Trump names two Republicans to fill top slots at Surface Transport Board

President Trump has nominated Patrick J. Fuchs and Michelle A. Schultz to be members of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), the federal agency that oversees what remains of rail regulation, for five-year terms, the White House announced Friday.

Fuchs is a senior staff member for the Senate Commerce Committee specializing in surface transportation and maritime issues. According to the White House, Fuchs played a key role in the first reauthorization of the STB since its creation in 1996, a year after the sunset of the old Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).

Prior to working in Congress, Fuchs was a policy analyst and Presidential Management Fellow at the Office of Management and Budget, where he managed railroad and maritime regulatory reviews.

Schultz is a deputy general counsel at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority ("SEPTA"). Before joining SEPTA in 2006, Ms. Schultz was an associate with a Philadelphia law firm. She also clerked for the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

If confirmed by the Senate, Fuchs and Schulz, who are both Republicans, will join Republican Ann Begeman, who serves as STB chair, and Democrat Deb Miller. A fifth position, which remains open, will be filled by a Democrat.

Rail interests have been vocal over the past year about the impact on rail policy caused by the void at the STB leadership level.