Senator Ted Cruz praised Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for promising to restore a historic painting of Jesus comforting sailors adrift at sea back to a place of prominence in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy after the Biden administration moved it to a basement.
Cruz thanked Duffy on Friday for his commitment to moving the 81-year-old painting, “Christ On The Water,” back to its original location at the academy. In a letter to Duffy obtained by The Daily Wire, Cruz said that restoring the painting, which depicts Jesus appearing to sailors lost at sea during World War II, was an imperative step to protect America’s religious heritage.
“Your public acknowledgment of the painting’s spiritual and historical significance was a powerful moment of moral clarity and leadership—one that resonated not only with the midshipmen in attendance, but with countless Americans who care deeply about preserving our nation’s religious and military heritage,” Cruz wrote.
Last month, Duffy was met with a round of applause at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, after he called for the painting to be moved out of the basement. The Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration operates the academy, and gives direction over its policies and management.
“Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?” Duffy said. “Let’s not put Jesus in the basement! Let’s get Him out! Let’s bring Him up!”
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
“Christ On the Water” was completed in 1944 by artist Hunter Wood, who trained at the Merchant Marine Academy and was in the Coast Guard. In 1947 the painting was installed at the Merchant Marine Academy’s Wiley Hall Elliot See Room where it was displayed until 2023 when the Biden administration moved it because of a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
“Christ on the Water”/ US Merchant Marine Academy.
“Your statement—’Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?’—was more than rhetorical. I trust it will be seen as an imperative,” Cruz wrote. “Thank you for your principled leadership, for defending our nation’s religious heritage, and for working to ensure that this government-commissioned memorial is returned to its rightful place.”
Cruz said the removal of the painting had no legal basis and was an example of the academy being “hostile to religion.”
“Its sudden concealment in 2023—done hastily in response to a single baseless complaint—did a great disservice to the Academy’s heritage and to the memory of those the painting was meant to honor. To this day, no legal rationale has been provided, and the painting is reportedly out of public view in a flood-prone basement,” Cruz said.
In January 2023, the academy covered the painting with a sheet to avoid the perception that it was “endorsing” Christianity, following complaints about the painting.
“Our priority is to ensure the Academy is a welcoming environment for all and that it respects all religions without endorsing one over any others,” the academy said at the time. “In light of this, the Academy has chosen to cover the painting with curtains and will also install a plaque describing its history. The curtains will remain closed when official Academy meetings and events are conducted.”
Later, the academy decided to discontinue the use of the Elliot See Room for official business and moved the painting to a downstairs chapel area.
Cruz previously wrote to Academy Superintendent Joanna Nunan to argue that displaying the painting did not violate the Constitution, as Military Religious Freedom Foundation President Mikey Weinstein has argued.
Weinstein has promised to start “World War Eight” if the painting is moved back to its previous location, warning the Trump administration to “Eff around and find out.” Weinstein called Duffy a “piece of s***” and said the midshipmen who cheered Duffy were “cowards” who “made a mockery” of their oath to the Constitution.
Last week, Duffy placed a replica of the painting behind his desk at the Department of Transportation.
“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 @USDOT,” he wrote.
