The landing team for the Transportation Department has seen some reshuffling in recent weeks, adding another batch of former transportation officials and experts, according to two transportation industry and transition officials with knowledge of the moves.
The landing team now includes:
— Loren Smith, who currently works at Skyline Policy Risk Group, a public policy research and advisory group, according to his LinkedIn page. Smith was formerly a DOT deputy assistant secretary for policy.
— Barry Plans, a former special assistant at DOT under the first Trump administration who also worked on the Trump campaign.
— Lori Urban, also a former special adviserunder the first Trump administration on intergovernmental affairs for DOT. According to one transition team official granted anonymity to discuss current plans, Urban, a travel industry expert, is conducting outreach meetings with transportation industry stakeholders.
— Jim Ray, a former senior adviser to the DOT secretary during the first Trump administration. Ray is a corporate president at the HNTB Corporation, an infrastructure advisory firm, according to his LinkedIn. He was previously the chief counsel and later the deputy administrator at the Federal Highway Administration.
— Ben Kochman, the director of pipeline safety policy at the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. Kochman was previously the director of governmental, international and public affairs for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Andrew Giacini, who is currently a special assistant to National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman, is no longer supporting the transition team, two people familiar with the situation said. While the reason for Giacini’s departure is unclear, he was one of five FAA or DOT officials who resigned from the first Trump administration after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Giacini declined to comment. Smith, Ray and Kochman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Plans and Urban could not be reached for comment.
As POLITICO previously reported, the landing team already includes Skip Elliott, who worked under Trump’s DOT as administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and also as acting DOT inspector general. Also on the team is Brigham McCown, a veteran Trump transition official who served on the transition in 2016. McCown was one of the original leaders in the PHMSA during the administration of George W. Bush, and the chief counsel at Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
One of the transition officials familiar with the team’s plans said the team continues to schedule stakeholder meetings with various transportation and labor groups spanning airlines, automobiles and the rail sector ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. So far, the team has reached out or spoken to more than 60 groups, the official said.
