November 8, 2024 • 30 mins
Topic of the Week (11/8/24):
What happens to Federal Maritime Commission and U.S. Department of Transportation and Maritime Administration (MARAD) leadership and political appointees now that we have a change in political party in the Executive Office of the President... 🚢💼
Plum Book:
https://www.opm.gov/about-us/open-government/plum-reporting/plum-data/
⚓ The Maritime Professorᵀᴹ presents By Land and By Sea Podcast 🎙️ - an attorney breaking down the week in supply chain
with Lauren Beagen (Founder of The Maritime Professorᵀᴹ and Squall Strategiesᵀᴹ)
Let's dive in...
1 - Federal Maritime Commission - Rulemaking Round-Up
2 - FMC Final Rule Petitions Updates
3 - FMC's Request for Comments on Premiere Alliance
https://www.fmc.gov/articles/fmc-seeks-public-comments-on-premier-alliance-agreement/
-------------------------------
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I got soul coming through, flying free.
Skies are blue, all the wavesare mixing room.
(00:23):
I got soul coming through,won't stop in the beat.
And on top of the world, yeah,walk to the beat when you see me
coming.
Nixon room oh, everywhere I go,I'm in the spotlight.
This is a good life.
Oh, I'm living bold.
(00:44):
This is what good life I'mliving bold.
This is what it looks like.
I'm a ticket out of the world.
Well, america, the votes arecounted and we have a new
president.
But, most importantly,congratulations.
(01:05):
Election season is over.
I know I'm happy about that,but with the change of
administration and a politicalparty here, there's a big
question hanging over politicalappointees and federal agency.
It's left a lot of peoplewondering who's staying, who's
going and which roles will behandpicked by the incoming
president.
Some of the most powerfuldecision makers in
(01:25):
transportation and maritimecould be on the move, curious
about what happens next.
Stick around as we dive intothe high stakes shakeup ahead.
Hi, welcome to, by Land and bySea, an attorney breaking down
the weakened supply chainpresented by the Maritime
Professor.
Me, I'm Lauren Began, founderof Maritime Professor and Squall
Strategies, and I'm yourfavorite maritime attorney,
vegan.
Founder of Maritime Professorand Squall Strategies, and I'm
(01:47):
your favorite maritime attorney.
Join me every week as we walkthrough both ocean transport and
surface transport topics in thewild world of supply chain.
As always, the guidance here isgeneral and for educational
purposes only.
It should not be construed withlegal advice and there's no
attorney-client privilegecreated by this video or this
podcast.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
So before we get into thediscussion of the day, let's go
through my top three stories ofthe week.
(02:08):
All right, story number onewe're going to be doing this for
a little bit, but there issomething that I want to talk
about.
We've been checking in on theFMC's rulemakings.
We have the final rules out.
So we have the defining billingpractices of detention and
demurrage.
That went into effect May 28th.
There is a petition filedagainst that one.
(02:29):
We have the definingunreasonable refusal to deal or
negotiate with respect to vesselspace accommodations provided
by an Ocean Common carrier.
That final rule was releasedJuly 2024 and went into effect
September 23rd 2024.
Don't sleep on this one.
It kind of got snowed in withthe port strike.
Go check this one out, find outhow this applies to you, this
(02:50):
defining unreasonable refusal tonegotiate with respect to
vessel space accommodationsprovided by an ocean common
carrier.
This also has a petition filedin front of it, but go check
this one out.
Make sure that you understandthis one.
The last rule that we're stillwaiting on and we'll see I was
hoping that perhaps the last FMCmeeting they would have
mentioned this rule and what'shappening.
(03:12):
But the last one that we arekind of that's on my list that
we're waiting for is thedefining unfair, unjust and
discriminatory methods.
Like I said, we're stillwaiting on language.
It's been talked about that.
It was folded into thatunreasonable refusal to
negotiate, but I'm kind of stillwaiting for them to have a
direct mention of this unfair,unjust, discriminatory methods.
Are they going to be attackingit as a standalone, finishing up
(03:35):
everything that maybe theymissed when they released the
unreasonable refusal tonegotiate, or do they feel like
they covered everything in thatunreasonable refusal to
negotiate?
Or do they feel like theycovered everything in that
unreasonable refusal to deal andnegotiate Again in 2025,?
We talked about this last weekwe are watching for charge
complaints to have a formaladjudicatory process For this
one.
We, under OSRA 2022, we were.
(03:59):
We saw that Congress told theFMC that they had to create this
charge complaints process.
So they created an interimprocess, but they always had
turned it into a rulemaking, andso we have this now interim
process that will now becodified as a formal regulation
reg under the FMC.
(04:20):
So this is the chargecomplaints formal adjudicatory
process.
Look for it in 2025.
The commission said that, youknow.
One thing that I will note iswhen President Trump was
president during his first term,he quickly required that for
all one new rule being made byan agency, two rules had to be
repealed.
So it was like one forward, twoback.
(04:41):
The thought here was that itwould either cause the agency to
really decide if a new rule wasworth it and perhaps
concurrently reduce the overallgovernment red tape that's often
discussed.
So I'm not sure who knows right, but I would expect a similar
approach this time around andthat applies everywhere,
certainly not at the FMC only,but it does apply to the FMC, or
(05:02):
certainly it did previously.
So while we have tworulemakings on the book that
Congress has required the FMC toundertake, the defining on
reasonable, unfair, unjustlydiscriminatory practices perhaps
, as we just talked about andthe formal adjudicatory process
for charge complaints, we maysee the agency have to eliminate
a few other rules off the books.
(05:23):
So I bring that up as ahistorical information right.
So it used to be underPresident Trump's first term.
It was for every one ruleforward, put forward or final
rule, you had to eliminate tworules.
So we'll see if that comes intoplay this time around.
I mean maybe it'll be one tothree, who knows?
(05:44):
But something to think about,something to just kind of I'll
pay attention to that Story.
Number two as I mentioned, I'mfollowing these petitions
against both the final detentionto merge rule and the
unreasonable refusal tonegotiate.
We haven't had much movement.
The last thing that we saw andwe've reported on this was
October 16th.
The World Shipping Councilfiled their opening brief that
(06:06):
outlined some of their argumentspresented.
We haven't had an update otherthan the FMC filed a request for
an extension of time to filetheir brief.
So their brief is now dueDecember 2nd.
That was agreed to by the WorldShipping Council.
So not a lot to see there.
Then the World Shipping Councilbrief reply brief will be due
January 13th and then the finalbriefs are due January 27th.
So this one still has some timeahead of it.
(06:28):
I'm going to keep watching it,but the two petitions are still
out there where.
That's kind of what we'reseeing so far.
It doesn't go very fast, butI'll keep watching it.
Story number three.
Story number three this week isthat the FMC is seeking public
comments on the premier allianceagreement.
So from the announcement out ofthe FMC, the Federal Maritime
(06:49):
Commission has opened a 15-daycomment period for members of
the public to comment inresponse to a newly filed vessel
sharing agreement between OceanNetwork Express, o&e, hyundai
Merchant Marine, hmm and YangMing Marine Transportation.
