The FRA is a sleepy, backwater agency and it is entirely possible that Hall could have run a public relations agency while serving as acting administrator–no, the FRA had and has no role in the recent spate of Amtrak accidents beyond investigating them–but there is a principle involved here. The FRA deputy is a Senior Executive Service position and the brazenness of acting as a spokesman for a private client while acting as FRA administrator is a bit much.

An administrator has been nominated but Chuck Schumer is blocking a vote in order to get Mrs. McConnell, who is the Transportation Secretary, to pay for a massive rail project around New York City.