The speed of the second Trump Administration at getting POTUS to sign official papers has outpaced the press office’s ability to keep up. This week, President Trump formally nominated two modal administrators at the U.S. Department of Transportation without the White House press office sending out the usual press announcement beforehand. (Always scan the Congressional Record Daily Digest every morning.)

Former Congressman Marc Molinaro has been nominated to be Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. Molinaro served eleven years as County Executive in Dutchess County, New York (Poughkeepsie area) before running for Congress, and winning the Empire State’s 19th District, in 2022 and defeating Democrat Josh Riley by 4,495 votes. But he only lasted two years, with Riley winning the rematch last fall by 8,357 votes. During his tenure, he did serve on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) issued a statement in support of the nomination, saying that Molinaro’s “experience and dedication to public transit position him to tackle the industry’s challenges and seize its opportunities. As a former New York County Executive and Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, he knows firsthand the difference that public transportation makes in people’s daily lives.”

And Paul Roberti has been nominated to be Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. (Here we must note that President Biden went his entire four years without ever bothering to nominate anyone to run PHMSA.) Roberti served as the Chief Counsel at PHMSA during the first Trump term and has served as the Chief Economic and Policy Advisor at the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers. He has a long history of public utility and antitrust regulatory law in Rhode Island.

Here is a status report on the USDOT posts subject to Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation:

• Secretary: Sean Duffy (confirmed January 28)
• Deputy Secretary: Steven Bradbury (nominated January 22)
• Under Secretary for Transportation Policy: no nominee yet
• General Counsel: no nominee yet
• Chief Financial Officer: no nominee yet
• Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs: no nominee yet
• Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs: no nominee yet
• Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology: no nominee yet
• Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy: no nominee yet
• Assistant Secretary for Aviation Consumer Protection: no nominee yet
• Administrator, FAA: no nominee yet
• Administrator, FHWA: no nominee yet
• Administrator, FMCSA : no nominee yet
• Administrator, FRA: David Fink (nominated January 20)
• Administrator, FTA: Marc Molinaro (nominated February 3)
• Administrator, MARAD: no nominee yet
• Administrator, NHTSA: no nominee yet
• Administrator: PHMSA: Paul Roberti (nominated February 3)
• Administrator, Seaway: no nominee yet
• Inspector General (if the courts don’t force Trump to give Eric Soskin his job back): no nominee yet

In addition, there is an Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs and an Assistant Secretary for Tribal Government Affairs, both of whom are appointed by the President without Senate confirmation. However, the AS for Budget and Programs also serves as CFO, which does require Senate confirmation.

Below these principal officers, DOT has released the names of the senior cadre of political appointees who serve in supporting roles at DOT. Principal among them: Secretary Duffy has brought his old chief of staff from his Congressional days, Pete Meachum, back aboard as Chief of Staff to the Secretary. Since Duffy left office, Meacham has been working at the Cronos Group, a “global cannabis company,” as their head of government affairs. Meachum got his start on Capitol Hill almost 20 years ago with Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) and later worked in the House Republican Whip’s office.

The release also says that Ryan McCormick has become Deputy Chief of Staff in OST, and Occam’s Razor tells his this is probably the same Ryan McCormick who worked in Duffy’s office on the Hill and has spent the last four years as chief of staff to Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI).

(It is very common for a former Member to reassemble his/her old personal or committee staff at a new executive branch job. The principal and the staff already trust each other, the principal knows what kind of work product to expect, and everybody on both sides of the equation has proven that they can work together without disqualifying personality problems. You can never guarantee if qualified strangers plucked out of the OPM job list will gel like that.)

In addition, Greg Cote has returned to be Principal Deputy General Counsel to the Department (after having served as Associate General Counsel for two-and-a-half years during the first Trump term). And Loren Smith, who spent the entire four years of the first Trump term in different roles in the Under Secretary for Policy’s office, has now returned as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy and will be running the policy shop in an acting capacity for the time being.

At a minimum, the initial appointments give each modal administration a Trump-appointed person in the chief counsel’s office to run things.