Jan. 15 (UPI) — President-elect Donald Trump‘s pick for transportation secretary on Wednesday told U.S. senators that, if confirmed, he will prioritize road and air safety.
Former Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin was among multiple nominees to begin confirmation hearings during the day.
“We will craft clear regulations which balance safety, innovation and cutting-edge technology, but always focused on safety,” stated former Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, the president-elect’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Transportation.
On Wednesday, Duffy walked the halls of Congress with Trump nominee for attorney general Pam Bondi, his pick for secretary of state, Florida’s Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and energy secretary nominee Chris Wright to face questions by lawmakers in separate hearings.
“A new era in transportation and infrastructure is here,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said at the start of Duffy’s hearing before the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
If confirmed, he will replace U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and lead the federal department with a more than $100 billion budget that would oversee projects such as a rebuild of the Francis Scott Key bridge after it was hit by a ship and collapsed last year in Baltimore.
“No federal agency impacts Americans daily lives and loved ones more than the department of transportation,” said Duffy. He called it “an important segment of our economy.”
If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate as expected, Duffy, 53, will oversee planning and coordination of large-scale federal transportation initiatives and set safety regulations for all modes of U.S. transportation.
Cruz, the committee’s new chair, vowed that Duffy will promote “a leaner, more efficient Department of Transportation, eliminating onerous regulations while responsibly investing in the nation’s infrastructure, ensuring safe safety.”
Duffy, a father of nine including a daughter with Down syndrome, was nominated in November to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation following Trump’s election win. He was a 1997 cast member on MTV’s reality show The Real World, according to IMDB, where he met his wife and fellow Fox contributor, Rachel Campos-Duffy.
According to Duffy, who spent time as a lobbyist, the transportation industry is in “an extraordinary new era” from drones to autonomous driving vehicles and space travel in “a global race to innovate.”
He said that with a big family, he thinks of transportation “quite a bit” and if confirmed, will prioritize road and air safety measures.
He said he wants to invest in America’s “crumbling infrastructure,” despite the Biden administration’s historic and massive infusion of federal dollars into U.S. projects via the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act and other legislation representing the largest infrastructure investments since the second World War.
“Transportation influences how long it takes to get home to our loved ones and improving its safety and efficiency directly enhances every single American’s life,” the Wisconsin Republican said Wednesday.
Duffy has little experience in transport or managing a large organization.
His nomination marked the latest Fox News television personality to join the incoming Cabinet, including defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth and Tom Homan, Trump’s choice to be the nation’s so-called “border czar.”
A Republican, Duffy represented Wisconsin’s rural 7th Congressional District for five terms from 2011 to 2019 after sitting as Ashland County’s district attorney. He indicated he will work with Congress “to restore global confidence in Boeing, and to ensure that our skies are safe.”
After resigning his House seat citing family reasons, Duffy joined Fox and appeared in multiple programs including co-hosting Fox Business Network’s The Bottom Line.
Cruz said Wednesday that as a House member, Duffy “partnered with members across the aisle to improve transportation in his state” to fund projects such as the St. Croix River bridge crossing between Minnesota in Oak Park Heights and St. Joseph in Duffy’s home state of Wisconsin. It opened in 2017.
“This type of bipartisan work for the American people is what I expect to see from Sean should he be confirmed,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., said as she glanced at Duffy, stating he is “the right person” to lead the department.
Cruz added that Duffy helped advance infrastructure projects as a House member and a co-chair of the bipartisan congressional Great Lakes Task Force.
“It usually does not take an act of Congress to build a bridge, but this time it did” to replace the 80-year-old still water bridge, added Baldwin. The two helped coalesce a House majority to pass a bill to end the “decades long” St. Croix bridge battle that, according to Baldwin, resulted in a “significant bipartisan win.”
“It was not a matter of right or left but what was good for our constituents, our economy and our state,” said Baldwin, pointing to how it highlighted “that when we work together we get important things done.”
Still, she acknowledged, “we haven’t always agreed, and I’m sure that will continue to be true.”