The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee voted to report favorably four executive nominations, eight bipartisan bills and two Coast Guard promotion packages during a markup session, the committee chairman announced. The committee also ordered more than 250 Coast Guard promotions to be reported favorably.

The action advances nominations for David Fink to lead the Federal Railroad Administration; Robert Gleeson to the Amtrak Board of Directors; David Fogel to be assistant secretary of commerce and director general of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service; and Pierre Gentin to be general counsel of the Department of Commerce. Each nomination was approved by the committee on roll-call votes: the nomination of David Fink was reported favorably by a 15–13 vote; Robert Gleeson by 16–12; David Fogel by 15–13; and Pierre Gentin by 15–13. Two Coast Guard promotion packages (PN127 and PN128) were also reported favorably on voice vote.

The committee also agreed to report eight bills favorably by voice vote after debate and cosponsor statements. Those measures include the Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act (S.337), the WIPES Act (S.1092), the Combating Trafficking in Transportation Act (S.1442), the Water Research Optimization Act (S.1523), the North Pacific Research Board Enhancement Act (S.190), the ANCHOR Act (S.318), the NET Act (S.503), and the National Landslide Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2025 (S.1626).

Why it matters: The nominations and bills the committee advanced cover long‑running policy areas the Senate will consider: rail and passenger-rail governance and safety; consumer protections against fraudulent household-goods brokers; infrastructure impacts from nonflushable wipes; water forecasting and modeling; research fleet cybersecurity; and landslide prediction and early warning systems. Committee debate included both bipartisan support for many bills and sharp objections from Democrats to certain nominations.

Committee debate and key statements

Sen. Ted Cruz, the committee chairman, opened the session saying the meeting would consider “four nominations, eight bills, and over 250 Coast Guard promotions” and praised the nominees’ experience in transportation, trade promotion and legal counsel. He said the committee expected bipartisan support for the package of bills and nominees.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, the committee’s ranking member, endorsed advancing the package of bills but voiced opposition to several nominations. Cantwell said she opposed David Fink’s nomination and cited the railroad he led, saying, “Pan Am Railways … had a higher mainline track derailment rate than its peers for almost every year, reaching more than nine times the Class II average in 2021,” and raised concerns about documented retaliation against workers who reported injuries. Cantwell also said she opposed the nominations of Robert Gleeson and Pierre Gentin and expressed disappointment with David Fogel’s record during questioning.

Sen. Deb Fischer, who led the bipartisan Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act, described a rise in cargo theft and the bill’s enforcement changes: “Since 2021, there has been a 1,500 percent increase in cargo theft incidents, costing the industry $35,000,000,000 annually,” and said S.337 would restore civil-penalty authority for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) against unauthorized brokers and require household‑goods firms to establish a principal place of business to limit fraudulent operations.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, speaking for the Combating Trafficking in Transportation Act, emphasized signage and outreach, saying state posting of signage in welcome centers yielded “a 30% increase in calls” and cited “over 1,000 successful rescues” in one State after such postings were deployed.

Votes and formal actions

- Motion to report Coast Guard promotion packages PN127 and PN128: moved by Sen. Cantwell; seconded; passed by voice vote. Outcome: reported favorably.

- Motion to report multiple bills (listed above) favorably: moved by Sen. Cantwell; seconded; passed by voice vote. Outcome: reported favorably.

- Motion to report the nomination of David Fink (PN 12-17) to be administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration: moved by Sen. Budd; roll-call vote concluded with 15 ayes and 13 noes. Outcome: reported favorably.

- Motion to report the nomination of David Fogel (PN 25-13) to be assistant secretary of commerce and director general of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service: moved by Sen. Schmidt; roll-call vote concluded with 15 ayes and 13 noes. Outcome: reported favorably.

- Motion to report the nomination of Robert Gleeson (PN 26-19) to be a member of the Amtrak Board of Directors: moved by Sen. Moran; roll-call vote concluded with 16 ayes and 12 noes. Outcome: reported favorably.

- Motion to report the nomination of Pierre Gentin (PN 2026) to be general counsel of the Department of Commerce: moved by Sen. Fisher; roll-call vote concluded with 15 ayes and 13 noes. Outcome: reported favorably.

Discussion versus decisions

Committee members and witnesses voiced policy priorities and concerns during debate. Several senators urged bipartisan support for the bills addressing consumer protection, wastewater and supply‑chain resilience; those measures were advanced without recorded opposition. By contrast, several nominees drew objections from the ranking member and other Democrats, who cited safety records, past statements and testimony as reasons for opposing confirmation. Those objections were recorded in roll-call votes, but the committee nevertheless reported the nominations favorably.

Context and next steps

By reporting these nominations and bills favorably, the committee sends them to the full Senate for further consideration. The transcript shows the committee consented to staff making technical and conforming changes and adjourned following the markup.

Ending note

The committee’s actions move a package of transportation, research and consumer-protection measures — and four administration nominees — one step closer to final Senate consideration. Specific floor calendars and full‑Senate votes were not determined during the session described in the transcript.