine vehicles.
“We shouldn’t be forced to buy cars that Washington wants. We should go buy the cars that we want,” he said.
“I think there’s room in this space for electric vehicles and gas-powered vehicles, and [it] might depend on your priorities, the places that you live, the temperatures of where you live. But I want to see a robust marketplace.”
Trump nominated Duffy, 53, as Transportation Department secretary in November 2024, and the Senate must confirm him before he can lead the agency. He represented Wisconsin’s Seventh Congressional District from 2011 to 2019 and was a member of the House Financial Services Committee.
Duffy entered politics in 2002, when then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum appointed him to be Ashland County’s district attorney. He stayed in that office until 2010, when he first ran for Congress. His congressional career ended in 2019, when he resigned to care for his baby daughter, who was born with Down syndrome and a heart defect.
He entered the public light as a contestant on several MTV reality shows, including “The Real World: Boston.” He is currently a co-host on Fox Business’s “The Bottom Line.”