Skip to content
New York (AP) – Sean Duffy, The new transport secretaryis facing his first major crisis a few hours after his severe ring.
Duffy, there was Confirmed by the Senate Tuesdayemerged rapidly as the public face of the federal government’s response to the deadly aircraft accident in Reagan National Airport, the closest airport to Washington, DC, an army helicopter collided with a American Airlines Jet To carry 60 passengers and four crew members on Wednesday night while the plane landed and sent it care in the frigid Potomac River. All aboard is feared death in what is propagated to be the deadliest Us air accident for decades.
Here are some things to know about Duffy:
He is a previous reality -tv -star, forest jacket and congressman from Wisconsin
A former Republican Congress Member of Wisconsin, Duffy’s CV includes Stints like a forest jacket athlete, reality -tv star, prosecutor and Fox News host.
He was shown on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston” in 1997 and met his wife, “Fox & Friends Weekend” host Rachel Campos Duffy, on the set of MTVS “Road Rules: All Stars” in 1998.
Duffy later worked as a special prosecutor and district attorney in Ashland County in northern Wisconsin. He won elections to Congress as part of Tea Party Wave in 2010.
An underhound that earned nine years
When he first ran for Congress, Duffy was considered an underdog. But he attracted national attention with his campaign ads, which contained him dramatically chopped tree while donating a red flanell jersey. He told the voters that he came from a “wide range of forest jackets” and would bring his ECS to Washington.
Duffy served in the house for almost nine years. He was a member of the Financial Services Committee and chair of the Sub -Committee for Insurance and Housing.
Fox News Defender
After leaving Congress in 2019, citing the need to look after his growing family, Duffy became a contributor to Fox News and one of Trump’s most visible defenders on the cable -TV. He served as a co-host for “The Bottom Line” at FOX Business before he was elected to the new administration.
He was one of several fox personalities that Trump chose to fill his cabinet including Pete Hegeththe new defense secretary.
A father of nine
Duffy has nine children, of whom the youngest was born with one Heart mode.
In the announcement of his choice, Trump noted that “Sean knows how important it is for families to be able to travel safely and with peace of mind.”
Due to his large family, Duffy will have empathy with the relatives of accident victims, said Mark Graul, a longtime Republican operative in Wisconsin, who has known Duffy for more than 25 years.
“When you have the size of the family he has, empathy is part of the process there,” said Graul. “He wants to bring security to everyone who hurts this.”
Graul said that Duffy is an “incredibly decent person” and “very accessible” who will help him when he navigates in this crash.
“His family is the center of his universe and more than most politicians, whom he is very interested in being successful,” Graul said. “He doesn’t just want to do things to get attention. He likes to have success. “
A scattered agency
The transport department supervises the country’s complex and aging transport system, including its highways, railways and airspace. It sets safety standards for trains, cars and trucks.
The department regulates the aviation industry through the Federal Aviation Administration, which has struggled with a lack of air traffic controllers. The agency also includes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates car manufacturers and sets fuel economy standards for cars and trucks.
In his statement announcing the election, Trump had said that Duffy would “prioritize expertise, competence, competitiveness and beauty when he rebuilds America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports” and said he would “do our sky again by Remove DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers.
In his first act after his gang-in, Duffy Rolled back fuel mileage standards Introduced by the Biden -Administration.
His confirmation hearing
Under His confirmation hearing earlier this monthDuffy had promised to investigate Boeing Security issues and “Restore global trust” in the overall company as well as hiring more air traffic controllers in the midst of a national deficiency. (The aircraft involved in Wednesday evening’s collision was a CRJ-700 made by Canada-based boombadier.)
Duffy also said he would cut DEI programs on the agency and create federal rules for self-driving cars instead of leaving it to a patchwork of state rules, an important priority for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who runs Trump’s government-efficiency efforts.
Duffy assured legislators that he would not interfere in the ongoing agency investigations in Musk’s electric car company on the safety of Tesla vehicles.
He was approved by a bipartisan 77-22 vote.
___ Associated Press -author Scott Bauer contributed to this report from Madison, Wisconsin.
