Fired Surface Transportation Board member sues Trump over his dismissal
ahead of rail merger review
[October 02, 2025] By
JOSH FUNK
The Democratic member of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board that
President Donald Trump fired ahead of the group considering the largest
rail merger ever filed a lawsuit challenging his dismissal as illegal.
Robert Primus, who had served on the board since 2001, said the White
House never even gave him a reason for his Aug. 27 firing that threatens
the independence of the five-member STB. His termination happened before
the board got a chance to start reviewing Union Pacific's proposed $85
billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern to create the first true
transcontinental railroad.
“Our country’s supply chain demands that the board be independent and
transparent. Congress mandated it 138 years ago," Primus said. "Failure
to do so will negatively affect the network: railroads, shippers, and
rail labor alike, disrupting the supply chain and ultimately injecting
instability into our nation’s economy. This is dangerous, and wrong, and
cannot not be allowed to happen.”
The White House did not immediately respond to the lawsuit filed
Tuesday, but the press office is running with a reduced staff in the
midst of the ongoing government shutdown. At the time of the firing, the
only reason offered publicly was as statement saying “Robert Primus did
not align with the President's America First agenda.”
But Primus' defenders led by Skye Perryman, who is the President and CEO
of Democracy Forward, said this action ignores the way the STB was set
up. Congress established that the only reasons someone should be fired
from the STB was in cases of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or
malfeasance in office.
“President Trump continues to target members of independent boards,
without cause, in violation of the law. Congress made clear when
creating the Surface Transportation Board that the agency should be
independent and above politics," Perryman said.
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A Norfolk Southern freight train passes a train on a siding as it
approaches a crossing in Homestead, Pa, April 27, 2022. (AP
Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
 Trump has fired a string of board
members at various agencies that are supposed to be independent
including the Federal Reserve, the National Transportation Safety
Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
Primus said he always strove to be impartial and apolitical in his
time on the board that was supposed to continue through the end of
2027. His firing broke a 2-2 tie between Republicans and Democrats
on the board and cleared the way for Trump to appoint two more
members.
Every rail worker union, the nonprofit Rail Passengers Association
and Democratic members of Congress quickly condemned the firing when
it happened. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin said at the time Primus
was fired that it looked like Trump was trying to stack the board so
it will rubber-stamp the Union Pacific merger.
Since then, Trump has said the merger sounds good to him after he
met with Union Pacific's CEO in the Oval Office last month.
Primus was the only board member to oppose Canadian Pacific’s
acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad when it was approved
two years ago because he was concerned it would hurt competition,
which remains a concern for him though he hasn't taken a position on
the UP-NS deal. He was named board chairman last year by former
President Joe Biden and led the board until Trump, after his
election, elevated Republican Board member Patrick Fuchs to
chairman.
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