The Trump administration’s pick to lead the Federal Highway Administration said he wants to join Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s anti-regulatory crusade, saying it’ll help the government build roads and bridges quickly and cheaply.
Sean McMaster, a former congressional staffer who previously served as the deputy chief of staff at the Transportation Department, appeared to have significant support during his confirmation hearing Wednesday in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Duffy has said the Biden administration’s focus on environmental and social justice issues left the Highway Administration and the rest of the Transportation Department with a backlog of projects.
“The longer it takes, the fewer projects we’re actually able to realize,” McMaster said Wednesday. “So I would like to support the secretary in his efforts to address the backlog initially, while he’s reducing [the] regulatory burden on our project awardees, so that we can realize quicker, faster, more cost-effective projects and actually build rather than say, ‘We’re going to build and move paper around.’”
