UPDATE: Sean Duffy has been confirmed by a 77-22 Senate vote, with many Democrats voting against him after he signaled support for President Trump’s freeze on federal funding (which was rolled back today). He has already been sworn in:
Welcome to the U.S. Department of Transportation, @secduffy and family! pic.twitter.com/YR5uEYIITC
— U.S. Department of Transportation (@USDOT) January 29, 2025
My original analysis of his nomination and policy priorities is below.
Sean Duffy, the former five-term Republican Congressman from Wisconsin and Fox News host, is poised to receive US Senate confirmation of his appointment as Secretary of Transportation after a unanimous committee vote advanced his nomination to the full Senate. I want to take a few moments to offer my thoughts on Duffy and what I hope he can accomplish running DOT.
Sean Duffy Set To Become Secretary Of Transportation
Duffy was advanced 28-0 in a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on January 22, 2025.
Ted Cruz (R – TX), who chairs the panel, said:
“He will work, as Senator Baldwin said, with both sides of the aisle to improve our infrastructure and address the challenges that arise in years ahead. Most importantly, Congressman Duffy’s personal experiences, his wife Rachel’s head on-crash, his dedication to raising a daughter with a disability show that he appreciates the responsibility of the role.”
Duffy’s wife surived a head-on crash and Duffy used that chilling story to convince Senators that his focus would be on reducing the 40,000 American deaths each year that occur on roads and highways.
During his confirmation hearing, he told Senators his focus would include:
- aviation safety
- highway safety
- air traffic controller shortage
- gaining back public trust in Boeing
I had not heard of Duffy before his nomination, but he seems like an affable, albeit partisan, guy and a potential chameleon candidate.
In his role on Fox News, Duffy did not miss an opportunity to attack former DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg or Joe Biden and blamed the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 issue on DEI initiatives. Concerningly, he did not seem in favor of any federal consumer protections for consumers:
“Southwest will fix this…Pete Buttigieg never will!”
When nominating him, Trump said:
He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports. He will ensure our ports and dams serve our Economy without compromising our National Security, and he will make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers.
At the same time, flight attendants and other airline unions have embraced him, including the “world’s most powerful flight attendant” Sara Nelson of the AFA-CWA:
“I think we can work with him. I’m pleased with his focus on safety and on rebuilding the air transportation system, on hiring and training air traffic controllers, which was a very welcome emphasis during his confirmation hearing.”
He has pledged to keep the 1,500-hour pilot certification standard on the books, which earned him praise from pilots’ unions. After opposing Amtrak funding while in the House, he is also now for it. He also is now in favor of the Essential Air Service (EAS), which provides subsidized commercial flights to smaller communities.
Yet there is concern over potential conflict of interest. After leaving Congress, Duffy was a lobbyist for the Partnership for Open Skies, an airline group that includes American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.
Airlines for America, the main lobbying arm of the US airline industry, was ecstatic about his nomination:
“We are thrilled that President-elect Trump has chosen Congressman Duffy to lead the Department of Transportation. Congressman Duffy has a proven track record for getting things done, and we are eager to collaborate with him on key issues impacting the U.S. airline industry.”
Accountable.us, a 501(c)3 organization that focuses on “holding corporations and public officials accountable for their actions” asks, “How can American consumers trust he will prioritize their interests over the policy preferences of his former clients?”
“Sean Duffy’s lobbying work for the same airlines now suing to overturn a Transportation Department rule against surprise junk fees poses a major conflict. Will Duffy use his power to protect the bottom line of his former corporate clients by scrapping basic transparency protections at the expense of everyday Americans? Duffy is just one of several Trump nominees with similar conflicts of interest that confirm the incoming administration intends to take care of wealthy corporate special interests first and working people last.”
It’s a fair question…
I’m far less concerned about his willingness to support mergers (in fact, I think that is probably necessary in the USA) as I am about his potential dismantling or not enforcing rules meant to protect airline consumers in case of delays, cancellations, or schedule changes. I view these rules as essential for holding airlines accountable.
Duffy told Senator Maria Cantwell (D – WA) that he was “committed” not to gut consumer protections, but there was not a deep dive into this matter during the confirmation hearing.
CONCLUSION
How will Duffy do? We’ll have to wait and see…it’s too early to tell.
