BETHESDA, Md. (BRAIN) — President Trump nominated William "Billy" Hewes III to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, replacing Douglas Dziak who recently resigned.
The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation received the nomination of Hewes, the former Republican mayor of Gulfport, Mississippi, on Oct. 2. Hewes was a three-term mayor and chose this summer not to run for a fourth term. Before serving as mayor, Hewes served in the Mississippi Legislature for 20 years. He's also a broker with Billy Hewes Real Estate and insurance agent with The Hewes Agency for the past 40 years.
In August, Dziak announced he was stepping down ahead of his October term expiration, leaving only Acting Chairman Peter A. Feldman on the commission. Trump fired former commissioners Alexander Hoehn-Saric, Richard Trumka Jr., and Mary T. Boyle in May for objecting to agency staff cuts. A lawsuit was filed on behalf of the trio.
Feldman recently announced that the e-mobility and lithium-ion battery testing standards proposal has been submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review, a new and controversial procedure instituted by a presidential executive order. This new procedure created a rift within the agency that divided the commission along partisan lines with Feldman and Dziak Republicans and the fired trio Democrats.
The proposed rule has not been published in the Federal Register for comment as of Tuesday morning.
In other CPSC news, the agency confirmed on its X account that investigatory, enforcement, and public outreach activities will continue during the government shutdown. "Companies must continue to submit unsafe product reports to CPSC. The public will continue to receive recall notices and safety warnings," according to the CPSC.
