{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=c39893d2-155b-4995-bc6d-2b1bfc24fd1b", "Thune Calls on President to End Nearly Yearlong Vacancy at Helm of NHTSA", "2014-10-29", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014 U.S. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today sent a letter to President Obama urging him to act swiftly by nominating a candidate to serve as administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).\u00a0Thune sent a similar letter in March, which remains unanswered. Despite bipartisan requests to fill this position promptly, and lingering questions about NHTSA\u2019s role in the recall of millions of vehicles manufactured by General Motors and other automakers, NHTSA has been without a Senate-confirmed administrator since December 2013.\r\n\u201cWe all want to ensure the safety of the American driving public,\u201d said Thune.\u00a0\u201cNominating a qualified individual to serve as the Administrator at NHTSA is an important step towards meeting this goal.\u00a0While the Deputy Administrator and career staff have carried on the work of the agency, the task of assessing NHTSA\u2019s shortcomings, communicating with Congress and the American public, and fully implementing any necessary improvements will be hampered without an official endorsement for this important safety position.\u201d\r\nThe Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has jurisdiction over NHTSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation.\r\nFull text of the letter can be found below, and a copy of the March letter can be found here.\r\n----\r\nThe President\r\nThe White House\r\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW\r\nWashington, DC 20500\r\nDear Mr. President:\r\nI write to follow up on my March 31, 2014, letter urging you to act swiftly to fill the vacant Administrator position at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in light of the issues surrounding the recall of millions of vehicles manufactured by General Motors and the latest safety issues pertaining to defective airbags in close to 8 million vehicles from various manufacturers.\r\nWhile I have not yet received a formal response to my previous letter, Secretary Foxx informed me in June following testimony before the Committee, that the White House Office of Presidential Personnel was working to find the appropriate candidate.\u00a0 In September, Senators Dean Heller and Claire McCaskill, leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee\u2019s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, joined the call for you to fill the position quickly.\u00a0 Regrettably, this has not yet happened, and NHTSA has now been without a Senate-confirmed Administrator for more than 320 days.\r\nRecent media reports indicate that the Department of Transportation is undertaking a comprehensive review of NHTSA to determine whether it is effectively meeting its mandate to reduce the number of deaths, injuries and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes on the nation\u2019s roadways.\u00a0\u00a0 I request that your Administration share the results of this inquiry with the Senate Commerce Committee and other congressional committees of jurisdiction and provide briefings on your progress.\u00a0 Nevertheless, it is imperative that the pending review not further delay filling the top vacant position at NHTSA.\u00a0\r\nWe all want to ensure the safety of the American driving public.\u00a0 Nominating a qualified individual to serve as the Administrator at NHTSA is an important step towards meeting this goal.\u00a0 While the Deputy Administrator and career staff have carried on the work of the agency, the task of assessing NHTSA\u2019s shortcomings, communicating with Congress and the American public, and fully implementing any necessary improvements will be hampered without an official endorsement for this important safety position.\r\nI therefore reiterate my request that you formally nominate a qualified individual to serve as the Administrator at NHTSA.\u00a0 In turn, I commit to work with Chairman Rockefeller and our colleagues on the Commerce Committee to review any such nominee in a timely manner.\r\nSincerely,\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=c39893d2-155b-4995-bc6d-2b1bfc24fd1b"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9923381730914116, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}