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

US president-elect says former Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy will usher in a ‘golden age of travel’.

United States 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 on Monday, Trump described Sean Duffy as a “tremendous and well-liked public servant” who will usher in a “golden age of travel”.

“He will prioritise excellence, competence, competitiveness and beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports,” Trump said.

“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,” Trump added, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in the workplace, which conservatives claim prioritise characteristics such as race and gender above merit and performance.

Duffy, who left Congress in 2019 citing the need to spend more time with his family, is the second Fox host to be tapped by Trump, after the defence secretary pick, Pete Hegseth.

Trump’s nomination of Duffy, a co-host of Fox Business’s The Bottom Line who represented a district in Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019, comes as the US transportation sector is facing challenges – ranging from a post-COVID spike in road deaths and quality control issues at aircraft giant Boeing to questions about rail safety following the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

If confirmed by the US Senate, Duffy will oversee a sprawling department that employs some 55,000 people and operates nearly a dozen transport-related administrations and bureaus.

The agencies under the department’s remit include the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates carmakers such as Tesla, run by billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tapped to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” in the incoming administration.

Duffy, an ardent 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.