At this point, I’m neither opposed nor in favor of Duffy. My policy priorities include robust consumer protections and continued investment in infrastructure. I favor mergers and alliances if necessary to save JetBlue, Frontier, and Spirit. Whether those policies will be a focus will become clear in the days ahead.
What are your predictions for Duffy’s tenure as DOT Secretary?
image: US Senator Dan Sullivan
@Matthew: If you had the power to nominate the Secretary of Transportation, who would that be?
You .
Pull your lips off Santastico’s butt occasionally. It’s unattractive, as much as he may enjoy it.
You have more than a few things in common with Sean and his family. He is a family man first and they are deeply religious and believe in core life values that many call “old fashioned” today.
The fact that the entire committee voted for him in this political climate is telling on the person Sean is. He will do a great job, but make no mistake, everything he does within his power will be from the right side of the aisle and with Trump’s philosophical blessing.
@Dave … Yes .
He’s better than Trump’s “national security” and “law enforcement” picks, but those are so bad that the standard has been lowered and Duffy is like lipstick on a pig. Duffy is less qualified than Buttigieg was for the job, but look at the other clowns Trump has chosen this time around.
I’ve known some of Duffy family members for a long time. He I’ve seen at airports, in his state and elsewhere, while he was a Congressman for much of the area that was Dave Obey’s and Melvin Laird’s before Obey. Laird was head of DOD for a Republican Admin. Obey was the D in charge of House Appropriations.
Seeing him in airports , is not knowing him .
Air Traffic Controller shortage: we are down about 10% from 2012 staffing levels, while pax enplanements are up about 1/3. This reduced controlled airspace capacity increases delays, many of which morph into cancellations. Increased workload for individual controllers reduces safety margins. Not often mentioned is the ATC staffing shortage reduces the supply of available seats in the market, demand for fewer seats driving up prices. Upgauging across the industry has ameliorated some of these effects, but not all. It seems reasonable to start a conversation with a 10% ATC increase would increase air traffic 10%.
How’s that shortage of Air Traffic Controllers going to be going forward now that Trump has asked every single one of them to resign yesterday (along with all other federal employees)?
Offering every air traffic controller a generous buyout (full salary and benefits through September) for quitting now – what a brilliant plan. We don’t need any stinkin’ air traffic controllers, just let the pilots figure things out as they go along, they’ll manage it just fine, just like drivers do on the road! It’s called FREEDOM!!!
He will last 2 years then quit
“blamed the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 issue on DEI initiatives”
So i guess this is when the DOT will stop being polite, and start getting real…stupid.
I liked Pete because he seemed to take the job seriously. It seems like Secretary of Transportation is usually a throwaway position. Didn’t it used to the cabinet position that was usually given to someone on the other side of the aisle? Under Pete, the position was politicized to no end because Pete was gay, and well spoken. As people who like travel, we like the attention that the position got, but in all honestly, it probably serves the public best if this position goes back to being one nobody thinks about. Nobody remembers what Elaine Chao or Anthony Foxx did, and I’m sure they both did a fine job.
You politicize something when you don’t have a legitimate response or answer to a solution proposed by the other side. Trump recognized this years ago with the Republican Party and instead of running on their tired, old, ineffective ‘platform’ (trickle down economics BS and government is too big!) Trump went right to the jugular and made it personal. The left is too sanctimonious and wouldn’t go there at first, and now is trying to play catch up. The right is threatened by Buttigieg not because of who he sleeps with, but that his ideas are smart and he’s an effective communicator. Both distinctive qualities of the last two Democratic Presidents that served two terms.
This douche bag wasn’t challenged because Democrats know he’s not smart enough to do much damage and will just do Trump’s bidding.
All of this is part of Trump’s strategy of placing idiots running government to support his (and since Reagan) and the Republican’s position that the government is in effective and bad. It’s much easier to make that argument and convince Americans of it when you have a bunch of losers actually running it.
You once again prove you suffer from TDS.
This is classic left wing projection.
Buttigieg was incompetent and his failures led to near collapse of the ATC system.
People like you continue to make excuses for failed policies or the left.
The only near collapse of the US ATC system I recall of in my decades of flying happened during the Reagan Administration. It has never fully recovered from that.
