As the battles begin for key appointments in President-elect
Donald Trump's Cabinet, a few names have arisen as likely choices for U.S. secretary
of transportation.
Notwithstanding that the transportation secretary is thirteenth
in the U.S. presidential line of succession, selection for that post rarely
garners the passion and ire around more prominent positions like attorney general
and secretary of state. Nonetheless, the role will directly affect whether Trump
can follow through on his campaign promise of $1 trillion in infrastructure
investments. Several of the candidates being discussed would support making the
U.S. air traffic control system a private, nonprofit entity, a proposal the
Senate shot
down this year.
Of course, the position still could be a wildcard. Both of
Trump's most recent predecessors used the job to reach across the aisle;
President Barack Obama appointed Republican Ray LaHood, and President George W.
Bush appointed Democrat Norman Mineta.
Here are some of the names getting the most attention:
John Mica: This
year, the Florida Republican and former chair of the House Transportation
Committee lost his re-election bid for the House seat he has held since 1993,
but he would eagerly return to Washington for the Cabinet post. The Hill reported that Mica said he
would be "greatly honored" to serve as transportation secretary and
has had discussions with key Trump team members about the position. In that
same report, Mica described himself as a "workhorse" who would push
to get Trump's infrastructure proposal approved quickly. Mica also has been a strong
proponent of privatizing both air traffic control and Amtrak, which he has
described as a "third-world rail system" and a "Soviet-style
operation."
Mark Rosenker: Politico lists the former chairman of
the National Transportation Safety Board as a potential candidate. Rosenker, a
Republican and a retired major general in the Air Force Reserve Command, returned
to the private sector when he resigned from the NTSB in 2009, serving as
president for the Transportation Safety Group, a consulting firm.
James Simpson: Simpson's
long transportation resume includes commissioner of New Jersey's Department of
Transportation from 2010 through 2014, U.S. DOT's Federal Transit Administrator
under President George W. Bush and 10 years as a commissioner on the state of New
York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Trump and Simpson are close
friends and that Simpson supported Trump over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who
had appointed Simpson as NJDOT commissioner. Even so, Simpson's association
with Christie could hurt his chances, as Christie and his allies are reportedly
being pushed aside in the transition team.
Shirley
Ybarra: A former senior transportation policy analyst
with the nonprofit think tank Reason Foundation, Ybarra is on Trump's
transition team and is helping select the transportation secretary, according
to The Washington Post. As former
Vice President Dick Cheney could attest, those charged with filling a position sometimes
find themselves to be the best fit. Ybarra, who served as Virginia secretary of
transportation from 1998 to 2002, has written several editorials touting the
benefits of air traffic control privatization and was the author of Virginia's
Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995, which set a framework around
public-private transportation partnerships. She also managed the privatization
of Washington's Dulles and National airports as a policy advisor for Secretary
of Transportation Elizabeth Dole in the 1980s.