Transportation Lobbyists Have Donated Thousands To Sean Duffy’s Son-in-Law As He Runs For Congress | EUROtoday

The $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project, underneath development between Manhattan and New Jersey, will enhance passenger rail service, an essential subject for New York City commuters. It would appear to have nothing to do with what’s occurring in northern Wisconsin.

But after the White House froze federal grant funding for the undertaking within the fall, citing considerations about range and fairness measures, lobbyists with an curiosity within the tunnel donated $2,500 to a political novice working within the Republican main in Wisconsin’s seventh Congressional District.

The younger candidate, Michael Alfonso, has no sway over the matter. However, his father-in-law does: Sean Duffy is secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The contributions are amongst dozens to Alfonso’s marketing campaign from lobbyists, enterprise executives and political motion committees tied to industries — from rails and highways to transport and air journey — that Duffy’s division funds and regulates. His division additionally oversees the Federal Aviation Administration.

Duffy held the seventh Congressional District seat for practically a decade earlier than resigning in 2019. He was succeeded by Tom Tiffany, who’s now working for Wisconsin governor, leaving the seat open once more. Alfonso, 26, who has labored in development and podcasting, has been endorsed by President Donald Trump.

A ProPublica evaluation discovered that most of the Alfonso donors with transportation pursuits had by no means given to Duffy or Tiffany. While authorized, such donations arrange the looks that serving to Alfonso would possibly help the donors with points influenced by Duffy. (Politico has reported on a few of these contributions.)

“The law, as it stands, provides very little constraint,” stated Daniel Weiner, director of the Elections and Government Program on the Brennan Center for Justice, a legislation and coverage institute primarily based in New York. “There’s a very large gulf between what is legal and what is ethical. Obviously, this raises numerous ethical questions.”

This shouldn’t be the primary time a Cabinet secretary’s relative has created thorny moral points. During the primary Trump administration, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao made headlines for showing to offer preferential remedy to Kentucky officers for hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in infrastructure grants. Kentucky is the house state of her husband, Mitch McConnell, then Senate majority chief. At the time, Chao’s workplace denied displaying any favoritism, saying that Kentucky’s share was not out of the extraordinary.

And in 2012, underneath President Barack Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, an Iowa Democrat, fielded questions concerning the separation between U.S. Department of Agriculture enterprise and the marketing campaign of his spouse, Christie, who was working for Congress. Christie Vilsack informed ProPublica in an interview that the couple was cautious about ensuring her husband was not concerned within the marketing campaign, aside from to help her at some debates and on election evening. He “never did any fundraising at all,” she stated.

An influential member of Trump’s Cabinet, Duffy has been brazenly helping his son-in-law’s marketing campaign. The discover for a November “meet and greet” with Alfonso in Wausau, Wisconsin, talked about that Duffy can be a particular visitor, as did an invite for an additional December fundraiser.

Among the sponsors for the December occasion was the political motion committee for Delta Air Lines. The invitation included a caveat: “Sean Duffy is not soliciting funds in connection with this event.”

Alfonso’s marketing campaign didn’t reply to requests from ProPublica for an interview or for remark. A spokesperson for Duffy, Nathaniel Sizemore, supplied a written assertion saying: “The Secretary attends fundraising events in his personal capacity. Regulatory decisions are guided by career safety professionals, the law, and the facts.”

Nothing in legislation bars Duffy from campaigning for his son-in-law, as long as he goes about it on his private time, doesn’t use authorities sources and doesn’t promise to take some official motion in alternate for a contribution.

Alfonso is utilizing the identical fundraising advisor, Kirstin Hopkins, that Duffy employed, Federal Election Commission data present. In addition, Alfonso has obtained assist with adverts and mailers from a brilliant PAC, the Northwoods Future PAC, that’s funded with $1 million from Duffy’s former marketing campaign committee. Alfonso’s familial benefit has irked some Wisconsin Republicans who don’t need the newcomer to glide into such an essential place.

Through his personal marketing campaign committee, Alfonso had raised slightly over $305,000 as of the tip of 2025, the most recent submitting obtainable. By legislation, contributions for every election are restricted to $3,500 from people and $5,000 from political motion committees. Donors can contribute to multiple election on the identical time, resembling a main race and a common.

Alfonso’s donors embrace lobbyist Jeffrey Miller, a finance chair of Trump’s most up-to-date inaugural committee. In December, Miller and his firm’s chief working officer donated individually to Alfonso, for a mixed $8,500. No one itemizing their agency, Miller Strategies, as an employer had donated to both Duffy or Tiffany prior to now, based on FEC data.

Lobbyist disclosure stories present that Miller lobbied the Transportation Department in 2025 on behalf of not less than 9 firms, one New York county and one Native American tribe. The points included airport signage regulation, aviation allowing for the developer of a supersonic airliner and developments in GPS know-how. Miller reported advocating for Archer Aviation relating to electrical vertical takeoff and touchdown plane know-how, often known as eVTOL — the premise for future flying automobiles.

Earlier this month, Duffy introduced a first-of-its-kind FAA pilot program to check eVTOL know-how in eight demonstration initiatives throughout 26 states. Archer was among the many firms chosen to take part, based on the Transportation Department. In a video accompanying the announcement, Duffy spoke enthusiastically concerning the know-how, envisioning “Ubers in the air” taking folks from one airport to the following and past. He stated, “eVTOLs are going to make the airspace far more interesting and far more fun, and we have to be prepared for that.”

Miller didn’t return calls or emails in search of remark.

Alfonso graduated in 2022 from the University of Wisconsin with a math diploma. He moved to Florida for a time to assist produce a preferred podcast hosted by Dan Bongino, a Trump supporter who later served a short stint as deputy director of the FBI. (Bongino is again podcasting once more.)

