President Donald Trump’s nominee for Transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, cleared a key procedural vote in the Senate on Monday, setting up a final vote on his nomination in the upper chamber on Tuesday around noon.
The Senate voted to bring debate to a close on Duffy’s nomination 97-0. He is unlikely to face much if any opposition on Tuesday.
Senators on both sides of the aisle, including some who worked with him while he was a House member from Wisconsin’s seventh district, have praised his collegial style, and some have pointed to his past work on funding the construction of the St. Croix Crossing, a bridge between Wisconsin and Minnesota, as evidence of his past involvement with infrastructure issues.
If confirmed, Duffy has pledged to talk with Trump and Vice President JD Vance — a key proponent of rail safety legislation during his time in the Senate — about a legislative response to the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
He has also said he would keep the Federal Aviation Administration’s existing production cap of 38 airplanes per month on Boeing’s 737 MAX until he’s satisfied that a bump would not jeopardize the fleet’s quality.
