A crisis of confidence in STB
Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), who sat in for Ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-WA), bookended the questioning for the Democrats, while rail shipper champion Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) hit hardest with a clear and deep understanding of the STB’s role and issues at stake.
In the video above, Luján begins by asking about the controversial email leaked to Solutionary Rail and made public on Oct. 29 (more below). He presses the point that such politicized communications in a professional independent agency may be a violation of the Hatch Act. Then, he closes with the most important question of all: “How can the STB function effectively while subjected to political interference and coercion?”—establishing the dominant and most relevant theme of the hearing.
The excerpt below communicates the seriousness with which Senator Baldwin and others take the attacks on Surface Transportation Board independence.
Senator Baldwin and her staff confirmed the veracity of the leaked email that Solutionary Rail provided them. At the confirmation hearing, the Senator confronted Michelle Schultz, a sitting STB board member who is being nominated for a second term. Schultz had previously denied awareness of the partisan email. At the hearing she acknowledged that the email had been sent by STB Chair Patrick Fuchs. She also claimed that she hadn’t seen it until after her pre-hearing meeting with Baldwin. Her and others’ excuse for Fuchs was that the language may have been used across agencies and that he was just copying a partisan template. But this excuse inflamed rather than assuaged concerns that the professional staff at the STB are receiving signals of a partisan takeover.
If it is to effectively execute its role as an independent adjudicatory body, partisanship has no place at the Surface Transportation Board. STB decisions impact the entire country. Neither railroads nor shippers nor passengers—nor the issues for which they require adjudication—are partisan in nature. And the professional staff at the STB seem to proudly transcend partisanship in the services they provide.
Schultz’ fellow STB nominee Richard Kloster, facing questions from Senator Luján, appeared to have significant shortcomings in his understanding of basic STB procedures designed to protect the Board’s independence. For someone who has spent 40 years in the railroad industry, Kloster’s responses did not exactly instill confidence that he could effectively adjudicate conflicts or withstand pressure from the White House. That could be by design.
Still, by comparison with Schultz, Kloster appeared outwardly resolute in his commitment to STB independence. When pressed by Senator Baldwin, Schultz refused to condemn the illegal firing of her “former colleague” STB Board Member Robert Primus. Senator Baldwin leaned in, asking whether board members should be removed if they do not conform to the wishes of the President. Schultz contradicted her own assertions that the STB is independent with the closing claim that she serves “at the pleasure of the President”. Senator Baldwin appeared appropriately appalled.
It is clear why Board Member Schultz was so visibly uncomfortable throughout the hearing. Her responses illuminate the impossible bind of being subject to pressure from the White House while having to deny being under such pressure.
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Clearly, Congress needs to intervene so that the STB can do its job at this critical juncture.
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No one should be confirmed to the STB—nor the NTSB—until the independence of these agencies is restored and the illegally fired members reinstated.
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Congress also needs to affirm, clarify, and strengthen the authority of the Surface Transportation Board in the 2026 Surface Transportation Reauthorization.
In 2015, Senator John Thune (R-SD) championed the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act to expand the Board from 3 to 5 members—and, as an affirmation of its independence from any single administration, to move it out from under the Department of Transportation. The 2026 Surface Transportation Reauthorization is a subject Solutionary Rail and the Reconnect America podcast will be covering at length.
For now, help us build upon the over 500 emails sent to Congress supporting the reinstatement of Robert Primus, using the tool we’ve made available at SolutionaryRail.org/RestorePrimus. After sending emails to your members of Congress you will land at a page with spreadsheets for calling members of the relevant Senate and House committees. There’s also a link to a page for sharing whatever actions you’ve been able to take. Only together will we be able to restore and strengthen the Surface Transportation Board’s capacity to make sure US railroads serve Main Street, not just Wall Street.
To close, I leave you with a refreshing example of bipartisan (trans-partisan) leadership exhibited by Senator Tim Sheehy (R-MT). His first question about the proposed UP/NS merger gets to the heart of the matter. “The free market must also serve its customers effectively”—adding, what is the STB going to do “…if in the end, [the merger] does happen, [to make sure] we are not placing the needs of our farmers and ranchers, our manufacturers and our rural communities who depend on an increasingly consolidated rail industry to serve them, their needs, and their businesses [in jeopardy]?” As for his followup question whether the highest responsibility of the board is safety versus the business health of railroads or businesses they serve, he’s either testing the nominees or he’s exhibiting a common misunderstanding of the STB’s role. Regardless, it doesn't speak well of either nominee that they did not clarify this in their response. They both should be crystal clear that it is the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that regulates all rail safety issues. The Surface Transportation Board regulates the economic impacts and service of the railroads to protect the public and national interests.
That aside, Senator Sheehy and the joint letter submitted into the record is a breath of fresh air. I encourage you to watch the video.
Less corrupting and confusing interference from the White House and more bipartisan direction from Congress on the role, mandate, and powers of the STB to protect American businesses and communities is desperately needed in the coming year.
