Consumer Product Safety Commission acting head to step down

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Acting Chairwoman Ann Marie Buerkle says she plans to step down from her post at the end of her term in October. 

Buerkle, a Republican former New York congresswoman, said in a statement on Tuesday that she will withdraw her nomination to serve as the head of the CPSC and her bid to serve another term with the agency. She added that she will continue to serve as chairwoman until Sept. 30 and complete the remainder of her term on Oct. 27.

{mosads}”Serving as a Commissioner at the CPSC for the past six years and as the agency’s Acting Chairman for the past two and a half years has been one of the most rewarding periods of my professional career,” she said. “Nonetheless, the time has come to pursue new opportunities that will allow me to continue my life’s work of advocacy and public service as well as spend more time with my six children and eighteen grandchildren.”

She was nominated as to the temporary chairwoman role in 2017 by President Trump. 

As reported by The Washington Post, her time leading the CPSC was best known for two major decisions. In the first, she supported settling with the company Britax so that it did not have to issue a recall after almost 100 injuries after the front wheels came off of its jogging strollers, the newspaper reported. 

She also lead the agency when it determined whether it would issue a recall of the Fisher-Price’s Rock ‘n Play Sleepers. Consumer Reports found that the infant sleepers were involved in 32 infant deaths.