With Congress back in session, on January 8th President Trump was swift to re-nominate Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle to be the permanent Chairman of the CPSC, along with a nomination for a second term as a Commissioner. President Trump also re-nominated Dana Baiocco to be a Commissioner.
As we previously wrote, Chairman Buerkle was nominated by President Trump in in July of last year. After going through a Senate confirmation hearing in September that was contentious at times, Buerkle was approved by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for confirmation by the full Senate. Similarly, Ms. Baiocco was also awaiting full Senate confirmation after she was approved by the committee in November.
Both Buerkle and Baiocco were not confirmed by the Senate in December, at which time their nominations were returned to the President under Senate Standing Rule 31 along with almost 100 other nominees. Rule 31 provides that when a nominee is neither confirmed nor rejected prior to the end of the Congressional session, the nomination is returned to the President, and will not be reconsidered by the Senate unless they are re-nominated. Most often at the end of a calendar year, this rule is waived by the Senate. However, waiver of the rule requires unanimous consent, which was not provided for 100 nominees that were pending before the full Senate for confirmation in December.
Both Buerkle and Baiocco must again be approved by the committee. They will then again await full Senate confirmation.
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