Trump administration tells Amtrak CEO to resign amid talk of cuts

Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner in a statement Wednesday announced he will step down from the nation’s passenger rail company as the Trump administration targets funding for mass transit systems and other transportation initiatives across the nation.

“I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration,” the statement read. The announcement, which was titled “Amtrak CEO Leadership Transition,” did not name a successor for Gardner or the reason for the transition.

According to three people familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations, Gardner was asked to resign by the White House. An Amtrak spokeswoman said an interim CEO has not been named. According to two of the people familiar with the decision, Amtrak President Roger Harris will lead the organization until a new CEO is chosen.

A statement from Amtrak’s board of directors added: “As Stephen departs today, we thank him for his 16 years of service to Amtrak. We will build on his accomplishments and wish him every success. We look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Duffy as we build the world-class passenger rail system this country deserves.”

Gardner’s resignation from Amtrak – a for-profit, government-owned company – comes as President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy ramp up pressure on transit authorities to comply with the administration’s new rules and regulations.

After Gardner’s resignation, Duffy said in a statement that “it’s time for Amtrak leadership to clean up Union Station,” criticizing crime and homelessness in “our nation’s treasures.”

John Robert Smith, a former Amtrak board chairman now leading the nonprofit Transportation for America, said Amtrak was under federal scrutiny – over service issues and hefty executive bonuses – well before Trump took office.

“Both the House and Senate have been focused on Amtrak’s struggles with increasing Northeast Corridor delays, the inability to roll out the new Acela sets, its bonus and pay structure, and the combined impact to the national network and the state of good repair,” he said.

Earlier this month, Trump’s Transportation Department sent letters to Gardner, Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority requesting crime prevention plans, and it has attempted to end New York City’s congestion pricing plan, which reduces traffic and funds mass transit by making people pay to drive into Lower Manhattan.

During his first administration, Trump repeatedly proposed deep funding cuts to the passenger rail company, including along the highly congested Northeast Corridor, and to California’s high-speed rail project – which the Biden administration’s bipartisan infrastructure law has supported.

Trump adviser Elon Musk said at a Morgan Stanley conference earlier this month that he wants Amtrak to be privatized, calling U.S. train service “sad.” Amtrak put out a white paper a week earlier saying “privatization would not change the fact that giving the United States the passenger rail system it needs will require substantial, assured, multi-year federal funding.” Selling Amtrak would mean giving up right-of-way on most train routes across the country, the paper said, and past efforts to find private backers for passenger rail service have been unsuccessful.

Amtrak and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.