Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Stephen Gardner announced that he is leaving his job Wednesday as the Trump administration threatens to pull back on funding mass transit and transportation projects across the nation.
“I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration,” Gardner, head of the nation’s passenger railroad company, said in a statement. His successor has not yet been publicly announced.
Gardner’s departure comes as President Donald Trump and US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy send shock waves through transit agencies with threats to pull federal funding from major projects if they don’t comply with new regulations and mandates. The White House is currently trying to stop New York City’s congestion pricing plan, and Duffy recently launched a review of California’s high-speed rail project.
Amtrak is a for-profit company with several ties to the federal government. The company’s board members are generally appointed by the president, with the transportation secretary taking one seat.
The company has been the focus of lawmaker scrutiny for its spotty transit service. Former President Joe Biden pledged billions to the Northeast Corridor — operated primarily by Amtrak — to fund infrastructure repairs and ease service problems that have plagued the system. Trump and House Republicans, on the other hand, have proposed to slice Amtrak’s federal subsidy by as much as half during his first term.
Elon Musk, Trump’s right-hand man and the de-facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency, has mused about the privatization of Amtrak, claiming that the railroad’s service pales in comparison to the high-speed rail systems in other countries.
Leadership changes have swept through transportation agencies across the nation since Trump took power. New Jersey Transit chief executive officer Kevin Corbett and Chicago Transit Authority head Dorval Carter both stepped down from their respective positions in January.
Gardner has been the head of the US passenger railroad since 2022. He started as an intern at the corporation sixteen years ago, according to his statement.
“We look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Duffy as we build the world-class passenger rail system this country deserves,” Amtrak’s board wrote in a statement on the transition.
