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Trump nominates two for FMC commissioner vacancies

Daniel Maffei could return to the agency and could be joined by Florida maritime industry veteran L. E. Sola.

   President Trump announced Wednesday that he intends to fill two commissioner vacancies at the Federal Maritime Commission.
   He nominated Daniel B. Maffei of New York to serve the remainder of a five-year term, which expires June 30, 2022. If confirmed by the Senate, this will mark Maffei’s second time serving as an FMC commissioner. His first term started in early July 2016 and expired June 30. The term was not subject to any holdover provisions. 
   At the time of his first FMC appointment, Maffei, a former Democratic congressman from upstate New York, replaced Richard A. Lidinsky, who had served as an FMC commissioner since 2009 and chaired the agency from 2009 until 2013.
   Maffei has served as a professor at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management since his departure from the agency this summer.  
   Prior to his election to Congress, Maffei served in senior staff positions for Sens. Bill Bradley and Daniel Patrick Moynihan and the House Ways and Means Committee. 
   Trump also announced his intention to nominate L. E. Sola of Florida to the FMC commission for the remainder of a five-year term expiring June 30, 2023. 
   Sola currently serves on the Florida Board of Pilots Commissioners. Previously, he was a senior sales executive with Campers & Nicholson International and is a licensed international ship broker. He also has served as a consultant with Arden & Price, authoring studies for the Inter-American Development Bank during the U.S. handover of the Panama Canal, and taught as an adjunct professor at the Florida State University branch in Panama.

Chris Gillis

Located in the Washington, D.C. area, Chris Gillis primarily reports on regulatory and legislative topics that impact cross-border trade. He joined American Shipper in 1994, shortly after graduating from Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Md., with a degree in international business and economics.