Trumka Will Join CPSC, Replacing Adler

The Senate November 16, by voice vote, approved Richard Trumka Jr to take a CPSC seat that runs until October 2028. He will take the seat held by Robert Adler. This means that the commission still will have a 2-2 party split.

A third Democrat's nomination – that of CPSC Executive Director Mary Boyle – is held up in the Senate Commerce Committee. Republicans have questions (PSL, 10/25/21) about her roles in the 2019 unauthorized release of protected data and the early 2020, pandemic-spurred ports pullback. Her nomination twice did not emerge from scheduled committee votes – once unexplained and once because a senator left and broke the voting quorum.

Trumka comes from the House Oversight and Reform Committee, serving as general counsel and staff director of the consumer policy subcommittee since 2019. Other work includes four years in the Maryland attorney general office's consumer protection division, five years at Steptoe & Johnson, and a year clerking in the eastern Pennsylvania U.S. district court.

Chairman Alex Hoehn-Saric commented:

"I congratulate Rich Trumka Jr. on his confirmation as a CPSC Commissioner. Rich has long championed consumer protection, consumer safety and public health issues through his work in Congress and as Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. I look forward to working with him to improve consumer product safety for all Americans."