The U.S. Senate voted 71-23 on Saturday to confirm former Rep. Marc Molinaro as head of the Federal Transit Administration. Both New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand opposed his nomination.

Molinaro, who represented Greater Binghamton in Congress before losing to Democrat Josh Riley last November, will head the agency responsible for supporting the nation’s public transit systems.

“I am grateful to President Trump for placing his trust in me, and to Secretary Duffy for his confidence in my leadership,” Molinaro said in a press release. “I am committed to supporting our nation’s public transportation systems and ensuring a safer, more accessible, and better-connected America.”

Created in 1964, the agency, part of the Department of Transportation, spends billions of dollars annually to maintain the country’s “buses, subways, light rail, commuter rail, trolleys and ferries,” per its website.

Molinaro testified on March 27 before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

“We are indeed at a great moment of possibility: a golden age,” Molinaro said at the hearing. “Together, we can ensure that transit not only moves Americans but helps to move America forward.”

“And just as our own circulatory system connects every part of the body to sustain life, transit binds our communities together — urban and rural, coastal and heartland — ensuring opportunity access and resilience flows to every corner of our nation,” he continued.

Molinaro received support from a coalition of transit advocates and labor unions, including the Transport Workers Union of America, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO.

On April 3, the committee approved his nomination in a 20-4 vote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and the committee’s ranking member, said she appreciated Molinaro’s desire to improve public transportation and support workers but could not support him.

“I have no doubt about it,” Warren said, referring to Molinaro’s commitment. “But it seems clear that the White House and Musk will terminate FTA employees and take other actions that undermine the DOT.”

“I will not vote to confirm these administration officials when co-presidents Trump and Musk are actively destroying these agencies while we just sit here,” she continued.

The confirmation comes as the Trump administration modifies public transit policy nationwide. In April, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the federal government will take over the Penn Station construction project in Manhattan. Under the new directive, the Federal Railroad Administration, a sister agency in the Department of Transportation, will empower Amtrak to continue the project on a reduced budget.

Molinaro has also strongly opposed New York City’s congestion pricing plan, which requires drivers who enter Manhattan at or below 60th Street to pay $9 during peak hours.

The plan, first approved by the Federal Highway Administration in 2023, was set to be implemented in June 2024. Gov. Kathy Hochul delayed its implementation until after the November election, where Democrats won back several House seats on Long Island, the Hudson Valley and the Syracuse region. Hochul also reduced the fee from $15 to $9.
Revenue from the program is expected to reach $500 million by the end of the year, according to a press release from Hochul’s office.

Duffy revoked the Transportation Department’s approval of congestion pricing in a February letter to Hochul, claiming the program would negatively impact working-class people and was not authorized by federal law. The department initially gave New York until March 21 to comply.
On March 20, Duffy extended the deadline by one month. A new deadline was issued in April, giving New York until May 21 to stop collecting funds or risk the federal government halting construction projects throughout Manhattan.

A federal judge temporarily stopped Duffy from ending congestion pricing on May 27, stating that New York “would suffer irreparable harm” if the federal government withdrew funding from infrastructure projects across the city.

In an X post earlier this year, Molinaro said congestion pricing was a “cash grab” and that the MTA is “in desperate need of reform, transparency & accountability.”

A final decision on the program’s legality is expected in the upcoming months.

“Marc Molinaro’s bipartisan support in the US Senate demonstrates he’s the right person to advance our critical transit systems into the future,” Benji Federman, chair of the Broome County Republicans, said in a statement to Pipe Dream. “We look forward to seeing all he’ll accomplish for the American people.”