5 things to know about Sean Duffy, Trump pick for Transportation secretary

President-elect Trump’s latest Cabinet announcement came Monday evening, when he tapped Sean Duffy to be his Transportation secretary.

Since he was elected earlier this month, Trump has named to his second administration numerous officials, most of whom would need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Here are five things to know about Duffy:

Duffy is second Fox News personality nominated

Duffy served as co-host of Fox Business Network’s “The Bottom Line” since January 2023 and has been a staunch defender of the former president on the cable network since he was named a Fox News contributor in 2020. Duffy left the show on Monday, after he was tapped for the Cabinet post.

Trump also tapped Fox News’s Pete Hegseth, co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” to serve as secretary of Defense.

Duffy is a former member of Congress and district attorney

Duffy was elected to Congress in 2010, as part of the tea party wave. He represented Wisconsin for nine years, from 2011-19, when he resigned to care for his family, which at the time was expecting a child with a birth defect.

While in Congress, he served on the House Financial Services Committee and chaired its subcommittee on housing and insurance.

Prior to his congressional run, Duffy served as acting assistant district attorney and district attorney in Ashland County, Wis., from 2002 to 2010.

Duffy met his wife on a reality TV show

Before entering the political world, Duffy had a stint as a television star, appearing on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston” in 1997. He met his wife, Fox News co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, on the set of MTV’s “Road Rules: All Stars” in 1998, The Associated Press reported.

They married in 1998 and have nine children, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Duffy is a former lumberjack athlete

Duffy began log rolling at age 5 and speech climbing, which local reports describe as “sprinting up 60 and 90 foot poles,” at age 13.

As of July 2012, Duffy held two speed climbing titles.

Duffy refused Trump on Wisconsin governor run

A couple of years after Duffy resigned from Congress, the former president publicly pressured his loyal supporter to run for governor in Wisconsin, saying he was “working hard to get very popular and capable Former Congressman Sean Duffy of Wisconsin to run.”

“He would be fantastic!” Trump said at the time, the AP reported. “A champion athlete, Sean loves the people of Wisconsin, and would be virtually unbeatable. His wife, Rachel, is likewise an incredible person. ... Run Sean, Run!”

Duffy went on a conservative talk show in January 2022 to rule out the possibility of a governor’s run, saying he was devoting significant time to his family and running for statewide office would make that difficult.

“Hopefully I’m not riding off into the sunset,” Duffy said at the time. “I’m just running into the sunset right now. ... If an opportunity presents itself, I’d like to come back and partake in Wisconsin politics.”