President Donald Trump nominated Sean McMaster, a former U.S. Dept. of Transportation official, to be administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Construction industry groups expressed support for his confirmation.

If the Senate confirms McMaster for the role, he would lead the agency within DOT that is responsible for supporting construction and maintenance of highways across the country. FHWA has typically in recent years distributed tens of billions of dollars to states, local governments and tribes for various road, bridge, tunnel and other related projects—FHWA spending $61.3 billion last year—although administration officials have indicated they will likely not continue spending with the same priorities as the Biden administration. 

The White House announced McMaster’s nomination March 11. It has been referred to the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee. 

McMaster previously served as deputy chief of staff and deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs at DOT during the first Trump administration playing a key role in developing the agency’s proposal for surface transportation reauthorization and setting policy.

Since then, McMaster has worked in the private sector for engineering firm HNTB and, most recently, for Boeing Co. Prior to joining DOT, he was a congressional staffer, primarily for former Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.). He has also worked in the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s International Trade Administration and the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development during the George W. Bush administration.

A Shift in Focus

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently rescinded a pair of Biden-era memos that had instructed FHWA officials to encourage recipients of funds from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to select projects that met the agency's priorities. Industry groups had opposed the original 2021 memo, and then-FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt later issued a replacement memo in 2023 emphasizing states’ role in choosing their own projects but still reiterating agency goals. 

Under Duffy, DOT has also already reshaped its policies to “be based on sound economic principles and analysis supported by rigorous cost-benefit requirements and data-driven decisions” and moved to rescind a rule that requires state transportation departments to track and aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on federally supported highways. 

In a letter to members of the Senate committee considering McMaster’s nomination, Alex Etchen, vice president of government relations with the Associated General Contractors of America, wrote that AGC urges lawmakers to confirm McMaster’s nomination, pointing his past work at DOT and to the role he played in creating the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act and the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.

“These laws included reforms to the environmental review and permitting processes that have expedited the delivery of construction projects,” Etchen wrote.

Audrey Copeland, president and CEO of the National Asphalt Paving Association said in an emailed statement that the group “supports [McMaster's] "expeditious confirmation.” His nomination comes at a critical time ahead of the next surface transportation authorization package, with current funding set to expire next year. 

Nile Elam, the group's vice president of government affairs, added that McMaster is “a great facilitator” who “commands immense knowledge of federal infrastructure policy and the critical roles that those on Capitol Hill and in the administration play in managing our vital surface transportation network.” 

Kristen Swearingen, vice president of legislative & political affairs at the Associated Builders and Contractors, said the group anticipates McMaster will "ensure all qualified, experienced construction companies have opportunities to build our transportation infrastructure” regardless of whether they use union or nonunion labor. 

This story was updated March 20 with comments from AGC's letter to members of the Senate.