FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump looks on, on the day he announces a deal with Pfizer to sell drugs at lower prices, in the Oval office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A member of the Surface Transportation Board fired by President Donald Trump in August filed suit on Wednesday, challenging his removal.

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 and Norfolk Southern.

The ouster is the latest in a series of dismissals by President Donald Trump's administration from independent agencies and commissions.

(Reporting by David Shepardson)