The Administration · The Cabinet
Secretary of Transportation
A former Wisconsin congressman, prosecutor and television host who oversees roads, rail and the nation's air traffic system, which he is trying to rebuild and which suffered a nationwide shutdown of flights on November 13, 2026.
Sean Duffy was born in Hayward, Wisconsin, in 1971, and competed as a lumberjack athlete in his youth. 6 He earned a marketing degree from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in 1994 and a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in 1999, and in between appeared on the MTV reality program The Real World. 6 He became district attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin, in 2002 and served three terms. 1
He won a seat in the U.S. House in 2010 and represented Wisconsin's 7th District from 2011 to 2019, chairing a Financial Services subcommittee on oversight. 1 He resigned in September 2019, citing family reasons, and then worked as a television commentator, a lobbying-firm adviser and, from 2023, a co-host on Fox Business. 6 Donald Trump announced him as his choice for transportation secretary on November 18, 2024. 6
The Senate confirmed him 77-22 on January 28, 2025, and he was sworn in that day. 1 2 The next night an airliner and an Army helicopter collided over the Potomac River near Washington, killing 67 people, and aviation safety has dominated his tenure since. 7 He won $12.5 billion from Congress to rebuild air traffic control technology and says $30 billion more is needed. 3 From July to December 2025 he also ran NASA as acting administrator. 5 6
He has used the department's grant powers in political fights, including a campaign against New York's congestion toll and a hold on New York project money during the 2025 shutdown, according to Wikipedia's summary of news reports. 6 During that shutdown the FAA ordered airlines to cut flights, starting at 4 percent and rising toward 10 percent, to ease the load on unpaid controllers. 8
On November 13, 2026, the FAA halted flights nationwide after a communications failure at the 22 regional centers that guide planes en route, only the second such stop since the September 11 attacks. 3 Duffy said the agency was investigating. 3 Investigators will examine whether a newly installed artificial-intelligence routing system played any part, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. 3
The acts and events that have defined the post so far, oldest first.
An American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport, killing all 67 people aboard; two days later the FAA restricted helicopter routes near the airport. 7
During the government shutdown, airlines began cancelling flights under an FAA order to reduce traffic by 4 percent, rising to 10 percent; the restrictions were lifted on November 17. 8
Reporters found the Federal Highway Administration had removed bike lanes, road diets, speed cameras and two other measures from its list of proven safety countermeasures, without an announcement. 4
A video series of Duffy and his family on a road trip across the country, filmed while he was in office, was released on YouTube. 6
The FAA grounded flights nationwide because of a communications failure at regional control centers; at least 600 flights were diverted in the first hours. 3
What critics, courts or investigators have said, and the answer given. An allegation is not a finding.
After the Potomac collision Duffy said the crash was preventable and suggested that attention to social goals rather than safety leads to bad outcomes; he denied that the federal hiring freeze and buyout offers had worsened controller shortages. Critics objected that he was assigning blame before investigators had reported. 7
Their side: Duffy said only the best and brightest should hold safety jobs. The National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report in early 2026. 7
ProPublica reported that Duffy and his wife hold two mortgages each classed as a primary residence, one from 2021 on a New Jersey home and one from February 2025 on a Washington home, at a time when the president was accusing opponents with similar arrangements of fraud. 9
Their side: A spokesperson said he bought the Washington home because he works there full time and that the same bank holds both loans and knew of his new job; the White House said the bank, not Duffy, classified the loans. 9
The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked the department's inspector general to examine the road-trip video series, citing possible conflicts involving sponsors regulated by the department, according to press reports summarized by Wikipedia. 6
Their side: No public response found in the sources I could open.
Rep. Rick Larsen, the senior Democrat on the House transportation committee, and the Center for Auto Safety criticized the removal of bike lanes and speed cameras from the federal safety list, citing studies showing they reduce speeding and deaths. 4
Their side: The highway agency did not announce or explain the change and did not answer the outlet's questions. 4
Quotes from our stories, each matched word for word against its source before it ran.
“My message to New York's far left leadership is clear: families must be prioritized on American roads.”
A federal appeals court ruled the U.S. Transportation Department acted unlawfully when it held back nearly $74 million in highway money from New York over immigrant truck licenses. The ruling limits the administration's use of federal funds to pressure states.
File checked Nov. 13, 2026. Something wrong or out of date? Tell the desk.
