WASHINGTON — Former New York congressman Marc Molinaro is set to be named as head of the Federal Transit Administration, the New York Times reports.
Molinaro has been offered the job by the Trump administration and has accepted it, according to the Times, although the nomination has not yet been announced. The position will require confirmation by the Senate.
The website Gothamist had previously reported Molinaro was under consideration.
Molinaro, 49, served one term in Congress as representative of New York’s 19th congressional district, a large area north of New York City and mostly south of Albany, before losing in the 2024 election. From 2012 to 2023, the Republican served as county executive for Dutchess County, N.Y. During that time, he also lost the 2018 New York gubernatorial election to Andrew Cuomo.
Molinaro — like President Donald Trump — been a vocal critic of New York’s congestion pricing plan, terming it a “cash grab” and calling for it to be overturned. He has long been critical of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in general, recently calling it “the most bloated, broken authority in America.”
Molinaro, generally characterized as a moderate, was endorsed in the 2024 election by the Transport Workers Union, with TWU International President John Samuelsen telling Gothamist, “He understands the necessity of public transit in downstate New York and he will work with the trade unions — he understands our issues.”
During his time in the House, Molinaro was primary sponsor of five bills that were enacted, according to the website Govtrack.us. One of those, the Think Differently Transportation Act, required Amtrak to report to Congress on its efforts to comply with the Americans with Disability Act.
