Former Wisc. Rep and Fox News host to be Transportation Secretary

Incoming President Donald Trump has tapped former congressional lawmaker and Fox News host Sean Duffy to head the Department of Transportation (DOT) during his second term.

Driving the news: Trump’s latest pick comes after a flurry of nominations, some of which have pulled from the President-elect’s alliances across the media.

• Duffy is a former Wisconsin representative, serving in the House for eight years. During his tenure, he worked on the Financial Services Committee and led the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

• Prior to his work in Congress, Duffy served as the Ashland County District Attorney for eight years. He has been a Fox News contributor since 2020 and hosted The Bottom Line on the network since last year.

• “Sean worked with Democrats to clear extensive Legislative hurdles to build the largest road and bridge project in Minnesota History,” Trump wrote in an endorsement of Duffy on Truth Social.

Looking back: If appointed, Duffy would take leadership of the DOT from current chief Pete Buttigieg.

• The department not only oversees roads, but also the Federal Aviation Administration, responsible for air safety, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which can force car manufacturers to recall products if necessary.

• During his time as DOT head, Buttigieg has leveraged the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act to fund projects impacting roads, bridges and airports across the U.S. He has also sought to protect the rights of air travel consumers, fending off criticisms from companies in the process.

Bottom line: It remains to be seen what Duffy’s agenda will look like. However, his nomination marks the second appointee to come from a Fox News background—Trump named Pete Hegseth, host of Fox & Friends, to lead the country’s Department of Defense last week.

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