CPSC: A Commission of One, and Priorities for the Year Ahead

On August 22, 2025, just before his departure that same day, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or the Commission) Commissioner Douglas Dziak, along with Acting Chairman Peter Feldman, voted unanimously to issue directives that delegate virtually all Commission authority (with the exception of the certain non-delegable subpoena authority) expressly to the “Chairman” (rather than nominally to CPSC staff of whom the Chairman is, by statute, the “principal executive officer” and supervisor). More specifically, Interim Delegations of Regulatory Authorities, Adjudicatory Enforcement Authorities, and Civil and Criminal Enforcement Authorities provide the Chairman with vast authority, including authority to:

• Direct publication of notices of proposed rulemaking, final rules, and public hearings in the Federal Register
• Approve, disapprove, or take any other lawful actions regarding revisions to voluntary standards under 15 U.S.C. 2056 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) (e.g., durable nursery products, button batteries, all-terrain vehicles)
• Issue an administrative complaint to mandate a recall, adopt an Initial Decision as the Final Decision, review record as a whole and render a Final Decision, and act on any request for reconsideration of a Final Decision on appeal or review (note that one such administrative litigation matter, seeking a recall by Leachco, Inc., of that company’s “Podster” infant loungers, is currently before the Commission on appeal)
• Initiate or prosecute any action brought by the Commission under the CPSA, Section 12 (imminent hazards)
• Approve any civil or criminal action under the CPSA, Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and Flammable Fabrics Act
• Determine civil penalty amount for violations of the CPSA, Section 19(a), and approve or compromise any civil penalty matter
• Find that the public health and safety requires a lesser period of notice under Section 6(b) than the 15 days and five days normally provided where a CPSC disclosure identifies a specific company, publish such finding, and determine the lesser period of notice required

The directives indicate the delegations will continue until the number of commissioners serving on the Commission constitutes a quorum under section 4(d) of the CPSA (i.e., at a minimum, three commissioners, no more than two of them from the same party). The directives also provide that, if another commissioner other than the Chairman is also serving on the Commission, the Chairman must obtain the concurrence of such commissioner before exercising delegated authorities. Unless and until another commissioner joins the body, however, these delegations essentially make CPSC a single-administrator agency. Notably, as we wrote about earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) submitted a budget request that reflects the transfer of CPSC functions to DHHS to be carried out under an Assistant Secretary for Consumer Product Safety. The transfer of CPSC’s functions would need an act of Congress to amend the CPSA.

Commission Agenda and Priorities Hearing

On Wednesday, August 27, 2025, CPSC held a public hearing on the Commission’s agenda and priorities for fiscal years 2026 (beginning October 1, 2025) and 2027 (beginning October 1, 2026). Acting Chairman Feldman began the hearing by stating that some of CPSC’s most recent activities, including approving new federal standards for water beads and neck floats, and initiating a recall of over five million above-ground pools, were done in response to public input. CPSC’s Executive Director, Brien Lorenze, followed Feldman’s initial comments by comparing CPSC’s activity since January 2025 to the same time period between January and August 2024. According to Lorenze:

• Recalls and unilateral warnings are up 28%
• Import sampling is up 24%
• Seizure requests are up 28%
• Take-down requests to online marketplaces are up 12%

Lorenze also noted some of CPSC’s recent successes, including deploying a closed-loop generative artificial intelligence system and hiring four new port personnel (which allowed CPSC to place inspectors at three hubs that receive direct shipments from China). Lorenze also commented that in the future, he expects CPSC to use modern tools, such as advanced predictive analysis and artificial intelligence, to transform how CPSC protects consumers by more readily and more quickly identifying products that present a risk to consumers. He stated that modernization at CPSC will require moving from the Commission’s current “siloed” data system to a more nimble cloud-based system that is ready to integrate with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced predictive analytics. Lorenze described how implementing these changes would enable CPSC to move toward more proactive enforcement.

In his concluding remarks, Acting Chairman Feldman noted that, while the hearing did not provide the usual opportunity for the public to present oral testimony, CPSC will continue to review all of the written comments it received as it prepares its agenda and priorities that will be established in the fiscal year 2026 Operating Plan and the fiscal year 2027 Congressional Budget Request.

For questions about CPSC policy or about compliance with the CPSA, including timely reporting and recalls under Section 15(b) of the CPSA, or with other product safety matters, please reach out to the authors of this post or any of their colleagues on Arnold & Porter’s Consumer Product Safety team.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2025 All Rights Reserved. This Blog post is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.