NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Duffy, the new transportation secretary, is facing his first major crisis just hours after his swearing-in.
Duffy, who was confirmed by the Senate Tuesday, quickly emerged as a public face of the federal government’s response to the deadly plane crash at Reagan National Airport, the closest airport to Washington, D.C. An Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members Wednesday night while the plane was landing, sending it careening into the frigid Potomac River. All onboard are feared dead in what is shaping up to be the deadliest U.S. air crash in decades.
“Our new Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy — his second day on the job when that happened. That’s a rough one,” Trump said as they appeared together during a White House briefing Thursday.
“Great gentleman. Just started. It’s not your fault,” he later said.
Here are some things to know about Duffy:
He was on scene at the airport and by Trump’s side at the White House
Duffy appeared alongside Washington D.C.’s mayor and other local officials at airport briefings overnight and early Thursday, representing the administration. And he joined Trump in the White House briefing room Thursday, where the new president offered prayers to the victims and lamented the tragedy, but also made a series of politically charged accusations that he acknowledged were not based on fact.
Duffy began his remarks by complimenting Trump, saying his “leadership has been remarkable during this crisis.” And he assured victims’ loved ones that he was committed to getting to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible.
While Duffy did not explicitly echo Trump’s claims that diversity hiring and lower standards were somehow to blame for the tragedy — it is still unclear exactly what happened to cause the crash – he also did not refute them.
“When we deal with safety, we can only accept the best and the brightest in positions of safety that impact the lives of our loved ones, our family members,” Duffy said. “We are going to take responsibility at the Department of Transportation and the FAA, to make sure we have the reforms that have been dictated by President Trump in place to make sure that these mistakes do not happen again.”
He’s a former reality TV star, lumberjack and congressman from Wisconsin
A former Republican congressman from Wisconsin, Duffy’s résumé includes stints as a lumberjack athlete, reality TV star, prosecutor and Fox News host.
He was featured on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston” in 1997 and met his his wife, “Fox & Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, on the set of MTV’s “Road Rules: All Stars” in 1998.
Duffy later worked as a special prosecutor and the district attorney of Ashland County in northern Wisconsin. He won election to Congress as part of the tea party wave in 2010.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, who succeeded Duffy in Congress, said he first knew of Duffy when he was a lumberjack in the 1990s before either of them entered politics.
“He’s got a big job ahead of him here,” Tiffany said. “It’s jumping right into the frying pan with a situation like this.”
An underdog who served nine years
When he first ran for Congress, Duffy was considered an underdog. But he attracted national attention with his campaign ads, which featured him dramatically chopping wood while donning a red flannel shirt. He told voters he came from a “long line of lumberjacks” and would bring his axe to Washington.
Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years. He was member of the Financial Services Committee and chair of the subcommittee on insurance and housing.
Fox News defender
After leaving Congress in 2019, citing the need to care for his growing family, Duffy became a contributor to Fox News and one of Trump’s most visible defenders on cable television. He served as co-host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business before being picked for the new administration.
He was one of several Fox personalities that Trump chose to fill his Cabinet, including Pete Hegseth, the new defense secretary.
A father to nine
Duffy has nine children, the youngest of whom was born with a heart condition.
In announcing his pick, Trump noted that “Sean knows how important it is for families to be able to travel safely, and with peace of mind.”
Because of his large family, Duffy will have empathy with the relatives of crash 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 family he has, empathy is part of the process there,” Graul said. “He’s going to want to bring certainty to everyone who is hurting from this.”
Graul said Duffy is an “incredibly decent person” and “very approachable,” which will aid him as he navigates this crash.
“His family is the center of his universe and more than most politicians he cares a great deal about being successful,” Graul said. “He doesn’t want to just do things to get attention. He likes having success.”
A sprawling agency
The Transportation Department oversees the nation’s complex and aging transportation system, including its highways, railroads and airspace. It sets safety standards for trains, cars and trucks.
The department regulates the airline industry through the Federal Aviation Administration, which has been grappling with a shortage of air traffic controllers. The agency also includes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates automakers and sets fuel economy standards for cars and trucks.
In his statement announcing the pick, Trump had said Duffy would “prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports” and said he would “make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers.” DEI refers to “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs, which Trump has worked to bar through federal action since returning to office.
In his first act after his swearing-in, Duffy rolled back fuel mileage standards put in place by the Biden administration.
His confirmation hearing
During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Duffy had promised to scrutinize Boeing ’s safety issues and “restore global confidence” in the beleaguered company, as well as to hire more air traffic controllers amid a national shortage. (The plane involved in Wednesday night’s collision was a CRJ-700 manufactured by Canada-based Bombadier.)
Duffy also said he would cut DEI programs at the agency and create federal rules for self-driving cars instead of leaving that to a patchwork of state regulations, a key priority of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is running Trump’s government efficiency effort.
Duffy assured lawmakers that he would not interfere in ongoing agency investigations into Musk’s electric car company over the safety of Tesla vehicles.
He was approved by a bipartisan 77-22 vote.
___ Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report from Madison, Wisconsin.
