Round Two: President Obama Renominates Marietta Robinson as CPSC Commissioner

President Obama has (again) nominated Marietta S. Robinson to fill the open Democrat seat at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The President nominated her last January, and she had a Senate confirmation hearing, but the Senate took no further steps to confirm her nomination. The President has not nominated anyone to fill the open Republican seat, sparking speculation that the new Congress will not act until it has a pair of nominations (one D and one R) to consider. If this Congress confirms Robinson’s nomination, Democrats on the Commission would outnumber Republicans 3-1 -- Chairman Tenenbaum and Commissioner Adler are both Democrats, and Commissioner Nord is a Republican. In addition, Commissioner Nord expects to leave the Commission in October (her term ended last year, but Commissioners may serve an extra year to avoid having an empty seat).

An experienced litigator, Ms. Robinson has practiced law for over 30 years. She also unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court in 2000 and ran for Michigan Attorney General in 2002, but withdrew from the race.