Yang Ming, o&e, hmm and YangMing are parties to the alliance
agreement that is currently ineffect.
The agreement, titled thePremier Alliance Agreement,
(07:14):
authorizes the three oceancommon carriers to share vessels
, charter or exchange vesselspace, discuss and agree on the
size, number and operationalcharacteristics of vessels
operated under this agreementand engage in other related
activities.
The Premier Alliance agreementis publicly is available for
public inspection in theCommission's online agreement
library.
So we've talked about thisonline agreements library.
(07:35):
You can go check out theseagreements.
They are listed there If theyare publicly filed agreements.
So service contracts aren'tpublicly filed, but pretty much
all the other agreements are, soyou can go take a look at them.
But this Premier Allianceagreement right, this was
previously the alliance, and now, with Hoppeg-Lloyd going over
and joining Marist to form theGemini cooperation, we see the
(07:55):
remaining members form thePremier Alliance.
Look, I say it all the time whenthe FMC opens up opportunities
for comments, this is youropportunity to have a
conversation with the agency.
You certainly don't have to,but if you do feel strongly
about alliances and it'shonestly, most obviously most
helpful if you keep it targetedto the specific alliance that's
in front of us here that the FMCis requesting feedback on then
(08:16):
draft your comments and submitthem.
And I only say that I'm notnecessarily encouraging people
to submit comments, other thanif you feel strongly or if
there's something that, if youwant engagement with the agency,
these open comment periods areyour opportunity.
I just want to remind you.
They're asking for feedback,and really federal agencies
don't get a ton of feedback, andso this is your opportunity.
(08:37):
In general, when comments areopen, I will note, though, the
comments here are submittedthrough their confidential and
exempt from public disclosureand subject to the exceptions
noted, so we won't get a docket,we won't get to see what the
comments were submitted, so itreally is important to keep them
.
If you have comments, to keepthem targeted right, make them
(09:06):
helpful to the FMC, becausethey're doing their best to
review all of this agreement andall of its potential
anti-competitive effects beforeits 45-day initial review period
.
They might request a requestfor additional information and
if they do that the RFAI.
That's what we saw with theGemini cooperation they'll have
an additional 45 days beforethis goes into effect.
If you're filing comments thatare not necessary, you're eating
(09:28):
into those 45 days, and they'vealready said under the Gemini
cooperation that they found itdifficult to turn around their
reviews in that amount of time.
So I say that look open.
Comment periods are a time totalk to the agency, but make
sure that you're doing itjudiciously and when it really
matters, because especially inthis moment the rulemakings they
(09:49):
have more time.
This one, they really are undera time crunch.
So if you have information thatcould help them or that's
helpful or relevant, certainlyby all means, but just keep that
in mind.
So this is for the premieralliance, all right.
So let's get into the meat andpotatoes of the day here.
So, with a change ofadministration, what does that
(10:12):
mean for maritime agencies?
I'm going to help you find outwhere to look it up yourself,
but then also break it downpretty quickly for you.
So if you're not familiar andyou probably aren't because,
honestly, I had forgotten aboutthis until it just popped into
my head today and I think I'donly seen it once or twice when
I was actually working for thefederal government there's this
thing called the Plum Book.
(10:33):
Have you heard of it, the PlumBook?
Okay, so it's published by theSenate Committee on Homeland
Security and Government Affairsand House Committee on
Government Reform, alternatively, after each presidential
election.
So the Plum Book lists over7,000 federal civil service
leadership and support positionsin the legislative and
executive branches of thefederal government that may be
subject to non-competitiveappointments.
(10:55):
Nationwide Data coverspositions such as agency heads
and their immediate subordinates, policy executives and advisors
and aides who report to theseofficials.
The duties of many suchpositions may involve advocacy
of administration policies andprograms, and the incumbents
usually have a close andconfidential working
relationship with the agency orother key officials.
So this plum book, basically,is a listing of what most
(11:19):
relevant part are the politicalappointees, right?
That's why you're looking atthis plum book to see is this
position a political appointeeor are they categorized under a
different category?
So the major categories, andI'm reading off of the website,
the OPM website.
Now this is hosted on OPM.
It used to be GAO but now it'swith the Office of Personnel
(11:43):
Management.
So I'm going to link the linkso that you can look up the
Plumb book.
You can look it up by agency,you can look it up by position,
you can look it up by actualperson's last or first name, but
continue to read off of thekind of introduction of this
plum book.
The major categories ofpositions listed in the US
government policy and supportingpositions include executive
(12:04):
schedule and salary equivalentpositions paid at the rates
established for levels I throughV of the executive schedule,
senior executive service generalpositions and senior foreign
service positions.
Schedule C positions acceptedfrom the competitive service by
the president or by the directorOPM or other positions at the
GS-14 and above level acceptedfrom the competitive service
(12:24):
civil service by law.
Okay, look, that's getting tome too much.
Basically, if it's a GS, sogeneral schedule, I think is
what that means.
Um, it is um 15 is where youmax out and then usually if you
unless you're the securities andexchange commission they go
beyond 15 and there might beothers Um, but GS 15 means that
(12:45):
you're the highest levelcategory of I'm going to roughly
equate this to like the workerB level, right?
I mean, um, you, you could ifyou're GS-15, you are high up
within the government.
You're not a political appointee, you're a career person.
For the most part, schedule Cpositions tend to have some sort
of kind of a targetedappointment system and so there
(13:06):
might be some relation to, maybea support to a political
appointee.
And these are broadgeneralizations.
I'm just kind of breaking itdown for you.
So that's what this plum bookkind of identifies is those, it
sounds like those high GS levelpositions.
It's not everybody in thegovernment, but it's those high
(13:26):
GS level positions and kind ofall positions higher.
So senior executive service isabove that, and then you get to
schedule C and there's a coupleof different schedules and then
you have PAS political appointedservice there's a couple of
different acronyms.
So if you look at this plumbook you can see they break down
kind of all the differentacronyms.
And actually if you want to gosee a position and then you want
to find out what the acronymlooks, what the acronym means,
(13:49):
then you can kind of Google thatacronym next to that person's
name to see what category theyare.
So continuing off of theoverview here.
The Plum Book is used toidentify presidentially
appointed positions within thefederal government.
The list originated in 1952,during the Eisenhower
administration.
For 22 years prior, theDemocrats controlled the federal
(14:09):
government.
When President Eisenhower tookoffice, the Republican Party
requested a list of governmentofficials that President
Eisenhower could fill.
The next edition of the PlumBook appeared in 1960 and has
since been published every fouryears just after the
presidential election.
So why is it called the PlumBook, right?
(14:31):
Like what does the plum have todo with anything?
So, according to thePartnership for Public Service,
in 1952, like I said, presidentDwight Eisenhower requested a
list of positions he would beresponsible for filling in his
new administration.
