Trumka Faults CPSC for Taking Non-Independent Stance

Fired CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka March 5 suggested that CPSC's stepping away from its independent agency status is risking lives. He pointed to not-finalized rules on duster sprays, table saws, portable generators, and furnaces/boilers as ready last year. The first two since were withdrawn.

The recent FY2026 Operating Plan lists the third among active rulemakings and mentions the topic of the last – carbon monoxide sensors – among voluntary standards activity.

Trumka wrote (bit.ly/3Pi7z7q):

"If CPSC was still an independent agency, it could have finalized all four of these rules last September, thereby saving thousands of lives. Historically, these types of decisions have been entrusted to independent agencies because they are too important to be left in the hands of one person, too likely to be corrupted by personal interests or petty politics.

That opinion came in his essay in The Regulatory Review and was part of a larger series of essays. One by fired Commissioner Alexander Hoehn-Saric was set to publish after the PSL deadline. PSL will cover it in the March 16 issue.