Jeffrey Rosen Photo via  Acus.gov

Jeffrey Rosen Photo via Acus.gov

The Senate has confirmed Jeffrey Rosen as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, serving under Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

Rosen was President Trump’s pick for the position and he was confirmed by a 56-42 vote. In the role, he will supervise day-to-day operations at DOT.

Rosen is a senior partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, an international commercial law firm dealing in complex litigation, corporate and tax, intellectual property, restructuring, and counseling matters. His practice has included cases involving regulatory matters, such as contracts, antitrust, securities, RICO, business torts, enforcement action and product liability, including class actions, according to Whitehouse.gov.

Rosen previously served with the U.S. DOT as the department’s chief legal officer, where he oversaw the activities of over 400 lawyers. For that position, he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

For the deputy secretary appointment, Rosen faced some opposition from Senate Democrats who disagree with the administration’s proposed goals of cutting infrastructure grant programs, according to The Hill.

In addition, there was concern about how he would view regulations affecting transportation. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) released a statement noting that, “Mr. Rosen has a long history of advocating for the rollback of commonsense regulations that keep Americans healthy and safe.

“He has not only opposed regulating greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, he has challenged the very science behind climate change. The man seeking to be the second in command at the Department of Transportation has opposed addressing dangerous pollutants emitted from cars and trucks, which are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. transportation sector.”

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear congratulated Rosen in a statement Wednesday, saying, "I ... look forward to working with him on a host of issues impacting trucking, including improving the safety of our roads and investing to rebuild our infrastructure. With previous experience at the DOT, as well as at the White House Office of Management and Budget, Jeff brings tremendous experience and insight to this role and will serve the president, Secretary Chao and our nation well."

0 Comments