The July 4th holiday weekend started a tad late for those of us who practice in the field of consumer product safety. Late Friday afternoon, the White House announced that President Biden has nominated two new commissioners to serve on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)—Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Mary Boyle. Both are Democrats and, once confirmed, will shift the balance of power at the Commission to a 3-2 split between Democrats and Republicans. This development is significant to say the least—the Democrats have not held three seats on the Commission since May 2018 and there has not been a permanent chairman of the agency since President Trump removed then-Chairman (and now Commissioner) Elliot Kaye in February 2017.
If confirmed, Mr. Hoehn-Saric will become the new—permanent—chairman of the Commission, while Ms. Boyle will replace Commissioner Kaye who is currently serving in his “hold-over” year as his term expired last October. Current Acting Chairman Robert Adler will remain on the Commission as the third Democratic commissioner until his term expires in October and he retires from the agency as previously announced. These three will be joined by current Republican Commissioners Peter Feldman and Dana Baiocco to give the five-member Commission a full complement of commissioners. Of course, if these nominations stall and/or current members of the Commission depart the agency in the coming months (e.g., Adler), other possibilities with respect to the balance of power are conceivable.
Continue Reading Breaking: Hoehn-Saric and Boyle Nominated to CPSC; Democratic Majority in Sight