By Alfonso’s account, he and Trump first met in 2022 at Alfonso’s marriage ceremony to Duffy’s daughter, Evita. The reception came about at one in every of Trump’s New Jersey golf programs.

Alfonso has stated that in an Oval Office assembly after he determined to run for Congress, he pledged loyalty to the president. “I promised him that I would always be America first, I would always fight for his agenda and that nobody would ever outwork me,” Alfonso informed Mark Halperin, one other podcaster.

On social media in November, Alfonso thanked Duffy for coming to his first marketing campaign occasion in Wausau, town the place the candidate met his future spouse whereas they had been in center college.

The following month, the transportation secretary appeared at a marketing campaign fundraiser for Alfonso at a resort in Green Bay, close to the storied Lambeau Field. The donors in attendance included Sharad Tak of Bethesda, Maryland, the CEO of ST LNG, an organization in search of a DOT-issued license to assemble and function a deep-water port offshore of Matagorda, Texas, to load liquefied pure gasoline onto carriers.

Tak gave $500 to the marketing campaign, and his spouse, Mahinder, who didn’t attend the perform, gave $7,000. Neither had donated to Duffy or Tiffany.

Tak didn’t reply to ProPublica’s request for an interview however requested a longtime pal of his, Ann Murphy of Green Bay, who works as a advisor for him, to reply. Tak owns a paper mill in Oconto Falls, north of Green Bay. It shouldn’t be within the seventh Congressional District. But Murphy stated Tak was visiting the state and agreed, at her request, to attend the fundraiser for Alfonso.

She stated in an interview that the Texas liquefied pure gasoline undertaking had no bearing on Tak’s marketing campaign contribution. “Absolutely not.”

It’s typical, she stated, for Tak and his spouse to help causes, each political and philanthropic, that Murphy and her husband discover worthwhile — and vice versa.

“We were very excited about Michael,” Murphy stated of Alfonso, likening him to Charlie Kirk, the founding father of Turning Point USA who impressed many younger folks earlier than being killed final yr. “And he does have the endorsement of President Trump.”

Others donating to Alfonso’s candidacy embrace political motion committees for workers of the army jetmaker Lockheed Martin, which is topic to FAA security rules and has profitable authorities contracts, and for T-Mobile, which is engaged on a DOT undertaking to reinforce the resilience of crucial 5G infrastructure. PACs for unions and commerce associations for heavy tools operators, engineers, aeronautical providers and the journey business have additionally pitched in.

The PAC for Brightline, a high-speed prepare service in Florida, additionally donated, giving $2,500 in December. Brightline trains have struck and killed greater than 180 pedestrians or drivers at crossings since 2017, based on an investigation by the Miami Herald and WLRN. Duffy promised at a congressional committee listening to in July to work to “drive down the number of deaths.” In September, he introduced that his division would distribute $42 million to enhance security alongside the road. In an announcement to the Florida information organizations, Brightline officers blamed the deaths on suicides and the “reckless” habits of people that put themselves in hurt’s method.

Brightline, T-Mobile and Lockheed Martin didn’t reply to ProPublica’s requests for remark. On its web site, Lockheed notes that it complies with all relevant legal guidelines and rules with regard to its political and public coverage actions.

Alfonso’s marketing campaign has drawn donations from others within the closely regulated railroad sector. They embrace Peter Bartek, founding father of FTS Rail, which manufactures battery-powered railroad restore instruments and sensors that detect rail breaks attributable to excessive warmth or chilly. He gave $3,644 in November. Duffy appointed Bartek final July to serve on a DOT advisory committee.

Bartek had by no means given to a candidate within the district earlier than. In an interview, he stated he learn a information article about Alfonso’s marketing campaign and determined to donate. “I like Secretary Duffy very much,” he stated, “and I thought very simply, boy, if he’s anything like his father-in-law, it would be nice to support him as well.”

He stated in a textual content that he didn’t know Duffy personally and was not concerned in Alfonso’s marketing campaign or fundraising.

In New York, development on the Hudson Tunnel Project to enhance commuter rail service got here to a screeching halt in early February after the federal authorities lower off funds. A courtroom intervened, ordering the cash launched, and work resumed. A bistate fee overseeing the undertaking warned this month that it might face disruptions once more in upcoming months if federal disbursements don’t proceed.

In response to outreach from ProPublica, an government at Venture Government Strategies, whose lobbyists for the tunnel undertaking gave a mixed $2,500 to Alfonso, stated in an e mail the corporate had no remark.

On his marketing campaign web site, Alfonso lists a dozen points “that matter to us” — starting from schooling and well being care to immigration. He needs to “make farms and families strong,” “give Gen Z a voice” and work towards entry to abortion.

Transportation points will not be amongst these priorities, however he nonetheless is getting help from General Motors, which usually lobbies DOT on varied points, together with gas economic system, automobile security and emissions requirements, and different mandates. The big automotive producer additionally gave to Duffy when he was working for the congressional seat, and the transportation secretary has develop into a booster. (GM didn’t reply to ProPublica’s request for remark.)

In mid-December, viewers of social media noticed Duffy slide behind the wheel of a modern, black, limited-edition Corvette, imbued with patriotic insignia to rejoice the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday.

“Over 1,000 horsepower,” Duffy stated in a promotional video, emphasizing the dynamic options of the $200,000 supercar. “We’re going to take this bad boy on a little test drive to the Army-Navy game.” Off he went.

The video, uploaded to the social media platform X, highlighted a journey app the carmaker made in partnership with the Department of Transportation, whereas additionally showcasing Chevrolet’s automotive sequence dubbed Stars and Steel.

The put up obtained over 130,000 views: helpful commercial for the storied carmaker, General Motors. A few weeks later, GM’s political motion committee donated $1,000 to Alfonso.