Sean P. Duffy

Announced the four regulatory actions and the hiring initiative on Nov. 5

The FAA published two proposed rules in the Federal Register on Nov. 9. One clarifies when a rocket operator must abort a flight; the other lets companies show a falling vehicle would break apart enough to avoid multiple deaths on the ground.

Updated 3 hours ago

Leading the FAA modernization push and lobbying Congress for more funding

On Nov. 5, the Federal Aviation Administration said it will replace four systems dating to the 1980s with a digital display board at 435 sites by the end of 2028. Controllers at more than 400 facilities still load weather alerts and flight data from floppy disks.

Updated 5 days ago

Announced the Max 10 certification and is pressing for faster U.S. aircraft approvals

The Federal Aviation Administration certified Boeing's 737 Max 10 on October 20, 2026, clearing the largest Max for passenger service. The jet seats up to 230 people and, Boeing says, uses 20% less fuel than older single-aisle aircraft.

Updated Nov 3

Announced the awards on Oct. 30, 2026

The Federal Railroad Administration selected 91 railroad-crossing projects in 37 states to share $1.24 billion on Oct. 30. The grants, paid for through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, cover overpasses, crossing closures and signal upgrades.

Updated Nov 3

Announced the ST LNG license approval at Port Houston on October 28, 2026

The Maritime Administration approved the $8.2 billion ST LNG export terminal off Matagorda, Texas, on October 28. The approval is conditional: the license follows only after ST LNG meets nine requirements, including financial responsibility and oil spill liability. The terminal would export 8.4 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year, with construction planned for 2027 and startup projected for 2029.

Updated Nov 1

Overseeing federal disengagement from the California project

On October 28, 2026, the California High-Speed Rail Authority's board approved a $772.1 million contract with Siemens Mobility for the system's first three trainsets and signed off on the final environmental review for the Los Angeles–Anaheim leg. That vote completes environmental clearance for all 494 miles of the planned San Francisco–Los Angeles/Anaheim line, ending more than two decades of reviews. In the Central Valley, crews have been stockpiling ballast rock at about 2,000 tons a day ahead of laying the project's first section of track.

Updated Oct 31

Announced $498 million national port investment package

Containers bound for the Midwest from Europe now land at a coastal port, ride a train to Chicago, and transfer to a truck. Ports of Indiana wants to cut that trip by shipping straight to a new container terminal on Lake Michigan.

Updated Oct 30

Backing the proposal as part of the administration's agenda

The Federal Transit Administration's proposal to tie transit construction money to local birth and marriage rates is in its public comment period, which closes November 16. Corridors where both rates run more than 1% above national averages could get up to 10 extra percentage points of federal cost share.

Updated Oct 30

Overseeing NHTSA rulemaking to reset CAFE standards

The Transportation Department's final fuel-economy rule, published September 28, sets the 2031 fleetwide target at 34.9 miles per gallon, down from 50.4 under President Biden. It also rewrites standards for model years 2022 through 2026 and ends the credit trading that let automakers buy and sell efficiency gains, starting in 2028.

Updated Oct 24

Announced the pay deal with NATCA

Thousands of federal air traffic controllers received a 2.8% pay raise on October 18, retroactive to January 1. In exchange, they badge in and out of their facilities, a time-tracking change the FAA says gives managers better data.

Updated Oct 17

As of October 2026: Attended October 2 groundbreaking in Mobile

Alabama broke ground Friday on the $3.2 billion Mobile River Bridge, the largest infrastructure project in state history. The ceremony came after 36 years of studies, promises, and shelved plans.

Updated Oct 2

As of October 2026: Defendant in the lawsuit

Boston filed a federal lawsuit on September 28 to restore a $20 million transportation grant the Trump administration revoked in September 2025. The funding was meant to redesign three major Roxbury corridors and improve pedestrian safety, transit access, and stormwater management.

Updated Oct 2

As of September 2026: Announced SMART launch, championing the system

Air traffic controllers at three Washington-area airports started using an artificial-intelligence tool Monday that predicts where congestion will form before delays hit. The system, called SMART for Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories, analyzes weather at flying altitudes, airline schedules, and live flight paths in real time.

Updated Sep 21

As of September 2026: In office; oversaw the NEVI pause and its later lifting

Three years after Congress approved $5 billion for highway EV chargers, the White House froze the money. Courts unfroze it in January, and states are building again — North Carolina added seven new charging locations on September 14.

