The NHTSA: Broken Down, Short on Staff, Slow on Change
The United States is still waiting on a glut of senior appointments within agencies that affect the automotive industry. While the Environmental Protection Agency eventually got Scott Pruitt, many high-ranking positions remain vacant at the EPA and other U.S. regulatory groups. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is still missing an administrator, chief counselor, director for government affairs, chief financial officer, and one enforcement chief.
With so many holes in its staff, former NHTSA officials and consumer advocacy groups are worried the agency has been rendered ineffective — essentially stalled on important decisions and issues that need the right kind of signature. Eight months is a long time to wait for an appointment and the NHTSA was only just given a deputy administrator, after former executive director Jack Danielson’s promotion.
According to Reuters, the White House is blaming Democrats for belaboring out the confirmation of its nominees, complaining that the vetting process has been more complicated than usual because so many prospective Trump appointees come from the business world, rather than from inside the government.
There is also a sense that the current administration might be intentionally dragging its feet on some staff picks in order to keep federal agencies trim. Some have even posited that it’s a strategy to avoid rulings that might be unpopular with certain industries — including the automotive realm. However, there are some businesses that are annoyed so many important seats are still unoccupied.
In September, the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association sent a letter to the White House urging the president to nominate someone, anyone, to be administrator of the NHTSA, so the agency can move forward with a road safety law passed by Congress in 2015.
“NHTSA’s role in regulating the motor vehicle, tire and motor vehicle equipment industries requires leadership to ensure implementation of smart, efficient regulations required by Congress to ensure a competitive marketplace,” USTMA President and CEO Anne Forristall Luke wrote. “We stand ready to work with your Administration and eventual nominee to advance motorist safety while promoting a competitive and successful U.S. tire manufacturing industry.”
The NHTSA has yet to outline specific regulations that would set minimum tire standards for fuel efficiency and traction in wet conditions. It’s also supposed to create create a database allowing consumers to check for tire recalls, according to the Congressional ruling.
Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator under President Jimmy Carter and a current consumer advocate, has been extremely critical of the current delay on side impact crash standards and has repeatedly expressed concerns over this year’s general regulatory inactivity. “This agency is in a stall,” she said. “They are not going to do very much without political leadership.”
That lack of leadership is coming from across the board, however. While the White House has been exceptionally lackadaisical in its nominations, the U.S. Senate hasn’t bothered to approve that many of them. Data from the non-partisan Partnership for Public Service indicates the Trump administration had nominated 387 political appointees for civilian positions in the executive branch, while the Senate had only confirmed 160. Both of those are well below average for the first eight months of the last four presidencies.
That’s a lot of finger pointing in need of doing. Trump doesn’t seem to want to fill of those seats and the Senate doesn’t appear particularly interested in over half the appointees that have been selected. Although, whether that is due to partisan politics or because the candidates are simply unacceptable choices is unclear.
NHTSA issued a statement to Reuters on Friday saying safety remains its top priority. The agency is “committed to meeting all obligations as required” by the aforementioned 2015 law. Presently, the agency is conducting an extensive review of all recent regulatory degrees as part of the administration’s effort to curtail governmental overreach.
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Time to change the law. With the exception of the Dept of Defense, State Department, and Treasury Departments, any department budget will automatically be cut to zero and all civil servants within the department permanently laid off without pay if there is no administrative head appointed and approved within 6 months of the inauguration date. If partisan politics get in the way - then the small government side wins. If the president wishes to shrink government by closing down useless departments such as Dept of Energy, Education, EPA, Agriculture, etc. then this method offers a very speedy way to achieve the size of government intended by the founding fathers.
Since nobody else seems to want it, I will volunteer for the position of NHTSA administrator. My first order of business is to outlaw the wooden spoke wheel. Okay, good job. Now I will put a stop to the development of self-driving cars. That is just asking for a war against the machines. For another step in that direction, I now outlaw the automatic transmission. If you can't pay enough attention to shift gears, then you shouldn't be operating a two-ton rolling death machine. On that note, all pedestrians must wear DOT approved helmets while operating within 1000 feet of any public motorway. Now what this country really needs is a monorail. In order to meet new safety standards, all interstate highways will be converted to a monorail by the year 2020. Make that a Tesla vacuum tube hyperloop monorail. I now submit my formal resignation and relinquish control of the NHTSA to Mr. Musk. Thank you.