Thus began the tradition of thePlum Book nicknaming for its
listing of plum top jobs in thegovernment and the plum-colored
(14:52):
cover page of the printedversion Reflecting the
principles of today's government.
Recent plum books list morethan 4,000 political appointees,
about 1,200 of whom are subjectto Senate confirmation, along
with thousands of other jobsfilled by senior career
officials in the federal civilservice.
The Plum Book should be whatPresident Eisenhower envisioned
(15:13):
a key tool for presidentialtraining, presidential
transition planning, moreover,as the information age
increasingly raises expectationsfor government transparency and
accessibility.
The Plum Book should provideup-to-date information to the
public on the leadership andorganization of federal agencies
.
The Plum Book has failed onboth accounts, and again, this
is the Partnership for PublicService.
Look, I am not following.
The Plum Book has failed onboth accounts and again, this is
the Partnership for PublicService.
(15:33):
Look, I am not following thePlum Book, so I'm not trying to
get into the conversation ofwhether it's good or it's bad.
I'm just letting you know thatit's out there.
But what this Partnership forPublic Service is saying is that
there was a bipartisan group inCongress in 2022 that took up
the cause of modernizing thePlum Book in a cleverly named,
periodically listed listingupdates to management the Plum
(15:57):
Act and so they passed that act,and so there it went that there
was a kind of morecommemorative listing of this
Plum Book.
So all that to say, look, it'snot an exact science.
The Partnership for PublicService goes on to say it does
not have this near real-timefrequency.
That was kind of desired,though it does seem to have a
yearly update, so that'scertainly a good start, but now
(16:20):
that we've uncovered the sourcefor you to go look up political
positions in the federalgovernment.
So I mean you can just GoogleOPM Plum Book or you can check
the show notes and I'll put thelink there.
But in case you're interestedin a position for yourself or if
you want to see what positionsactually are political
appointees, but let's talk aboutit.
I'm not going to make you go dothat work right off the bat.
That's why you tuned in who'schanging roles based on this
(16:43):
change of political party.
We're going to start with theFederal Maritime Commission, of
course right.
So the Federal MaritimeCommission is required to have
three of one party and two ofthe other.
Currently there are three Demsand two Republicans.
Obviously, we just came from aDemocratic run executive
administration.
So the Dems are Chairman DanMaffei, commissioner Carl Bensel
, commissioner Max Beckich.
(17:03):
Those are the three Dems on theFMC right now.
The Republicans areCommissioner Rebecca Dye.
She's the longest servingcommissioner and she's actually
grandfathered in that two-termlimit that otherwise is required
.
She predated the COBOL Actthat's what it was called that
changed that and created atwo-term limit.
So it's Commissioner Dye andCommissioner Lou Sola.
(17:23):
Those are the two Republicanscurrently serving at the FMC.
So what happens now?
Well, chairman Dan Ruffet willnot continue to serve as
chairman.
Right, he's a Dem, so that willbe changed over to the
Republican Party, though I wouldsay that he is really well
regarded as being a very fairchairman and not necessarily
making decisions along partylines.
Actually, I think the same canbe said for all the
(17:45):
commissioners.
But regardless, he still hasthe D by his name, and so this
is going to have to go tosomebody who has that R by their
name.
So Chairman Maffei won'tnecessarily leave, but he is
certainly of the three Democratsthat needs to be.
He's certainly one of the threeDemocrats that needs to be
knocked down to two.
So, said another way, theRepublicans will need to
nominate a Republican to serveon the commission, and the
(18:06):
commission can only have fivepeople.
So the three Dems will now dropdown to two Dems and the two
Republicans will now have toplus up to three Republicans.
So it's going to be apresidential nomination, but
then it's going to have to alsohave a Senate confirmation.
So, like I said, that willknock off one of the Democrat
(18:26):
commissioners, which is Maffei.
Bensler, vekic I'm not reallyhearing anything now on which
commissioner it'll be thatleaves.
I think that they all bringreally really valuable things to
the table.
I think that the fivecommissioners that we have now
at the commission are all veryvaluable in their own regard,
but we'll see it's likely tostart becoming a little bit more
clear as we close in on thestart date of the new
(18:47):
administration in January.
One thing that I will note,though, is the five
commissioners each have a fiveyear term that are staggered,
and so they fill terms based onthe start date of that term.
It doesn't start when theystart, when they get sworn in,
so sometimes they fill partialpositions and partial terms, and
(19:07):
so it kind of doesn't matterwhich one of those Dems is
replaced or leaves, because thenew Republican will take over
their term, which might onlyhave a year or two or three left
on it, which also goes to why Isay that the FMC tends to be
kind of insulated from politics,because it's not an entirely
(19:28):
new slate.
That happens when there's achange in president and
certainly a change in politicalparty, because you kind of it's
every five years percommissioner, and so that's,
that's what we're we're lookingat here, so it's not like we're
going to see a whole new slew ofall five of them getting kicked
off, and it's less about thekickoff, it's more about, I
(19:51):
believe, they have to be removedfor purpose.
If they are removed, but whenwe have this imbalance of
Republican versus Democrat,that's where I think we have a
little bit more leeway to thepresident to replace somebody.
But I'm not exactly sure howthey choose who leaves, but I
think traditionally I think it'ssomebody tends to leave instead
(20:11):
of somebody gets kicked out.
But I think traditionally Ithink it's somebody tends to
leave instead of somebody getskicked out.
But we're going to see, kind of, how this all plays out.
Yeah, so then who becomes thenext chairman?
Right, I mean?
So now we're looking at it'sgoing to be a Republican
chairman.
So who do we have?
We have Commissioner Dye and wehave Commissioner Sola.
Commissioner Dye has been onthat commission for enough time
(20:31):
that she has had plenty ofopportunity to become the next
chairman through the years.
But perhaps now is the time.
I mean, who knows?
She's often in the FMC publicmeetings and she'll joke that
she uses the threat ofretirement, to which everybody
usually protests.
Because she has suchinstitutional knowledge and such
a firm grasp of the supplychain ecosystem and the FMC's
proper role in it, she's seen asa commissioner who prefers to
let the industry solve problemsand the government should be
(20:52):
proper role in it.
She's seen as a commissionerwho prefers to let the industry
solve problems and thegovernment should be the
facilitator.
That's kind of her approach toit, but she really likes the
federal government to have moreof a limited role and have the
industry take over.
My take is that while she's notopposed to new rulemakings,
they do need to serve ajustifiable purpose that's in
line with the FMC statutoryauthority.
(21:14):
So I think that she would be.
She's a great commissioner.
I think that she would be agreat chairman and I think that
that lines up, perhaps, withwhat the industry wants too.
But if she does take thischairmanship's role, is this her
swan song Like?
Is this her last act?
I hope not.
I think that she's such a greatcommissioner.
Dr Sal Mercogliano and I oftentalk about how we love
(21:37):
Commissioner Dye.
We think that she is just sucha great commissioner for the FMC
.
But we also have Chairman Sola,or Commissioner, excuse me, is
that future planningCommissioner Sola?