Buttigieg is the smartest US Secretary of Transportation the country has had in the entirety of your lifetime. Duffy is dumb compared to Buttigieg.
He’s only smart to low iq lefties like yourself. Everyone else saw him for what he was. A diversity pick and a favor to get him to drop out of the race for president because the Democrats were afraid Bernie was going to win. Same is said for Kamala. The worst and dumbest to ever.
Andy S showing us just how racist and homophobic he is…
“Buttigieg is the smartest US Secretary of Transportation the country has had in the entirety of your lifetime.”
The nicest thing I can say about Mayor Pete is that he’s polite.
Sounds like AndyS is a bit biased against Pete – a high school valedictorian, Harvard graduate, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford University graduate, speaks Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, Maltese, Arabic, Dari Persian, and French; a Mayor of a major US city, a lieutenant in the Army, married to his husband and raising 2 adopted children. Yeah definitely dumb and incompetant compared with former congressman Duffy who’s only claim to fame is a former state DA and congressman, straight with 8 kids.
Great response! Ha.
Duffy’s claim to fame was as an MTV reality TV schmuck. And later as a DA he was a lousy one but incumbency and money soon talk and talk loud.
Andy so true when Pete got the job –he took 6months off for paterity leave and I think did so again for his 2 nd child…..
Remember bootyjuice only became the head of the DOT the same reason kamala became vp.
Woke points.
Neither were qualified or did knew what they were doing the disaster that is the current FAA is the fault of him and the diaster at the border is because of Kamala the border czar.
@Andy … +1 .
“he will make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers”
Are we in danger? Are our skies dangerous? How long have they not been safe and when will they be safe again? Is he going to fire all of the “DEI hires?” Do we need to fire all of the veterans? Are planes safe in non-white countries? I fly a lot and I’m really worried.
Yeah, that was my question too…
Does Duffy even have a clue about our distribution of road fatalities? For a guy who said he got really interested in reducing deaths and injuries on the roads, shouldn’t he already know what kind of roads are more dangerous and contribute disproportionately to road fatalities?
@GU … Drivers contribute to road fatalities due to inattentive driving , pot use , alcohol use , and mobile phone use .
Roads are not the problem … Drivers are the problem .
Police give traffic violations to drivers … not roads . Duh .
Twaddle alert, traffic investigations frequently find lights, guard rails and other deficiencies in investigation. Now go chase a parked car.
I am feeling extra generous, so here is a clue dear Googler:
“Vision Zero” (+ Wikipedia, if lazy like Duffy). 😉
With all due respect, you seem to have paid as much attention to the world of road safety and aiming for reduced road fatalities as your Lord Trump and this Duffy minion. But I too was once as ignorant about this as Duffy.
There are ways to reduce road fatalities that don’t depend on improving driver’s judgment as much as on improving road and traffic features and toughening up on rules applicable to cars and some other things. But I say that as someone who has read extensively about (and, after being inconvenienced, sometimes been annoyed with) how Sweden has gone after a goal of zero preventable road fatalities. Now you’re free to do your Google thing since I already have given you a pointer about how Duffy and you can get educated on the matter if truly interested.
I love these articles but these comments are so partisan it makes me want to puke. Like coffee.
Roads are dangerous….LOL.
Spoken like an American driver.
What are your predictions for Duffy’s tenure as DOT Secretary?
He won’t last 4 years. Secretary of the VA Doug Collins will likely survive 4 years.
Duffy has his first major situation to handle with the crash tonight.
Prayers for everyone involved and their families.
He’s going to be busy in the coming hours. Not only were a 100+ FAA career manager employees terminated by the Trump Admin earlier today, now tragically an Army helicopter collided midair with an AA flight from Wichita while it was trying to go in for a runway 33 landing at DCA.
Yeah a lobbyist is going to stand up for the consumer under an oligarchy. He’s going to serve his corporate masters while trolls here also get inconvenienced but that’s okay with them because “woke”
Secretary Duffy at his best on the DCA flights tragedy: “It is not standard to have aircraft collide.”
He’s definitely another low standard hire by Trump, but Duffy checked Trump’s DEIA box.
Buttigieg was so much better from the start than Trump’s DEIA for Fox News Airheads hire.