Washington — U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is facing scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest and misuse of public resources associated with a road trip reality show filmed with his family over the past year.
The official’s “Great American Road Trip” program will feature Duffy, his wife Rachel, and their nine children touring across the United States to visit cities, landmarks and outdoor attractions in celebration of the United States’ 250th birthday this summer.
The progressive watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington pointed out in a complaint filed Monday that Duffy’s trip is sponsored by several mobility businesses — including Toyota Motor Corp., United Airlines Inc. and Boeing Co. — that his agency directly regulates.
“Government employees are responsible for protecting public trust by avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest. Secretary Duffy failed to do that in this instance,” said CREW President Sherman. His organization listed the potential conflicts in a letter sent to the Transportation Department’s Inspector General, who is tasked with independently rooting out waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement within the agency.
Scrutiny of the trip began to emerge on May 8, following the release of a trailer for his show. The video shows the Duffy family driving what appears to be a red Toyota Sequoia SUV and, at one point, features a close-up of the Japanese automaker’s T-shaped insignia. The company declined to comment Tuesday on its sponsorship of Duffy’s road trip.
The trailer also briefly featured a conversation with Michigan-bred musician Kid Rock and an appearance by Duffy and his family in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump. The transportation official said the tagline for his trip is: “To love America is to see America.”
Duffy downplayed criticisms in a weekend statement and said that Transportation Department ethics officials had cleared the trip and the sponsorships.
“Here are the facts,” he wrote on the social media platform X. “1. Production costs were paid for by the Great American Road Trip Inc., not taxpayers. Zero taxpayer dollars were spent on my family. 2. Neither myself nor my family received a salary or production royalties. The five part series will be freely accessible by the public on YouTube.”
His statement continued: “3. The series was filmed in short, one to two day production windows — such as weekends and the kids’ spring break. 4. Career ethics and budget officials at the Department of Transportation reviewed and approved both my participation and individual travel in accordance with federal rules.
“5. Under my leadership, DOT has become the most responsive, productive, and transformational in its history — modernizing air traffic control, hiring 20% more controllers annually than my predecessor, moving grants at record speed, and removing illegal truck drivers from the road.”
The nonprofit organization responsible for Duffy’s Great American Road Trip previously announced the Transportation Department as a partner of the trip and jointly published the show’s trailer on YouTube with the government agency’s official account.
“The Great American Road Trip Inc is an independent organization. How and who they accept donations from in furtherance of their mission to celebrate America’s 250th birthday is their decision,” DOT spokesperson Nathaniel Sizemore said in a statement.
He added: “At the Department, regulatory decisions are guided by career safety professionals, the law, and the facts.”
The Department of Transportation is responsible for setting policy on vehicle safety and fuel economy. The agency, together with Republican lawmakers, has effectively gutted all federal rules on the latter under President Donald Trump. Automakers have mostly celebrated those moves, citing “extremely challenging” rules under the Biden administration.
None of the Detroit Three automakers — Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler parent company Stellantis NV — sponsored Duffy’s trip, though they did participate in a May 2025 event titled the “Great American Road Trip Expo” at the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Vehicles from 19 automakers were on display that day, according to the agency, and officials from Ford and Chrysler gave remarks.
Tori Barnes, the executive director for the Great American Road Trip Inc. and formerly a top lobbyist for General Motors, declined to provide details on the nature of Toyota and other businesses’ sponsorship of the trip.
“The Great American Road Trip Inc. is an independent non-profit with three key pillars: 1. To celebrate America’s 250th birthday; 2. To promote travel and tourism and 3. To bring a focus (to) the transportation, infrastructure and ingenuity that built America over the past 250 years and will build America over the next 250 years,” she said in a statement.
“We are supported by partners who share these goals and believe in encouraging Americans to rediscover the people, places, and experiences that define our country.”
gschwab@detroitnews.com
@GrantSchwab
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: DOT leader Duffy facing ethics scrutiny over Toyota-backed road trip
Reporting by Grant Schwab, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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