UtahPolicy.com has confirmed that Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes is under consideration for the Secretary of Transportation job in a Donald Trump administration.
A source close to Hughes says the Utah House Speaker has been contacted by Trump’s transition team. Hughes has reportedly been asked to provide information to Trump’s team.
When contacted by UtahPolicy.com, Hughes demurred.
“I really don’t know how this whole thing works,” said Hughes. “They have reached out to me, but I don’t know too much about this process.”
Hughes says he is flattered by the attention and speculation, but thinks it’s all a bit premature.
“We get a lot of attention nationally for what we do with transportation here in Utah,” he said. “In the wonkish world of transportation, there aren’t a lot of Republicans who can talk about the multi-modal approach we take in the state. Not many Republicans can discuss integrating roads and rail and bikes.”
Hughes is not the only name being bandied about for the job. Former Florida Republican Congressman John Mica, who lost his re-election bid this year is lobbying hard for the position. Mica once called Amtrak a “Soviet-style” operation while chairman of the House Transportation Committee.
Others reportedly under consideration include:
– Mark Rosenker, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
– James Simpson, former commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Transportation.
– Shirley Ybarra, former senior transportation policy analyst at the Reason Foundation.
Hughes was careful to point out all the speculation is extremely premature, given that he was just re-elected for another term as Utah House Speaker, a job he takes very seriously.
“I’m not measuring drapes somewhere else,” he laughed.
