Government spending boosters using the Philadelphia train derailment tragedy to demand more money for Amtrak might want to ask the White House why President Obama has failed for 127 days to even nominate an administrator for the Federal Railroad Administration, instead leaving in charge as “acting” chief a 37-year-old Obama loyalist who reportedly has little substantial railroad experience.
Running the agency is Sarah Feinberg, who was a close aide to Rahm Emanuel when he was White House chief of staff and who was married to former top Obama advisor Dan Pfeiffer, though they have separated, according to a report.
Whatever her credentials and abilities – Feinberg is respected in Washington and, if she can survive working for Rahm, must have some degree of talent and tenacity – her role as “acting” chief limits her ability to get things done, according to Politico:
President Barack Obama has failed to nominate a leader for the Federal Railroad Administration for 127 days and counting, a vacancy that experts say could hamper the federal response to the accident that killed eight people and injured more than 200 others.
“Career employees who have been here before this administrator and will be here after this administrator know that an acting administrator has less authority,” said Peter Goelz, a former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, which has issued the FRA a flurry of recommended safeguards over the years that the agency has yet to implement. He said the lack of a permanent leader can only be a “detriment.”
The agency’s acting chief, Sarah Feinberg, is a former Facebook executive and ex-aide to Rahm Emanuel who has close ties to the White House and much popularity on the Hill — but little substantial railroad experience. And as only an interim boss, she faces obstacles in even attempting to make the changes that FRA critics want to see at the agency, which some lawmakers have lambasted as too slow to regulate and too cozy with the railroads it oversees.
The agency also hasn’t had a deputy administrator since September.
The White House praises Feinberg’s performance, which has included an aggressive outreach to Congress that won over some of the agency’s harshest critics. This week, she briefed more than a half-dozen lawmakers about the Amtrak crash and spent two days near the scene in Philadelphia, where sources say she headed barely 15 minutes after Tuesday night’s accident.
Still, the White House is showing no signs it plans to fill the slot anytime soon, let alone put her in it. And with lawmakers already pointing fingers in the wake of the crash, and reform proposals already being floated, experts said the FRA needs a permanent head who has the credibility that comes with Senate confirmation and is less immune to the political forces that will shape the response to the safety crisis.
If Feinberg is being road tested for the job, and Obama things she’s right for it, it’s time to install her. Or, perhaps better, put someone in the position who knows something about trains.
28 thoughts on “Obama Failed to Appoint Railroad Chief”
Just another example of the incestuous revolving door that exists within this government.
People that are given jobs that they are not qualified for.
This accident was not her fault.
This accident occurred because of either human error, mechanical error, or the failure to employ the safety features that are available with today’s technology.
It is not due to lack of funding for Amtrak.
X2.
True, not her fault, but her inexperience as a top level manager in an unkown field is telling. Facts still remain to be uncovered, but lack of oversight could be contibuting to this event. Like Most federally controlled programs, the head knows not what the tail is doing. And yet, top brass at Amtrak get bonuses….go figure
H
So is Obama’s.
Hell, he was never even a mayor let alone a governor.
Just heard that two other trains experienced ‘incidents’ in that area.
I’m sure that there will be more to come.
I agree with you AFVet (!!)–someone else in that job would have changed nothing…Just another talking head.
Does Obama have any qualified people in any position in the world ?
Not blaming this young lady either, this whole administration is like a giant Candyland board game. Buck stops with the President’s appointments and agenda.
Candyland,….now there’s a blast from the past ! :)
Because nothing says “incompetent but loyal to Dear Leader flack” like letting a White House groupie play Choo Choo with people’s lives.
News flash. Marie Harf nominated to lead the NAtional Railroad admin based upon her vast experience railroading questions over the last six months.
H
I would take that as sarcasm except…well, don’t have to tell you guys!
What do you think of Matt Bevin for governor ?
And as an Obama flack, she’s an expert in the “intercontinental” brand of railroading.
The National Transportation Safety Board already does what the Federal Railroad outfit should be doing. It’s just another example of making more duplicated jobs and agencies that often are at odds with each other.
The NTSB was on scene in Philly, doing their job, too.
http://www.ntsb.gov/Pages/default.aspx
The redundancy is astounding.
Beep beep beep…Back it up–someone MARRIED that Pfeiffer person?
What is pathetic is to learn that people throw things at trains.
Growing up we use to walk across the street, walk up the levy, cross the tracks to go swimming. NONE of us thought that throwing things at a train would be fun.
We did put pennies on the track–I heard they could derail a train–but I think that was nonsense.
Some idiots also pt lasers at pilots. Some great thinking going on out there… I would say–what could they throw that would cause this–if it were an RPG maybe…no evidence of that, tho.
I forgot all about the pennies.
OT, but US is playing hockey against Russia, WM in Tjeckien, right now. Very exciting ! Is there any hockey-fever in the US ? I guess that it is a “small” sport compared to baseball and American football. But here, up in the north, it is BIG.
Who is winning?
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So if personnel is policy, what then does that say about this administration’s railroad policy?
Nothing polite, one suspects…
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this Feinberg chick sounds like she’s doing a fairly competent job considering she has no experience.
that’s unusual for the Obama Regime. (the competent part, not the inexperience part.)
but the feds who oversee the railroads had nothing to do with what happened.
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