After a spate of train wrecks, Congress takes a new view of federal rail agency

[mahatmakanejeeves]

After a spate of train wrecks, Congress takes a new view of federal rail agency

Transportation

By Ashley Halsey III March 15 at 4:58 PM
@ashleyhalsey3rd

After a string of deadly train crashes, a pair of angry U.S. senators stood in New York’s Grand Central Terminal four months ago to denounce the Federal Railroad Administration as a “lawless agency, a rogue agency,’’ too cozy with the railroads it regulates and more interested in “cutting corners” for them than protecting the public.

Fast forward to the past two months, when photos of rail cars strewn akimbo beside tracks have rivaled mountains of snow in Boston for play in the newspapers and on television.

And the blowback from Congress on the railroad agency’s performance?

Proactive. Responsive. On top of it. Very helpful. Superb. ... Those accolades primarily were directed at the new acting head of the FRA, Sarah Feinberg, whose two-month tenure in the job has coincided with an astonishing number of high-profile train wrecks.

[elleng]

1. Let's hope.

'Though she’d be new to the transportation portfolio, it’s thought that Feinberg, whose career as a Democratic aide included stints working for former congressman and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, could help Washington newbie Foxx navigate Beltway waters.

Foxx, the former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., has few close Washington connections, and isn’t expected to bring a cadre of staffers with him to the job, unlike some Cabinet secretaries (think of Secretary of State John Kerry, who lured a handful of his former Senate aides over to Foggy Bottom).

Several agency watchers predict there will be more stability than disruption in the DOT ranks under the new management.

After heading up communications for the House Democratic Caucus and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee while Emanuel was its director, Feinberg followed her boss to the White House, where she was his senior advisor and a Special Assistant to the President.

She has since held private-sector jobs at Bloomberg and Facebook. Feinberg is married to top Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer, though the two separated in 2011 when she moved to California to take the Facebook job.'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/former-wh-staffer-sarah-feinberg-to-dot/2013/07/30/c025fb52-f920-11e2-b018-5b8251f0c56e_blog.html

'As DOT Chief of Staff, Feinberg provided strategic advice and counsel to the Secretary of Transportation regarding operational and legislative initiatives across all modes of transportation. One of her key priorities as the Chief of Staff was to lead the effort on the Department and Secretary’s $302 billion surface transportation reauthorization plan.

Prior to joining USDOT, Feinberg served as the Director of Corporate and Strategic communications at Facebook where she managed the company’s Washington-based outreach and communications as well as the company’s political and crisis communications. She was also previously Bloomberg LP’s Director of Communications and Business Strategy.'

https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0167