NHTSA Boss Leaving to Head California Air Resources Board

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky


The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has had a difficult time finding permanent leadership ever since Mark Rosekind resigned in 2017. But the Senate managed to confirm Steven Cliff as administrator in May of 2022, providing the agency with some welcome but short-lived stability. The NHTSA announced that its current boss would be leaving to join the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on Friday. 


Though we should say he’s rejoining the board. Cliff worked as technical manager for the group’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade policy after leaving college. He later served as chief of the GHG Market Development and Oversight Branch and assistant division chief of the Climate Program before moving over to the California Department of Transportation in 2014. But he later hooked back up with CARB to serve as a senior advisor to the chair and deputy executive officer. 


Now, after just a few months of heading the NHTSA, he will be going home once again. 


According to both Automotive News and the board itself, Cliff will formally become CARB’s executive officer on September 12th. Ann Carlson, NHTSA’s chief counsel, will reportedly take over Cliff’s duties after he leaves to helm the California regulator – though the agency declined to share any further details about the circumstances of the surprisingly early departure.


[Image: Bill Morson/Shutterstock]

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Matt Posky
Matt Posky

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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 6 comments
  • ToolGuy ToolGuy on Aug 12, 2022

    I don't have a carb on any of my vehicles.

    • See 1 previous
    • ToolGuy ToolGuy on Aug 13, 2022

      Does throttle body injection count? (I really like the TBI system on my truck - it's 27 years old. It is simple and it works. Did I mention that it is 27 years old?)


  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Aug 13, 2022

    Why can't the NHTSA find or keep its leaders?

  • Drew8MR Drew8MR on Aug 13, 2022

    Why can't CARB leave hobbyists alone? Maybe lay off the low hanging fruit and go after the gross polluters. Bring back the rolling exemption.

    • Sgeffe Sgeffe on Aug 13, 2022

      Because you’ll ride your bicycle everywhere and like it! Dontchaknow!


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