<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy is expected to face a grilling when he appears on Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon amid questions about whether he violated ethics standards while filming a YouTube series featuring his family taking an all-expenses-paid road trip.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing is the first of two Mr. Duffy has scheduled for this week. It is intended to go over the Transportation Department’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, and to review progress on initiatives such as Mr. Duffy’s pledge to modernize air traffic control.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">But scrutiny of the Duffy family’s forthcoming “Great American Road Trip” series, which was <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/us/road-trip-duffy.html" title="">paid for by a new nonprofit</a> funded by hefty contributions from companies regulated by the Transportation Department, has become a major issue for the cabinet secretary.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Several Democrats have raised concerns about the funding of the reality-show-style series, which begins to air in June. Toyota, Boeing, United and Shell are among the companies that have donated to a nonprofit that is underwriting the project, which the Transportation Department has said is part of its official efforts to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding. The nonprofit is not required to disclose its donors, and a government watchdog called on the department’s inspector general to look into the matter.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">So far, Republicans have not joined the pile-on.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Duffy and his representatives say the project was cleared by the department’s ethics and budget officials. In a memorandum of agreement, the nonprofit and the department stated that the private funds — which covered the Duffys’ gas, car rentals, hotels and other production costs — would be treated as a gift to the department.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The memo said the nonprofit would receive no preferential treatment from the department on regulatory matters in exchange for its participation. But those terms do not apply to the nonprofit’s corporate donors, who are not signatories. Nor did it explain how the funds that covered the expenses accrued by Mr. Duffy’s wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, a Fox News anchor, and their nine children counted as official department business.</p><div class="css-kbghgg"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171d1bw"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1u67kh9" data-tpl="i" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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