Obama Withdraws MADD CEO's NHTSA Nomination
President Obama has withdrawn the nomination of Charles Hurley to be administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a DOT agency with broad powers in motor vehicle safety and auto fuel efficiency standards, both The Detroit News and The Washington Post reported. Hurley's nomination upset environmentalists because, while at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the early 1990s, he "sided with automakers over the safety impacts of downsizing vehicles to increase fuel efficiency," the Detroit newspaper reported Monday.
Hurley was vice president of the Transportation Safety Group for the National Safety Council and executive director of NSC's Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign before joining Mothers Against Drunk Driving four years ago.
Obama had not formally submitted Hurley's nomination to the U.S. Senate for confirmation.