Robert Primus, one of the two Democratic Board members of an independent federal regulatory agency, who is considering one $ 85 billion merger proposed The White House and Primus said on Thursday that the union Pacific and Norfolk, among the southern railway companies, have been fired.
One in Post LinkedIn on 27 August, Primus wrote that he received an email from the White House, which was “mutual” to firing him from the Surface Transportation Board (STB). A brief email of the White House reviewed by CBS News ended the primus from its position without any reason.
Primum told CBS News, “My understanding was the argument that I did not know, you did not know- I was not against his first efforts.” “And my answer is, I am working hard to find out that I was.
Primus was first nominated by President Trump in STB in 2020 and gave a second term in 2022 before former President Joe Biden became president last year. The surface transport board carries the regulation of the goods rail, and is authorized for five members, which is confirmed by the Senate. They are appointed for five years of terms.
In January, Mr. Trump nominated Patrick Fuchs as the new chairman of the board. With the departure of the primus, now the board has only three members.
In a CBS News statement, White House spokesman Kush Desai said that “Robert Primus did not align the President’s first agenda, and was abolished by his position by the White House. The administration has intended to nominate new, more qualified members to Surface Transportation Board.”
In response to the White House statement, Primus said: “Even in the comment that he kept out of the President’s support today- this is not- he did not give any evidence that I did not support it.” He said that under the STB law, “I should be the reason for my termination. The specific reason is whether I was not doing my work, even if it was a malfunction. Whatever is there, whatever is there is to be picked up.”
The end of primus was earlier Informed By Wall Street Journal.
In primus’s LinkedIn Post, he called the firing “deeply upset and legally invalid”. He also wrote that “The irony is that it comes at a time when the board is considering important matters of significant importance for both our national freight rail network and supply chain that will directly affect the large swaths of our manufacturing, agriculture, industrial and energy sectors.”
Primus said that he is planning to continue to perform his duties as a board member and says that he has not turned into his laptop or ID. He also said that he was actively pursuing legal options to push back against his termination.
Some primary positions on social media platforms have shown him on obstacles with the administration. Recently, he wrote in a post two weeks ago that he does not agree with the President’s decision to deploy the National Guard in Washington, DC.
In 2023, he was a member of the Loan Board to reject the merger of the sanctioned Canada Pacific-Cancer Cains City Southern Railway Companies.
Primus admitted that his decisions and some decisions of the administration could be a factor of their termination.
“Perhaps people didn’t like the fact that, you know, I really look at the merger impartially,” Primus said about his decision in the 2023 merger. “For me, it indicates my freedom, it does not show that I am against them. It’s just that I am independent, that I do not want to go to lockstap with a democrats or Republican.”
While Mr. Trump has not indicated direct support for the proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Dakshin, he repeatedly Pushed for deregulation Rail industry in its first term.
The two companies intend to submit a merger application to STB on or before January 29, 2026. The agency did not respond to the request to comment on the end of the primus.
