[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.] NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s pick to head the Transportation Department promised Jan. 15 to scrutinize Boeing’s safety issues, streamline regulations and not interfere in ongoing agency investigations into Elon Musk’s electric car company if confirmed as secretary. Former Wisconsin congressman Sean Duffy said at his Senate confirmation hearing that he would “restore global confidence” in Boeing, hire more air traffic controllers and create federal rules for self-driving cars instead of leaving that to the states, something Musk’s Tesla has been pushing for to help speed development of the technology. But asked how he would handle ongoing investigations into Tesla, Duffy said he would allow the department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to follow the evidence and not interfere — even in the face of political pressure to do so. Image Musk “I will let NHTSA do its investigation,” said Duffy, an ardent Trump backer in his first term in office, a reality TV star and Fox News host. Duffy, 53, is hoping to take over the Department of Transportation as the U.S. faces intense competition from other countries in electric cars and self-driving technology, in particular from China. That country came up several times during the hearing, as did Musk, the world’s richest man who gave an estimated $250 million to Trump’s presidential campaign. “Without clear rules, or a patchwork of rules state by state, we put ourselves behind those countries that allow innovators” to develop the technology, said Duffy, adding, “We are in direct competition with China.” “We are in a global race to out-innovate the rest of the world,” Duffy told members of Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The massive transportation agency employs 55,000, spends tens of billions of dollars annually, oversees the nation’s highways, railroads and airspace and sets safety standards for trains, cars and trucks.