So Commissioner Lou Sola hasonly been in the commission role
since January 2019.
So he was nominated for a termspanning November 15th 2018 to
June 30th 2023.
(21:58):
So their terms all end June30th of a certain year.
So, recall, I said they canonly hold I don't know if I said
this.
So, under the COBOL Act theTerm Limiting Act previously
mentioned that's what I saidearlier, that I mentioned this
COBOL Act they, as I recall,they can only hold over for one
year past the expiration oftheir term before they're forced
(22:20):
to leave.
So that happened to ChairmanBuffet when he was a
commissioner.
He was awaiting hisreconfirmation hearing, but he
didn't get it in time and so hehad to leave and then come back.
So, here with Commissioner Sola, if you'll recall the dates
here, he was sworn in January2019, but he was nominated for
the term of Novemberover expired.
(22:41):
Right, but, but.
But.
But this might not apply whenyou're on a partial term, and I
(23:03):
think that that might be theexception here, because
otherwise, if you had somebodywho came in on a on a limited
term, went through theconfirmation or the yeah
confirmation, a nominationconfirmation hearing, and then,
all of a sudden, they only hadone month left and then it was
only, you see how it could beproblematic.
So perhaps that's why he's ableto stay longer and so maybe
(23:25):
because he didn't get a chanceto start his term until 2019,.
Again, this is all forCommissioner Lusola, but the
term started November 18th buthe didn't actually start until
2019.
Perhaps he's able to stay onlonger, so like five years plus
one year holdovers.
Then perhaps that puts us atJanuary 2nd 2025, or perhaps we
get Commissioner Sola June 30th2025, because of this partial
(23:48):
thing.
All that to say, look, all thatto say.
We have Commissioner Dye, whowasn't going anywhere and likely
a top choice for the next FMCchairman, and we have
Commissioner Sola, who may needan expedited reconfirmation
hearing to stick around, whichcould probably happen pretty
quickly if needed, I imagine.
But we have these twoRepublicans, and a third
commissioner on the Republicanside is going to be up for grabs
(24:08):
.
I'm so interested Whenever theyget new commissioners.
I'm so interested in who theybring in.
I think that it's reallyinteresting the group that they
have now, because they haveChairman Dan Maffei, who's a
former congressman.
They have Commissioner RebeccaDye, who has the institutional
knowledge.
She's the longest servingcommissioner.
We have Commissioner CarlBenzel, who does the MTDI, and
(24:28):
he's really pushing informationand conversation on the data
side of things, which is such animportant thing for that
conversation to have started.
We have Max Beckett,commissioner Max Beckett, who is
the labor guy.
I mean right not to over-casualthat, but I mean it's such a
great conversation, that is animportant one, that we really
haven't had a labor guy at theFMC in quite a long time.
(24:50):
And then we have Lusola, whoreally enjoys the cruise side of
things, and so cruising is partof the FMC jurisdiction, and so
having him with his attentionto cruising has been great.
So the five commissioners thatwe have right now are such an
interesting mix that I wouldhope that if they do have a new
commissioner come in, one, theyunderstand what the commission
(25:12):
is for and, two, that thepresident and his team really
choose somebody who willcompliment the commissioners
that are there, because theyhave been doing a lot.
They have been very activeWe've talked about that Perhaps
a little too active for somepeople's taste, but they have
been doing things.
So we'll see.
We'll see where this is goingto be a new thing happening.
(25:34):
So what happens on theDepartment of Transportation
side?
There's new stuff happeningover there.
So the Secretary ofTransportation role is a cabinet
level position.
So that's similar to likeSecretary of State, secretary of
Defense, secretary of Commerce,that's Secretary of
Transportation, is in the mixand it's a cabinet level
position and those advise thepresident directly.
And it's a cabinet levelposition and those advise the
(25:55):
president directly.
So why didn't I mention cabinetlevel position?
On the FMC side, well, they arean independent regulatory
commission, so they're similarto the FEC or the SEC.
They are not subject to directcontrol by the president.
So when the president sendsdirectives to his cabinet level
agencies, you'll note that whenthey mention the FMC, they say
the FMC is suggested to or theFMC is advised to, because the
FMC can say all right, thanks,we'll take it under advisement,
(26:19):
but we don't have to do anything, and they've done that before.
So it is an independentregulatory agency and so they
don't have to take directionfrom the president's office.
Congress can direct the FMC todo something, and we saw that in
Osra, the Oceanship Reform Actof 22, and they do right.
But it takes much more to haveall of Congress agree on
(26:42):
something and tell the FMC to dosomething.
It's a much harder task, whichis why this independent
regulatory agency is such animportant thing.
So, getting back to DOT, though,right, that was just a compare
and contrast, getting back toDOT and cabinet level agency.
So Secretary of Department ofTransportation.
So SECDOT will leave as ofJanuary 19th, if not sooner,
because inauguration day of thenew president is every four
(27:03):
years on January 20th.
Unless January 20th falls on aSunday, then it will be January
21st.
This year it's going to beJanuary 20th, which is a Monday,
so usually we'll see letters ofresignation dated for January
19th.
As part of that process we willalso see the maritime
administrator, who has been areally active role.
(27:25):
I mean we don't talk aboutMARAD as much, but she's a
political appointee.
That position will also change.
Admiral Ann Phillips will bedeparting on January 19th or
sooner as well.
So it's going to be all newleadership.
All new leadership, but notnecessarily particularly from
the FMC side, not all new faces.
(27:46):
Right and I think that that'sthe importance of career level
positions at both the FMC andMARAD, is that they don't
necessarily lose all the workthat they've done, because they
can have some high level federalemployees that stick around,
that are there for the long term, that tend to stay insulated
from the politics becausethey're not tied to a political
(28:07):
party that moves in and out.
So, all that to say, we'regoing to get a new chairman at
the FMC, we're going to get onenew commissioner, which means
we're going to lose one of thecommissioners that we currently
have.
From the Democrat side, we'regoing to be gaining a Republican
.
We will be losing Secretary ofTransportation, pete Buttigieg,
and we will be losing themaritime administrator, ann
Phillips.
So new changes.
(28:28):
This happens every four toeight years.
This happens every time we havea new political party, or a
lame duck where we have somebodynew coming in.
So I'm going to keep watching.
I think that this isinteresting.
It's always really interestingto see.
I feel like it brings freshlife to some of these agencies
sometimes, and we'll see whatthe priorities are.
(28:48):
So, as always, the guidance hereis general and for educational
purposes only.
It should not be considered tobe legal advice directly related
to your matter.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney, but if you
do have legal questions, feelfree to reach out to me at my
legal company, skoll Strategies.
Otherwise, from the non-legalquestions, the e-learning and
general industry information andinsights, come find me at the
Maritime Professor.
If you like these videos, let meknow, comment, like and share,
(29:10):
if you want to listen to theseepisodes on demand or if you
missed any previous episodes,check out the podcast by Landon
by Sea.
