*

Robert Primus challenges firing, calls it "illegal

removal"

*

Trump supports $85 billion Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern

merger

*

Trump's administration dismisses multiple independent

agency

members

(Adds White House comment, more details in paragraphs 4-10)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - A member of the Surface

Transportation Board fired by President Donald Trump in August

filed suit on Wednesday, challenging his removal amid a major

railway merger decision set to be considered by the board.

Robert Primus called his firing an "illegal removal" and

said Trump "did not identify a reason, let alone one that

satisfies the statutory requirement of inefficiency, neglect of

duty, or malfeasance in office" and asked a U.S. district judge

in Washington to reinstate him.

The U.S. rail regulator is considering the proposed $85

billion merger of Union Pacific ( UNP ) and Norfolk Southern ( NSC )

, the biggest U.S. rail tie-up in decades.

Last month, Trump, a Republican, said the major rail merger

"sounds good to me" after Union Pacific ( UNP ) CEO Jim Vena met with

Trump in the Oval Office.

A major rail union, SMART-TD, said Primus before getting

fired had "made clear his opposition to the so-called 'merger'

that would be a corporate takeover combining Union Pacific

Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railroad."

Trump nominated Primus to fill a vacancy on the board in

2020 and then he was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden

in June 2022 for a full five-year board term and designated by

Biden in 2024 as chair.

The ouster is the latest in a series of dismissals by

President Donald Trump's administration from independent

agencies and commissions.

"President Trump lawfully removed Robert Primus from the Surface

Transportation Board. We look forward to the courts affirming

this simple reality," White House spokesman Kush Desai said.

Trump has fired the two Democrats on the Federal Trade

Commission, the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety

Board, and members of the National Labor Relations Board, Merit

Systems Protection Board, and Federal Election Commission, among

others.

He also forced out of office the U.S. postmaster general and

the CEO of Amtrak and sought to fire Federal Reserve Governor

Lisa Cook.

The July announcement of the merger between two of the four

major U.S. rail operators surprised the already highly

concentrated market. Such a proposal would have been unthinkable

under the Biden administration, which had an aggressive

antitrust policy.

Union Pacific ( UNP ) dominates freight rail operations in the

Western United States, while Norfolk Southern ( NSC ) is a leading

carrier in the East. Together, they form two of the four major

U.S. Class I railroads, alongside BNSF Railway and CSX Corp ( CSX )

.

The White House said last month it was nominating Surface

Transportation Board member Michelle Schultz for a new term and

Richard Kloster, who heads a private transportation consulting

company, to an open seat at the agency.