After months of anticipation, the U.S. Senate finally confirmed Dana Baiocco as a Commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on May 22, 2018. President Trump first nominated Commissioner Baiocco on September 21, 2017. As a former Jones Day partner in the firm's Business & Tort Litigation Practice, Commissioner Baiocco joins CPSC with experience in both consumer product safety litigation and regulation.
Had former Commissioner Joseph Mohorovic completed his term and not departed early from the Commission last October, CPSC would currently sit with a 3 2 Republican majority. Instead, Commissioner Baiocco will join an evenly split 2 2 Commission. Commissioner Baiocco joins President Trump's appointee Acting Chairman Ann Buerkle and two President Obama appointees, Commissioner Elliot Kaye and Commissioner Robert Adler.
Without a party majority, CPSC will likely be limited to non polarizing rulemaking and regulatory activity. For example, as previously reported, the Commissioners have been known to vote along party lines with regard to pro regulatory activity. In 2017, the three Democratic appointees voted to adopt a petition for rulemaking that sought to prohibit a flame retardant from certain consumer products, and the two Republican appointees voted against.
Commissioner Baiocco's seven year term will run through October of 2024, as she replaces former Commissioner Marietta Robinson, whose term expired in October of 2017.
Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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