His directives also ‘give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average’ for federal…
Former U.S. Rep. and Fox News host Sean Duffy was sworn in as the 20th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation on January 28.
His first action was a memorandum directing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to review Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which govern the average fuel efficiency car manufacturers must achieve across their entire sold fleet in the U.S. In the memo, Duffy said the Biden administration had used CAFE standards to force rapid electrification of U.S. vehicles.
In that same memo, Duffy spelled out how President Donald Trump’s recently signed “Unleashing American Energy” executive order had directed the USDOT to do the following in promoting the current administration’s goals:
- Remove regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access
- Ensure a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles
- Terminating, where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles
- Consider the elimination of unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase by individuals, private businesses and government entities alike by rendering other types of vehicles unaffordable
Duffy steps into this role at a time of uncertainty in the transportation and roadbuilding industries, as executive orders from President Donald Trump have made the future of some infrastructure funds uncertain.
Other directives Duffy has given the department since entering office, meant to align with Trump’s recent executive orders, include the following:
- Identify and eliminate all Biden-era programs promoting climate change activism, DEI initiatives, racial equity, gender identity policies and environmental justice
- Ensure all policies, grants, loans and actions are based on sound economic principles, positive cost-benefit analyses and pro-economic growth priorities
- Rescind the Biden-era rule requiring state transportation departments to measure and establish declining targets for carbon-dioxide emissions on federally supported highways
One notable directive from Duffy was that all DOT grants, loans and contracts should prioritize projects and goals that, among other things, “give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.”
Yet another notable change at the USDOT came when the Trump administration placed 25 political appointees within the department, including a new Chief Counsel for the Federal Highway Administration.
Duffy, a Republican, represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District from 2011 to 2019 when he resigned. Before that, he served as the district attorney in Ashland County, Wisconsin, for eight years.
Former U.S. Rep. and Fox News host Sean Duffy was sworn in as the 20th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation on January 28.
His first action was a memorandum directing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to review Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which govern the average fuel efficiency car manufacturers must achieve across their entire sold fleet in the U.S. In the memo, Duffy said the Biden administration had used CAFE standards to force rapid electrification of U.S. vehicles.
In that same memo, Duffy spelled out how President Donald Trump’s recently signed “Unleashing American Energy” executive order had directed the USDOT to do the following in promoting the current administration’s goals:
- Remove regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access
- Ensure a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles
- Terminating, where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles
- Consider the elimination of unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase by individuals, private businesses and government entities alike by rendering other types of vehicles unaffordable
Duffy steps into this role at a time of uncertainty in the transportation and roadbuilding industries, as executive orders from President Donald Trump have made the future of some infrastructure funds uncertain.
Other directives Duffy has given the department since entering office, meant to align with Trump’s recent executive orders, include the following:
- Identify and eliminate all Biden-era programs promoting climate change activism, DEI initiatives, racial equity, gender identity policies and environmental justice
- Ensure all policies, grants, loans and actions are based on sound economic principles, positive cost-benefit analyses and pro-economic growth priorities
- Rescind the Biden-era rule requiring state transportation departments to measure and establish declining targets for carbon-dioxide emissions on federally supported highways
One notable directive from Duffy was that all DOT grants, loans and contracts should prioritize projects and goals that, among other things, “give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.”
Yet another notable change at the USDOT came when the Trump administration placed 25 political appointees within the department, including a new Chief Counsel for the Federal Highway Administration.
Duffy, a Republican, represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District from 2011 to 2019 when he resigned. Before that, he served as the district attorney in Ashland County, Wisconsin, for eight years.