If you prefer to see the video,they live on my YouTube page by
Landon by Sea, presented by theMaritime Professor, and, while
you're at it, check out thewebsite themaritimeprofessorcom.
I promise e-courses are comingsoon.
I think I'm going to do acompare and contrast FMC Marad
and I think I want.
(29:31):
I really feel like people needto understand what that rule is
doing.
So until next week actuallyuntil two weeks from now we will
not have a show next week, twoweeks from now.
This is Lauren Vegan, theMaritime Professor, and you've
just listened by Landed by Sea.
See you next time you.
I got soul coming through, flying free.
Skies are blue, all the wavesare mixing room.
(00:23):
I got soul coming through,won't stop in the beat.
And on top of the world, yeah,walk to the beat when you see me
coming.
Nixon room oh, everywhere I go,I'm in the spotlight.
This is a good life.
Oh, I'm living bold.
(00:44):
This is what good life I'mliving bold.
This is what it looks like.
I'm a ticket out of the world.
Well, america, the votes arecounted and we have a new
president.
But, most importantly,congratulations.
(01:05):
Election season is over.
I know I'm happy about that,but with the change of
administration and a politicalparty here, there's a big
question hanging over politicalappointees and federal agency.
It's left a lot of peoplewondering who's staying, who's
going and which roles will behandpicked by the incoming
president.
Some of the most powerfuldecision makers in
(01:25):
transportation and maritimecould be on the move, curious
about what happens next.
Stick around as we dive intothe high stakes shakeup ahead.
Hi, welcome to, by Land and bySea, an attorney breaking down
the weakened supply chainpresented by the Maritime
Professor.
Me, I'm Lauren Began, founderof Maritime Professor and Squall
Strategies, and I'm yourfavorite maritime attorney,
vegan.
Founder of Maritime Professorand Squall Strategies, and I'm
(01:47):
your favorite maritime attorney.
Join me every week as we walkthrough both ocean transport and
surface transport topics in thewild world of supply chain.
As always, the guidance here isgeneral and for educational
purposes only.
It should not be construed withlegal advice and there's no
attorney-client privilegecreated by this video or this
podcast.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
So before we get into thediscussion of the day, let's go
through my top three stories ofthe week.
(02:08):
All right, story number onewe're going to be doing this for
a little bit, but there issomething that I want to talk
about.
We've been checking in on theFMC's rulemakings.
We have the final rules out.
So we have the defining billingpractices of detention and
demurrage.
That went into effect May 28th.
There is a petition filedagainst that one.
(02:29):
We have the definingunreasonable refusal to deal or
negotiate with respect to vesselspace accommodations provided
by an Ocean Common carrier.
That final rule was releasedJuly 2024 and went into effect
September 23rd 2024.
Don't sleep on this one.
It kind of got snowed in withthe port strike.
Go check this one out, find outhow this applies to you, this
(02:50):
defining unreasonable refusal tonegotiate with respect to
vessel space accommodationsprovided by an ocean common
carrier.
This also has a petition filedin front of it, but go check
this one out.
Make sure that you understandthis one.
The last rule that we're stillwaiting on and we'll see I was
hoping that perhaps the last FMCmeeting they would have
mentioned this rule and what'shappening.
(03:12):
But the last one that we arekind of that's on my list that
we're waiting for is thedefining unfair, unjust and
discriminatory methods.
Like I said, we're stillwaiting on language.
It's been talked about that.
It was folded into thatunreasonable refusal to
negotiate, but I'm kind of stillwaiting for them to have a
direct mention of this unfair,unjust, discriminatory methods.
Are they going to be attackingit as a standalone, finishing up
(03:35):
everything that maybe theymissed when they released the
unreasonable refusal tonegotiate, or do they feel like
they covered everything in thatunreasonable refusal to
negotiate?
Or do they feel like theycovered everything in that
unreasonable refusal to deal andnegotiate Again in 2025,?
We talked about this last weekwe are watching for charge
complaints to have a formaladjudicatory process For this
one.
We, under OSRA 2022, we were.
(03:59):
We saw that Congress told theFMC that they had to create this
charge complaints process.
So they created an interimprocess, but they always had
turned it into a rulemaking, andso we have this now interim
process that will now becodified as a formal regulation
reg under the FMC.
(04:20):
So this is the chargecomplaints formal adjudicatory
process.
Look for it in 2025.
The commission said that, youknow.
One thing that I will note iswhen President Trump was
president during his first term,he quickly required that for
all one new rule being made byan agency, two rules had to be
repealed.
So it was like one forward, twoback.
(04:41):
The thought here was that itwould either cause the agency to
really decide if a new rule wasworth it and perhaps
concurrently reduce the overallgovernment red tape that's often
discussed.
So I'm not sure who knows right, but I would expect a similar
approach this time around andthat applies everywhere,
certainly not at the FMC only,but it does apply to the FMC, or
(05:02):
certainly it did previously.
So while we have tworulemakings on the book that
Congress has required the FMC toundertake, the defining on
reasonable, unfair, unjustlydiscriminatory practices perhaps
, as we just talked about andthe formal adjudicatory process
for charge complaints, we maysee the agency have to eliminate
a few other rules off the books.
(05:23):
So I bring that up as ahistorical information right.
So it used to be underPresident Trump's first term.
It was for every one ruleforward, put forward or final
rule, you had to eliminate tworules.
So we'll see if that comes intoplay this time around.
I mean maybe it'll be one tothree, who knows?
(05:44):
But something to think about,something to just kind of I'll
pay attention to that Story.
Number two as I mentioned, I'mfollowing these petitions
against both the final detentionto merge rule and the
unreasonable refusal tonegotiate.
We haven't had much movement.
The last thing that we saw andwe've reported on this was
October 16th.
The World Shipping Councilfiled their opening brief that
(06:06):
outlined some of their argumentspresented.
We haven't had an update otherthan the FMC filed a request for
an extension of time to filetheir brief.
So their brief is now dueDecember 2nd.
That was agreed to by the WorldShipping Council.
So not a lot to see there.
Then the World Shipping Councilbrief reply brief will be due
January 13th and then the finalbriefs are due January 27th.
So this one still has some timeahead of it.
(06:28):
I'm going to keep watching it,but the two petitions are still
out there where.
That's kind of what we'reseeing so far.
It doesn't go very fast, butI'll keep watching it.
Story number three.
Story number three this week isthat the FMC is seeking public
comments on the premier allianceagreement.
So from the announcement out ofthe FMC, the Federal Maritime
(06:49):
Commission has opened a 15-daycomment period for members of
the public to comment inresponse to a newly filed vessel
sharing agreement between OceanNetwork Express, o&e, hyundai
Merchant Marine, hmm and YangMing Marine Transportation.
Yang Ming, o&e, hmm and YangMing are parties to the alliance
agreement that is currently ineffect.
The agreement, titled thePremier Alliance Agreement,
(07:14):
authorizes the three oceancommon carriers to share vessels
, charter or exchange vesselspace, discuss and agree on the
size, number and operationalcharacteristics of vessels
operated under this agreementand engage in other related
activities.
