Republican Patrick J. Fuchs, 36, was designated by the President Jan. 20 as chairperson of the five-member Surface Transportation Board (STB). He succeeds Democrat Robert E. Primus, 55, who was designated chairperson in May 2024 by President Biden following the retirement of Democrat Martin J. Oberman. Primus will remain a Board member—his second term expiring Dec. 31, 2027.
Now in his second five-year term expiring Jan. 14, 2029, Fuchs was first Senate-confirmed in 2019. By statute, STB members are limited to two terms but may remain until a successor is seated.
Although the STB is an independent (from the Executive Branch) agency, the President designates, from among STB members, the chairperson, who controls the agency’s docket. Fuchs’ earned second-term support from dozens of rail shipper groups who citied his expertise and offered depictions as “calm,” “transparent” and “seriously thoughtful.” Railroads, which rarely take positions on pending nominations, acknowledged support.
Backing came also from the Teamsters Union—with which two major rail unions (locomotive engineers and maintenance-of-way workers) are affiliated, saying “the potential for current and future service disruptions demands the intellect and comprehension of the issues that Mr. Fuchs has exhibited.”
Also encouraging Fuchs’ second-term nomination was Oberman, who praised Fuchs’ work ethic, collegiality and understanding of the law and transportation economics. Oberman described non-attorney Fuchs as “the best lawyer on the Board.” There is consensus among stakeholders that Fuchs focuses on evidence and argument, never displaying favor toward parties of interest.
Previously, Fuchs was a Senate Commerce Committee senior staff member, reporting to the committee’s then-chairperson—and now Senate Majority Leader—John Thune (R-S.Dak.), who praised Fuchs’ “sense of fairness and talent.”
When nominating Fuchs to his second term in 2024, Biden said he “played an integral role in the development and enactment of significant railroad legislation, including the reform of railroad infrastructure programs and the first reauthorization of the STB” since its 1996 rebranding from Interstate Commerce Commission. Fuchs also helped draft National Transportation Safety Board and Amtrak reauthorization—the latter improving environmental and historic preservation permitting processes and encouraging private-sector competition.
Other legislation Fuchs helped draft affected hazmat transportation and creation of the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program, providing a funding for short line capital projects.
In his six years at the STB, Fuchs’ “just the facts” approach has had him siding with railroads and shippers. His railroad-favorable dissent rejecting an STB-initiated Final Offer Rate Review was cited by an appellate court, while he issued a partial dissent to side with shippers in a recent high-value tank car case.
A pro-growth proponent, Fuchs pushed the Board to seek Supreme Court review of a lower court’s adverse ruling on construction of the Uinta Basin Railway, a 100-mile rail line in Utah—a reversal that will favor other large construction projects now hindered by “no growth” advocates. The Court accepted the case.
At the Board, Fuchs oversaw a streamlined approach to ministerial tasks of licensing and preemption, and the gathering and presentation of metrics allowing evidence-based solutions to problems of first- and last-mile delay.
Fuchs earned from the University of Wisconsin a double-major undergraduate degree in economics and political science, and a master’s degree in public policy analysis and management, with an emphasis on transportation policy, economics and statistics. As a graduate student, he participated in an international academic program with the National University of Singapore, focusing on international policy and economics.
Prior to joining the Senate Commerce Committee’s Republican staff, Fuchs was a policy analyst with the White House Office of Management and Budget, focusing on regulatory policy; a State Department Presidential Management Fellow serving in The Hague, Netherlands; and a research assistant at the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education.
In addition to Primus, STB members include Democrat Karen J. Hedlund, age 76, whose first term expires Dec. 31, 2025; and Republican Michelle A. Schultz, age 52, whose first term expires Jan. 11, 2026. Schultz on Jan. 22 was designated Vice Chair, succeeding Hedlund. The vacant fifth seat awaits White House nomination, which will give the STB a 3-2 Republican majority.
Editor’s Note: Fuchs announced on Jan. 21 several key staff appointments. Lisa Novins will serve as Chief of Staff, overseeing many of the managerial functions and day-to-day operations of the Board. Thomas Quinn will serve as Attorney-Advisor, providing legal counsel. Stephanie Borges will serve as Fuchs’ Administrative Assistant. Novins joined the Board’s Office of Proceedings in 2012 and Board Member Fuchs’ office in 2019 as his Attorney-Advisor. Prior to joining the Board, she worked for two years as an associate in the energy and litigation groups at a small law firm in Washington D.C. and for a year as a law clerk in Vermont. Novins received her J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law and her B.A. in Geology from Oberlin College. Quinn joined the Board’s Office of the General Counsel in 2022. Before that, he spent eight years in the New York and D.C. offices of a large law firm, where he was a senior associate in the litigation and arbitration group. Quinn received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University and his B.S. from Fordham University. Borges joined the Board as an administrative assistant in July 2020. Before that, she served 24 years in the Marine Corps and then transitioned to civil service. Borges has served as a paralegal for the Department of Justice and as executive assistant to four Generals.
