Duffy has quickly emerged as the public face of the federal government’s response to the deadly plane crash at Washington’s Reagan National Airport.

Mr. Duffy, a former congressman who had appeared on track to sail through with little opposition, overcame a last-minute swell of Democratic anger over the White House’s sweeping funding freeze.

At a press conference shortly after 9 a.m. ET, Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said Wichita officials were at the Reagan airport last night when services were offered to family members of the doomed crash victims.