US president-elect Donald Trump has named former Wisconsin congressman Sean Duffy as his nominee for transportation secretary, as he continues to roll out picks for his cabinet.

Duffy is a former reality TV star who was one of Trump’s most visible defenders on cable news, a prime concern for the media-focused president-elect.

Duffy served in the US Congress for nearly nine years, was a member of the Financial Services Committee and chaired the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left in 2019, and is now co-host of a show on Fox Business, The Bottom Line.

He is a long-time Trump supporter, including defending the then president’s controversial 2017 executive order to impose a 90-day ban on nationals from seven mostly Muslim countries from coming into the U.S.

“What’s wrong with a pause? We’ve having a pause for 90 days. Why is that so radical?” Duffy said on CNN at the time.

In his announcement on Monday (US time), Trump noted Duffy is married to a Fox News host, calling him “the husband of a wonderful woman, Rachel Campos-Duffy, a STAR on Fox News”.

Campos-Duffy, who co-hosts Fox & Friends Weekend, is a former co-host of Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for defence secretary.

Trump said Duffy would use his experience and relationships built over the years in Congress “to maintain and rebuild our Nation’s Infrastructure, and fulfill our Mission of ushering in The Golden Age of Travel, focusing on Safety, Efficiency, and Innovation. Importantly, he will greatly elevate the Travel Experience for all Americans!”.

Duffy responded through X, writing: “Thank you, Mr President. I’m eager to help you usher in a new golden age of transportation.”

His appointment requires confirmation through the US Senate.

In 2022, Duffy ruled out a run for Wisconsin governor, despite pleas from Trump to step up, saying he needed time to care for the needs of his family of nine children. He revealed his newborn daughter at the time had a heart condition.

“Hopefully I’m not riding off into the sunset,” he told a local talk radio station.

“I’m just running into the sunset right now. If an opportunity presents itself, I’d like to come back and partake in Wisconsin politics.”

He is a former lumberjack athlete and frequent contributor to Fox News. He featured on MTV’s The Real World: Boston in 1997 and met his future wife on the set of MTV’s Road Rules: All Stars in 1998.

He was a special prosecutor and Ashland County district attorney who won election to Congress as part of a tea party wave in 2010.

-with AAP