Smart Cities Dive reports, on Wednesday, President Trump nominated Steven Bradbury, a lawyer, for the post of USDOT deputy secretary.
Bradbury served as USDOT general counsel — and intermittently performed the duties of deputy secretary — during the first Trump administration. He was acting secretary of transportation for a brief time after Elaine Chao resigned in protest over the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. During the George W. Bush administration, Bradbury held executive positions in the Department of Justice. He clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The nominee is currently a “distinguished fellow” at the conservative Heritage Foundation and, according to the article, a critic of Biden administration policies on electric vehicles and vehicle emissions standards.
“Mass Transit” Magazine reports on what Trump and Bradbury are saying about the nomination and on Bradbury’s professional career. (The brief article suggests he had no transportation system experience prior to his three years as USDOT’s chief lawyer.)
In 2017, Bradbury’s nomination as general counsel barely achieved the Senate votes necessary for confirmation. As POLITICO reported at the time, he was a controversial choice because of his role in Justice Department legal review of interrogation techniques used in terrorism investigations. In a social media post explaining his vote against Bradbury, Kentucky Republican Rand Paul stated, “you shouldn’t get to author memos on torturing people & then get another government job.”