Consumer Product Safety Commission’s acting chairwoman plans to step down
By Todd C. Frankel June 18 at 3:12 PM
The head of the nation’s product safety regulator says she’s stepping down when her term ends in October, a surprise announcement that follows criticism for how the agency handled a recall of the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play and its decision to not force a recall of a jogging stroller.
Ann Marie Buerkle, a Republican, made the announcement in an email sent earlier today to staff at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the email.
Buerkle has served as the commission’s acting chairwoman since early 2017, after President Trump won the White House, giving her day-to-day control over an agency that is responsible for regulating safety in about 15,000 consumer products. She has been one of five agency commissioners since 2013.
Buerkle’s decision comes as she was waiting for Senate confirmation of her renomination by Trump to continue in her role at the CPSC for another seven years. She said in an email to agency staff that she had notified the White House that she is withdrawing her pending nomination and plans to step down as acting chairwoman on Sept. 30 and depart entirely on Oct. 27.
“During the remainder of my tenure, I will remain steadfast in executing the mission of the CPSC and continuing our critical safety work,” Buerkle wrote.
Her brief time running the agency has been marked by two high-profile decisions.
Late last year, she voted in favor of a settlement with Britax that allowed the company to avoid a safety recall after nearly 100 people were injured when the front wheels on their BOB jogging strollers came off. The settlement — which passed along party lines 3-2 — ended a CPSC lawsuit that sought to force Britax to recall the strollers. An investigation by The Post found that Buerkle kept Democratic commissioners in the dark about the stroller investigation and then helped end the case in court.
She was leading the agency as it decided whether to recall Fisher-Price’s popular Rock ‘n Play inclined infant sleeper. Buerkle and the agency were criticized after Consumer Reports revealed that the Rock ‘n Play was tied to 32 infant deaths, three times more than the agency had previously publicly acknowledged.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/head-of-product-safety-agency-to-step-down/2019/06/18/5421c818-91eb-11e9-b72d-d56510fa753e_story.html?utm_term=.d6390ad6ef9f
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