Senate confirms Batory, others to DOT posts

February 14, 2018

By LAUREN GARDNER, With help from Stephanie Beasley, Brianna Gurciullo and Tanya Snyder, Politico Morning Transportation; February 14, 2018

SENATE CONFIRMS BATORY: Before closing shop last night, the Senate confirmed three DOT nominees: Raymond Martinez to lead FMCSA, Adam Sullivan to be assistant secretary of governmental affairs — and Ron Batory to head up the FRA. As Pros well know, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and some other New York and New Jersey Democrats had held up Batory’s nomination since August over their concerns about the administration’s position on the multibillion-dollar Gateway program.

Backstory: Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) told MT earlier Tuesday that he’d had some conversations with Schumer last week about getting Batory through the chamber. “I felt pretty much assured that there was going to be a breakthrough there,” he said. After the most recent fatal train crash in South Carolina on Feb. 5, Thune was prepared to bring up Batory on the floor like he did in December when Schumer objected to confirmation, a Senate aide said. Thune reached out to Schumer again last Wednesday about the hold, the aide said, and the New York Democrat asked for some time to work on it.

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