By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A member of the Surface Transportation Board fired by President Donald Trump in August filed suit on Wednesday, challenging his removal amid a major railway merger decision set to be considered by the board. Robert Primus called his firing an “illegal removal” and said Trump “did not identify a reason, […]
Politics
Fired rail board member sues Trump over removal amid major merger decision
Audio By Carbonatix
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A member of the Surface Transportation Board fired by President Donald Trump in August filed suit on Wednesday, challenging his removal amid a major railway merger decision set to be considered by the board.
Robert Primus called his firing an “illegal removal” and said Trump “did not identify a reason, let alone one that satisfies the statutory requirement of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office” and asked a U.S. district judge in Washington to reinstate him.
The U.S. rail regulator is considering the proposed $85 billion merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, the biggest U.S. rail tie-up in decades.
Last month, Trump, a Republican, said the major rail merger “sounds good to me” after Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena met with Trump in the Oval Office.
A major rail union, SMART-TD, said Primus before getting fired had “made clear his opposition to the so-called ‘merger’ that would be a corporate takeover combining Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railroad.”
Trump nominated Primus to fill a vacancy on the board in 2020 and then he was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden in June 2022 for a full five-year board term and designated by Biden in 2024 as chair.
The ouster is the latest in a series of dismissals by President Donald Trump’s administration from independent agencies and commissions.
“President Trump lawfully removed Robert Primus from the Surface Transportation Board. We look forward to the courts affirming this simple reality,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
Trump has fired the two Democrats on the Federal Trade Commission, the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, and members of the National Labor Relations Board, Merit Systems Protection Board, and Federal Election Commission, among others.
He also forced out of office the U.S. postmaster general and the CEO of Amtrak and sought to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
The July announcement of the merger between two of the four major U.S. rail operators surprised the already highly concentrated market. Such a proposal would have been unthinkable under the Biden administration, which had an aggressive antitrust policy.
Union Pacific dominates freight rail operations in the Western United States, while Norfolk Southern is a leading carrier in the East. Together, they form two of the four major U.S. Class I railroads, alongside BNSF Railway and CSX Corp.
The White House said last month it was nominating Surface Transportation Board member Michelle Schultz for a new term and Richard Kloster, who heads a private transportation consulting company, to an open seat at the agency.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Sanders and Aurora Ellis)