Being the secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation is not an easy job. The secretary is in the president’s cabinet, and the position oversees 13 agencies and administrations, including the Federal Highway Administration.

Last year, after Sean Duffy became secretary to the USDOT, the American Society of Civil Engineers released its 2025 Infrastructure Report Card. In the report, the ASCE gave the nation's roads a D+ and its bridges a C. The ASCE estimates that 39% of major U.S. roads are in poor or mediocre condition, while deteriorated and congested roads cost the average driver more than $1,400 a year in vehicle operating costs and lost time. The nation's roads face an estimated $684 billion funding gap over the next decade.

The bridge numbers aren't much more encouraging. Of America's 623,218 bridges, about one-third need to be repaired or replaced, according to the ASCE. Nearly 45% of bridges have already exceeded their original 50-year design lives, and 6.8% of bridges are rated as poor.

And that’s just surface transportation. Duffy also oversees the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration, neither of which is in great shape.

The man has a lot on his plate. So why did he take time out of his insanely busy schedule working for the American people to film a reality television show?

“The Great American Road Trip,” which can be seen in its entirety on YouTube, chronicles Duffy, his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, and their nine children, as they drive across the country. 

I understand the reasons behind the show. As USDOT secretary, Duffy wanted to promote travel and celebrate American mobility for the country’s 250th birthday.

The U.S. Interstate turns 70 this year, and U.S. Route 66 turns 100. In theory, 2026 is a great time to celebrate America’s roads and bridges. Mobility defines us as a nation. But maybe, given the state of American infrastructure, Duffy should be too busy to film a TV show with his family?

If he wants to be a content creator, then he should resign and create content. If he wants to continue working for the American people, then he should focus on the job. If he stays, he should give sincere answers to the questions about the ethics behind his show.

Duffy has said that no taxpayer money paid for the show’s production and that neither he nor his family received a salary or production royalties. The series was funded through The Great American Road Trip Inc., an independent nonprofit. But that explanation doesn't make the arrangement less troubling.

The nonprofit solicited corporate sponsorships, and some of the sponsors have significant interests before the USDOT. Boeing and Toyota each contributed $1 million, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal. Other sponsors have included United Airlines, Enterprise, Shell and Royal Caribbean. These are companies whose industries intersect with the portfolio of the cabinet secretary starring in the show.

Duffy's representatives have maintained that career ethics officials cleared his participation and that the project involved no taxpayer funding.

Perhaps he followed all of the rules. But didn’t filming take away from his job running the USDOT?

Is the show even about mobility? The project was promoted as a way to showcase America's landscapes, historic communities and "the transportation networks that make exploration possible."

That sounds amazing! It sounds like this: Duffy traveling across the country and showing Americans how the Interstate Highway System works. He would visit a bridge rehabilitation project. Talk with highway workers. Examine the condition of rural roads. Experts could join him to discuss autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, freight mobility and the future of the Highway Trust Fund.

Sign me up for that transportation documentary. But the show is more about Duffy and his family than it is about America’s roads.

Instead of an episode about where his daughter will attend college, why not an episode on how bridge inspectors keep Americans safe? Instead of an episode about how the Duffys met as reality TV stars on MTV, how about a show about a highway crew rebuilding a road overnight in the middle of winter?

Instead of an episode where Duffy and his wife renew their wedding vows, how about an episode that shows how transportation agencies stretch every dollar because Congress and the Trump Administration can’t get their act together?

America has 623,000 bridges to maintain. There are more than 4 million miles of public roads. America's infrastructure deserves a transportation secretary who is focused on the enormous job in front of him, not on filming a reality TV show with his family.