Trump’s Transportation nominee claims he’ll let the investigation into Musk’s Tesla continue
President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination for U.S. Transportation Secretary has claimed that should he be confirmed, he will allow the department’s various probes into Tesla to continue.
During a confirmation hearing in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Sean Duffy, who is a former Republican congressman and lobbyist, claimed that he would allow the regulatory process to work itself out when it came to the car company owned by Trump’s buddy and political benefactor, Elon Musk.
“Yes, I commit to this committee and to you that I will let NHTSA do their investigation,” he said. “I also think I mentioned to you that I haven’t personally met any of the players who are involved in these areas.” Duffy stated that the United States cannot fall behind other countries when it comes to AV technologies. Duffy’s words are not binding on him once he is in office. It helps when you are trying to get your nominee confirmed to make it seem like you won’t do anything corrupt on the job. Musk’s companies were under regulatory scrutiny before he became Trump’s unofficial manager (they are still, although some have predicted they could be dropped now that Trump will be in the White House). Musk’s auto company is currently under investigation for safety violations. The latest safety probe began only a week earlier. He was also a reality TV star on The Real World: Boston. NPR points out that, while Duffy has worked in government for a long time (unlike the person Trump chose to lead the Pentagon), his experience in the transportation industry is limited.
