Sean Duffy sworn in as Secretary of Transportation
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Former Congressman and, subsequently, Fox Business host Sean Duffy was yesterday formally sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Transportation by Vice President JD Vance. His nomination had been fully endorsed by the American Maritime Partnership<\/a> and his confirmation was welcomed by the Shipbuilders Council of America, whose president, Matthew Paxton, said that \u201chis leadership comes at an important time when solutions are needed to strengthen domestic shipbuilding and ship repair, expand maritime infrastructure, and secure the resilience of the U.S. shipyard industrial base.\u201d<\/p>\n Yesterday, maritime did not seem to be necessarily top of Secretary Duffy\u2019s mind as he authorized a series of actions described as \u201cadvancing President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda to rescind woke policies, roll back burdensome and costly regulations, restore economic growth, and ensure that all U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) policies align with the Administration\u2019s priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s actions mark an important step in restoring commonsense governance and merit-based policies at USDOT,\u201d said Secretary Duffy. \u201cUnder President Trump\u2019s leadership, we are focused on eliminating excessive regulations that have hindered economic growth, increased costs for American families, and prioritized far-left agendas over practical solutions. The American people deserve an efficient, safe, and pro-growth transportation system based on sound decision-making, not political ideologies. These actions will help us deliver on that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n Secretary Duffy signed two memoranda.<\/p>\n One of them, the \u201cWoke Rescission\u201d Memorandum, directs Secretarial Officers and Heads of Operating Administrations to \u201cidentfy and eliminate all Biden-era programs, policies, activities, rules, and orders that promote climate change activism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, racial equity, gender identity policies, environmental justice, and other partisan objectives.\u201d This action aligns with several of President Trump\u2019s executive orders, including Order 14148 Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions and Order 14151 Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.<\/p>\n In a move aimed at \u201clowering costs through smarter policies, not political ideologies,\u201d the Secretary signed an order to ensure that all USDOT policies, grants, loans, and actions are based on sound economic principles, positive cost-benefit analyses, and pro-economic growth priorities.<\/p>\n\n