Bush Expected to Name Industry Lobbyist to Head Consumer Safety Agency

Many Senators, Representatives With Oversight Responsibility Claim to Neither Know Nor Care

By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com Congressional Correspondent

February 16, 2007

Baroody

Insiders say that Michael Baroody, chief lobbyist for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), a powerful trade group that opposes aggressive product safety regulation, is President Bush's choice to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The CPSC is currently powerless to enact new rules or levy fines because it has had only two commissioners since Chairman Hal Stratton, another Bush appointee, abruptly resigned six months ago to become a lobbyist.

Bush is expected to make his appointment during the long President's Day weekend, while Congress is out of town.

The White House refuses to comment. Spokesmen there have not returned seven phone calls from ConsumerAffairs.com over the last week and Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have had no official word on whether an appointment is pending.

But David Baker, a lawyer who represents companies before the CPSC, said he has heard from a number of "private Republican lobbyists" that the appointment "is likely to be a recess appointment."

Under a recess appointment the nominee can take his or her place at the commission for one year without Congressional approval.

Hacks and Flacks

• Toy Importer to Pay Penalty for Violating Lead Paint Ban • CPSC Outlines Revamped Crib Recall Policy • Mississippi Warns Residents on Unsafe Toys • CPSC Delays Enforcement Of Testing on Kids' Products • Popular Zhu Zhu Pet May Contain Dangerous Chemicals • Report: Fewer Toys Contain Lead but Toxins Still Common • California Warns Retailers On Lead • Mattel Settles Suits Over Dangerous Toys • Target To Pay $600,000 For Violating Lead Paint Ban • Tougher Safety Requirements For Children's Products Now In Effect • Toys 'R' Us Launches Unsafe Baby Products Awareness Program • New Safety Agency Chief Pledges Greater Openness • Obama Names New Consumer Product Safety Chair, Boosts Budget • Toymaker Fined $1.1 Million For Consumer Violations • Maryland Stores Stop Selling Toys With Lead Paint • Toymakers, Craftspeople Up In Arms Over New Safety Law • Thrift Stores Protest Ban on Lead Toys • Target Launches In-Store Recall System • Do's and Don'ts of Holiday Decorating • New Jersey Finds Recalled Toys in Four Stores • Mattel Agrees to Lower Lead Paint Levels in Toys • Consumers Cautioned About Dangerous Toys • Soon-To-Be-Banned Plastic Toys Flooding the Market • Safety Agency Warns of Safety Hazards in Cribs --- • More Consumer Safety News • Recall Notices

The recess appointment authority is intended to fill vacancies in agencies during an emergency while Congress is in recess. Presidents have used it in the past as a way to ensconce controversial, often spectacularly unqualified political insiders who would be unlikely to win Congressional approval.

"There's no need for him to recess appoint," Michael Teague, spokesman for Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said. "If he recess appoints someone, it must be because the person has some sort of dark cloud hanging over them."

The Senate Commerce Committee advanced legislation sponsored by Pryor Tuesday to restore authority to the commission. The measure, which now goes to the full Senate, would allow commissioners to continue routine business despite a vacancy on the commission.

"I think it would be a very negative symbol for the Bush administration to circumvent the normal means of appointment," said Baker, who said he is a Republican.

Rachel Weintraub, director of Product Safety and senior counsel at the Consumer Federation of America, said she cannot comment on potential nominees but said, "Any chairman of the CPSC cannot be biased toward any market."

"Every second of a consumer's day, you're surrounded by products that this commission has jurisdiction over," Weintraub told the San Francisco Chronicle. "When this commission can't do its job properly, consumers can potentially feel this impact in a devastating way."

Because of Baroody's Republican ties and history of opposing strong safety regulation, his appointment is unlikely to be popular with the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Interim Measures

If Bush does not nominate a replacement soon, Pryor, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Insurance and Automotive Safety, has proposed legislation that will reauthorize the two commissioners' powers for another six months while Bush makes up his mind or simply continues to ignore the commission.

"My measure ensures product safety is not put at risk because this administration doesn't make it a priority," Pryor, whose subcommittee has jurisdiction over the CPSC, said.

This is the third time Bush has left the CPSC without a quorum. In the CPSC's 35-year history, the only other time the commission has gone so long without a quorum was during the adminstration of Bush's father, George H.W. Bush.

"This shows that this is not a major priority for the Bush Administration," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) who is vice chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, the House subcommittee that has jurisdiction over the CPSC. "(This is) the only organization charged to protect consumers from dangers in the marketplace."

Don't Know, Don't Care? Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.)

Republicans who sit on the Senate or House subcommittees with CPSC jurisdiction either did not know the CPSC had been without a quorum for seven months, or refused to talk about it.

"The lack of quorum? I'm sorry, I don't know," Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who sits on the subcommittee with CPSC jurisdiction, said. "There hasn't been an appointment? That's unfortunate. How long has that appointment been delayed?"

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) said he is planning to discuss the topic with some of his staff members but said, "I have not followed that issue very clearly."

Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) did not return three phone calls from ConsumerAffairs.com while Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) would not step off the House floor to be interviewed. Both also serve on committees with oversight responsibility.

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