Comer Pushes DOT for Details on Amtrak’s Use of Eminent Domain to Assert Control of D.C.’s Union Station

Threatens the compulsory process if DOT continues to fail to provide the Committee information

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is continuing to investigate Amtrak’s use of heavy-handed tactics, including eminent domain, to assert control over Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. To date, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has failed to provide the Committee any information related to Amtrak’s use of eminent domain to override leasing agreements at D.C.’s Union Station. In another letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Chairman Comer is now threatening the compulsory process if DOT continues to withhold documents and information on its justification for the use of eminent domain at Union Station.

“On June 26, 2024, the Committee sent you a request for documents and communications regarding Amtrak’s use of eminent domain. That request set forth a deadline of July 10, 2024, to fulfill the request and produce the relevant documents and communications. This Committee has received no substantive response from your agency, even after attempts by Committee staff to obtain a timeline from your agency on the production of responsive documents,” wrote Chairman Comer. “The Committee reiterates its outstanding requests for the information outlined in its June 26, 2024 letter.  If you continue to fail to produce the requested documents by August 21, 2024, the Committee will consider additional measures, including use of the compulsory process, to gain compliance and obtain this critical material.”

On June 26, 2024, Chairman Comer sent DOT Secretary Buttigieg an initial request for all information on the proposed justification for the use of eminent domain for the planned renovations and overhaul at Union Station. Union Station has operated as a public-private partnership since the Union Station Redevelopment Act of 1981, and Amtrak’s attempts to exert powers such as eminent domain are in opposition to the law. The Union Station Redevelopment Act of 1981 recognized the importance that private sector partnerships must play in maintaining and revitalizing the historic Union Station, and Amtrak’s recent efforts to remove such partners cause concern.

Read the letter to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg here.