Updated Sep 19

As of September 2026: Announced the LAX grant through the FAA's Airport Infrastructure Grants program

Los Angeles International Airport is getting $289.3 million from the Federal Aviation Administration to build a new access road that separates airport traffic from the gridlock on Sepulveda Boulevard. The award funds Phase 3 of a 17,410-foot roadway serving Terminals 1-8 and B, covering construction of 7,955 feet.

Updated Sep 17

As of August 2026: In office since 2025

DFW Airport won an $8 million federal grant to rebuild two restrooms in Terminal E. It's a small piece of a $2.7 billion modernization effort that has been reshaping the airport since 2017.

Updated Aug 31

As of May 2026: In office since January 2025

An estimated 36,640 people died on American roads in 2025—the fewest since 2019 and a 6.7 percent drop from the year before. The death rate fell to 1.10 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, the second-lowest figure in more than a century of federal recordkeeping, even as Americans drove roughly 30 billion more miles than they did in 2024.

Updated May 31

As of May 2026: Overseeing final year of IIJA airport disbursements

For five years, the largest airport-funding program in American history pumped roughly $3 billion a year into runways, terminals, and taxiways at more than 3,300 airports. In December 2025, the FAA released the final round: $2.89 billion in Airport Infrastructure Grant allocations for 2026 and approximately $1 billion for the last Airport Terminal Program competition, with no successor program planned.

Updated May 29

As of May 2026: Overseeing Department of Transportation programs including FAA grants

For decades, small and regional airports have relied on aging control towers from the 1960s and 1970s, receiving limited federal help for upgrades. On January 21, 2026, the FAA opened a grant window offering up to $120 million at 100% federal cost for tower reconstruction and remote tower construction.

Updated May 29

As of May 2026: Serving as Transportation Secretary; leading drone deregulation effort

For nearly a decade, every U.S. commercial drone operator wanting to fly beyond a pilot's line of sight needed an individual FAA waiver — a slow, bespoke process that capped the industry at small pilot programs. On August 7, 2025, the FAA proposed Part 108: a new, standardized framework for routine beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations replacing individual waivers. In January 2026, the FAA reopened the comment period for 14 days (closing February 11, 2026) to refine the rule before finalizing it in March 2026.

Updated May 29

As of May 2026: Active - terminated Texas Central grant

The United States has never built a true high-speed rail line. For over a decade, Texas Central Railway has attempted to change that with a 240-mile bullet train connecting Houston and Dallas—using Japanese Shinkansen technology to cut a 3.5-hour drive to 90 minutes. On April 14, 2025, the Trump administration terminated a $64 million federal planning grant, calling the project 'a waste of taxpayer funds' and returning the initiative entirely to private control.

Updated May 27

As of May 2026: Criticizing Canada-China EV deal

Canada followed the U.S. in imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in October 2024. Seventeen months later, Prime Minister Mark Carney flew to Beijing and cut them to 6.1%—the first explicit break with American trade policy since Trump began his tariff offensive.

Updated May 21

As of May 2026: Cabinet official overseeing FAA

Ten people died when Bering Air Flight 445 crashed onto Norton Sound sea ice on February 6, 2025. The Cessna 208B was 1,058 pounds overweight for icing—a fact crash investigators discovered because the FAA doesn't require single-engine commuter operators to keep load manifests.

Updated May 19

As of May 2026: Steps aside as Isaacman takes over

One day after his 67–30 confirmation, Jared Isaacman was sworn in on Dec. 18, 2025 as NASA's 15th administrator—walking directly into a White House-driven acceleration campaign that now has his name on the clock, not just the contracts.

Updated May 15

As of May 2026: Leading a DOT-wide push to reduce regulatory burdens

On December 17, 2025, two FHWA rollbacks took effect that sound boring—and matter anyway. The agency removed the formal, on-the-books requirements that told the Forest Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs how to run safety, bridge, pavement, and congestion management systems for certain federally funded roads.

Updated May 15

As of May 2026: Pushing Congress for “tens of billions” and rapid modernization milestones

The FAA is no longer talking about “modernization” like it’s a distant science project. In a House hearing, Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency will commit $6 billion by the end of 2025 to upgrade ATC telecom networks and radar surveillance, with a target deployment date of 2028.

Updated May 15