Trump picks ex-Rep. Sean Duffy for transportation secretary

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate former U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy as the head of his Department of Transportation.

“Sean will use his experience and the relationships he has built over many years in Congress to maintain and rebuild our Nation’s Infrastructure, and fulfill our Mission of ushering in The Golden Age of Travel, focusing on Safety, Efficiency, and Innovation,” Trump said in a statement Monday on his Truth Social platform. “Importantly, he will greatly elevate the Travel Experience for all Americans!”

The Department of Transportation has served as a focal point for President Joe Biden’s efforts to rebuild American infrastructure, funneling formula grants to state highway departments and fielding applications for new grant programs to fund everything from urban transit improvements to inter-city rail lines.

Under Trump, the department will take a lead role in altering federal infrastructure investment to look more like what the incoming president and Republican congressional leaders seek.

That includes potentially fewer bike lanes, more highway widenings, less federally supported mass transit — or none at all, if the policy planners from the Heritage Foundation get their way. Building new airports, a favorite talking point of Trump’s back when he was first president, is poised to gain new attention.

One critical decision will require a little finesse: what to do about electric cars.

Trump savaged the EV industry on the campaign trail, telling voters falsely that Biden was trying to ban gasoline-powered cars. Critics in Congress have lambasted the administration for pouring so much funding from the infrastructure law into building out networks of EV chargers — and for the slow pace at which those facilities have been installed.

But Trump acquired a new patron along the way: Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, who has done more than any businessman to popularize electric vehicles, and whose personal fortunes give him billions of reasons to dissuade the new administration from completely reversing course on EVs.

Duffy represented Wisconsin’s 7th District in Congress for eight years, having gained fame for his appearance on reality television show "The Real World: Boston" in the late 1990s. He currently is the co-host of "The Bottom Line" on Fox Business, as well as a contributor on Fox News, where he has been critical of current Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Duffy is the husband of fellow "Real World" alumna-turned-Fox News-personality Rachel Campos-Duffy. He resigned from Congress, citing family needs, when the couple’s ninth child was born.

Duffy’s selection joins Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, in a growing cohort of Fox News personalities on the incoming team who have used their media platform to promote policies in line with the president-elect’s vision.