UPDATED: Nomination hearing for FMCSA’s Joshi set for Sept. 22

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the new date for the confirmation hearing.

A hearing on the nomination of Meera Joshi to be the administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 22.

Following an executive session, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will have a hearing to consider the presidential nominations of Joshi and several others.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 22.

Joshi, a former chairperson and CEO of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, has served as the agency’s acting administrator since Jan. 20. In April, President Joe Biden nominated Joshi to take the permanent role of FMCSA administrator.

If confirmed, Joshi will become FMCSA’s first permanent administrator since Ray Martinez stepped down from the post in October 2019. Since then, the agency has been led by Jim Mullen, Wiley Deck, and Joshi as acting administrators.

According to the White House, Joshi is an attorney with more than 16 years of experience leading government oversight agencies. She served as the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission chairperson from 2014 until 2019.

“She also led landmark policy, including establishing robust open transportation data standards for app-based providers,” the White House wrote. “(That enacted) the nation’s first for-hire driver pay protection program and (provided) broad access to for-hire transportation for passengers who use wheelchairs.”

Joshi also has served as the inspector general for New York City’s Department of Corrections and as the general manager for the New York Office of Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants.

She is poised to become the seventh permanent FMCSA administrator since the agency was established in 2000. Previous administrators were Joseph Clapp, Annette Sandberg, John H. Hill, Anne Ferro, Scott Darling, and Martinez. Julie Cirillo served as FMCSA leader when the agency was formed in 2000 but only did so as an “acting” administrator.

The hearing also will look at the following nominations:

• Victoria Marie Baecher Wassmer to be chief financial officer of the U.S. DOT.
• Mohsin Raza Syed to be assistant secretary of government affairs of the U.S. DOT.
• Amitabha Bose to be administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.

The hearing is expected to be livestreamed here. LL