DOT is on a hiring frenzy, but top officials aren’t in place

Presented by the EV Battery Initiative of CALSTART: Delivered every Monday by 10 a.m., Weekly Transportation examines the latest news in transportation and infrastructure politics and policy.

May 09, 2022 View in browser   By Alex Daugherty Presented by the EV Battery Initiative of CALSTART With help from Tanya Snyder and Oriana Pawlyk Quick fix — Seven of DOT's nine modal administrations have acting or deputy chiefs as the agency prepares to hire thousands of new employees to implement the infrastructure law. — A Virginia high school invents an app to make school bus routes more efficient during a nationwide school bus driver shortage. — Freight railroads must submit service recovery plans to the Surface Transportation Board in response to service issues that came up in an STB hearing two weeks ago. IT'S MONDAY: You're reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. Send tips, pitches, feedback and song lyrics to us at adaugherty@politico.com, tsnyder@politico.com and opawlyk@politico.com. You can also find us on Twitter: @alextdaugherty,@TSnyderDC and@Oriana0214. "It's been a hard day's night/And I've been workin' like a dog/It's been a hard day's night/I should be sleepin' like a log."   A message from the EV Battery Initiative of CALSTART: The United States is a leader in electric vehicle battery research – but not manufacturing. Other countries have made significant investments and action plans for EV battery manufacturing and supply chain development. The goal of the U.S. Electric Vehicle Battery Initiative (US EVBI) is to establish North American supply chain sources and make the growth of this sector a national priority, providing economic, environmental, and national security benefits for decades to come. Learn more.   Infrastructure EVERYONE IS 'ACTING': DOT is on a hiring blitz, trying to get 1,500 on board to help implement the infrastructure law — but can't even get its top brass in place, Tanya reports . Of the nine modal administrations, seven have deputy or acting chiefs at the helm. Four haven't even gotten an official nominee from the White House. Lawmakers are beginning to get anxious about it. When you're the 'deputy,' you don't get a deputy: Putting administrators through the Senate confirmation process legitimizes their leadership and, importantly, opens up the deputy position for a second-in-command. Only one agency head has a deputy to lean on as they work to implement the massive law. When there is a deputy, they tend to do internal-facing work while modal administrators are working with elected officials and other outside officials. $110 billion in new money and no confirmed leader: FHWA is one of the agencies whose head, Stephanie Pollack, hasn't even been officially nominated for the job she's essentially been doing since the beginning of the Biden administration. It's also the agency managing the biggest influx of new money from the infrastructure bill and a slew of new programs. On the career side , DOT has hired 200 new people out of 1,500 it needs. (Across the federal government, there are 8,000 jobs that need to be filled to implement the infrastructure law.) But employers everywhere are competing for a smaller pool of workers post-pandemic, and many agencies are still rebuilding after being hollowed out by the Trump administration, said OPM Director Kiran Ahuja. She's helping agencies speed up the process of hiring, including expediting background checks and putting more of the application process online.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. White House NAME CHANGE FINAL: President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that names the Transportation Department headquarters building in Navy Yard after former Secretaries William Coleman and Norm Mineta, who died last week. The legislation, S. 400 (117) , was ultimately a compromise between both chambers after the House preferred naming the building after Mineta and the Senate preferred naming it after Coleman. Coleman was the first Black Transportation secretary, while Mineta, who also had a stint leading the Commerce Department, was the first Japanese American Cabinet member. Aviation TSA LEADER STAYING: The White House on Friday announced its intention to nominate David Pekoske to lead the Transportation Security Administration for another term, Oriana reports . A former vice commandant for the Coast Guard, Pekoske was confirmed in 2017 under the Trump administration to oversee the agency. Pekoske stepped into the role days after Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly left to become President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff. Education THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT: Hats off to Great Bridge High School from Chesapeake, Va. The school was one of three national winners of Samsung's Solve for Tomorrow contest after developing an app to make its school bus rides more efficient. In response to nationwide school bus driver shortages , Great Bridge students developed AcceleRoute, a system that has students swipe a card while entering and leaving the bus that then provides the driver with the most efficient route to save gas and time. Watch their project video here. Rail ACCOUNTABILITY COMING FOR RAILROADS: The Surface Transportation Board has already begun taking action to hold railroads accountable for the dramatic deterioration of service that was the subject of a two-day hearing two weeks ago. The STB announced Friday that it will require BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific railroads to submit service recovery plans detailing the specific actions they'll each take to improve service and the specific metrics they'll use to evaluate their progress. They'll also have to participate in biweekly conference calls with Board staff. All Class I carriers will have to submit additional reporting on rail service, performance and employment. More on the way? STB Chair Martin Oberman made clear that more accountability measures could be coming because, as he put it, "failures are harming the nation's economy." He said the additional reporting will help the STB determine whether "additional regulatory steps are necessary to promote reliable service."   A message from the EV Battery Initiative of CALSTART:   Maritime IMPORTS UP: The National Retail Federation's monthly Global Port Tracker, released Friday, showed that imports at the nation's major retail container ports set a new record this spring and are expected to see near-record volume this month. Shifting Gears Former New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation Kris Kolluri has been named the next head of the Gateway Program Development Corporation, a partnership of New York, New Jersey and Amtrak that oversees the building of the bridges and tunnels that make up the Gateway program.   DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED:  Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.     The Autobahn — "Abbott won't release many documents related to border trucking backup." Corpus Christi Caller-Times.  — "Colonial Pipeline faces $1M fine in wake of cyberattack." POLITICO. — "Unexpected hub: Buffalo airport plays key role in pro sports transportation." Buffalo News. — "After March decline, truck transportation jobs up sharply in April." FreightWaves. — "Meet the frunk: EV makers put the trunk up front." The Wall Street Journal.  — "Nation's neglected bus stops pose early test for infrastructure money." The Washington Post. — "Maryland Purple Line construction will resume in August, officials say." The Washington Post.   A message from the EV Battery Initiative of CALSTART: The United States is a leader in electric vehicle battery research – but not manufacturing. Other countries have made significant investments and action plans for EV battery manufacturing and supply chain development. The goal of the U.S. Electric Vehicle Battery Initiative (US EVBI) is to make the growth of this industry a national priority, providing economic, environmental, and national security benefits. For American innovation and leadership to succeed in the EV battery sector, we need to establish North American supply chain sources of materials to leverage production. Key components, like the battery manufacturing grants that the Biden Administration and Congress included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill are in place, but more needs to be done to achieve our needs. Contact CALSTART to learn more about US EVBI and transform America's transportation and energy sectors for decades to come. Learn more.     Follow us on Twitter Kathryn Wolfe @kathrynwolfe Alex Daugherty @alextdaugherty Oriana Pawlyk @Oriana0214 Tanya Snyder @tsnyderdc   Follow us

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