WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday (Aug. 27) fired Surface Transportation Board member Robert E. Primus, breaking a 2-2 partisan split at the rail regulator while leaving it two members short of full strength just months before it is expected to receive the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger application.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the firing late Wednesday.
Primus, a Democrat appointed by Trump in 2020, was the lone STB member to vote against the 2023 Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. He told the Journal he will fight the termination. “This is deeply troubling and legally invalid,” Primus said, adding that he intends to continue his work at the board.
The president has sought greater control over independent agencies, ousting Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Federal Reserve.
By law, STB members serve fixed terms and may be removed by the president only “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” No one has suggested Primus violated those standards.
Primus becomes the first member of the STB, or its predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission, to be dismissed. The ICC was created in 1887.
In a post on LinkedIn, Primus weighed in on the president’s decision.
“Ironically, this comes at a time when the Board is considering significant pressing matters of critical importance to both our national freight rail network and supply chain that would directly affect large swaths of our manufacturing, agricultural, industrial and energy sectors,” he wrote.
“As someone who was nominated by President Trump during his first term and unanimously confirmed by a Republican-led Senate, then renominated by President Biden and unanimously confirmed by a Democrat-led Senate, I have worked tirelessly to build bipartisan trust and have demonstrated myself to be truly an independent Board member that has consistently rendered fair and impartial decisions,” Primus wrote. “My record during my four and a half years at the Board reflects this and I strongly believe the actions of the White House would weaken the Board and adversely affect the freight rail network in a way that may ultimately hurt consumers and the economy.”
The White House said today that Primus did not align with the president’s America First agenda. “The Administration intends to nominate new, more qualified members to the Surface Transportation Board in short order,” spokesman Kush Desai said, according to a Reuters report.
Railroad labor union leaders were critical of Trump’s decision to dismiss Primus.
“Primus has demonstrated an expert understanding of the lasting impact that America’s freight rail network has on the national economy, and the Board’s oversight role in building long-term stability into the current system,” Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Division of the AFL-CIO, and Shari Semelsberger, the group’s secretary-treasurer, said in a statement today.
“With ongoing talks between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to create a transcontinental railroad, the Board must maintain its commitment to competition, protect rail workers, promote efficient rail service, and carefully weigh the public benefits or losses of a potential merger,” they said.
“Left to their own devices, the largest railroads will continue slashing good-paying American rail jobs. It would be a mistake to replace Mr. Primus with a member who caters only to powerful carriers that prioritize profits over the long-term success of the industry,” they added.
The SMART-TD union, which represents conductors, praised Primus for earning the trust and respect of railroads, shippers, and rail labor.
In public appearances, STB Chair Patrick Fuchs, a Republican, has emphasized the cordial, bipartisan atmosphere at the board, which also includes Republican Michelle Schultz and Democrat Karen Hedlund.
The president has yet to nominate a successor to former Chair Martin J. Oberman, a Democrat who retired in 2024. Since Oberman’s departure, the 2-2 split has complicated decision-making. Several proceedings have stalled or been shelved due to deadlocks.
The board’s 3-1 ruling approving Canadian National’s acquisition of the Iowa Northern Railway was issued six months beyond the statutory deadline. Primus voted against the acquisition, saying it would reduce competition.
A proposal to allow private railcar owners to charge railroads for delayed equipment was left open indefinitely after board members said they could not reach a consensus.
And in May the board withdrew its Final Offer Rate Review rule because the evenly divided panel lacked the votes to defend and revise the regulation after a court struck it down. The Final Offer Rate Review process was designed to give shippers a faster, less expensive way to challenge rates they believed were unreasonably high.
Note: Updated at 11:35 a.m. Central with comment from White House and rail labor unions.
Just remember the next Dem President can & should use the same tactics. Then those who find this fair will be crying FOUL!
@Curt Warfel sez: “My suspicious nature wonders what quid pro quo has been dangled by UP and NS to win this stacking of the deck during their merger review.”
My first thought. It was a given based on Primus prior remarks about objecting to mergers on principle rather than the data at hand was probably his undoing.
It reflects a lack of objectivity.
I don’t like the request personally, but it still needs an objective public review.
One point to ponder here is that the term of Karen Hedlund, the other Democrat on the STB, was set to expire December 31 of this year whereas Primus’ current term ran through December 31, 2027.
Further, the SMART-TD notice concerning Primus’ dismissal states the reason given was elimination of his position”.
If this termination of Primus passes your personal smell test, you’ve got some serious olfactory challenges.
It has EVERYTHING TO DO WITH RACISM when the people being targeted are black.
Everything in this country has EVERYTHING to do with racism. Housing, transportation, employment, redistricting, political parties, religion, you name it, it’s about race. Racism and white supremacy built this country. So claiming that race has nothing to do with X when it so plainly does is absurd.
I strongly disagree with Mr. Friedman’s opinion above. One question for him: How was Barack Obama elected and then reelected President in a majority white, “racist” (his opinion) country?
First off, I don’t at all agree with the firing and I don’t think it’s legal. (Nor should have happened, even if it were legal, which it is not.)
HOWEVER — Mike Friedman is absolutely wrong. If he would bother reading the paper he’d see that Trump has fired people of different races and genders. Including the then-CEO of Amtrak, if Mike would bother reading TRAINS on-line.
There’s nothing that gets my goat so much as a false accusation. Such as from Mike this morning.
Oh and BTW Mike says religion is based on race. I don’t know what church he’s talking about. As a Catholic I take high offense at that inappropriate statement. And my friend who attended the same church as the late Blessed Julius Nyerere in Daar es Salaam, Tanzania, would probably agree with me.
Here we go again, racist, racist, racist. It has nothing to do with that. It’s because the Senate Dems have and will obstruct any presidential appointments, delaying or blocking confirmation, and this is one way to break the 2-2 tie at STB.
The Dems have been outvoted by Republicans just about every time they’ve objected to a proposed administration appointee. I doubt the outcome would have been any different when a proposed Republican STB replacement for Marty Oberman was nominated. I will agree this was an easy way to “fix” the deadlock, particularly when there seem to be so many other distractions confronting the administration.
My suspicious nature wonders what quid pro quo has been dangled by UP and NS to win this stacking of the deck during their merger review.
Something about looking, walking and quacking like a duck…
Like Lisa Cook, and likely a Stephen Miller target, this is racially motivated.