Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy reflects on first months of tenure and his faith

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 22, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Sean Duffy shared how his family and Catholic faith have sustained him during his extraordinarily intense first months as U.S. secretary of transportation. 

Despite the major challenges he has faced in the role, Duffy said: “I think that when you’re called to service and called in times of crisis, you don’t do it by yourself … you have someone walking with you, and it’s important to tap into your faith.”

In an interview with EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on March 20, Duffy discussed the horrific airplane crashes in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia earlier this year. He told Arroyo that the devastating losses “put in focus the mission of the department is safety.” 

“It was not the way we anticipated our tenure starting out,” he said. “I talked to a number of the families from the DCA [Reagan National Airport] crash who lost loved ones. And if you can prevent that, if you can have policies in place that save future lives, I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”

Duffy said the DCA crash “was really day number one” for him and he was thrown into the job at a critical time. 

He shared that the crash has led to the banning of military aircraft operations within the sphere of Reagan National Airport. “But,” he said, “the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] could have seen the data before.”

“Sometimes it’s easy to look back and see data as opposed to looking forward. We’re using AI [artificial intelligence] tools to analyze the data and see other hotspots to make sure that we don’t miss anything moving forward.”

Duffy said the tragic midair collision made the Department of Transportation “look at the system as a whole,” and the goal is to “fix the system before we lose lives.”

Duffy shared future department plans and addressed the negative response he received after he said that he will prioritize transportation work in areas that have the largest populations, specifically those with high marriage rates.

“It’s common sense,” Duffy said. “Where people get married and where people have kids is where we’re going to seek growth. Where you seek growth, you’ll need roads and bridges. This is one consideration I said we’re going to look at because, again, family formation and having kids is where you’ll need infrastructure.”

Family and faith

Duffy, who is a husband and father of nine children, highlighted the importance of family during this time in his life.

When Duffy was asked to take on the secretary role, he first spoke with his family. “I talked to my kids about it,” he said, “and we walked through what does the schedule look like? How does my time at home change with this new job?”

Duffy said his hours are extensive, working 12 to 14 hours a day or if in crisis, through the night. “But it is the best work because you know what we do? We truly do impact people’s lives. How people move, how fast they get home to their loved ones, how safely they travel.”

“So my kids have been incredibly supportive,” he said.

“By the way,” he continued, “public service — it’s not just the individual that serves, families serve. It’s a family commitment to do these jobs, and it is an amazing honor to serve in this president’s cabinet.”

Duffy said it is not only his family that sustains him during his long, sometimes distressing, days but also his faith. He told Arroyo: “My faith is very important to me.”

“I bought a place that’s right near a Catholic church, and I was looking at a number of places and decided, this is probably the place.”

Duffy concluded the interview addressing a viral video of him and his family praying the Hail Mary before his confirmation hearing.

“I just thought, we’re going to take this moment to say the Hail Mary before we walk in, because there’s a lot of bad things that are happening. There’s a lot of forces that are at play, and I want to make sure I’m with the right force,” he said. “I’m going to walk the right line, and that means I have to remain centered, which means I have to be focused on my faith.”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262893/us-secretary-of-transportation-sean-duffy-reflects-on-first-months-of-tenure-and-his-faith