President Obama to Nominate New CPSC Chair and Commissioner; Will Also Increase CPSC Funding

By John R. Fleder –

On May 5, 2009, the White House announced that President Obama intends to nominate former South Carolina State Superintendent of Education Inez Moore Tenenbaum as Chair of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) and also University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Professor and former CPSC attorney Robert S. Adler as a new CPSC Commissioner.  According to the White House announcement, President Obama also plans to expand the CPSC later this summer from the current three Commissioners to five Commissioners (one of whom will include Professor Adler).  The CPSC has operated with no more than three Commissioners for many years.

The White House announcement also stated that the Obama Administration expects that the CPSC will receive a 71 percent increase in resources over Fiscal Year 2007.

We expect that these announcements will lead to other key positions being filled at the CPSC in the near future, as well as a dramatic increase in CPSC enforcement and related activities.