Duffy hangs replica of controversial Jesus painting in DOT office

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Tuesday that he hung a replica of a controversial Jesus painting from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy behind his desk at the U.S. Department of Transportation office in Washington.

“What I found fascinating when I was at the academy was that this was a personal affront to the midshipmen at the academy,” Duffy said in a video shared with The Christian Post before being posted on social media. “That [the painting] was taken from a place of prominence and put in the basement of the chapel actually had them outraged.”

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

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) May 7, 2025

Duffy’s announcement comes a month after he went viral on social media when midshipmen at the federal service academy in Kings Point, New York, erupted in applause when he called for the school’s historic “Christ on the Water” painting to be restored to a prominent place after being removed to a flood-prone basement during the Biden administration.

The 10-foot by 19-foot painting, which was painted by the late merchant mariner Hunter A. Wood in 1944, depicts Jesus saving sailors lost at sea and hung in the USMMA’s Wiley Hall for 76 years until a 2023 letter from Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder Mikey Weinstein demanded its removal.

The USMMA administration, under Vice Adm. Joanna M. Nunan, first covered the painting with a curtain during official events before placing it in the basement of the school’s chapel.

In his video posted Tuesday, Duffy noted how touched he was by the raucous applause he received from midshipmen during the academy’s annual Battle Standard Dinner last month when he asked to “bring Jesus up from the basement.”

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 so, when I talked about taking Jesus out of the basement and putting this historic picture back in the place of prominence, the young midshipmen lost their minds; they were delighted that Jesus would be put back,” he said, adding that their enthusiastic response to the painting moved him to get his own copy.

“Jesus out of the basement at DOT office here! It looks beautiful,” he said.

A spokesperson for Duffy’s office told CP that they are unsure of a timeline for when the original painting at the USMMA might be brought up from the chapel basement or where it will go, but said they are tracking the issue closely.

A petition from the school’s Kings Point Christian Fellowship Club, which explained why the image of Christ saving merchant mariners lost at sea is especially meaningful to their generation, is calling for it to be moved to an auditorium.

Weinstein, who argues that the Jesus painting being displayed prominently in a government building violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, has threatened “World War 8” if the USMMA intends to restore “Christ on the Water” back to its original location in Wiley Hall.

One midshipman who spoke to CP on condition of anonymity last month said the painting of Christ ministering to desperate merchant mariners “is a big deal to me personally” because he came to see it as a symbol of God’s faithfulness to him as he feared sinking academically and losing all he had worked for.

The midshipman recalled praying under the image when he was afraid he would fail.

“I remember many times when I used to pray underneath that painting when I was on the verge of failing a class, or I had big tests or I was worried about something,” he said. “I’ve prayed underneath that painting when it used to be in Wiley Hall. So, to me, it’s a very significant, important painting, and I think it’s an important part of the school’s history.”