--- title: What to Know About Sean Duffy, NASA's New Interim Head description: Duffy, who also serves as Transportation Secretary, has no space background, but has been an MTV reality star, a DA, and a congressman. canonical: https://time.com/7301654/sean-duffy-nasa-transportation-secretary/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-07-10T22:19:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T01:15:05.816Z article:section: Politics og:title: What to Know About Sean Duffy, NASA's New Interim Head og:description: Duffy, also the Transportation Secretary, has no space background, but has been an MTV reality star and a congressman. og:url: https://time.com/7301654/sean-duffy-nasa-transportation-secretary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42635b995cf51741/6998c82e9fbc7c55b6d9a408/Duffy-NASA.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Transportation Secretary Duffy Holds News Conference On Air India Crash og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Know About Sean Duffy, NASA's New Interim Head twitter:description: Duffy, also the Transportation Secretary, has no space background, but has been an MTV reality star and a congressman. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42635b995cf51741/6998c82e9fbc7c55b6d9a408/Duffy-NASA.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # From Reality TV to Trump’s Cabinet: What to Know About Sean Duffy, NASA’s New Interim Head > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=78623cb4-1cf1-4d66-80e2-b1f1e941b993&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Jul 10, 2025 10:19 PM UTC  Sean Duffy, U.S. secretary of transportation, during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on June 12, 2025. Sean Duffy, U.S. secretary of transportation, during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on June 12, 2025. Eric Lee—Bloomberg Finance LP/Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Jul 10, 2025 10:19 PM UTC The people tapped to run NASA have often been [scientists, engineers, academics, or government officials](https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/06/science/nasa-chief-trump-pick-jared-isaacman). The agency’s new interim head, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, brings a different sort of background to the position. Over the past three decades, Duffy has worn a variety of hats, appearing on reality television, serving as a district attorney and a member of the House, and now leading the Transportation Department under President Donald Trump’s second Administration amid mounting concerns about air travel safety. Trump announced Duffy’s appointment as NASA’s interim Administrator on Wednesday, praising his work as Transportation Secretary. “Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country’s Transportation Affairs,” Trump [said](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114826109463640311) in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time.” Duffy [said](https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/1943107856254877927) in a post on X that he was “honored to accept this mission.” The news of Duffy's appointment comes after Trump [pulled](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/us/politics/trump-nasa-nominee-musk.html) his nomination of billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to run NASA in May, just days before Isaacman was expected to be confirmed to the position. Isaacman is a friend of Elon Musk, and the move was seen as the [first sign of the rift](https://time.com/7292326/trump-musk-feud-spacex-nasa/) between Trump and Musk that widened as the two men [publicly feuded](https://time.com/7291495/trump-says-great-relationship-with-musk-may-be-over/) over a sweeping [tax and spending package](https://time.com/7300177/trump-signs-big-beautiful-bill/) central to Trump’s second term agenda. Duffy will continue to run the Transportation Department while temporarily leading NASA, making him the latest Trump Administration official to take on multiple roles. Here’s what to know about him. ## **He was an MTV reality star** When Duffy was in his 20s, he [appeared](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/us/politics/sean-duffy-reality-television.html) on MTV’s reality show “The Real World” and became known as the show’s resident playboy. He later [starred](https://www.transportation.gov/meet-secretary/us-transportation-secretary-sean-duffy) in the MTV show “Road Rules: All Stars,” where he met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, now a Fox News host. The couple have nine children. Together, in 2021, they [launched](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/us/politics/sean-duffy-reality-television.html) a podcast, “From the Kitchen Table: The Duffys,” on which they have discussed various social and political issues and promoted a conservative vision of family. ## **He was a district attorney and served in Congress** Duffy was the district attorney of Ashland County in Wisconsin for