The Premier Alliance agreementis publicly is available for
public inspection in theCommission's online agreement
library.
So we've talked about thisonline agreements library.
(07:35):
You can go check out theseagreements.
They are listed there If theyare publicly filed agreements.
So service contracts aren'tpublicly filed, but pretty much
all the other agreements are, soyou can go take a look at them.
But this Premier Allianceagreement right, this was
previously the alliance, and now, with Hoppeg-Lloyd going over
and joining Marist to form theGemini cooperation, we see the
(07:55):
remaining members form thePremier Alliance.
Look, I say it all the time whenthe FMC opens up opportunities
for comments, this is youropportunity to have a
conversation with the agency.
You certainly don't have to,but if you do feel strongly
about alliances and it'shonestly, most obviously most
helpful if you keep it targetedto the specific alliance that's
in front of us here that the FMCis requesting feedback on then
(08:16):
draft your comments and submitthem.
And I only say that I'm notnecessarily encouraging people
to submit comments, other thanif you feel strongly or if
there's something that, if youwant engagement with the agency,
these open comment periods areyour opportunity.
I just want to remind you.
They're asking for feedback,and really federal agencies
don't get a ton of feedback, andso this is your opportunity.
(08:37):
In general, when comments areopen, I will note, though, the
comments here are submittedthrough their confidential and
exempt from public disclosureand subject to the exceptions
noted, so we won't get a docket,we won't get to see what the
comments were submitted, so itreally is important to keep them
.
If you have comments, to keepthem targeted right, make them
(09:06):
helpful to the FMC, becausethey're doing their best to
review all of this agreement andall of its potential
anti-competitive effects beforeits 45-day initial review period
.
They might request a requestfor additional information and
if they do that the RFAI.
That's what we saw with theGemini cooperation they'll have
an additional 45 days beforethis goes into effect.
If you're filing comments thatare not necessary, you're eating
(09:28):
into those 45 days, and they'vealready said under the Gemini
cooperation that they found itdifficult to turn around their
reviews in that amount of time.
So I say that look open.
Comment periods are a time totalk to the agency, but make
sure that you're doing itjudiciously and when it really
matters, because especially inthis moment the rulemakings they
(09:49):
have more time.
This one, they really are undera time crunch.
So if you have information thatcould help them or that's
helpful or relevant, certainlyby all means, but just keep that
in mind.
So this is for the premieralliance, all right.
So let's get into the meat andpotatoes of the day here.
So, with a change ofadministration, what does that
(10:12):
mean for maritime agencies?
I'm going to help you find outwhere to look it up yourself,
but then also break it downpretty quickly for you.
So if you're not familiar andyou probably aren't because,
honestly, I had forgotten aboutthis until it just popped into
my head today and I think I'donly seen it once or twice when
I was actually working for thefederal government there's this
thing called the Plum Book.
(10:33):
Have you heard of it, the PlumBook?
Okay, so it's published by theSenate Committee on Homeland
Security and Government Affairsand House Committee on
Government Reform, alternatively, after each presidential
election.
So the Plum Book lists over7,000 federal civil service
leadership and support positionsin the legislative and
executive branches of thefederal government that may be
subject to non-competitiveappointments.
(10:55):
Nationwide Data coverspositions such as agency heads
and their immediate subordinates, policy executives and advisors
and aides who report to theseofficials.
The duties of many suchpositions may involve advocacy
of administration policies andprograms, and the incumbents
usually have a close andconfidential working
relationship with the agency orother key officials.
So this plum book, basically,is a listing of what most
(11:19):
relevant part are the politicalappointees, right?
That's why you're looking atthis plum book to see is this
position a political appointeeor are they categorized under a
different category?
So the major categories, andI'm reading off of the website,
the OPM website.
Now this is hosted on OPM.
It used to be GAO but now it'swith the Office of Personnel
(11:43):
Management.
So I'm going to link the linkso that you can look up the
Plumb book.
You can look it up by agency,you can look it up by position,
you can look it up by actualperson's last or first name, but
continue to read off of thekind of introduction of this
plum book.
The major categories ofpositions listed in the US
government policy and supportingpositions include executive
(12:04):
schedule and salary equivalentpositions paid at the rates
established for levels I throughV of the executive schedule,
senior executive service generalpositions and senior foreign
service positions.
Schedule C positions acceptedfrom the competitive service by
the president or by the directorOPM or other positions at the
GS-14 and above level acceptedfrom the competitive service
(12:24):
civil service by law.
Okay, look, that's getting tome too much.
Basically, if it's a GS, sogeneral schedule, I think is
what that means.
Um, it is um 15 is where youmax out and then usually if you
unless you're the securities andexchange commission they go
beyond 15 and there might beothers Um, but GS 15 means that
(12:45):
you're the highest levelcategory of I'm going to roughly
equate this to like the workerB level, right?
I mean, um, you, you could ifyou're GS-15, you are high up
within the government.
You're not a political appointee, you're a career person.
For the most part, schedule Cpositions tend to have some sort
of kind of a targetedappointment system and so there
(13:06):
might be some relation to, maybea support to a political
appointee.
And these are broadgeneralizations.
I'm just kind of breaking itdown for you.
So that's what this plum bookkind of identifies is those, it
sounds like those high GS levelpositions.
It's not everybody in thegovernment, but it's those high
(13:26):
GS level positions and kind ofall positions higher.
So senior executive service isabove that, and then you get to
schedule C and there's a coupleof different schedules and then
you have PAS political appointedservice there's a couple of
different acronyms.
So if you look at this plumbook you can see they break down
kind of all the differentacronyms.
And actually if you want to gosee a position and then you want
to find out what the acronymlooks, what the acronym means,
(13:49):
then you can kind of Google thatacronym next to that person's
name to see what category theyare.
So continuing off of theoverview here.
The Plum Book is used toidentify presidentially
appointed positions within thefederal government.
The list originated in 1952,during the Eisenhower
administration.
For 22 years prior, theDemocrats controlled the federal
(14:09):
government.
When President Eisenhower tookoffice, the Republican Party
requested a list of governmentofficials that President
Eisenhower could fill.
The next edition of the PlumBook appeared in 1960 and has
since been published every fouryears just after the
presidential election.
So why is it called the PlumBook, right?
(14:31):
Like what does the plum have todo with anything?
So, according to thePartnership for Public Service,
in 1952, like I said, presidentDwight Eisenhower requested a
list of positions he would beresponsible for filling in his
new administration.
Thus began the tradition of thePlum Book nicknaming for its
listing of plum top jobs in thegovernment and the plum-colored
(14:52):
cover page of the printedversion Reflecting the
principles of today's government.
Recent plum books list morethan 4,000 political appointees,
about 1,200 of whom are subjectto Senate confirmation, along
with thousands of other jobsfilled by senior career
officials in the federal civilservice.
The Plum Book should be whatPresident Eisenhower envisioned
(15:13):
a key tool for presidentialtraining, presidential
transition planning, moreover,as the information age
increasingly raises expectationsfor government transparency and
accessibility.
