Welcome to the January edition of the Alston & Bird CPSC Recall Snapshot.

December was a relatively quiet month for the CPSC, but major changes are most likely in store for 2017. If tradition holds true, Chairman Elliot Kaye, a Democrat who was nominated by President Obama, will step down and President Trump will have an opportunity to nominate a Republican to chair the commission. A Republican chair will shift the CPSC from its current Democratic majority of three Democratic and two Republican commissioners to a Republican majority with three Republicans and two Democrats. The two Republicans currently on the commission—Commissioners Ann Marie Buerkle and Joseph Mohorovic—have been critical of the CPSC’s dramatic increase in civil penalties over the past few years and the lack of transparency with the civil penalty process. Once there is a Republican majority on the commission, we can expect significant changes to the CPSC’s civil penalty agenda.