President-elect Trump has announced his intention to fill two cabinet-level positions of particular interest for the BLET and its members: the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Labor.
Former Wisconsin Representative Sean Duffy has been nominated by President-elect Trump to serve as Secretary of Transportation. Duffy most recently served as co-host of a television show on Fox News. According to a report from Trains.com, Duffy represented Wisconsin’s 7th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011-2019. As a member of Congress, Duffy sponsored legislation that would have forced railroad employees to remain on duty in excess of the current Hours of Service law to clear blocked grade crossings. He also supported legislation that would have eliminated funding for Amtrak’s national network. Both pieces of legislation ultimately failed.
President-elect Trump also tapped a current member of Congress from Oregon — Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who lost her bid for reelection last month — as his pick to serve as the Secretary of Labor. According to The Hill newspaper, this pick “has organized labor cheering and business groups sounding worried as the atypically labor-friendly choice could signal a new and more receptive stance toward unions from Republicans, who have long resisted labor’s agenda.”
It’s important to note that Chavez-DeRemer is the daughter of a Teamster member. After the announcement, Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien published a note on social media thanking Trump for “putting American workers first” by nominating Chavez-DeRemer.