nearly 10 years, from 2002 to 2010\. He was elected to the House as part of 2010’s Tea Party wave, [winning](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/us/politics/sean-duffy-reality-television.html) a district that had been held by a Democrat for more than four decades. He served in Congress for about eight years before [resigning](https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/republican-rep-sean-duffy-to-resign-next-month-cites-complications-related-to-his-wifes-pregnancy/2019/08/26/b1a676c8-c819-11e9-a4f3-c081a126de70%5Fstory.html) partway through his fifth term in 2019, saying he wanted to support his family after learning his ninth child would be born with health complications, including a heart condition. ## **He worked as a political commentator and lobbyist** After leaving Congress, Duffy worked as a paid political commentator at CNN, where he [garnered](https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/29/cnn-sean-duffy-anti-immigrant-bigotry-061434) criticism for promoting a conspiracy theory and suggesting National Security Council official Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman had an “affinity” for Ukraine after Vindman testified in Trump’s first impeachment inquiry. He [later worked](https://apnews.com/a53e5e7c386a4961bed5297ef5ad4608) at a lobbying firm based in Washington before becoming the [co-host of a show on Fox Business](https://deadline.com/2022/12/fox-business-network-sean-duffy-dagen-mcdowell-1235197391/) that premiered in 2023. ## **He now serves in Trump’s Cabinet** Trump [named](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/us/politics/sean-duffy-trump-transportation-dot.html) Duffy as his nominee to run the Transportation Department soon after the 2024 election. Duffy was not among Trump’s most contentious nominees, and was sworn into the role in January after an easy confirmation process that [ended in a 77-22 Senate vote](https://rollcall.com/2025/01/28/senate-confirms-former-rep-duffy-for-transportation-head/) to approve his nomination. Under Duffy’s leadership, the department has pledged to make changes to the nation’s air traffic control system, after a string of crashes and near misses. In January, an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter [collided](https://time.com/7211267/passenger-plane-army-helicopter-collision-crash-washington/) when the plane was about to land at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing all 67 people on board both aircrafts. A few months later, radar and communications at Newark Liberty International Airport [stopped working](https://www.npr.org/2025/05/22/g-s1-68333/newark-air-traffic-controller-atc) on multiple occasions. One of the outages lasted as long as 90 seconds. Hundreds of flights were canceled and delayed in the aftermath. Duffy said he plans to overhaul the nation’s air traffic control system, including by [replacing antiquated telecommunications](https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-unveils-plan-build-brand-new-state-art-air) and launching efforts to [boost staffing for air traffic controllers](https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-unveils-new-package-boost-air-traffic). As Transportation Secretary, Duffy has also said that he will roll back [“woke DEI policies”](https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-transportation-secretary-sean-duffy-takes-action-rescind-woke-dei-policies-and) and [environmental regulations](https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/president-trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-recipients-federal-funds-were) initiated under the Biden Administration. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7301654/sean-duffy-nasa-transportation-secretary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7301654/sean-duffy-nasa-transportation-secretary/"},"headline":"From Reality TV to Trump’s Cabinet: What to Know About Sean Duffy, NASA’s New Interim Head","datePublished":"2025-07-10T22:19:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T01:15:05.816Z","description":"Duffy, who also serves as Transportation Secretary, has no space background, but has been an MTV reality star, a DA, and a congressman.","url":"https://time.com/7301654/sean-duffy-nasa-transportation-secretary/","keywords":["Trump Administration","Donald Trump","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42635b995cf51741/6998c82e9fbc7c55b6d9a408/Duffy-NASA.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42635b995cf51741/6998c82e9fbc7c55b6d9a408/Duffy-NASA.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Transportation Secretary Duffy Holds News Conference On Air India Crash","caption":"Transportation Secretary Duffy Holds News Conference On Air India Crash","creditText":"Eric Lee—Bloomberg Finance LP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7301654/sean-duffy-nasa-transportation-secretary/","name":"From Reality TV to Trump’s Cabinet: What to Know About Sean Duffy, NASA’s New Interim Head"}}]}] ```