The Plum Book should provideup-to-date information to the
public on the leadership andorganization of federal agencies
.
The Plum Book has failed onboth accounts, and again, this
is the Partnership for PublicService.
Look, I am not following.
The Plum Book has failed onboth accounts and again, this is
the Partnership for PublicService.
(15:33):
Look, I am not following thePlum Book, so I'm not trying to
get into the conversation ofwhether it's good or it's bad.
I'm just letting you know thatit's out there.
But what this Partnership forPublic Service is saying is that
there was a bipartisan group inCongress in 2022 that took up
the cause of modernizing thePlum Book in a cleverly named,
periodically listed listingupdates to management the Plum
(15:57):
Act and so they passed that act,and so there it went that there
was a kind of morecommemorative listing of this
Plum Book.
So all that to say, look, it'snot an exact science.
The Partnership for PublicService goes on to say it does
not have this near real-timefrequency.
That was kind of desired,though it does seem to have a
yearly update, so that'scertainly a good start, but now
(16:20):
that we've uncovered the sourcefor you to go look up political
positions in the federalgovernment.
So I mean you can just GoogleOPM Plum Book or you can check
the show notes and I'll put thelink there.
But in case you're interestedin a position for yourself or if
you want to see what positionsactually are political
appointees, but let's talk aboutit.
I'm not going to make you go dothat work right off the bat.
That's why you tuned in who'schanging roles based on this
(16:43):
change of political party.
We're going to start with theFederal Maritime Commission, of
course right.
So the Federal MaritimeCommission is required to have
three of one party and two ofthe other.
Currently there are three Demsand two Republicans.
Obviously, we just came from aDemocratic run executive
administration.
So the Dems are Chairman DanMaffei, commissioner Carl Bensel
, commissioner Max Beckich.
(17:03):
Those are the three Dems on theFMC right now.
The Republicans areCommissioner Rebecca Dye.
She's the longest servingcommissioner and she's actually
grandfathered in that two-termlimit that otherwise is required
.
She predated the COBOL Actthat's what it was called that
changed that and created atwo-term limit.
So it's Commissioner Dye andCommissioner Lou Sola.
(17:23):
Those are the two Republicanscurrently serving at the FMC.
So what happens now?
Well, chairman Dan Ruffet willnot continue to serve as
chairman.
Right, he's a Dem, so that willbe changed over to the
Republican Party, though I wouldsay that he is really well
regarded as being a very fairchairman and not necessarily
making decisions along partylines.
Actually, I think the same canbe said for all the
(17:45):
commissioners.
But regardless, he still hasthe D by his name, and so this
is going to have to go tosomebody who has that R by their
name.
So Chairman Maffei won'tnecessarily leave, but he is
certainly of the three Democratsthat needs to be.
He's certainly one of the threeDemocrats that needs to be
knocked down to two.
So, said another way, theRepublicans will need to
nominate a Republican to serveon the commission, and the
(18:06):
commission can only have fivepeople.
So the three Dems will now dropdown to two Dems and the two
Republicans will now have toplus up to three Republicans.
So it's going to be apresidential nomination, but
then it's going to have to alsohave a Senate confirmation.
So, like I said, that willknock off one of the Democrat
(18:26):
commissioners, which is Maffei.
Bensler, vekic I'm not reallyhearing anything now on which
commissioner it'll be thatleaves.
I think that they all bringreally really valuable things to
the table.
I think that the fivecommissioners that we have now
at the commission are all veryvaluable in their own regard,
but we'll see it's likely tostart becoming a little bit more
clear as we close in on thestart date of the new
(18:47):
administration in January.
One thing that I will note,though, is the five
commissioners each have a fiveyear term that are staggered,
and so they fill terms based onthe start date of that term.
It doesn't start when theystart, when they get sworn in,
so sometimes they fill partialpositions and partial terms, and
(19:07):
so it kind of doesn't matterwhich one of those Dems is
replaced or leaves, because thenew Republican will take over
their term, which might onlyhave a year or two or three left
on it, which also goes to why Isay that the FMC tends to be
kind of insulated from politics,because it's not an entirely
(19:28):
new slate.
That happens when there's achange in president and
certainly a change in politicalparty, because you kind of it's
every five years percommissioner, and so that's,
that's what we're we're lookingat here, so it's not like we're
going to see a whole new slew ofall five of them getting kicked
off, and it's less about thekickoff, it's more about, I
(19:51):
believe, they have to be removedfor purpose.
If they are removed, but whenwe have this imbalance of
Republican versus Democrat,that's where I think we have a
little bit more leeway to thepresident to replace somebody.
But I'm not exactly sure howthey choose who leaves, but I
think traditionally I think it'ssomebody tends to leave instead
(20:11):
of somebody gets kicked out.
But I think traditionally Ithink it's somebody tends to
leave instead of somebody getskicked out.
But we're going to see, kind of, how this all plays out.
Yeah, so then who becomes thenext chairman?
Right, I mean?
So now we're looking at it'sgoing to be a Republican
chairman.
So who do we have?
We have Commissioner Dye and wehave Commissioner Sola.
Commissioner Dye has been onthat commission for enough time
(20:31):
that she has had plenty ofopportunity to become the next
chairman through the years.
But perhaps now is the time.
I mean, who knows?
She's often in the FMC publicmeetings and she'll joke that
she uses the threat ofretirement, to which everybody
usually protests.
Because she has suchinstitutional knowledge and such
a firm grasp of the supplychain ecosystem and the FMC's
proper role in it, she's seen asa commissioner who prefers to
let the industry solve problemsand the government should be
(20:52):
proper role in it.
She's seen as a commissionerwho prefers to let the industry
solve problems and thegovernment should be the
facilitator.
That's kind of her approach toit, but she really likes the
federal government to have moreof a limited role and have the
industry take over.
My take is that while she's notopposed to new rulemakings,
they do need to serve ajustifiable purpose that's in
line with the FMC statutoryauthority.
(21:14):
So I think that she would be.
She's a great commissioner.
I think that she would be agreat chairman and I think that
that lines up, perhaps, withwhat the industry wants too.
But if she does take thischairmanship's role, is this her
swan song Like?
Is this her last act?
I hope not.
I think that she's such a greatcommissioner.
Dr Sal Mercogliano and I oftentalk about how we love
(21:37):
Commissioner Dye.
We think that she is just sucha great commissioner for the FMC
.
But we also have Chairman Sola,or Commissioner, excuse me, is
that future planningCommissioner Sola?
So Commissioner Lou Sola hasonly been in the commission role
since January 2019.
So he was nominated for a termspanning November 15th 2018 to
June 30th 2023.
(21:58):
So their terms all end June30th of a certain year.
So, recall, I said they canonly hold I don't know if I said
this.
So, under the COBOL Act theTerm Limiting Act previously
mentioned that's what I saidearlier, that I mentioned this
COBOL Act they, as I recall,they can only hold over for one
year past the expiration oftheir term before they're forced
(22:20):
to leave.
