In a move that has sent shockwaves through Washington’s regulatory and transportation circles, President Donald Trump fired Robert E. Primus, one of the two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB), on August 28, 2025. The abrupt termination comes as the board prepares to weigh in on what could become the largest railroad merger in U.S. history—a proposed $85 billion deal between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, which would create the country’s first true transcontinental railroad.
Primus, who was first appointed to the STB by Trump himself during his initial term in 2020, received the news by email late Wednesday night. According to The Associated Press, Primus described the firing as “deeply troubling and legally invalid,” and he has pledged to challenge the decision. “This is deeply troubling and legally invalid,” Primus reiterated in a message to The Wall Street Journal. He added, “Ironically, this comes at a time when the Board is considering significant pressing matters of critical importance to both our national freight rail network and supply chain that would directly affect large swaths of our manufacturing, agricultural, industrial and energy sectors.”
The firing is just the latest in a string of high-profile dismissals from independent federal agencies under the Trump administration. In the same week, Trump ousted Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez, and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Jeffrey Kruse. The White House has made no secret of its intent to reshape the leadership of these agencies to better align with the President’s "America First" agenda.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai was blunt about the administration’s rationale. “Robert Primus did not align with the President’s America First agenda, and was terminated from his position by the White House,” Desai said in a statement provided to multiple outlets, including MSNBC and The Hill. “The Administration intends to nominate new, more qualified members to the Surface Transportation Board in short order.”
Primus, whose term was set to expire in 2027, has not taken the news quietly. In interviews and public statements, he has stressed his commitment to bipartisan cooperation and the independence of the STB. “I have worked tirelessly to build bipartisan trust and have demonstrated myself to be truly an independent Board member that has consistently rendered fair and impartial decisions,” he wrote on LinkedIn. Primus also emphasized that his approach has always been “pro-growth, pro-America,” and he questioned the logic behind the White House’s explanation. “So if that’s not being in line with America first, then I don’t know what America he’s saying is first,” he told The Associated Press.
The timing of the firing has raised eyebrows across the political spectrum, particularly given the STB’s imminent role in deciding the fate of the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. The deal, announced in July and valued at $85 billion, would connect 50,000 miles of track across 43 states and Washington, D.C., according to The Hill. If approved, it would reduce the number of major freight railroads in the U.S. to just five, consolidating unprecedented power in the hands of a few corporate giants.
Labor unions and consumer advocates have swiftly condemned the move. The SMART-TD union, which represents conductors, called the firing “unprecedented, unlawful in spirit, and [reeking] of direct interference from hedge funds and the nation’s largest rail carriers.” The nonprofit Rail Passengers Association joined the chorus of criticism, warning that the action undermines the independence and credibility of the STB. Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, accused Trump of “trying to stack the deck so the federal government rubberstamps the merger as a huge favor for Wall Street and wealthy railroad owners.” She praised Primus as “a fair regulator who worked hard to make sure railroads delivered for their customers and focused on safety.”
Primus is no stranger to controversy on the board. In 2023, he was the sole member to oppose the Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern, citing concerns over competition. Despite his opposition, the merger was approved, and Primus’s dissenting voice became a rallying point for those wary of further consolidation in the industry. He has not yet taken a public position on the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern deal but has made his skepticism about the benefits of such mergers clear. “We don’t need to merge to increase competition. We need to understand that we have to grow,” he told The Associated Press. In a separate statement, he warned that his firing could “adversely affect the freight rail network in a way that may ultimately hurt consumers and the economy.”
The mechanics of Primus’s removal were as abrupt as the decision itself. According to MSNBC, his government device access was cut off the same evening he received the termination email. Primus recounted to CNBC that he first realized something was amiss when his work phone stopped working after he returned from the launch of a new high-speed train. “I thought I actually sat on it or did something different to it,” he said, before discovering he had been locked out.
The STB, designed by Congress to be a bipartisan body, now finds itself with only one remaining Democrat and two vacancies. The Trump administration is poised to nominate replacements, which, if confirmed by the Senate, could tilt the board decisively in favor of the President’s agenda just as it prepares to rule on the historic rail merger. The agency’s review process for the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger began in July, and the outcome will have far-reaching implications for the U.S. freight rail network, competition, and the broader economy.
Primus’s firing is part of a broader trend under the Trump administration to assert control over agencies traditionally considered independent. Since January, the administration has removed Democratic commissioners from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, the Librarian of Congress, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, and even the chief of the National Archives. The Supreme Court has already weighed in on some of these dismissals, temporarily blocking lower court rulings that would have reinstated fired officials, though the legal landscape remains unsettled.
For now, Primus remains defiant. “With all of this in mind, I plan to continue to discharge my duties as a member of the Board and, if I’m prevented from doing so, I will explore my legal options,” he wrote. The legal and political battles over his firing—and the future of America’s railroads—are just beginning.
