The White House sent the Senate a new nominee to lead the U.S. Maritime Administration, according to a Congressional notification.
After withdrawing his prior nominee, retired submarine Brent Sadler, President Donald Trump put forward Stephen Carmel to lead the entity that oversees the U.S. Merchant Marine. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology – which oversees the Department of Transportation – received Carmel’s nomination on May 6.
Carmel previously worked for Maersk and is a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. USNI News reached out to Carmel for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Carmel spent time at sea as a tanker captain prior to his corporate career, according to one online biography.
It’s unclear why the Trump administration changed its nominee. The White House nominated Sadler for the job in late March, USNI News reported at the time. Sadler, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, encouraged the Senate to quickly confirm Carmel in a statement to USNI News.
“I have known Steve Carmel for years, he is well known amongst those in the maritime industry and he knows MARAD and the Merchant Maritime Academy well,” Sadlers wrote in an email. “Congress should act swiftly to get him confirmed so the President can get his maritime team in place and execute a revival of American maritime strength.”
In confirmed, Carmel would lead the MARAD as the Trump administration pursues a sweeping government-wide overhaul to both the commercial and military maritime sectors. Earlier this year the White House created a maritime industrial base office within the National Security Council.
Last month, Trump signed an executive order calling on numerous Cabinet officials to create a maritime action plan before the end of the year, USNI News previously reported. One section of that EO seeks to resolve differences between how the military and merchant mariners counter time at sea.
