U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered her opening statement during an executive session to consider several presidential nominees. The committee reviewed nominations for key roles including Stephen Carmel as Administrator of the Maritime Administration, Laura DiBella as Federal Maritime Commissioner, Timothy Petty as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Michelle Schultz as a member of the Surface Transportation Board, Ethan Klein as Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Trent Morse as a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
Senator Cantwell expressed support for some nominees while voicing concerns about others. She stated: “Stephen Carmel is nominated to be Administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration. I believe he has a clear vision to rebuild the U.S. shipbuilding ecosystem, which is very important to our economy and to our national security. I am pleased to support his nomination and glad that he supports the Jones Act and is committed to addressing sexual misconduct at the Merchant Marine Academy. Laura DiBella is nominated to be a Federal Maritime Commissioner. She made clear she supports the Jones Act as well. I support and appreciate her clear comments [about] maintaining the independence of the Federal Maritime Commission and will support her nomination."
Cantwell also highlighted Dr. Timothy Petty’s experience: “Dr. Timothy Petty is nominated to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. Dr. Petty has significant water [and] geoscience policy experience, which I believe is important in assisting NOAA. Dr. Petty also supports a NOAA Organic Act, the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and other priorities.”
Regarding Michelle Schultz’s renomination to the Surface Transportation Board during an upcoming major railroad merger decision, Cantwell said: “Lastly, Michelle Schultz is nominated to serve another term [on] the independent Surface Transportation Board, and as the Surface Transportation Board prepares to consider whether to approve the largest railroad merger in U.S. history, between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, we must leave no room for doubt about the importance of an independent Commissioner without political pressure. So I appreciate her commitment to review merger decisions based only on the record before the Board. I was pleased to see her recognize the importance of the Board acting impartially.”
However, Senator Cantwell did not support all nominees under consideration: “I will not be supporting the other nominees. Dr Ethan Klein nominated to be [Associate] Director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Frankly, there were answers that I found were insufficient on several issues – [it’s] important [to have] guardrails -- whether it was AI or aviation safety. And I do not support Mr. Morse's nomination today. We were hoping to see more financial paperwork disclosure which we did not see. So, I can't support this nomination at this moment.”
The committee session focused on evaluating qualifications relevant to maritime administration, transportation oversight amid potential rail industry changes, science policy leadership concerning emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), aviation safety standards development by federal agencies such as NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), transparency in public office appointments through financial disclosures by board members overseeing metropolitan airport authorities.
