By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves confirms he has had talks with the Trump transition team about the possibility of serving as Transportation Secretary in the second Trump administration.
Graves, a Republican, is chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
An article by Politico names Graves as a possible Transportation Secretary. Graves says he is talking with Trump’s people.
“I have been talking to Trump’s transition team and they have informed me that they’ve got me on a short list for that,” Graves tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post in a phone interview. “I’m obviously taking a very hard look at it and (we’ll) see what happens. But it is certainly something that is very intriguing to me.”
Republican Caucus rules would prohibit Graves from continuing to serve as House Transportation Committee chair in the next term of Congress unless he is granted a waiver. And that is contingent of course on Republicans holding on to the majority in the United States House.
Graves says the next Transportation Secretary needs to concentrate on physical infrastructure.
“That is roads and bridges and airports and pipelines and ports and not do all of these things that are about a green agenda or about woke policies or quota policies, whatever the case may be,” Graves says. “We need to concentrate on traditional infrastructure and that’s what’s going to be the challenge is unwinding so many of those things that happened in the Biden-Harris administration.”
Grave has been critical of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill signed into law by President Biden in late 2021, saying it became partisan as it grew too large, authorizing spending outside what is considered traditional infrastructure projects.
Graves says he is open to becoming part of a second Trump administration, but emphasizes all discussions are in the early stages.
“It’s just preliminary at this point,” according to Graves. “They’re just feeling me out on policy and what I would do and the things I would like to see changed. It’s just preliminary at this point to be quite honest with you.”
Graves won his 13th term in Congress on Tuesday. He is the dean of the Missouri Congressional delegation.
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