Sean Duffy seen praying with family ahead of confirmation hearing
A nominee to serve in President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet said a Hail Mary with members of his family ahead of his confirmation hearing.
Video footage shared by Fox News host Rachel Campos Duffy shows her husband, Sean Duffy, a former congressman from Wisconsin, and their family praying a Hail Mary together on Capitol Hill Wednesday, shortly before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce conducted a confirmation hearing in consideration of his nomination as secretary of transportation in the forthcoming Trump administration.
Duffy, a Catholic father of nine, also posted a picture of his family gathered together following the hearing.
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“I am grateful to the members of the Senate Commerce Committee for considering my nomination today,” he wrote in the X post. Duffy also thanked Trump for nominating him and expressed gratitude to his family for their support: “If confirmed, I look forward to working tirelessly to make travel in America more efficient, comfortable and safe!”
Trump nominated Duffy, who hosted a show on Fox Business until recently, to lead the U.S. Department of Transportation and shared the news publicly in a Nov. 18 post on Truth Social. He praised Duffy as “a tremendous and well-liked public servant” who began his career as the district attorney of Ashland, Wisconsin, and later represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican.
Duffy served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 through 2019, when he resigned to spend more time with his family after it was determined that their then-unborn daughter was going to suffer from health problems. He predicted that despite the challenges, his youngest child would become a “great gift” from God.
Trump spoke positively about Duffy’s tenure in Congress when announcing him as his pick to lead the Department of Transportation, describing him as “a respected voice and communicator in the Republican Conference” who advocated for “fiscal responsibility, economic growth, and rural development.” He also characterized the former congressman as a champion for “the needs of families, farmers, and small businesses.”
Trump vowed that as secretary of transportation, Duffy would “prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports” in addition to ensuring that “our ports and dams serve our Economy without compromising our National Security” and making the “skies safe again by eliminating [diversity, equity and inclusion] for pilots and air traffic controllers.”
After noting his role as a father of nine children, Trump expressed confidence that Duffy would “use his experience and the relationships he has built over many years in Congress to maintain and rebuild our Nation’s Infrastructure, and fulfill our Mission of ushering in the Golden Age of Travel, focusing on Safety, Efficiency, and Innovation” in addition to elevating “the Travel Experience for all Americans.”
Duffy’s fate now rests in the hands of the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, which consists of 15 Republicans and 13 Democrats. Mathematically, Duffy should be able to secure confirmation with only Republican votes as the party controls more seats in the Senate than their Democratic counterparts, and the same is true for the full Senate. Confirmation by the full Senate would follow a favorable committee report.
Although the Senate consists of 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats, Campos Duffy indicated in her X post showing her family praying together that she believed her husband would receive bipartisan support. She pointed to her daughter, Valentina, repeatedly giving Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., hugs as her “favorite moment of the day.” Baldwin is one of the 13 Democrats serving on the Senate Committee on Commerce.
Duffy isn't the only person well-known for his time on Fox News or its affiliates slated to serve in the Trump administration. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to serve as secretary of defense, was one of Campos Duffy’s co-hosts on “Fox & Friends Weekend” until recently. Unlike Duffy, Hegseth’s path to confirmation looks like it will receive little to no support from Democrats.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