So that happened to ChairmanBuffet when he was a
commissioner.
He was awaiting hisreconfirmation hearing, but he
didn't get it in time and so hehad to leave and then come back.
So, here with Commissioner Sola, if you'll recall the dates
here, he was sworn in January2019, but he was nominated for
the term of Novemberover expired.
(22:41):
Right, but, but.
But.
But this might not apply whenyou're on a partial term, and I
(23:03):
think that that might be theexception here, because
otherwise, if you had somebodywho came in on a on a limited
term, went through theconfirmation or the yeah
confirmation, a nominationconfirmation hearing, and then,
all of a sudden, they only hadone month left and then it was
only, you see how it could beproblematic.
So perhaps that's why he's ableto stay longer and so maybe
(23:25):
because he didn't get a chanceto start his term until 2019,.
Again, this is all forCommissioner Lusola, but the
term started November 18th buthe didn't actually start until
2019.
Perhaps he's able to stay onlonger, so like five years plus
one year holdovers.
Then perhaps that puts us atJanuary 2nd 2025, or perhaps we
get Commissioner Sola June 30th2025, because of this partial
(23:48):
thing.
All that to say, look, all thatto say.
We have Commissioner Dye, whowasn't going anywhere and likely
a top choice for the next FMCchairman, and we have
Commissioner Sola, who may needan expedited reconfirmation
hearing to stick around, whichcould probably happen pretty
quickly if needed, I imagine.
But we have these twoRepublicans, and a third
commissioner on the Republicanside is going to be up for grabs
(24:08):
.
I'm so interested Whenever theyget new commissioners.
I'm so interested in who theybring in.
I think that it's reallyinteresting the group that they
have now, because they haveChairman Dan Maffei, who's a
former congressman.
They have Commissioner RebeccaDye, who has the institutional
knowledge.
She's the longest servingcommissioner.
We have Commissioner CarlBenzel, who does the MTDI, and
(24:28):
he's really pushing informationand conversation on the data
side of things, which is such animportant thing for that
conversation to have started.
We have Max Beckett,commissioner Max Beckett, who is
the labor guy.
I mean right not to over-casualthat, but I mean it's such a
great conversation, that is animportant one, that we really
haven't had a labor guy at theFMC in quite a long time.
(24:50):
And then we have Lusola, whoreally enjoys the cruise side of
things, and so cruising is partof the FMC jurisdiction, and so
having him with his attentionto cruising has been great.
So the five commissioners thatwe have right now are such an
interesting mix that I wouldhope that if they do have a new
commissioner come in, one, theyunderstand what the commission
(25:12):
is for and, two, that thepresident and his team really
choose somebody who willcompliment the commissioners
that are there, because theyhave been doing a lot.
They have been very activeWe've talked about that Perhaps
a little too active for somepeople's taste, but they have
been doing things.
So we'll see.
We'll see where this is goingto be a new thing happening.
(25:34):
So what happens on theDepartment of Transportation
side?
There's new stuff happeningover there.
So the Secretary ofTransportation role is a cabinet
level position.
So that's similar to likeSecretary of State, secretary of
Defense, secretary of Commerce,that's Secretary of
Transportation, is in the mixand it's a cabinet level
position and those advise thepresident directly.
And it's a cabinet levelposition and those advise the
(25:55):
president directly.
So why didn't I mention cabinetlevel position?
On the FMC side, well, they arean independent regulatory
commission, so they're similarto the FEC or the SEC.
They are not subject to directcontrol by the president.
So when the president sendsdirectives to his cabinet level
agencies, you'll note that whenthey mention the FMC, they say
the FMC is suggested to or theFMC is advised to, because the
FMC can say all right, thanks,we'll take it under advisement,
(26:19):
but we don't have to do anything, and they've done that before.
So it is an independentregulatory agency and so they
don't have to take directionfrom the president's office.
Congress can direct the FMC todo something, and we saw that in
Osra, the Oceanship Reform Actof 22, and they do right.
But it takes much more to haveall of Congress agree on
(26:42):
something and tell the FMC to dosomething.
It's a much harder task, whichis why this independent
regulatory agency is such animportant thing.
So, getting back to DOT, though,right, that was just a compare
and contrast, getting back toDOT and cabinet level agency.
So Secretary of Department ofTransportation.
So SECDOT will leave as ofJanuary 19th, if not sooner,
because inauguration day of thenew president is every four
(27:03):
years on January 20th.
Unless January 20th falls on aSunday, then it will be January
21st.
This year it's going to beJanuary 20th, which is a Monday,
so usually we'll see letters ofresignation dated for January
19th.
As part of that process we willalso see the maritime
administrator, who has been areally active role.
(27:25):
I mean we don't talk aboutMARAD as much, but she's a
political appointee.
That position will also change.
Admiral Ann Phillips will bedeparting on January 19th or
sooner as well.
So it's going to be all newleadership.
All new leadership, but notnecessarily particularly from
the FMC side, not all new faces.
(27:46):
Right and I think that that'sthe importance of career level
positions at both the FMC andMARAD, is that they don't
necessarily lose all the workthat they've done, because they
can have some high level federalemployees that stick around,
that are there for the long term, that tend to stay insulated
from the politics becausethey're not tied to a political
(28:07):
party that moves in and out.
So, all that to say, we'regoing to get a new chairman at
the FMC, we're going to get onenew commissioner, which means
we're going to lose one of thecommissioners that we currently
have.
From the Democrat side, we'regoing to be gaining a Republican
.
We will be losing Secretary ofTransportation, pete Buttigieg,
and we will be losing themaritime administrator, ann
Phillips.
So new changes.
(28:28):
This happens every four toeight years.
This happens every time we havea new political party, or a
lame duck where we have somebodynew coming in.
So I'm going to keep watching.
I think that this isinteresting.
It's always really interestingto see.
I feel like it brings freshlife to some of these agencies
sometimes, and we'll see whatthe priorities are.
(28:48):
So, as always, the guidance hereis general and for educational
purposes only.
It should not be considered tobe legal advice directly related
to your matter.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney, but if you
do have legal questions, feelfree to reach out to me at my
legal company, skoll Strategies.
Otherwise, from the non-legalquestions, the e-learning and
general industry information andinsights, come find me at the
Maritime Professor.
If you like these videos, let meknow, comment, like and share,
(29:10):
if you want to listen to theseepisodes on demand or if you
missed any previous episodes,check out the podcast by Landon
by Sea.
If you prefer to see the video,they live on my YouTube page by
Landon by Sea, presented by theMaritime Professor, and, while
you're at it, check out thewebsite themaritimeprofessorcom.
I promise e-courses are comingsoon.
I think I'm going to do acompare and contrast FMC Marad
and I think I want.
(29:31):
I really feel like people needto understand what that rule is
doing.
So until next week actuallyuntil two weeks from now we will
not have a show next week, twoweeks from now.
This is Lauren Vegan, theMaritime Professor, and you've
just listened by Landed by Sea.
See you next time you.
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