(Reuters circulated the following article on January 4.)
WASHINGTON — For the second time, President George W. Bush has circumvented Congress to seat two members of the Amtrak board, the White House said on Wednesday.
Floyd Hall and Enrique Sosa were again placed on the panel through recess appointments, a tactic used by presidents to bypass lawmakers when Congress is out of session.
Both Hall and Sosa were nominated in 2004 and again in 2005 but the Senate failed to act on their appointments both times. Neither has support among Amtrak backers on Capitol Hill, which has resisted much of the administration’s plan to dismantle the federally subsidized passenger rail service and open routes to competition.
Their appointment maintains the four-member quorum needed for the board to carry out Amtrak business. The other members are David Laney, who was confirmed, and Jeffrey Rosen, the Transportation Department’s general counsel who represents the agency.
The board has three other vacancies that Bush has not sought to fill.
Critics say Hall and Sosa complete a panel of Bush loyalists who push the administration’s plan to reform the money-losing national rail service.
The board was sharply criticized in November by Republicans and Democrats in Congress for firing David Gunn, the Amtrak president and a veteran railroad executive who had cut costs and was skeptical of the administration’s reform agenda.
But Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said in a statement that Hall and Sosa have “worked tirelessly” on Amtrak issues, lending their business expertise. Hall is a former Kmart chairman and Sosa, a former president of BP Amoco Chemicals.