Trump taps ex-lawmaker and Fox Business host for transportation secretary

The US president-elect says former Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy will usher in a “golden age of travel.”

US President-elect Donald Trump has named a former congressman turned Fox Business host as his pick for transportation secretary.

In a statement announcing the nomination Monday, Trump described Sean Duffy as a “great and beloved public servant” who will usher in a “golden age of travel.”

“He will prioritize excellence, competence, competitiveness and beauty as we rebuild America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports,” Trump said.

“He will ensure that our ports and dams serve our economy without endangering our national security, and he will make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers,” Trump added, referring to programs for diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace. , which conservatives argue prioritizes characteristics like race and gender over merit and achievement.

Duffy, who left Congress in 2019 because he wanted to spend more time with his family, is the second Fox host to be tapped by Trump, after Defense Secretary-elect Pete Hegseth.

Trump’s appointment of Duffy, co-host of Fox Business’s The Bottom Line who represented a Wisconsin district from 2011 to 2019, comes as the U.S. transportation industry faces challenges — ranging from a post-COVID spike in traffic fatalities and quality control issues at aircraft giant Boeing for questions about rail safety following the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Duffy will oversee a sprawling department that employs some 55,000 people and operates nearly a dozen transportation-related administrations and agencies.

The agencies under the department’s purview include the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees automakers such as Tesla, run by billionaire Elon Musk, who has been appointed to lead to be given to a ‘Department of Government Efficiency’. in the coming administration.

Duffy, a staunch defender of Trump both in Congress and on Fox, would succeed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was nominated by President Joe Biden.

Trump previously encouraged Duffy to run in Wisconsin’s 2022 gubernatorial election, praising him as “virtually unbeatable,” but the former congressman declined.

Before entering politics, Duffy gained recognition in the 1990s as a star of MTV’s The Real World: Boston and Road Rules: All Stars.