Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy turned the tables on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) after she tried to ambush him over his family’s America250 road trip during a tense Senate hearing Tuesday.
Duffy took a cross-country trip with his family, celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary. The journey was filmed for an upcoming reality TV-style series. It should be noted that "The Great American Road Trip" involved no taxpayer dollars for the Duffy family and was paid for by a nonprofit.
Still, some Democrats didn't like the idea. Because if there's anything they hate, it's a show celebrating America.
“It doesn’t smell right,” Gillibrand confronted, perhaps a more appropriate description of her congressional career.
“I think it’s wrong, and I think you should explain to the American people why you should spend your time and why you should be getting a vacation that is paid for by companies that you regulate,” she added.
She fired her shot. And Duffy promptly rolled her argument up in a fire blanket and stomped it out. With what, you might ask? A heaping helping of her own hypocrisy.
“Do you have jurisdiction over law firms?” he countered. “So, you received $7 million in political contributions from the trial bar.”
“Oh my God,” Gillibrand replied, clearly shocked. "Honestly, this has nothing to do with members of Congress.”
🚨 HOLY SMOKES. Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy just DEMOLISHED insufferable Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D)!
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 19, 2026
GILLIBRAND: Your [America250] road trip was paid for by companies you oversaw!
DUFFY: Do YOU have jurisdictions over law firms? You received $7 MILLION DOLLARS from the… pic.twitter.com/2DSGYze1Hj
READ MORE: Gillibrand Thought Scott Turner Didn’t Know Homelessness - She Picked the Wrong Guy
"You know what, Secretary Duffy?" Gillibrand attempted to defend. "Secretary Duffy. Secretary Duffy. I think you should be telling this committee why — this is what I'm concerned about. You are political, and you are using your position in political ways."
"A half a million dollars paid by the trial bar to fly you on a private jet," Duffy hit back.
"I've never been on a private jet," insisted Gillibrand, while the Transportation Secretary refused to let up. "I've never been on a private jet. No. We don't, we don't, we don't — members of Congress aren't allowed. Not true."
Um ... about that. The New York Democrat dropped nearly $270,000 on charter flights in 2024 alone — one of the highest totals in the Senate. During a midterm year in 2022, she reportedly spent about $350,000.
Facts, as they say, are stubborn things.
She had the audacity to say she had never been on a private jet??? She's the #2 senator on private air travel--including jets--in the entire congress:https://t.co/77oFbYmENz
— Wes Dorman (@JWesleyDorman) May 19, 2026
Money quote:
Gillibrand uses air charter company Zen Air and typically flies out of Reagan National…
She had the audacity to say she had never been on a private jet??? She's the #2 senator on private air travel--including jets--in the entire Congress:
https://wgrz.com/article/news/politics/schumer-gillibrand-tops-in-charter-plane-use/71-314258191
Money quote: Gillibrand uses air charter company Zen Air and typically flies out of Reagan National Airport in northern Virginia on a small charter jet.
Hard to believe her retort was "not true."
Duffy would later explain why, in his role, promoting America is a good thing that Congress actually greenlighted.
“This was officially part of America 250, and you all sanctioned America 250,” Duffy continued. “This body told me that I’m supposed to promote tourism and travel, and that’s what it does as well.”
Gillibrand has suffered through a difficult few days, even by her already low standards. During a Senate hearing last week, she tried to lecture HUD Secretary Scott Turner on homelessness by emotionally describing affected children and implying he didn’t understand real suffering.
Turner shut her down with the five devastating words: “It’s happened in my family.”
The administration official revealed that his own family had taken in and helped a homeless veteran relative.
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