FMC down to two commissioners

Business still will be conducted in wake of Maffei’s departure.    The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission on Friday announced that Commissioner Daniel B. Maffei departed the agency following the expiration of his one-year holdover period from his term’s official expiration on June 30, 2017.
   Maffei joined the commission on July 18, 2016, after having served as senior fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and a senior adviser at the Commerce Department. He served as a U.S. congressman from New York from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2015. 
   FMC commissioners must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for each five-year term they serve. Commissioners are allowed to stay in the position for one year past the expiration of their terms if their replacements have not been confirmed by the Senate.
   Maffei was nominated to the FMC on Nov. 19, 2015, confirmed by the Senate on June 29, 2016, and appointed to the commission by President Obama on July 18, 2016. He took over the seat of former FMC Chairman and Commissioner Richard A. Lidinsky Jr., who retired in the summer of 2016.
   With Maffei’s departure, the FMC is down to two sitting commissioners — Chairman Michael A. Khouri and Commissioner Rebecca Dye, both Republicans. The independent agency has seats for five commissioners from both the Republican and Democratic parties when fully staffed. The commission, however, can still conduct business with the two sitting commissioners.