In line with the chairs of other U.S. government agencies and commissions, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Elliot F. Kaye has resigned his seat as chairman, according to internal sources. Pursuant to the commissioners’ unanimous vote on January 19, 2017, Vice Chair Ann Marie Buerkle assumes the role of Acting Chair until a permanent replacement is appointed by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate.
Acting Chair Buerkle is a proponent of reducing testing burdens faced by manufacturers and working closely with the stakeholder community. She has opposed the recent increase in CPSC’s civil penalty settlements and criticized a lack of transparency in the civil penalty process.
Kaye was nominated by President Barack Obama on March 31, 2014, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 28, 2014, to a term set to run until 2020. He had two separate commissions—one as commissioner and one as chairman—and resigning the chairman’s seat does not automatically affect his seat as commissioner.