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- President-elect Trump nominates Sean Duffy as transportation secretary.
- Duffy will manage a $110 billion budget and address major transportation issues.
- He faces challenges like traffic safety, aviation oversight and emissions regulations.
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he is nominating former Wisconsin Representative and Fox Business News host Sean Duffy to be transportation secretary.
"I'm eager to help you usher in a new golden age of transportation," Duffy wrote on social media.
If confirmed, Duffy will oversee transit and other transportation policies at the department with about a $110 billion budget as well as significant funding that remains under the Biden administration's 2021 $1 trillion infrastructure law.
Trump said Duffy 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."
Trump has vowed to reverse the Biden administration's vehicle emissions rules, starting with their stringent emissions regulations finalized earlier this year, as soon as he takes office. The rules cut tailpipe emissions limits by 50% from 2026 levels by 2032 and prod automakers to build more EVs.
Meanwhile, Duffy will face a number of major transportation issues.
U.S. traffic deaths have fallen but still remain sharply above pre-COVID levels, and the fatality rate remains higher this year than in any pre-pandemic year since 2008. That includes a recent string of deadly crashes here in Utah, with 16 of them occurring in nearly a week in October.
He will also oversee the continuing enhanced oversight of Boeing after the Federal Aviation Administration, which is part of the department, capped production at 38 737 MAX planes per month in January after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in midair, exposing more serious safety issues at the company.
He will also decide whether to continue the Biden administration's aviation passenger rights push and whether to approve more airline joint ventures, along with solving a persistent shortage of controllers that has delayed flights, and a series of near-miss incidents involving passenger jets.
Duffy will also be in charge of oversight of companies run by Elon Musk, who has been closely involved in Trump's transition, and will face pressure to ease rules for self-driving cars sought by Tesla, owned by Musk, and other automakers.
The department is already investigating Tesla Autopilot, while the Administration has proposed to fine SpaceX for violating space license rules, leading to Musk calling for the resignation of Federal Aviation administrator Mike Whitaker.
Duffy will also be in charge of overseeing billions of dollars in funding to high-speed rail and Amtrak projects, where Congress has already been considering significant rail safety reforms in the aftermath of the February 2023 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio.
A former Uber executive, Emil Michael, who was seriously in contention for the job, congratulated Duffy and said, "It was the honor of a lifetime to even be considered."
