During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing last week, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) spoke about DOGE's influence in the Department of Commerce.
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00:00Senator Baldwin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I've been seriously concerned about the role that the Department of Government Efficiency, otherwise known as DOGE, is playing in driving some of the chaos and upheaval in the Commerce Department, including shutting down the Minority Business Development Agency.
00:24For example, as I raised in this committee last week, Elon Musk and DOGE are playing an outsized and highly questionable role at the Department. So, Mr. Genton, since joining the Department in February, have you ever met with Elon Musk?
00:45Yes, Senator. I attended a meeting, one meeting where he was also there.
00:50Who else was present?
00:54This was a, I would say, a casual meeting. People were walking in and out. It was also some time ago. I was there.
01:02Where was it?
01:03It was in the White House, Senator.
01:05And what was discussed? Did you discuss any of the plans that DOGE had for the Commerce Department?
01:12No. It was a very high-level discussion, a casual discussion.
01:18Mr. Genton, have you ever met any of the members of the Department of Government Efficiency while working at the Department of Commerce?
01:27Senator, I was introduced to two members that I understood were associated with DOGE in the hallway.
01:33Casual introduction. Just a few seconds, really.
01:37Was one of them Nate Kavanaugh?
01:39No.
01:40Okay. Do you know who the two DOGE members were?
01:44I don't recall their names. I know it was not Mr. Kavanaugh. His name came up, I think, in a prior hearing. I don't recall that it was him.
01:52And are these DOGE members now department employees, the ones that you met?
01:57I don't know, Senator.
01:58Okay. I want to just register my serious concern about the role that DOGE played in dismantling the Minority Business Development Agency.
02:18I also believe that they played a significant role in creating instability in the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
02:31Are you familiar with that program?
02:33I'm not, Senator.
02:34Okay.
02:35So earlier this year, the Trump administration did not renew contracts for 10.
02:41It's referred to as MEP, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
02:45So they didn't renew contracts for 10 MEP centers, causing great alarm across the country and in Wisconsin at our MEP center.
02:57And while these contracts have now been restored until the end of the fiscal year for a few more months,
03:04this jolt of instability for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership is both unwelcome and unnecessary.
03:10Mr. Genton, if Congress does its job and appropriates funding for the MEP centers,
03:19will you renew their contracts as is standard practice while you are serving in this position?
03:26Thank you, Senator.
03:27I certainly recognize the importance of this issue for you and for Wisconsin.
03:32I'm not familiar with it.
03:34If I'm confirmed, I will gladly prioritize this and look into it.
03:39Mr. Fink, thank you for meeting with me.
03:43I was planning on asking some of the specific questions that Senator Peters just asked you
03:50about the audit and the critical safety concerns with Panem's long-term safety record
04:01and apparent failure of Panem's leadership to take action to develop a positive safety culture.
04:07That's a readout from the February 2022 FRA Chief Safety Officer's letter.
04:17But I wanted to just draw some attention to another aspect of leadership at Panem
04:28that was cited by the railroad that acquired Panem.
04:36When CSX acquired your railroad, their CEO testified that the track and infrastructure,
04:43in some cases, was in such poor condition that, quote,
04:48it was so overgrown with trees and weeds, you didn't even know there's a railroad there.
04:55Can you comment on what commitment to safety could have led to the condition of rails,
05:08as the acquiring CEO testified?
05:11Thank you for your question, Senator, and I enjoyed our visit yesterday.
05:16As far as CSX purchasing our railroad, I spent several days taking their chief operating officer
05:23over most of the railroad lines.
05:26Mr. Foote's comments were on one specific piece of track that was in a very area that was an overgrown wetland.
05:34We strived every year to improve our capital and improve our railroad.
05:39When we gave the railroad over in June of 2022, it was in the best shape it had been in in 20 years.
05:44And that's not just me talking.
05:46It's what were we doing as far as safety and train accidents.
05:52So our record versus our connecting railroads, we were as good or better.
05:57Our safety culture was there.
05:59We had done safety culture studies.
06:02We handed the railroad over to the CSX in good shape.
06:05They knew exactly what they were getting.
06:07We cooperated with all of the states that we worked in all of the time,
06:11did a lot of cooperative joint ventures allowing passengers running on our freight railroad.
06:18So, I mean, overall, I'm proud of the work that we did over the 20 years.
06:23There certainly were some issues they've been raised.
06:25I've talked about my thoughts on those issues.
06:27My job as FRA will be the chief person to enforce the laws, and that's what I will be doing.
06:33And I will be certainly working with you in the committee to make sure that you're happy with what we're doing at FRA.
06:41Senator Lujan.