CPSC Releases Fiscal Year 2026 Operating Plan, White House Re-Submits Commission Nominee

In recent weeks, stakeholders of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have gotten both a clear signal of where the agency intends to focus its attention between now and October 2026, as well as a renewed picture of who could be part of CPSC’s leadership for the next five years.

Fiscal Year 2026 Operating Plan

The Fiscal Year 2026 edition of CPSC’s Operating Plan (Op Plan) — the document that lays out how CPSC intends to allocate its time, human, and material resources over the course of a year — was released on January 6, 2026. While the Op Plan is intended to be released near the start of a fiscal year, it relies on the level of funding the agency receives from the appropriations process, and that was substantially in question amid the congressional budget battles that resulted in the government shutdown this past fall. Indeed, as the continuing resolution that resolved that shutdown is set to lapse on January 31, some uncertainty remains and is reflected in CPSC’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 Op Plan, which contemplates possible funding levels of $135 million (drawn from the president’s submitted budget request) or $142 million (drawn from the marked up funding legislation that the House is currently considering).

While the numbers may be uncertain, and the plan is notably terse (just 22 pages compared to the 69 pages in the FY25 Op Plan), what is crystal clear is that current CPSC leadership remains focused on enforcement. The FY26 Op Plan is prefaced by a statement from Acting Chairman Peter Feldman, in which he emphasizes that “the Commission will focus its resources on hazards where the evidence shows federal intervention can save lives,” citing both a series of product-specific safety standards and the deepening of CPSC’s “oversight of e-commerce platforms, including the largest platforms determined to be distributors under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) and foreign-owned platforms that sell directly to U.S. consumers.” Consistent with the “foreign-owned platforms” language, Feldman confirms that the agency will continue its increased focus on imports from Asia (China, in particular), writing that the “Commission is committed to leveling the playing field for American firms against foreign competitors who seek unfair advantage by ignoring American safety laws.”

As part of CPSC’s strategy to “Enforce product safety laws … to deter violations and promote compliance,” the FY26 Op Plan states that “[t]he agency will prioritize enforcement actions involving repeat offenders, firms that fail to comply with CAPs, and those that knowingly distribute hazardous products.” And, as part of the strategy to “Accelerate and strengthen corrective actions through early engagement, litigation, and post-recall monitoring,” the FY26 Op Plan indicates that CPSC’s priority activities will include pursuing litigation and imminent hazard actions where appropriate and continuing “to issue unilateral safety warnings when firms fail to take action voluntarily ….”

To the extent that CPSC has to shift resources away from rulemaking to maintain the emphasis on enforcement, Feldman writes that “CPSC measures success by how many unsafe products it keeps out of the hands of American consumers, not by the number of regulations it issues.” Indeed, the plan contemplates promulgating just three new product standards — concerning garage door operators, portable generators, and custom window coverings. Further, the agency intends to issue the last of these through the truncated process reflected in Section 15(j) of the CPSA, which allows CPSC to define a consensus standard for which compliance is “readily observable” as the standard products must meet to enter the market, enabling CPSC’s import surveillance officers to quickly identify products that do not meet such standards.

Corollary to the emphasis on enforcement, Feldman describes new investment in technology and data, highlighting “a new Analytics Center of Excellence [that] will serve as a hub for advanced analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and data governance, ensuring that the agency’s safety decisions are grounded in timely, high-quality evidence.” As part of this effort, the FY26 Op Plan includes CPSC’s implementation of a refresh of its National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS, frequently pronounced “nice”), dubbed the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System Refresh (NEISSR, presumably pronounced “nicer”). Priority activities for NEISSR include piloting AI-enabled classification of electronic health records and incident reports to support automated hazard activation and expanding injury data collection for “real-time injury surveillance at a population level.”

Overall, the FY26 Op Plan sends a clear message that, regardless of the amount of money CPSC ultimately receives for the remainder of this fiscal year, the agency intends to aggressively prioritize its enforcement of product safety laws and regulations.

Round II for William Hewes III

In October 2025, President Trump nominated William “Billy” Hewes III to fill the seat on the Commission vacated by Douglas Dziak, who departed the agency in August. However, the Senate took no action on Hewes’ nomination, and, per Senate rules, that nomination was returned to the White House at the end of the first session of the 119th Congress.

On January 13, 2026, Hewes was renominated. If he is ultimately confirmed by the Senate, Hewes’ term would run through October 26, 2031.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2026 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.