Lawmakers Fear FMC Turnover Will Lead to Slower Enforcement, Rulemakings
Lawmakers expressed concerns this week that the Federal Maritime Commission may not have enough resources to continue reforming ocean shipping regulations and enforcing existing shipping laws, particularly after a host of employees resigned from the agency this year.
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Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said the FMC has lost about 20% of its employees to the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program since January. That means “fewer investigators finding unfair shipping practices and fewer attorneys prosecuting cases,” Larsen said during a July 22 committee hearing.
Several other Democrats also said they were worried about the FMC’s ability to enforce shipping laws, including Rep. Salud Carbajal of California, who noted that the FMC is missing two of its five commissioners and has no chair. Former chair Louis Sola’s term ended in June (see 2506240024), and former commissioner Carl Bentzel announced he was leaving in December (see 2412130068).
“The absence of leadership threatens the positive momentum” the FMC has had, Carbajal said.
FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye told lawmakers that the commission is working with the Office of Personnel Management on six hiring exemptions, including for “critical attorneys and economists” to help with enforcement. But she also said the FMC has enough resources and needs no more funding than the White House’s $40 million budget request for FY 2026, which is the same amount the agency received in both FY 2024 and FY 2025 (see 2507140005 and 2410230046).
In October, the FMC's enforcement division director said the commission needed more employees and funding to investigate and penalize violators of shipping laws (see 2410230046).
“I support the $40 million,” Dye said during the hearing. “I'm convinced that with our reorganization and refocusing that we've done, that we will be fine.”
Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., pressed Dye further, saying she’s concerned that “we aren't doing everything we can to make good under obligations” under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which mandated that the commission complete a host of rulemakings aimed at protecting shippers against unreasonable carrier practices.
The FMC has finalized many of those rules, but it’s still working on regulations that would create a registry for national shipping exchanges (see 2405300057) and another that would address “outstanding elements of unfair or unjustly discriminatory methods” against shippers, Dye said. She also said the FMC plans to propose a rule next year to help with the “fast resolution of disputed charges in which the ocean carrier is ordered to demonstrate the lawfulness of a charge.”
“You can be sure that the FMC is functioning,” Dye said. “We have, under existing law, we still have a quorum, my general counsel tells me. And so I don't think anyone should be concerned that the FMC is not on the job.”
But Scholten said the FMC needs more than just a quorum.
“I think what this committee is looking for, though, is more than just a functioning FMC, [but] one that can make sure [it’s giving a] robust response to these complaints when they’re received,” Scholten said. “Simply showing up for quorum, respectfully, may not be enough at this point, and the concern with significantly reduced staffing does raise alarms about whether or not you're able to respond in an appropriate fashion.”
Larsen said he’s "disappointed" with the administration’s flat budget request. Asked whether the FMC is analyzing how the loss of employees is affecting investigation timelines and ongoing work on new rules, Dye didn’t give a direct answer.
“I think my colleagues agree that we’re in good shape,” she said.
She added that enforcement in general has been a challenge, specifically mentioning unfair demurrage and detention fees that may violate U.S. shipping laws. “Demurrage and detention charges are internationally despised, and when we waded in on this, we knew it would be a hard slog,” Dye said. “It's not over, but I think that we've had remarkable compliance so far, and we'll keep at it.”