U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is a God-fearing man from Hayward, Wisconsin, but being in the limelight is not a foreign concept to him. In his former life, he was on the breakthrough reality show on MTV called “The Real World.” His season was in Boston in 1997 and wasn’t without questionable decisions, like parading around the house in American Flag boxers or sleeping through a Bill Clinton speech. (At least, the conservative was on brand.)
Fast-forward to this week and Duffy finds himself in the news again for a decision related to the interior decorating of his office in Washington, D.C. This was the post from his Twitter feed that caused the political kerfuffle.
The @USMMAO Christ on the Water painting is a beautiful reminder of the power of faith when we need it most.
While we work on getting the piece out of the academy’s basement and back in a place of prominence, I figured there was no better place to hang a copy than right here at… pic.twitter.com/zrhtS6JRmw
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) May 7, 2025
The painting from the Federal Service Academy of the Merchant Marines is well known in artistic circles and a few others. It last hung in the basement of the USMMA building during the Biden administration, and Sean Duffy wanted it to have a place of prominence for sentimental reasons. That place was his general office. And now, many Americans have taken offense and made their voices heard.
Is that what politics has become? The “I don’t like you, so I will complain about everything you’re associated with” debate? The story is far from over, but should it have even gotten this far? The insight is closer to home than you think.
Before we delve into those questions and gain an understanding, stay in touch with faith-based issues that hit “close to home.” Subscribe to our free newsletter and never miss what’s being said about the Church and being done in the Church—and what real Christians can say and do in return to defend the love and work of Christ.
Wading In The (Hot) Water
The oil painting creating waves in political news is called “Christ on the Water.” The 10′ by 19′ painting (also known as “Jesus and Lifeboat”) was painted by Lt. Hunter Wood, USMS, in 1944. It hung in the USMMA Basic School Chapel in San Mateo, California, for years. During the Biden administration, it was in the basement being damaged by natural elements.
Wood’s painting (and no personal relation there) is perceived as controversial because the people in the boat are not the 12 disciples following Christ. Instead, those are Merchant Marines adrift in a lifeboat, though to have been torpedoed in the Indian Ocean during WWII. Much like a lifeboat cast away in the ocean, the painting has floated from location to location.
The San Mateo campus closed in 1947, and Wood’s painting was delivered to the Merchant Marine Academy in upstate New York. It provided an awe-striking backdrop in that interfaith chapel until 1961. The chapel, or the Elliot See Room, is used for official campus business. But in February 2023, that peculiar word woke up and forced the USMMA’s hand on their proud display of the painting.
Since the Elliot See Room is also used for meetings and events by administrators, faculty, staff, and midshipmen, proceedings were held to determine whether it violated the Academy’s Honor Code (which explains the banner image above).
A complaint suggested that the painting sends an improper message of preferred faithin violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution’s First Amendment. The Academy evaluated this complaint. In balancing our responsibility to foster a community of mutual respect and adhere to the law, we have decided to discontinue use of the Elliot See Room for official business. The Room will remain available to members of our community who wish to view the painting. Finally, we will engage a vendor to clean and restore the painting and eventually display it at the Academy’s Chapel. (source)
Until that happened, the historic painting was covered with a curtain.
Still Waters Run Deep
For 76 years, this grandiose painting hung inside the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Seamen and staff loved the painting but were banished to a flood-prone basement for political reasons—not religious ones. To create “a welcoming environment,” Hunter Wood’s seminal painting is sent to detention.
Sec. Sean Duffy, a devout Catholic (as former president Biden), gave a speech at the USMMA. There, he demanded a restoration of the painting. “Can we bring Jesus up from the basement? Let’s not put Jesus in the basement! Let’s get him out! Let’s bring him up!” Through a smattering of applause, the “loudest we got,” as the Transportation Secretary recalled in a CNA report,
In the aforementioned Xwitter post, he said, “What I found fascinating when I was at the academy was that this was a personal affront to the midshipmen at the academy. That [the painting] was taken from a place of prominence and put in the chapel’s basement had them outraged.” Christian Post and Daily Caller reporter Jon Brown were at the USMMA when Duffy gave the rousing speech:
Midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy erupted in applause when @SecDuffy demanded a painting of Jesus saving merchant mariners be restored.
The Biden admin put a curtain over the painting before putting it in a flood-prone basement.
“Let’s bring Him up!” pic.twitter.com/qQvLKXKE5r
— Jon Brown (@JonBrownDC) April 9, 2025
And now, it hangs comfortably and is restored in the Department of Transportation, where some people are incensed. Why?! There is nothing obscene about the painting. It’s not vulgar or demeaning in any fashion, but that isn’t very respectful?
Sean Duffy is tackling aging, deteriorating, and unsafe infrastructure in countless rural areas. From abysmal weather patterns to bridges on the verge of collapse, he deals with those things daily. Driving on a road or a bridge about to fall apart is offensive—not artwork in the DOT. Tax incentives and public-private partnerships are as good as bolts on a suspension keeping millions safe, but we want to discuss a painting from the Truman administration?!
Some people must take their brush somewhere because we have too many problems in the Kingdom and this country to worry about those petty arguments. Our Old-Time Religion is still alive and well. Besides, Jesus did walk on the water, so it’s a historical document. And what better place to display that than in Washington D.C.
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