Senate Panel Advances Trump Nominee for Transportation Secretary

A key Senate panel on Jan. 22 advanced President Donald Trump’s nomination of former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) to lead the Department of Transportation. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted 28–0 to move his nomination to the Senate floor.  Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) praised Duffy for committing to prioritizing safety while “fixing our broken permitting process.” “The ayes have it,” Cruz said. “I think this also augurs well for this committee to start with such a strong bipartisan and unanimous vote.” Ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said she was hopeful about Duffy’s commitment to continuing the disbursement of transportation funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, after Trump signed an executive order on Monday rescinding a previous executive action on the implementation of those investments....