During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) questioned Trump nominees about infrastructure legislation.
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00:00For general counsel for the Department of Commerce, I have a few yes or no quick questions
00:14for you, and I would appreciate a quick yes or no response.
00:18Yes or no, are you familiar with the bipartisan infrastructure law from 2021?
00:26I'm not sure I am, Senator.
00:30Well, boy, Mr. Chairman.
00:32So we have someone before us to go to the Department of Commerce that's not familiar with one of
00:38the biggest pieces of legislation that this Congress enacted in a bipartisan fashion to
00:43build infrastructure in America, is that correct?
00:48Maybe there's an aspect of the law, Senator, you want me to ask about, I may not be familiar
00:52with that name.
00:54Are you aware with, it was called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, it was referred
01:00to by other names as well?
01:02That doesn't sound familiar?
01:03Well, nonetheless, are you familiar with something called the Digital Equity Act?
01:08I'm aware of the fact that there is a program, a grant program by that name, Senator.
01:13Can you tell me what that program is?
01:17My understanding is that is a program that is designed to make the digital economy available
01:25to Americans.
01:26So my question is, yes or no, is the purpose of the Digital Equity Act to help close the
01:30gap in broadband adoption and support programs that help provide children and seniors with
01:36the skills they need for the digital age?
01:39I don't know the details of that program, Senator.
01:42I would defer to you if that is how the program is described.
01:45I will stand by that description.
01:47Yes or no, does Article III of the Constitution say that judicial power of the United States
01:52shall be vested in one Supreme Court?
01:55Yes, Senator.
01:56Yes or no, did Marbury v. Madison, a Supreme Court case from 1803, establish judicial review?
02:01Oh, you're taking me back to law school, Senator, but that sounds correct.
02:05Yes or no, does the judicial branch have the sole power to declare a law unconstitutional?
02:11Senator, certainly the judicial authorities have the right to review laws for their constitutionality.
02:21Yes or no, did the President declare the Digital Equity Act a bipartisan
02:26law passed by Congress unconstitutional in a truth social post?
02:32I'm aware that the President issued a truth social post regarding the Digital Equity Act,
02:38Senator.
02:39May 8th, 2025, at 4.38 p.m., yes or no, does the Constitution grant the President the
02:45power to nullify entire sections of laws passed by Congress?
02:49Senator, I have not looked into in any way the constitutional issues that you just flagged relating
02:56to this.
02:57I have not done so.
02:58In law school, did they teach you that the President can nullify?
03:02I don't recall that that was discussed when I was in law school.
03:06It was a long time ago.
03:07Where did you go to law school?
03:08Columbia Law School, Senator.
03:10On Friday, this letter was sent out from the President of the United States, the Department
03:15of Commerce, to constituents in all of our states nullifying this program based on what
03:21President Trump said, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and he, we agree that this is totally
03:29unconstitutional.
03:32I owe my colleagues from across the country whose constituents are depending on this program
03:37just to get connected to the Internet.
03:39That's how this all happened, that we can work together to reverse that.
03:42Mr. Fink, under your leadership, the railroad you ran was found to have, quote, critical
03:47safety concerns, culture of retaliation, high accident rates, and extremely poor track conditions,
03:53which increased the risk of derailments.
03:56The FRA, the agency you were nominated to leave, attributed these to, quote, failure of
04:00Pan Am's leadership.
04:03How can we trust you to hold this position and hold companies accountable to areas that
04:09were not met while you were there?
04:10Thank you for the question, Senator.
04:14I would disagree that we did meet the standards and there was a disagreement between our folks
04:19and FRA.
04:20And let me just say that any time we had issues with FRA, we fixed things and we argued about
04:25them later.
04:26If they said something wasn't right, we fixed it.
04:28So we had a safety audit.
04:30I disagreed.
04:31We had a safety culture.
04:32We did safety culture studies and our incidents and accidents were at or below the industry
04:38standards.
04:39Mr. Fing, two of my colleagues asked you questions about the nature of the track that
04:44was covered in trees and all the rest.
04:48You responded that you took their safety person out and did a walk and whatnot.
04:52Yes, we did.
04:53My question is, are you contending that the CEO of CSX light?
04:58No, sir.
04:59Appreciate that.
05:01Every time Amtrak employees have come before this committee, I've pushed for robust funding
05:05and support for Amtrak to improve and expand our nation's long-term rail network.
05:09You may have heard from Senator Moran, but Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico often get together when we start seeing attacks on the Southwest chief.
05:20Yes or no, are you committed to advocating for increased funding for the long-distance network to address outdated equipment and maintenance issues?
05:27I am for Amtrak being a national network and us supporting Amtrak as a national network.
05:33What about the Southwest chief?
05:34I do not have any information on the Southwest chief. I'm not sure where it goes. I will certainly work with the committee on specific Amtrak issues. I am for the Amtrak national network.
05:47Appreciate that. Before Senator Moran calls you into his office with the rest of us in there, I'd encourage you to learn about the Southwest chief.
05:51I will learn about everything I need to learn before I have to go to Senator Moran's office.
05:58Well, especially the Southwest chief. I'm telling you, there will be a meeting. It happens every year. The CEOs come in. You, well, the person in your position is going to come in and all the rest.
06:07So I hope we can find some commonality there. Mr. Chairman, I have other questions for the record. I'll submit them for a response as well. Thank you, and you'll back my time.
06:15You'll back my time.