Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy flipped the script on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) during a heated exchange at a hearing where he was accused by the New York Democrat of allowing companies who fall under his oversight to fund his “Great American Road Trip,” shining a spotlight on donations she received from industries and groups connected to policies she regulates.
Duffy kicked off the exchange in a viral video clip of the encounter by saying every state in the country, including the extremely left-wing California, complied with his agency’s request to revoke illegally issued driver’s licenses, except for Gillibrand’s state of New York. “First, in regard to New York, we’ve asked for all states to revoke illegally issued driver’s licenses,” he said.
“Every state has complied but New York. We have tools to pull money from New York and we did. California even complied,” Duffy added. Gillibrand interjected saying, “Secretary Duffy, I don’t mind that you have rules and that you have a different way of doing the Department of Transportation. What I mind is that you bragged about it and made a joke about it. It’s not appropriate for a secretary to demean an entire state by that joke.”
Duffy, starting to get hot under the collar, fired back, “So we’re going to give $8 billion to rebuild Penn Station, is that a joke?” Gillibrand started to reply, “No, but –” Duffy interrupted and said, “No, you welcome that, right? And I’ve asked for your subways to be cleaner –” Gillibrand interjected, angrily yelling that Duffy wants New York to pay for the cleanup with its own tax dollars.
“And you get a choice where to put it,” Duffy said, adding, “you give me that discretion.” The senator then said, “We also appropriate money that you don’t grant, so we are the appropriators, not you. We appropriate that money, you’re supposed to spend it. Sometimes you choose not to, and we have to file lawsuits to get you to spend the money.”
After a little more back and forth, Gillibrand shifts the discussion to the “Great American Vacation.” Duffy jumps in immediately and says, “the great American road trip. Yes, let’s talk about that. This is a project, Senator. And I want to encourage Americans to see their beautiful country. And as we can see from this hearing, there’s a lot of partisanship in America.”
“This seeing your country, experiencing your country through the window of a car is a beautiful thing. It actually unites America. Maybe spending time with your children is a wonderful experience,” he continues. Gillibrand jumps in, saying, “It is a wonderful thing. But your vacation was paid for by Boeing, Toyota, United Airlines, Enterprise, Shell, Royal Caribbean Group, all organizations and companies –”
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Duffy interjects and says he’ll gladly respond to the senator’s accusations, but she quickly shoots him down by claiming he just responds with platitudes. “I’m telling you, what I’m telling you, what the project was. Okay, two days quickly in and out, and I did film the great American road trip to encourage Americans to travel,” he replies.
“I’ll answer your question. So, this was officially part of America 250 and you all sanctioned America 250. This is an official partner, I know, so an official partner of America 250 Also, this body told me that I’m supposed to promote tourism and travel, and that’s what it does as well,” he adds. Gillibrand then says that the trip shouldn’t be paid for by people and companies that Duffy oversees.
Duffy responds that the project was a partnership with a nonprofit organization, but Gillibrand jumps back in and says that organization was funded by companies the secretary oversees. And then Duffy drops the hammer and points out Gillibrand’s hypocrisy. “Do you have jurisdiction over law firms? So, you received $7 million in a political controversy –” Duffy begins, but is interrupted.
“Honestly, this has nothing to do with members of Congress. This has to do with the fact that you went on a paid vacation that was paid for by companies –” Duffy isn’t having any of it. “$7 million. You have jurisdiction over the trial bar, $7 million. What else have you received? You have jurisdiction.” Gillibrand fires back, “Secretary Duffy, this hearing is about you and this administration.”
After the two talk over each other for a bit, Duffy points out that Gillibrand received half a million dollars from the trial bar to fly aboard a private jet, which Gillibrand promptly denied. The exchange continues on for a little longer before Duffy puts the nail in the coffin by saying that the industries and groups she oversees put “your face on television, your face on television, your steak dinners, your vacations by the trial bar.” According to a report from Fox News, despite Gillibrand’s denial of flying on a private jet, documents show that in 2022, she spent the second most money in Congress on chartered flights.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video