Derek Barrs, a member of the Flagler County School Board, is one step closer to departing Flagler County to take a position as administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in Washington, D.C.
Strictly along party lines, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee voted 15–13 on Wednesday to forward the nominee to the full Senate, where Barrs is anticipated to be confirmed.
In March, President Trump named Barrs to lead the more than 1,000-person truck safety organization.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington and the committee’s ranking member, stated that she had no intention of endorsing Derek Barrs. We had an opportunity to discuss this, but I wasn’t happy with his responses. The trucking business is vital, but it must be run securely, and we’ve seen a sharp drop in enforcement actions.
Before the vote, Ted Cruz, the committee’s Republican chair, and the other current members of the committee made no remarks on Barrs. The two votes for the two other nominees who appeared before the committee alongside Barrs on July 16—Paul Morrison for Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Paul Roberti for Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration—were split 15–13.
Last year, Barrs lost to Janie Ruddy by a few hundred votes in her bid for the District 3 School Board seat. Following Sally Hunt’s resignation, he was appointed to the District 1 seat by Governor Ron DeSantis at the end of October. Barrs’s retirement will necessitate another appointment to the seat in order to serve out his remaining term, which ends in November 2026. DeSantis will probably select a candidate who has a good chance of winning the seat again in that election.
Barrs, a resident of Flagler Beach, will remain on the local board in the meantime. Next week marks the start of the 2025–2026 academic year for professors, and on August 11 for students. The next day, the board has a workshop.
