Shippers Back Fuchs’ Renomination to STB

Patrick Fuchs

Republican Patrick J. Fuchs, who was nominated late last month by President Joe Biden for a second term on the Surface Transportation Board (STB), now has shipper support for Senate confirmation.

Fuchs is awaiting a Senate Commerce Committee hearing to determine whether his name goes forward for a Senate-floor confirmation vote.

A group of 24 agricultural producers and agribusinesses is urging Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Commerce Committee Chair, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Senior Republican on the Commerce Committee, to confirm Fuchs for a second term, which would extend to January 2029.  

“Mr. Fuchs has a deep understanding of the vital role the STB serves in the American supply chain given its charge to provide economic regulation for the freight rail industry,” the shippers wrote to the Senators in a Feb. 29 letter obtained by Railway Age. “As a board member since 2019 he has intelligently shaped many rulemakings to help the rail industry better serve its customers and the American public.”

The shippers—including the American Chemistry Council, International Fresh Produce Association, National Grain and Feed Association, and The Fertilizer Institute—pointed out that before Fuchs joined the STB, he “served as senior professional staff member for surface transportation and merchant marine for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and was instrumental in drafting the STB Reauthorization Act of 2015, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, and the Positive Train Control Enforcement and Implementation Act of 2015.”

Fuchs provided advice on transportation issues to then-Commerce Committee Chairperson John Thune, who holds the second-highest Republican Senate leadership post behind Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Shipper support for Fuchs’ second term was not unexpected. They have used words like “‘calm,’ ‘solid,’ ‘transparent’ and ‘seriously thoughtful’ to describe him,” according to Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner. In a report on the renomination, Wilner noted that “railroads, so far silent, are expected to support his confirmation,” and rail labor “has indicated support for decisions that had Fuchs’ vote.”

“The more certain path to a confirmation vote, assuming Fuchs is green-lighted by the Senate Commerce Committee,” Wilner reported, is for Fuchs “to be paired with a Democrat and both names be voted in tandem to assure bipartisan support. Although Democrat and STB Chairperson Martin J. Oberman said last year he would resign his seat this spring, the likelihood of a Democrat being nominated to succeed Oberman and be paired with Fuchs is even more dicey. Senate Republicans will want to keep the Oberman Democratic seat vacant for nomination of a Republican by Donald Trump, should he be elected in November.”

“Fuchs need not be paired with a STB Democratic nominee, however,” Wilner wrote. “There are Democrats already nominated to the National Mediation Board and National Transportation Safety Board awaiting Senate confirmation, and Fuchs also could be paired with a Democratic nominee to a non-transportation related agency.”